It’s been an epic 12 months at the PA Chamber – a year full of legislative achievement, inspiring events, and record growth across our membership – and we’ve had a lot of fun along the way.
In celebration of the last 12 months and in looking with excitement to what 2025 will bring, we present some of our most memorable moments of 2024 in this special #12DaysofPA look-back that honors the PA Chamber’s love for our members, our mission, and the Commonwealth we’re proud to call home:
January: We celebrate Pennsylvania’s dynamic agricultural industry through the annual, week-long PA Farm Show. And this year, PA Chamber President and CEO Luke Bernstein competed in and placed ninth in the Celebrity Feed Scurry – a marked improvement over his last place finish the year before!
February: The world’s most famous weather prognosticator comes out just once a year to a crowd of thousands in Punxsutawney, PA! This year, Phil ultimately did not see his shadow, predicting an early spring in the Keystone State.
March: Our popular bracket-style public voting contest – the “Coolest Thing Made in PA” – kicked off in style at Hollywood Casino, where 64 made-in-PA products were unveiled at a launch party. After three and a half weeks, more than 95,000 votes were cast, and the Primanti Bros. sandwich was declared the champion for the second year running!
April: History was made on April 8, 2024, as Pennsylvania was in the path of a total solar eclipse.
May: 2026 is shaping up to be an epic celebratory year in Pennsylvania, with the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding, the World Cup being held in Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh being named in May as the location of the NFL Draft – all huge for our state’s economy!
June: It’s critical that engagement in civics education and a love for community be passed down to future generations. The PA Chamber Foundation is proud to partner with the U.S. Chamber and local chambers across Pennsylvania on The National Civics Bee®, and we congratulate Erie’s Mariya Hoja on her First-Place finish at the state contest and her great showing in the National Civics Bee in Washington, D.C. this past November!
July: Another year, another budget with responsible spending and no new taxes on employers or individual taxpayers! The PA Chamber is proud to be the leading business advocates in working with elected officials toward a 2024-2025 spending plan that included tax reforms, permitting improvements, workforce development, and more.
August: An investment in the PA Chamber is a reinvestment in your business! Our efforts in the newly enacted state budget continue to generate major savings for our members – to the tune of $33 billion, or $5,056 per employee. We’re proud to work for you!
September: From the state House to the White House! In September, we led a delegation of our members to Washington, D.C., to meet with federal leaders in support of pro-growth policies at the national level.
October: It was the biggest night of the year – and a milestone event! Business leaders and elected officials across Pennsylvania gathered at the Hershey Lodge for our 40th PA Chamber Annual Dinner, where we welcomed the greatest tennis
player of all time, Serena Williams, for a fireside chat; along with discussions with U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio.
November: Pennsylvania was at the center of the political universe this Election Day, with the presidential race, a U.S. Senate seat, several key Congressional races, our “purple state” status, and our 19 electoral votes as key reasons why candidates focused their attention on earning the favor of the Keystone State’s voters. In the end, Republicans won the day in federal and state row races, but the state House and Senate remained status quo – proving that constituents are poised to split their tickets and leaned heavy into economic issues this election cycle.
December: Artificial Intelligence is changing the workforce, and those who are not equipped to use it could get left behind. The PA Chamber’s inaugural AI Summit in partnership with Deloitte and Google welcomed thought leaders in AI across tech, healthcare, education, and the public sector for conversations about where we are, where we can go, and the responsible policy needed to make Pennsylvania a global AI leader.