Federal Reserve official touts research efforts during visit to Penn College

Resilience, optimism and growth.

These were three words that Anna Paulson, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia used for Pennsylvania College of Technology officials and business leaders Friday in a roundtable discussion and tour of the cutting-edge laboratories and job-creating classes at the college in Williamsport.

A powerhouse of workforce development, the college has traditionally met with the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s and the Fed’s dual mandate of ensuring maximum employment and price stability.

Her tour offered her keen insight along with the opportunity to share what resources the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia can provide for the college and stakeholders among the business community, including members of the Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce.

Astounded at what she witnessed

“This has just been a fascinating hour or so,” Paulson said on a news break. “I think I’ve seen so many young people doing hands-on work,” she said, adding she also just came from a conversation with business leaders who talked about how hard it is to find folks who do exactly that kind of thing that the students here are being taught by instructors and learning how to do.

It was a period of a few hours for Paulson who said she learned more about the connection of what businesses need and the folks who are teaching and those learning the skills that will make them employees.

Paulson noted how she wanted to tour the college and take part in the roundtable discussion, partly because of what she described as an “ecosystem of understanding what businesses actually need.”

At the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, a team exists that does a lot of research.

“We are paying attention to what people are telling us, to understand what is going on on the ground in the economy and that comes back with me when I go to Washington to sit on the Federal Reserve Market Committee and think about monetary policy,” Paulson said.

“Understanding the national data and what that means on the ground for businesses, employees, nonprofits, that is part of what I am doing here,” she said.

It is a way of gaining more understanding by listening to the stories that are behind the data points.

“We also do a lot of research, collect a lot of data and some of that can be really useful to businesses and communities understanding broader trends,” she said. “We heard they are so responsive to what the businesses need,” she said.

At Pennsylvania College of Technology, they are placing 98 % of the students.

The students are ready to walk into a job and in order for those connections to be made they have to know what the businesses are going to need and prepare the students for what those jobs look like

” I just saw that in spades,” Paulson said.

In her regular discussions with business leaders and employees, Paulson said she often hears feedback from them that one of the barriers to their expansion and growth is finding the right employees.

“Here, you are creating the workforce … they’re creating a workforce that they (business and industry) needs and I think that’s important to see that in action and connect all of those dots,” Paulson said.

What stood out to Paulson was the “entrepreneurial nature of the entire (college),” she said.

It is thinking about what businesses are going to need 10 years from now and the big question becomes “How do we partner with businesses to get the equipment they need so that students can be ‘billable on day one,’ so that they have that experience and can walk into a job and be successful right away?”

For that, she noted, these businesses need the equipment, they need cutting-edge tools that will be used on those job.

Today’s businesses cannot depend on what was available in a high school laboratory or shop two decades ago.

“It seems like it takes a lot of partnership and ingenuity to keep that all kind of moving alone at the same pace,” Paulson said.

During the roundtable discussion, Paulson said the business leaders of Williamsport told her they see a lot of growth opportunities but also a lot of challenges.

“Those challenges come from where are they going to find workers of tomorrow?” “How are they going to keep and retain folks?”

“They also are seeing a lot of cost pressures and they are trying to figure out issues,” she stressed.

Business leaders asked things such as: “How do I design my business so that it can work through those challenges?” she said.

“Customers sometimes can’t take cost increases, so they have to really think hard about how to manage through that,” she added.

Uniqueness

Pennsylvania has so much going for it, Paulson remarked.

For example, Pennsylvania has the most farmers under age 35 than anywhere in the country.

“We’ve got generational farming that is going to continue,” she said. “We’ve got manufacturing … got services and a broad and diverse economy along with natural beauty,” she said.

What Paulson said her main job is as a policymaker is to keep prices stable, inflation at 2 % and maximum employment.

“That creates conditions where businesses can grow and they can hire people and bring people into the workforce in the state,” she said.

Her mission will be simple – bring people together, listen and build programs around that.

At the Fed, there is a Community Development and Outreach team that does programs for many communities bringing stakeholders together, listening to what those communities want to achieve.

“Is it the workforce, is it housing, or health care?” she asked.

The key is then to provide stakeholders with access to the best research, bring the communities (such as Williamsport and Lycoming County region together) and create conditions to help that to happen.

Paulson, the 12th president of the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank, took office July 1, 2025, succeeding Patrick Harker.

Her research specialty is financial markets and institutions, especially the insurance industry.

The Philadelphia Fed covers eastern and central Pennsylvania, Delaware, and southern New Jersey.

She enjoys doing tours at places that are supportive of a growing workforce and listening to stakeholders at economic roundtables.