Lancaster:  At a meeting in Lancaster on Tuesday, Lancaster Prospers presented its Prosperity Benchmarks, a way to measure economic growth in the County in relation to metropolitan areas around the country.  The metrics look at four indicators of economic growth - growth in per capita income, growth in employment, growth in gross metropolitan product, and growth in productivity - as well as eight grouping of economic and social factors that relate to them including skilled workforce and research and development, technology commercialization, racial inclusion and income equality, urban assimilation, legacy of place, business dynamics, individual entrepreneurship, locational amenities, and urban and metropolitan structure.

In many cases, Lancaster is a strong performer among its peers in Pennsylvania and around the country, basically older communities with a strong manufacturing base and established workforce.  It routinely outperforms Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, Reading, Scranton, and York as well as communities such as Canton, OH; Des Moines, IA; Flint, MI; Peoria, IL; and Wichita, KS which have a similar economic profile.  However, Lancaster is often in the lower half of communities when compared to dramatically changing area such as San Jose, CA; Ann Arbor, MI; Durham, NC; Las Vegas, NV; Springfield, MA; Naples, FL; Denver, CO; and Seattle, WA.