- HARRISBURG -- Former Gov. Tom Ridge's administration dramatically overstated the number of jobs created as a result of his foreign trade missions during the late 1990s, according to an audit.
"Export sales and new jobs attributed to these trade missions and international trade officers were not just given a positive spin or a slight embellishment,'' Auditor General Robert P. Casey Jr. said today. "They were grossly exaggerated to members of the General Assembly, the media, the business community and, most important, Pennsylvania taxpayers.''
Ridge took frequent criticism in the news media for his many and varied trips abroad to Europe and Asia, on trade missions. He justified the trips through what Casey called a "barrage'' of press releases after each trip, claiming the trade missions as unqualified successes.
Trade mission destinations included Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Poland, Israel, Ireland, South Africa, Mexico, Japan, Singapore, and Canada.
In fact, a Sept. 27, 1999, press release boasted a $5 billion increase in total exports in the state during the first four years of the Ridge Administration.
But Casey today released an audit of the state Department of Community and Economic Development that showed only a $287 million increase in exports during those years, of which only $5 million could be directly attributed to the trade missions.
