The report examined private-sector biopharmaceutical construction projects active at any time between 2015 and 2020 in 14 states (CA, CO, CT, DE, IL, MA, MD, MI, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PA, and WA). The states included in this report were selected by PILMA. The report relies extensively on data from Industrial Information Resources (IIR), a global consulting firm specializing in market data on major power, energy, and industrial infrastructure projects in the U.S. The study team identified major private-sector projects in each state and made estimates of total industry construction spending and labor demand based on IIR data. Projects that were co-developed with academic institutions, government (e.g. NIH), and hospital systems were not included in the analysis. The second part of the study integrated data from IIR and the U.S. Census Bureau to examine the economic impact of the partnership between the pharmaceutical and biotech industry and construction trades unions.

This report was produced by The Institute for Construction Economic Research (ICERES). ICERES is a non-profit network of academic faculty and other scholars interested in conducting, collaborating on, and facilitating academic-quality research on construction labor issues.

All data were provided by Industrial Information Resources (IIR), a global consulting firm specializing in market data on major power, energy, and industrial infrastructure projects in the U.S.

PILMA is a coalition of labor organizations and companies in the pharmaceutical industry who have joined forces to grow this important sector in our economy, create high-quality jobs, and promote medical innovations to cure disease.

At any point between 2015 and 2020, 447 major ($5M+) biopharmaceutical construction projects were privately funded and under construction for the 14 states studies. These projects represent $23.6 billion in infrastructure investment by the industry. Incorporating projects that are less than $5 million and limiting the data to spending made between 2015 and 2020, IIR estimates that the biopharmaceutical industry invested $228 million in privately-funded infrastructure.

The report shows the biopharmaceutical industry required 58.7 million labor hours from construction workers on research, development, and manufacturing facilities across 14 trades. A conservative estimate of union construction work indicates that the biopharmaceutical industry required at least 22 million labor hours by union workers. This yields a minimum of $774 million in union worker earnings in addition to tens of millions of dollars in funding for union health insurance and pension benefits.