White House Seeks Pittsburgh’s Entrepreneurial Input

When top Obama administration officials come to Pittsburgh Thursday to learn how they can help local entrepreneurs grow the nation’s economy, local economic development leaders hope to present a unified front.

Six business and entrepreneurship groups have been invited to present at the “Startup America” roundtable to be held at Chatham University. The Allegheny Conference on Community Development has built three general areas of focus it is calling the “Pittsburgh Principles.” Those principles are to “bring great ideas to market faster,” “improve access to capital”, ad “build the next generation.”

Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse President and CEO John Manzetti says on the “improving access to capital” front he will suggest that the administration put more money into the Small Business Innovation Research Program. “To be able to provide non-dilutive capital for early stage companies and entrepreneurs trying to get their technology developed,” says Manzetti, “Then those companies can get the technology developed and they can come to organizations like the Life Sciences Greenhouse and others and get additional capital and get support to get their products to market.”

The group of six organizations is also planning to push for new rules that make patenting a new technology easier. Manzetti says models in Europe are often better than the system in the United States.

Audrey Russo runs the Pittsburgh Technology Council. She will be among those at the roundtable. She says if she gets a chance to speak she will try to focus the administration on the issue of building the region’s pool of entrepreneurs through changes in immigration laws. Specifically she says she will push or a “Startup” visa. A bill making its way through congress would allow foreign students to stay in the United States after graduation and earn a green card if they can round up at least $100,000 in capital investments and create at least five jobs in two years.

Russo says the visa would be a boon for Pittsburgh with all of its universities. Most international students have to leave the country to launch a business. That has prompted some to say we are creating our own international competition. Russo says the visa would not take away jobs from Americans and it would not negatively impact the tax base.

Pittsburgh is one of eight cities hosting a “Startup America” roundtable. The others are: Durham, NC, Austin, TX, Boston, MA, Minneapolis, MN, Atlanta, GA, Boulder, CO, and the Silicon Valley region of California. Regional boosters say Pittsburghers should be proud to have been included on the list. Audrey Russo takes a slightly different approach, “We have a very diverse economy, we have a strong epicenter of international corporations, and then we have what people say is the real, true, work ethic and grit. You add that all up and have the icing of technology and innovation, we better well should have been selected as one of the top eight cities in the US.”

City and County Will Recycle Christmas Trees

The City of Pittsburgh is once again offering to recycle your Christmas trees at four locations across the city.

From Jan. 3 to 29, you can drop off your tree with all ornaments and lights removed at on of four locations Monday through Saturday. The recyclers ask that trees not be brought in bags and will take them from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. next month.



"If you put them out for trash they end up in the landfill," Public Works Director Bob Kaczorowski says. "What we do with them if we get them at the recycling center, we put them in a special dumpster with leaves or yard debris and that is recycled into mulch or something to be reused in yard programs."


City residents have four drop-off locations to choose from. For those who live in the East End of the city, the drop-off is located at North Dallas Avenue at Hamilton Avenue. For Hazelwood residents, the site is at Melanchton Avenue off the 5200 block of 2nd Avenue. For residents of the West End, you can drop off trees at 1330 Hassler St. off of Hershel and Steuben. The fourth drop-off is in the Strip District at 3001 Railroad Street.

Allegheny County is also offering a recycling service through Dec. 26 through Jan. 22. The drop-off locations are the swimming pool parking lots in Boyce, North, Settler’s Cabin and South parks and will be open from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily. Similar to the city’s request, trees must be free of additional adornments.



"Any tree should have all the ornaments, lights and stands removed. We do not want the trees in plastic bags we just want the trees as they are or as they were in nature," Kaczorowski says.

Energy & Transportation Key Challenges for Corbett

There are 3 keys to a sustainable prosperity for Pennsylvania. That's according to John Surma, Chairman and CEO of U.S. Steel and the Chairman of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development. At the annual meeting of the Conference Tuesday evening, Surma told the 400 business, education and community leaders in attendance that those keys are: powering Pennsylvania's economy through energy; creating a competitive climate for business growth; and, sustaining our core communities.
Surma outlined the Conference's 2011 agenda in working with elected leaders. He said nothing has a more acute impact on the people of Pennsylvania than transportation, and unless a comprehensive plan is implemented roads and bridges will go unmaintained and there will be sharp service cuts by the Port Authority...

"The consequences are likely to be severe for all of us who do business in the city of Pittsburgh whether or not we use public transit. I understand that if you eliminate 1 bus, up to 40 more cars will take to the road. By one estimate, 5,000 more cars will crowd downtown streets each work day if the Port Authority follows through on the planned cuts."

Surma says there's no cheap or easy solution to the issue but it's important that Pennsylvania invests in transportation infrastructure.

Surma says Governor-elect Tom Corbett faces challenges regarding underfunded pensions and the uncertainty around natural gas development. He called the Marcellus Shale "a game changer" and the state needs a comprehensive policy approach that encourages development "in a safe, fair and environmentally responsible manner that includes solutions to regulatory and permitting issues and considers the implications of any new taxes. To make it simple....we need to make sure this is a win for Pennsylvania and Pennsylvanians.

Allegheny Conference: Keener Focus on Job Creation

More than 400 business, community and education leaders turned out Tuesday night for the annual meeting of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development. The mission of the organization is to work in collaboration with public and private sector partners to stimulate economic growth and enhance the quality of life in southwestern Pennsylvania.

CEO Dennis Yablonsky briefed the members on the accomplishments during 2010 which is the 2nd year of the Conference's 3 year strategy...."We haven't dropped 1 of the 5 (focus areas) and added a new one. There hasn't been anything at that level. But particulars in what we try to accomplish ind the workplace area or the business climate area can be tweaked from year to year."

The current 3 year plan focuses on business climate, business investment, workplace development, transportation and infrastructure, and civic policy which Yablonsky says are all interrelated.

Yablonsky says the economy has impacted their current strategy..."the economy the last 2 years has been rough all over the country but it's a little better here. Pittsburgh has fared better than most places and the national average. Unemployment right now is below 8% in the Pittsburgh area where the national rate is 9.6%."
He says there is a sharper focus among Conference members than ever before on job creation...."because there are so many people out of work or have stopped looking for jobs. I think the emphasis on business investment has been very keen. The emphasis on continuing to improve the business tax and regulatory environment is very keen and we're working hard to affect as much of that as we can."

Yablonsky says he's happy the next governor, Tom Corbett, is from Pittsburgh because he "understands the Pittsburgh area and our needs." He says he's met with Corbett and believes there is "common ground" between the goals of the Conference and the new administration, and they want to work with Corbett on energy policy, sustaining core communities and pension reform.

Forging Asian Relationships

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, accompanied by regional economic development officials, will deliver the keynote address at a meeting of international business leaders in Shanghai, China and then travel to Seoul, Korea, which is hosting the next G-20 meeting in November.

Dennis Yablonsky, CEO of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, says the publicity Pittsburgh received as host of the G-20 last year has spread the story of the city's economic transformation around the world, attracting interest both as a model and as a place with potential for business relationships.

Yablonsky says in both Shanghai and Seoul, there will be group meetings with companies who might be interested in making job-creating capital investments in the Pittsburgh region.

Officials with the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance will also go on the trip, October 6-15.

Marcellus Workforce Training

The federal government has awarded a $5 million grant to train workers in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia for jobs in the Marcellus Shale drilling industry. The Allegheny Conference on Community Development (ACCD) is partnering with Westmoreland County Community College, 4 other community colleges, Workforce Investment Boards and the Pennsylvania Independent Oil and Gas Association to create a Marcellus training network.
Laura Fisher, ACCD Senior Vice President of Special Projects, says this is one of the last federal stimulus grants awarded by the Department of Labor and "they are very supportive of proposals that will put people into jobs quickly."
41 awards totalling $125 million were made nationwide for community-based job training for high growth industries. The "ShaleNet" proposal received the largest grant.
Fisher says a key factor in winning the grant is that much of the Marcellus drilling is in rural areas where there is higher unemployment and low income levels and that meshes with the goals of the Labor Department in job creation.
Fisher says that 70% of the drilling workforce is not local...many of those workers are from Texas, Oklahoma and Wyoming where there is much more experience in shale drilling. She says that the drilling companies would actually prefer to hire local residents because it would be more cost effective.
Fisher says the potential environmental problems is a concern and she's glad that the "bad actors" in the industry are being "called out" but there is also a high level of environmental responsibility among other companies.
"We feel getting local workforce into these jobs...these people live in these places, they're not going to want to have an environment polluted or damaged by irresponsible corporate behavior."
Westmoreland County Community College will help develop the criteria for training and certification programs. Fisher says some of the training will be at the drill sites and could be completed in several days to a week.

Listen to DUQ's Kevin Gavin's interview with Laura Fisher