The
Pittsburgh Regional Alliance was rated among the top 10 economic development organizations in the country by
Site Selection magazine this month.
Site Selection is the official publication of the Industrial Asset Management Council, the nation’s leading association of corporate real estate executives, their suppliers, service providers and economic developers.
“This is a validation that Pittsburgh does work as a region and a reflection of the partnership we’ve created here,” says DeWitt Peart, president of the PRA. “One of our major missions is to promote the 10-county region to investors outside of our region. The companies in Pittsburgh, whether steel, life sciences or IT, are in demand around the world.”
The Site Selection piece heralds Pittsburgh as having “come a long way since the days of Terry Bradshaw and Mean Joe Greene.” Site reports that in 2007, the metro area landed 36 corporate facility projects that totaled $2.8 billion in capital investment and created 1,702 jobs. The largest was
U.S. Steel's $1 billion manufacturing expansion in Clairton. Other large deals came from
Consus Ethanol in Aliquippa ($750 million) and ST Paper LLC in Uniontown ($600 million).
Large job generators were
Westinghouse Electric, adding 1,000 jobs in Cranberry Township;
Lanxess Corp., which expanded by 360 jobs in Pittsburgh; and
Verizon Wireless, which added 338 positions in Warrendale.
The ranking is based on performance in 2007 across a range of criteria including total capital investment in the region, total jobs created, the contributions of the local or regional economic development organization toward the attainment of these numbers, overall economic vitality, depth and breadth of economic strength, diversity of industry and ability to generate breakthrough deals.
Writer:
Debra SmitSource: DeWitt Peart, PRA