The Allegheny Conference on Community Development announced its new board members and revealed its next three year agenda yesterday.
The Allegheny Conference is a civic leadership organization that has been promoting business development in the Pittsburgh region for 75 years.
During an annual meeting at the Westin Convention Center Hotel, local private and public developers and community members discussed the organization's new agenda, which plans to advance a long-range vision for regional vitality through four priorities:
1. Downtown: Spearhead revitalization efforts. Downtown Pittsburgh is the heart of the region and a significant economic engine. A vibrant, future-focused urban core creates positive ripple effects that extend to main streets regionwide. Stabilize downtown by investing in vibrancy and safety in the short term; develop a multi-phased plan for reinvestment opportunities; define the vision for the future and identify the policy levers and funding to bring it to life.
2. Inclusive Growth: Scale up efforts to drive inclusive growth, including attracting strategic, job-creating investment to the region and creating conditions to support the growth of existing businesses. Focus on businesses that can have the highest impact on the region via jobs and capital investment and bolster the sectors where the region leads: robotics, life sciences, energy and advanced manufacturing.
3. Federal Investments: Maximize federal funding investments to build out industry clusters. Put in place a civic architecture to attract more federal money and create a regional plan to raise awareness of emerging funding opportunities and equip partners – regionwide – with the knowledge and tools to secure federal funds.
4. Thought Leadership: Step up thought leadership on strategic economic development issues. Leverage the power of data analysis, research and strategy to help the region tackle critical issues, including talent and workforce, demographics and population.
“Based on the feedback the Allegheny Conference board heard from our 2023 listening tour cross the region, I’m confident that we have identified the strategic goals we were asked to pursue; we have the right plan, committee structure and leadership in place to collaborate and efficiently advance the Conference’s new agenda,” said Allegheny Conference Chair David Holmberg. “I couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity we have over the next three years to continue to foster the critical public-private partnerships necessary for a prosperous and competitive future for all in the Pittsburgh region.”
Allegheny Conference CEO Stefani Pashman said the conference’s purpose is “to be the glue” between funding and expert development organizations.
“With a new agenda and leadership, the Conference will be laser-focused on developing the solutions needed for transformational, regional change and will be empowered to seize opportunities that will increase the region’s competitive advantage,” Pashman said. “For the next three years, we will be focused on convening our more than 250 regional investors and other stakeholders to address what must happen now so that our region will be globally competitive and be a place where everyone – natives and newcomers – thrives.”
In this plan, the conference hopes to grow its tracking service of Downtown: IndexPGH, which has about 24,000 users, according to Pashman. The dashboard tracks four key areas of vibrancy: economy, cleanliness and beautification, safety, and public health.
“There’s always a lag in public perception,” Pashman said. “Things are getting better Downtown, but it’s going to be a long time for them to believe that it's getting better. We want to hear more of what’s happening and how to best communicate that data.”
Pashman said the conference and business partners need to strengthen relationships with public officials such as Mayor Ed Gainey and Allegheny County Executive Sarah Innamorato if they hope to be successful with agenda goals.
She also said creating affordable housing in Pittsburgh is key to executing the organization's four priorities.
"While we're not the experts in that space ... the partnerships we built of about 50 organizations around downtown ... have expertise in housing and can deliver that piece — whether it's a sprint on affordable housing to address some of the homelessness issues, to some longer term opportunities to do some conversions where there's built-in affordability."
Holmberg also said that the conference is working with Point Park University, which also has released similar plans to revitalize Downtown.
“We plan to bring back the Cultural District, and Point Park’s theater program gives a great chance to build some connections,” Holmberg said. “We’re trying to tie all the threads together, and education is a key part of that as well.”
New board members of the conference include:
- David L. Holmberg, Chair, Allegheny Conference; President and Chief Executive Officer, Highmark Health
- Timothy M. Knavish, Vice Chair, Allegheny Conference; Chairman and Chief ExecutiveOfficer, PPG
- Eric Boughner, Treasurer, Allegheny Conference; Chair, Audit & Finance Committee; Chairman, BNY Mellon PA
- Rebekah Byers Kcehowski, Secretary, Allegheny Conference; Chair, Thought Leadership; Partner-in-Charge, Jones Day, Pittsburgh
- William S. Demchak, Chair, Downtown, Allegheny Conference; Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.
- Bryan Salesky, Chair, Inclusive Growth, Allegheny Conference; Chief Executive Officer, Stack AV
- Kevin Walker, Chair, Energy Cluster, Allegheny Conference; President and Chief Executive Officer, Duquesne Light Company
- Farnam Jahanian, Chair, Robotics Cluster, Allegheny Conference; President, Carnegie Mellon University
- David K. Roger, Chair, Federal Investments, Allegheny Conference; President, Hillman Family Foundations
- Casey Ryan, Chair, Personnel & Compensation Committee, Allegheny Conference; Global Managing Partner, Reed Smith LLP
