Financial Times’ fDi Magazine: Pittsburgh Has “Turned Its Fortunes Full Circle”
fDi Senior Reporter and Markets Editor Michal Kaczmarski
It’s a new year for the world and a special anniversary for the Pittsburgh region. 2013 marks 30 years since Pittsburgh’s economy hit bottom. The steel industry’s collapse crippled the region, its economy and its people. Marking the difference made by three decades of vision and collaboration – which resulted in a re-imagined and re-made region – is the retrospective, “Pittsburgh’s Progress: Rust Belt City Reinvents Itself.” It’s a six-page report in the current (Dec. 2012/Jan. 2013) edition of the Financial Times’ magazine of globalization, fDi (Foreign Direct Investment).
In the fall of 2012, fDi Senior Reporter and Markets Editor Michal Kaczmarski traveled to the region from London to explore the “rethinking” of Pittsburgh, as he characterizes the metamorphosis that’s taken place here. He writes, “Pittsburgh was all but written off in the 1970s and 1980s … however, the city’s focus on technological and biotech innovation, combined with an environment that encourages entrepreneurship, has turned its fortunes full circle.”
While on the ground, Kaczmarski toured a number of business, academic and quality-of-life assets – the latter including the new “Living Building” Center for Sustainable Landscapes at Phipps Conservatory, a model of the region’s leadership and innovation in energy and sustainability and one of the greenest buildings on the planet. He also met and talked with a number of regional movers and shakers who provided him with perspective on how Pittsburghers imagined and galvanized a radical transformation from an industry-driven economy of old to one that’s now fueled by knowledge and innovation. Today, this economy, balanced and diversified, has rewarded Pittsburgh with a stability that’s allowed it to outperform benchmark cities and the nation as a whole, even during the Great Recession.
Among the notable leaders Kaczmarski met – and who are quoted in the fDi special report – are Knopp Biosciences’ Tom Petzinger; Henry Thorley of 4moms; Arif Sirinterlikci, director of Robert Morris University’s engineering laboratories (the university and its engineering expertise have been instrumental to the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute for which ground has been broken in the greater region); serial entrepreneur Luis von Ahn; and Nathan Martin of Deeplocal.
He also talked with several 20- and 30-something entrepreneurs and young professionals who have opted to chose Pittsburgh (over places like Philadelphia, Atlanta and D.C.) or who have made the decision to stay in their hometown and give Pittsburgh a chance. None was disappointed, as you’ll read. As one woman told Kaczmarski, “The vibe in Pittsburgh is great. There is something about this city that makes you collaborative and entrepreneurial.”
Nearly 15,000 fDi subscribers will be getting this – and more – fresh perspective on Pittsburgh via the special report, sponsored by the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance, the organization that markets the Pittsburgh region for domestic and international business investment. In addition, the report will have special circulation among the 2,000-plus delegates expected at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 23 – 27. The World Economic Forum is considered the foremost creative force for engaging leaders in collaborative activities focused on shaping the global, regional and industry agendas in an effort to improve the world.
The theme for the 2013 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting is “Resilient Dynamism” … “bold vision and even bolder action.” Pittsburgh has demonstrated these in its own transformation – examined in the fDi special report – making the region a model worth reading about.
See the complete report on Pittsburgh’s progress here. Get to know fDi Senior Markets Editor Michal Kaczmarski better and hear his first impressions of Pittsburgh during his maiden voyage in 2011 in this video clip.
Phil Cynar
Phil Cynar is senior communications specialist at the Allegheny Conference on Community Development. By trade and by choice, he is a proud promoter of the Pittsburgh region.
3 Responses to Financial Times’ fDi Magazine: Pittsburgh Has “Turned Its Fortunes Full Circle”
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"…the city’s focus on technological and biotech innovation, combined with an environment that encourages entrepreneurship, has turned its fortunes full circle."
As a Systems Engineer and a serial entrepreneur, and as someone who is in the trenches with a variety of Pittsburgh region workers across the labor spectrum from Johnstown to Cranberry to Rochester, I've got to differ. Kaczmarski's statement that we've "turned [our] fortunes full circle" is simply false. There's too much unemployment, partial employment, low wages, limited opportunities and under-employment to use the words "fortune" and "Pittsburgh" in the same sentence–unless "fortune" is prefixed with "mis-".
Perhaps by "turned" he really means that instead of laying face-down in a hole, we're now laying face-up?
As I read this, I turned to a technical electrician with a mid-level tech firm (one of my customers) and asked him what he thought. His reply summed it up well: "If our fortunes have turned full circle, why's my pocket empty?"
It's true that Pittsburgh's environment is highly entrepreneurial, and that's great! Folks at the Technology Council (PTC), InnovationWorks and AlphaLabs are doing so much towards that, as are the universities from CMU and Pitt to Robert Morris, and I'm truly happy to see it. Heck, even the lawyers and Jazz Singers are riding the entrepreneurial wave! But the groundswell of entrepreneurship has been of necessity for many, because of a lack of growth opportunity in existing business. I'd really love to see everyone here, from the Governor and Mayor Ravenstahl on down to Joe Sixpack promote our region as business and entrepreneur friendly–make the whole region an entrepreneurial incubator and get us on the national map, like a Silicon Valley East!
Kaczmarski could have said that, "For some, the Pittsburgh region, with its intellectual resources and underculture of entrepreneurship, has been a fortunate place." and that would be true, but dull reading. It's true we need the innovation, regional promotion and visibility to attract business and talent. But to visit a double-handful of startups, talk to a few bright lights (and some really great people) and pronounce Pittsburgh's fortunes coming full circle is absurd–it's still more like a half-circle.
But at least we're finally pointed in the right direction.
Mr. Schofield makes a good point. There is frustration among many of us who work to encourage entrepreneurship in the region because of the reality of untapped potential. For a variety of reasons, including the limited availability of capital for early-stage businesses, there are more good opportunities here than there are resources to accelerate their growth.
At the same time, in relative terms, Pittsburgh has become a bright spot in a troubled U.S. economy and has been held up by national and global leaders as a model for how to turn around an economy. In fact, last December, the Brookings Institution identified Pittsburgh as one of just three U.S. metropolitan areas to have fully recovered from the international recession. Our metro jobless rate has tracked consistently below the national average for the past five years. Our workforce is larger than it’s ever been, including during the height of our industrial heyday, with the fastest growth today in the most knowledge-intensive industries and occupations.
Research, innovation and entrepreneurship played indispensable roles in engineering a very real economic comeback over the past 30 years, and this comeback has enabled our region to weather the recession and its aftermath better than most. At the same time, we recognize that much work remains to be done. A continued focus on innovation and entrepreneurship is critical to our success. And in pursuit of sustainable prosperity for everyone who lives in the region, the Allegheny Conference on Community Development has made building on our regional strengths to connect individuals and businesses to opportunities one of its three strategic priorities for its 2012 – 2014 agenda. http://bit.ly/TBrGZU
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