"Regional leaders pledge to work for new development near Pittsburgh International Airport in order to create new jobs for southwestern Pennsylvania"  

Business leaders and government officials from across southwestern Pennsylvania held a press conference at the Hyatt Pittsburgh International Airport on Friday, September 13 to announce that a panel of national experts formed by the Urban Land Institute had confirmed the potential for attracting significant new industrial and commercial development around Pittsburgh International Airport.  The regional leaders said the recommendations from the Institute would serve as a springboard for actions to bring new, high-quality jobs and increased economic vitality to southwestern Pennsylvania.   

�This report, prepared by development experts from across the country, confirms that with a regional approach, a strong marketing and branding initiative, and targeted investments in infrastructure, the area within 20 to 30 minutes of the Airport could become one of the top locations in the country for new corporate headquarters, research and development facilities, manufacturing plants, and distribution centers in a wide range of industries,� said Edward A. Nicholson, Ph.D., President of Robert Morris University and Chairman of the Airport Market Area Task Force.  �These are exactly the kinds of jobs we need to keep our young people here and to attract new residents to southwestern Pennsylvania.�

Dr. Nicholson summarized the panel�s recommendations as:

�        Validating the need for greater regional cooperation, starting with the communities in the three counties around the airport;

�        Verifying the importance of the region�s assets, including the Airport, the rivers, the universities, cultural assets, health care industry, professional sports, and especially the region�s topography and high quality of life.

�        Stressing the need for greater transportation infrastructure investment around the airport, particularly the missing ramps at the intersection of I-79 and the Parkway West, and development of a regional water and sewer infrastructure plan .

�        Emphasizing the importance of efforts to brand and market the southwestern Pennsylvania region. 

The public and private leaders on the Airport Market Area Task Force committed themselves to work with property owners, developers, municipalities, and others to assemble the resources and obtain the regulatory approvals necessary to prepare sites and buildings in the airport area for high-quality industrial and commercial developments and the high-paying jobs they can bring.  Task Force members said that a number of landowners in the study area are interested in pursuing new development, but need help with improved infrastructure in order to be competitive with other regions such as Columbus and Charlotte.

Business leaders on the Task Force confirmed the attractiveness of locating near Pittsburgh International Airport.  Jeffrey M. Lipton, President and Chief Executive Officer of NOVA Chemicals and a member of the Task Force, said NOVA moved its main office from Canada to Moon Township in 2000.  NOVA company executives are now within a 90-minute flight of two-thirds of their North American customers, investors, and manufacturing sites.  �Pittsburgh has proven itself as an ideal location considering both the quality of life and the proximity to key stakeholders in our business,� Mr. Lipton said.   

Daniel J. Sullivan, President and Chief Executive Officer of FedEx Ground and also a member of the Task Force, said the firm�s location near the airport helped it grow from its founding in 1985 to a business that had $2.7 billion in revenue last year and now employs more than 2,000 in the region.  �Our businesses are proof of what a tremendous development magnet this area can be,� Mr. Sullivan said.  �But without adequate infrastructure investment and more of the modern, ready-to-go industrial sites that companies require in today�s global economy, we will be unable to capitalize on this opportunity.� 

Allegheny County and other counties in the region have created dozens of acres of new sites for businesses over the past several years and have achieved some important successes, said Allegheny County Chief Executive Jim Roddey, a member of the Task Force.  �We need to think even bigger if we�re going to achieve our full potential,� he said.  �We need to begin now to prepare hundreds of acres of sites, in multiple locations, configured for businesses with different kinds of needs.  This will require significant investments in infrastructure such as roads and water and sewer lines, as well as the cooperation of municipalities and regulatory agencies.  But the payoff over the next decade will be tremendous.� 

Ronnie L. Bryant, President and Chief Operating Officer of the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance said, �The PRA aggressively markets airport-area sites in Allegheny, Washington and Beaver counties.  Numerous companies with which the PRA has worked have shown significant interest in locating near the Airport, but there are not currently enough quality sites available for many of these companies,� Mr. Bryant said. 

The Urban Land Institute panel praised the regional approach to planning for development in southwestern Pennsylvania, and encouraged that it continue in the airport market area.  More than 40 different government agencies, environmental groups, businesses, and economic development agencies took part in the planning and preparation for the ULI visit.  Municipal and school officials and residents from 22 different communities attended a series of meetings to discuss airport area development.   

�Never have so many people across so broad an area been focused on the single issue of bringing smart, responsible, quality development to the airport area,� said John Bevec, Chairman of the Washington County Commissioners and a member of the Task Force.  �This provides a model of how the region can work together on strategic regional projects.� 

�For too long the communities and counties in our region have been competing with each other for a limited set of development prospects,� said Dan Donatella, Chairman of the Beaver County Commissioners and a member of the Task Force.  �We need to join together to compete with other regions to attract new businesses and new jobs.�  Commissioner Donatella noted that counties across the region can benefit no matter where Airport-related development takes place.  �For example, nearly 40 percent of the USAirways employees based at Pittsburgh International Airport live in Beaver County, which makes it the largest private employer for Beaver County,� Commissioner Donatella said.  Airport-related developments could expect to draw workers from parts of six counties in southwestern Pennsylvania, as well as portions of Ohio and West Virginia, the Urban Land Institute panel said. 

Task Force members said that significant state and federal help would be needed to provide the resources necessary to move quickly on implementation.  �Over the past several years, thanks to all of the counties working together through the Southwestern Pennsylvania Growth Alliance, nearly two dozen sites and buildings suitable for businesses of all sizes have been created or expanded in all ten counties in the region,� said Butler County Commissioner James Kennedy, who also serves as Co-Chair of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Growth Alliance and Chairman of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission.  �Governor Ridge and Governor Schweiker have provided significant funding, but much more is needed to overcome years of underinvestment.  We believe that state government must take an even more aggressive, proactive role in financing infrastructure improvements needed for industrial sites and buildings if this region � and the state as a whole � is to reap the benefits of an improved business climate and not lose jobs to the rest of the country.  Similar help is needed from the federal government, for example, to extend water and sewer systems and highways needed for development.� 

The Airport Market Area Task Force is made up of business, labor, and government leaders particularly from Washington, Beaver, and Allegheny Counties.  It was initiated by Allegheny County Chief Executive Roddey, the Allegheny County Airport Authority, and the Allegheny Conference on Community Development in June to help accelerate development around Pittsburgh International Airport.  The Urban Land Institute study and the Task Force�s work are privately funded by local corporations and foundations through the Allegheny Conference on Community Development.

Task Force members said that they were briefed on the Urban Land Institute recommendations earlier in the day and would review them in more detail before crafting a specific plan of action.  A complete report of the ULI recommendations, which will be available to the public, is expected later in the fall.  

Eleven development experts from around the country were brought together by the Urban Land Institute at the request of the Airport Market Area Task Force to analyze development opportunities in the three-county area around Pittsburgh International Airport.  Panel members arrived on Sunday, Sept. 8, and spent the week touring the region, interviewing dozens of parties, and preparing their recommendations. 

The members of the Airport Market Area Task Force are: 

Edward A. Nicholson, Ph.D., President, Robert Morris University, Chairman
            John Bevec, Chairman, Washington County Board of Commissioners
            Kirby J. Campbell, Armstrong Group
            Dan Donatella, Chairman, Beaver County Board of Commissioners
            Chris Gleason, Gleason Agency
            Earl Hord, Allegheny County Airport Authority
            James L. Kennedy, Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission
            Jeffrey M. Lipton and Bill Brengel, NOVA Chemicals Corp.
            Glenn Mahone, Chairman, Allegheny County Airport Authority
            Theodore A. McConnell, Kirkpatrick & Lockhart
            Jim Roddey, Allegheny County Chief Executive
            Richard Shaw, Michael Baker Corp.
            Richard Stanizzo, Pittsburgh Building & Construction Trades Council
            Daniel J. Sullivan and Steve Taylor, FedEx Ground