A new report from the Brookings Institutionsuggests Pittsburgh could recreate its heyday of steel, where it was an industry leader, around its current industries of tech and life sciences. But it will require a concerted effort across numerous sectors for the region to realize its potential as a global innovation city.
The report by the Bass Initiative on Innovation and Placemaking at Brookings was presented to an audience of local officials and business leaders at a conference in Pittsburgh last week. It was funded by the Heinz Endowments and the Henry L. Hillman Foundation, and took researchers about 18 months to prepare.
The conference was held at the Energy Innovation Center in Pittsburgh’s Hill District neighborhood, one of the most underprivileged areas of the city. Aside from the PPG Paints Arena, where the Penguins play hockey, there is little evidence in that neighborhood of the prosperity going on in other parts of Pittsburgh. The report outlined key steps for Pittsburgh to take to make the connections between the burgeoning robotics industry and life sciences companies and the larger workforce in Pittsburgh.
- Build and support Pittsburgh’s innovation clusters in advanced manufacturing, life sciences and autonomous systems.
- Define, grow and connect the Oakland Innovation District.
- Improve the pipeline of high-growth entrepreneurs.
- Create a talent alliance within the Oakland Innovation District.
In the final section of the report that looked to the future, the authors make reference to two Pittsburghs: One driven by university research and tech firms, and a larger one made up of families and workers in the low- and mid-level manufacturing jobs that continue to be a significant part of the Rust Belt workforce.
Unless these two connect, the current progress in Pittsburgh is not guaranteed to continue.
As the city’s population continues to shrink, Pittsburgh needs to act sooner than later to invest in its future, the report concludes. In an ideal future scenario, collaboration across sectors is critical to preventing the city and the region from becoming a “could have been.”