[PITTSBURGH – May 5, 2014] – The Pittsburgh Regional Alliance (PRA) has been named one of the U.S.'s top 10 economic development organizations for 2013 – and the only such group in the Northeast U.S. – by Site Selection, a publication specializing in corporate real estate strategy and economic development. This recognition is based on the PRA's performance in 2013 measured against a range of criteria in four objective categories: new jobs, new jobs per 10,000 residents, new investment amount and new investment per 10,000 residents.

"The Pittsburgh Regional Alliance has once again demonstrated that it is a best-in-class economic development organization," said Ron Starner, executive vice president of Conway Data Inc and Site Selection. "By securing a massive amount of new jobs and capital investment in 2013, the PRA has solidly placed itself in the top 10 performing groups in the U.S. It's no stranger to this elite-level ranking."

The 2013 recognition marks the sixth time in the last seven years that the PRA made Site Selection's "top groups" list. The PRA is one of only three economic development organizations in the country that have made the list five times between 2008 and 2013, along with World Business Chicago and the Greater Houston Partnership.

An affiliate of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, one of the country's premier civic leadership organizations, the PRA is the 10-county Pittsburgh region's public-private economic development partnership. It markets the benefits of conducting business in southwestern Pennsylvania to companies worldwide that are growing, relocating or expanding, in addition to supporting the growth of existing regional employers.

In March, the PRA released its own annual inventory of the comprehensive, region-wide economic development deals or "wins" announced during 2013. This inventory is complementary to Site Selection's criteria for its top economic development organizations. In 2013, economic development deals were up 12 percent in the Pittsburgh region over the previous year. These deals represent capital investment of $2.4 billion – the seventh consecutive year that the amount associated with announced investment and development projects exceeded $1 billion.

"The world is taking notice of what's happening here," said PRA President Dewitt Peart. "Pittsburgh, with its 'comeback economy' – balanced, diverse and innovation-driven – is landing deals: 302 of them in 2013, with the anticipation of some 7,000 new jobs to be created. Every year, hundreds of employers are investing in our region – expanding existing facilities and adding new ones. They are betting their companies' futures on southwestern Pennsylvania. That's a vote of confidence in the Pittsburgh region."

Site Selection, the official publication of the Industrial Asset Management Council, is published six times annually and distributed to over 44,000 executives responsible for site selection and facility planning decisions around the world.

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CONTACT: Phil Cynar, Pittsburgh Regional Alliance, 412-281-4783, ext. 4573; pcynar@pittsburghregion.org