Pittsburgh is receiving no less than three Top 10 American Cities of the Future awards from
fDi (
Foreign Direct Investment) magazine and
fDi Intelligence, a unit of the London, U.K.-based
Financial Times Ltd. It recognized regional strengths in economic potential, human capital and lifestyle and foreign direct investment strategy. The awards will be presented at the International Economic Development Council’s (IEDC) 2015 Conference, Oct. 4-7 in Anchorage, AK.
fDi Intelligence selected its 2015/16 American Cities of the Future through a rigorous market research process. In total, 421 locations were analyzed for the study, and then data were collected for these locations under five categories: economic potential, business friendliness, human capital and lifestyle, cost effectiveness and connectivity. Locations scored up to a maximum of 10 points for each data point, which were weighted by importance to the FDI decision-making process. Top 10 lists were created for each of the main categories for major, large, small and micro cities.
In addition, surveys were collected under a sixth category, FDI Strategy. This category is qualitative and does not feed into overall results. There were 105 submissions from locations detailing their strategy for promoting FDI, which were then scored by
fDi’s judging panel. Again, cities in the study were categorized according to population: micro, small, mid-sized, large and major.
Since 2000, Pittsburgh has made more than 200 ‘best’ lists including recognition by national and international publications for
most livable place.
Read
fDi’s report about the winners of the American Cities of the Future 2015/16.
Equity and Inclusion in a Global Economy
Now that we’ve got the world’s attention and as we become an even more significant player in the global economy, it’s critical to deliver after the “sale” by providing a welcoming, inclusive community. It’s no secret that our region lacks diversity,
something that will be critical to meeting our future workforce needs. The question is: what concrete actions can each of us take to do something about it?
Please mark your calendars for the third Corporate Equity and Inclusion Roundtable, Monday, June 22, 2015: breakfast from 7:30 to 8:15 a.m.; program from 8:15 to 11:45 a.m. at the Power Center Ballroom at Duquesne University.
The conference will offer concrete best practices from employers who are successfully building and retaining a more diverse workforce. I hope to see you there.
Stand Against Racism
The Allegheny Conference is also pleased to be among the members of the public-private partnership supporting the YWCA Greater Pittsburgh Stand Against Racism campaign at noon, Friday, April 24, 2015 on the Wood Street Corridor in Downtown Pittsburgh. Partners across sectors, including government, business, community agencies, police and academia, will stand together to showcase support for an inclusive Pittsburgh. You can find more information
here.
Transportation Forum
The Allegheny Conference and the American Society of Civil Engineers are among the sponsors of the "Transportation Matters" forum on Wednesday, May 13, from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. at Carnegie Mellon University, Porter Hall Room 100. Former Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell, co-chairman of Building America's Future, will deliver the keynote address. The forum will also feature a panel discussion including Kevin Acklin, chief of staff for Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, and Al Biehler, former PennDOT secretary and executive director of the University Transportation Center at CMU. Register to attend
here.
As always, thanks for your support of the Allegheny Conference and your commitment to our region.
Sincerely,
Dennis Yablonsky
CEO, Allegheny Conference on Community Development
P.S. Don’t miss Our Region’s Business on WPXI-TV Sundays at 11 a.m. The show airing this Sunday, April 26 focuses on acceleration – accelerating the growth of our regional economy by identifying and nurturing promising new companies – and fueling them with sufficient capital to get them going. Guests include Audrey Russo, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Technology Council; Mike Embrescia, founder and CEO of WorkDesq; Rich Lunak, president and CEO of Innovation Works; Lynette Horrell, managing partner of Ernst & Young; and Mont Handley, founder and CEO of PittMoss.
Now in its 11th year and hosted by our own Bill Flanagan, the 30-minute program is co-produced with WPXI-TV. Interviews from previous shows can be found here. The program is rebroadcast on PCNC-TV at 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Sundays, and at 3:30 p.m. Mondays.