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Tech Growth in Pittsburgh

By Audrey Russo, President and CEO of the Pittsburgh Technology Council

What I appreciate about our annual State of the Industry Report, is the three-year rolling compilation of the 13-county regional performance, at a macro level, which provides an understanding of levers and resulting impact.

And I can’t thank PWC enough for partnering with us on this fundamental data.

Building companies is not an annual measure. While it remains analytically delectable to uncover bite-sized nuggets of data which many can create causal conclusions, our community is more studious than that. We understand that it takes momentous efforts to obtain customer traction, ensure policy reflects movement and attraction, all while remembering that there are deep pockets of soil which have nurtured the ideas turning research into commercialization. It is not as simple, of course, but we know the secret ingredients of this recipe.

The growth of our region remains steady and not dramatic – definitely not explosive. The work of building businesses might seem alluring and even somewhat sexy, but I have the privilege of spending most of my time with leaders in our large multinational companies, as well as the incredible start-up founders who are working against every odd to solve, optimize and disrupt. Their work is arduous, often lonely, exhilarating and tedious.

Snapping quick photo ops or flash stories, does not reveal that tribulations of their work. Nor has the last 20 months of this pandemic paired with the impact of failing to attract diverse talent, who now live anywhere, sometimes not here. As well as those who live in southwestern Pennsylvania and work elsewhere. We are experiencing the great inflection of work. It is damn exciting, but crucially nerve wracking as we all plug through the protocols, new rules and unspoken truths. Democratization of work, which has inverted the age-old hierarchy, touches us all.

Meanwhile, Allegheny County has grown 2% over the last decade. The city of Pittsburgh has seen an exodus of almost 10,000 black citizens and an increase in ethnic representation, reflecting 75% Caucasian compared with 80%, a decade ago. Small changes. We are trying to address what has been keeping us at this slow pace.

I can tell you that the team members at the Tech Council are passionate about changing this narrative, which we are doing via our nonprofit Fortyx80 and our technology apprenticeship program Apprenti PGH. It is deliberate work pressing us to become more intentional, more proactive and, to tell you the truth, more excited. Excited about tomorrow, opening our ears and eyes, listening to hard things and rising up to be counted on being part of the solution.

Back to the State of the Industry Report (you will see the data inside this issue). We have to thank and scream from the rooftops CMU, University of Pittsburgh and companies who were awarded SBIRs and STTRs! Without them…who would we be when it comes to company formation? Our urban/regional colleges, universities and technical schools fuel the talent who work at these nascent and new anchor titans. But without the research, the faculty and the entrepreneurial support for their work (which includes public policy, talent attraction and development and business connections), what would our region be in 2021?

IPOs, SPACs, venture funds and angels with newfound wealth, are finally reinvesting en masse. It is palpable, as well as material. We are attracting angels from outside of the region. Our obligation is to ensure that these companies find it easy to build and develop and test here. It is incumbent upon each of us to connect, buy, engage and provide access to those who don’t have pathways; to open up our own contacts and provide the tapestry that makes this place a destination for life, work and play, whatever order.