Peer exchanges can provide wonderful opportunities to see, hear, and experience how other cities and regions are addressing issues affecting all of us. Are they able to turn around economies or neighborhoods impacted by external threats? Who are the partners they are collaborating with to address major regional challenges? How are they funding their efforts? How successful have they been? What ideas and practices can be applied or adapted here in Southeast Michigan?
I had the privilege of visiting Pittsburgh in July for a peer exchange thanks to The City Institute and sponsored by Michigan native Dug Song and Song United and the Heinz Endowments in Pittsburgh.
I traveled with a diverse group of community and economic development leaders from the Detroit region who are working to further develop a dynamic, vibrant and resilient economy for Southeast Michigan. Our region’s representatives came from our universities; city and county; founders and foundations, and nonprofits. What all of us share is a focus on improving quality of life in our region.
Jeanette Pierce of the City Institute expertly curated the tour and provided participants with an opportunity to see how Pittsburgh is addressing complex challenges and opportunities facing many Midwest communities. Our group work in different aspects of community and economic development, this tour was an excellent opportunity to learn more about immensely relevant issues beyond our own day-to-day work.
On the first day, the theme was Investing in Art, Culture, and Public Space. We heard from Mayor Corey O’Connor, who talked about the city’s priorities in the arts and culture; housing and transit; and workforce development.
The mayor sees homeownership as a way of building generational wealth and is supporting quality of life improvements to keep people and businesses in the City. His office also makes 10 cold calls to city businesses every day to ensure they see the City as a partner.
We visited Downtown Pittsburgh to see new parks and meeting spaces. One of the newest transformative projects is Arts Landing, a four-acre outdoor civic space that drew inspiration from Detroit’s Campus Martius Park, featuring a children’s park, festivals, and concerts.
We also visited the Warhol Museum and the Heinz History Center, which is a celebration of the industrial history of Pittsburgh. Shusheela Nermani- Stanger, CEO of the Urban Redevelopment Authority – the City’s redevelopment wing, and Andrew Masich, the dynamic CEO of the Heinz History Center told us about Pittsburgh’s redevelopment priorities and the role of strong arts and culture. It has more than 500 arts and culture organizations, many of which are supported by the Heinz Endowments. Its focus is on supporting creative places, cultural organizations, and artists.
Investing In Innovation
The theme for our second day was Investing in Innovation. This is the foundation of Pittsburgh’s economic growth, with support from the foundation community including the Heinz Endowments, Richard Mellon Foundation, the Hillman Family Foundations, and the Pittsburgh Foundation; federal government including the Department of Defense and National Science Foundation; and anchor universities – Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), and the University of Pittsburgh – both located within the city. The universities have led the city’s transition from a steel industry to cutting edge research and commercialization in Robotics, AI, advanced manufacturing, biotech, and therapeutics.
We started the day with breakfast with Leaders from foundations and government. Chris DeCardy, President of Heinz Endowments who is a recent transplant to Pittsburgh. He spoke about the critical importance of technology and the leadership of CMU and the University of Pittsburgh in robotics as well as Heinz’s focus on building “trust-based relationships” through connections to the community. He described this as learning to “fish together” to create an ecosystem for transformation of culture and placemaking.
Alleghany County Executive Sarah Innamorato emphasized building trust with residents by engaging residents and focusing on programs that increase shared prosperity, not just growth, because “because growth is not always fair.”
We had the opportunity to see a couple of Pittsburgh’s regional assets when we toured the National Robotics Engineering Center, and Mill 19 – a former steel mill that has been transformed into a 265,000 square foot innovation and research complex in a formerly distressed neighborhood. It houses the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Institute (ARM), the Manufacturing Futures Institute and Robotics Innovation Center.
We met with organizations, researchers and founders working on building technologies to advance manufacturing, defense, cybersecurity, and public safety, as well as organizations developing tools for training the future workforce. We also met CHIMP (CMU Highly Intelligent Mobile Platform) a human-scale disaster-response robot.
Our third day focused on Investing in People and Neighborhoods. We visited three neighborhoods. The Hill District – home of the New Granada Theater – is where the Hill District CDC, led by President and CEO Marimba Millones is redeveloping a 100-year-old theater into a cultural anchor for the community. The redeveloped space will feature a theater and ballroom along with 10,000 square feet of space for the University of Pittsburgh’s Community Engagement Center. It will provide space and learning opportunities for youth and adults in both the neighborhood and broader community. We also met with Pam Lewis with the Hillman Family Foundation (formerly with the New Economy Initiative in Detroit). Catapult Greater Pittsburgh, a nonprofit based in the East Liberty neighborhood that is funded by several foundations including Hillman, told us about their services, which include “trauma -informed and person-centered support to entrepreneurs through business coaching, education and resources to help them test their business models in a supportive environment as well as financial education and housing support to help grow economic mobility.”
With so many experiences squeezed into three days, it took a few weeks to evaluate my main takeaways. Here is my list:
Unexpected Connections
The number of people we encountered who are from Detroit and now living and contributing to Pittsburgh was a surprise. Former Detroiters are working at foundations, universities, and art institutions. There are different reasons why they moved, including new opportunities and research, but all have good memories of their time in Detroit. While there are broad similarities between the two cities involving the restructuring of each region’s main industries and population decline over time, Pittsburgh began diversifying long before Detroit because the decline in the steel industry happened more suddenly.
Investing in Community and Place
It was energizing and affirming to hear from inspiring speakers about resilience, community, business engagement and support, and the importance of inclusion and place. Foundations have played a big part of the revitalization of Pittsburgh and its neighborhoods through support for nonprofits and partnerships with universities to grow research, improve public places, and provide new opportunities. The Heinz Endowments’ focus is on growing an “exemplary, sustainable Pittsburgh region where everyone prospers and belongs.”
I also really enjoyed attending the annual Pickle Festival which took place during our visit. How can you not be impressed by a massive pickle supporting one of the oldest industries in the city?
I felt like I learned a lot from this exchange, and it also reinforced much of my past experience in community and economic development.
First, community and economic development are team sports. Success depends on having the right team with the right skills and resources driven by a vision to address individual, community, and regional challenges. Team members may vary in the focus of their projects or initiatives, but no one entity can do it alone.
Secondly, economic development is changing. While infrastructure and jobs remain critical, modern economic development also prioritizes people and workforce development by building ecosystems and engaging or re-engaging non-traditional or new partners.
Third, development depends on building trust. This came up so many times during the tour. It is about ensuring that everyone is moving in the same direction even when not everything they want is covered. Trust ensures that partners put their support behind a project because they see themselves in the vision and are confident, they will benefit. Trust is the foundation of future collaboration.
Time Well Spent
Visiting and meeting people in Pittsburgh was valuable and educational, and just as valuable was the chance to establish stronger ties among the Detroiters in our group. Detroit has many of the types of organizations we met with in Pittsburgh, and they are doing amazing work to revitalize the city while investing in long-term prosperity for individuals, communities, and the region. We too have world-class universities; incubators, foundations, and nonprofits supporting research, entrepreneurs, and placemaking; and local and county governments creating an environment to support small businesses and improve quality of life for residents.
Some of us had connections with a few of our fellow participants before the trip, and we were all familiar with just about all the organizations represented for the important work they do in Southeast Michigan. The experience of traveling together through the city in a small bus provided all of us with opportunities to discuss the role our organizations have in making our region a better place for all. These connections are the beginning of friendships and ultimately partnerships. I encourage everyone to take advantage of peer exchanges when possible, particularly when they are supported by tremendous partners. Thank you to the City Institute, the Song Foundation, the Heinz Endowment, and everyone who welcomed us to Pittsburgh for enabling this exchange.
Leave a Reply