SPC Announces Vincent Valdes as New Executive Director & President/CEO

Pittsburgh, PA—The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC) Board has selected Vincent Valdes, an engineer and planner, as the new President & CEO of the organization.

“We
are very excited for Vince to begin leading our regional planning and
transportation organization,” said County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, Chair of
the SPC Board. “His experience, enthusiasm, knowledge and background are
exactly what we need as we enter into a new era of transportation and economic
growth for the region.”

The search committee, chaired by Commissioner Larry Maggi, former SPC Chair and Washington County Commissioner, led this process with the help of search firm Krauthamer & Associates. The committee sought a dynamic and innovative leader who could manage a complex planning organization and who would be willing to roll up his or her sleeves to build, inspire and develop a regional plan to support this region’s growth.

“We
are extremely happy with our new choice for SPC. The SPC executive board did an
exhaustive application and interview process and unanimously agreed upon Mr.
Valdes,” said Maggi. “He has demonstrated from his experiences that he is very
capable to handle the current and new challenges that SPC faces. I believe our
organization will be in a good place with Mr. Valdes’ leadership.”

Since
April 2008, Valdes has served as the Associate Administrator for the Office of
Research, Demonstration and Innovation with the Federal Transit Administration
(FTA) of the U.S. Department of Transportation in Washington, D.C. In addition
to serving in previous roles with the FTA, Valdes was a lead planner with the
District of Columbia Office of Planning, and worked for organizations including
Inter-American Foundation, The World Bank, ICF Incorporated, and General
Dynamics, Northrop, and Pratt & Whitney. He holds a master’s degree in
Urban Planning from Columbia University and earned his bachelor’s degree in
aerospace engineering from Boston University.

“I
am immensely delighted to be joining the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission
at this pivotal moment in the region’s history,” said Valdes. “I look forward
to working with the board and each community to spur economic development
through collaborative planning and innovative investments in infrastructure and
transportation.”

SPC
acts as a cooperative forum for collaboration, planning and public
decision-making. SPC develops public investment plans and programs, ensures
that federal and state transportation requirements are being met and operates
with other local partners with the support and trust of the public.
Additionally, SPC serves as the Local Development District and Economic
Development District for southwestern Pennsylvania. In that role, SPC
establishes and puts forth the regional economic development priorities and
provides a wide range of local government assistance programs and public
services to the region.

The
board voted on Valdes’ hiring at its March 30, 2020 meeting. He is expected to
assume the new position on June 15, 2020.

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The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC)
is the region’s forum for collaboration, planning and public decision-making.
As the designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the ten-county
region including the City of Pittsburgh and the counties of Allegheny,
Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Washington, and
Westmoreland, SPC is responsible for planning and prioritizing the use of state
and federal transportation funds allocated to the region. As the Local
Development District (LDD) and Economic Development District for Southwestern
Pennsylvania (as designated by the U.S. Appalachian Regional Commission and the
U.S. Department of Commerce), SPC establishes regional economic development
priorities and provides a wide range of public services to the region.

COVID-19 Working Capital Loan program

UPDATE – Thank you very much for your interest in the PIDA CWCA Working Capital Loan Program. PIDA has informed SPC that their office has received 890 applications from across the Commonwealth, totaling $75.6 million in requested funds. As you may be aware, PIDA only had $61 million to disburse through the CWCA program. Therefore, PIDA is no longer accepting applications for the program at this time.

In the event that the program is reauthorized, and you have already submitted an application, SPC will continue to process your application at that time.

There are still funding options available through the federal government, and we have provided links to those programs below. We would encourage you to apply for federal funding through the appropriate agencies:

SBA Disaster Loan – https://disasterloan.sba.gov/

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Thank you for your interest in the PIDA COVID-19 Working Capital Loan program. Below, please find a PDF of the documents you will need to submit in order to apply for a PIDA COVID 19 Working Capital Loan. There are quite a few documents here, so we advise that you first read the document titled “PIDA COVID-19 Working Capital Loan Application Instructions,” as that lays out, in detail everything you need to submit in order to apply for PIDA’s new loan program.

Once you have compiled and completed all of the necessary information, please attach your application to ONE email, and send it back to me at smeredith@spcregion.org.

As SPC’s staff is in a work from home status right now, please also feel free to email me with any questions that you may have as you work your way through the documents.

Thank you,
SPC Business Finance Staff

Today is Census Day!

Now more than ever, it’s important to respond to the #2020Census and help shape the future of your community.

Respond online at  2020CENSUS.GOV

According to the U.S. Census Bureau: The results of the 2020 Census will help determine how hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funding flow into communities every year for the next decade. That funding shapes many different aspects of every community, no matter the size, no matter the location.

Think of your morning commute:
Census results influence highway planning and construction, as well as grants
for buses, subways, and other public transit systems.

Census results affect planning and funding for infrastructure—including programs for highway planning and construction, Section 8 housing, federal transit, community development, and rural water and waste disposal systems.

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Encourage
Others to Respond Today

Make sure your employees, customers,
partners, friends, family and social networks know about the importance of
responding to the census. Responding now will minimize the need to send census
takers out into communities to follow up.

• Download these pledge and challenge images, or create a custom image of your own, and share it with your network and followers.
• Post and share Census Bureau PSA videos. 
• Post a 2020 Census web badge on your website directing to 2020census.gov for response.
• Share this half-page handout with your email lists.

As of today, more than 36 percent of households across the country have already responded to the 2020 Census, but there is more work to do. Check out the Census Bureau’s Response Rates Map to see how your community is doing.

2020 Census Response Rate by Census Tract

Click here to view.

Map is updated each weekday with the latest Census self-response data