Rich Fitzgerald has a new job once his term as Allegheny County executive ends.

The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission’s board of directors announced Thursday that Fitzgerald has been named the new executive director for SPC, which serves 10 counties around Pittsburgh including Indiana, Armstrong and Westmoreland.

SPC, the federally certified metropolitan planning organization and local development district serving the Pittsburgh region, said it was planning for the continued growth of the region.

“Thank you to the SPC and its board for this opportunity and thank you to Vince (Valdes) for his work to energize and elevate the organization during his tenure,” Fitzgerald said in a release issued by the commission.

Valdes is retiring at the end of this year.

“While I’ve always had a regional focus, I look forward to putting my skills and relationships to work for all 10 of our counties,” Fitzgerald continued. “Together, we will continue to concentrate on infrastructure, communication, economic development, workforce and quality of life issues for our region.”

Fitzgerald has served on the SPC’s executive committee, with such officials as Indiana County Commissioner Sherene Hess, Westmoreland County Commissioner Sean Kertes, and Armstrong County Commissioner Pat Fabian who is that committee’s vice chairman.

“The Board is grateful to Vincent Valdes for positioning SPC to be the region’s leading agent of support to local governments for transportation, broadband, and economic development,” said the chairman of the executive committee, Butler County Commissioner Leslie Osche. “He laid the groundwork for Mr. Fitzgerald to carry the Commission and our region to the next level. We are excited about the future of our region under Rich’s leadership.”

Fitzgerald will be welcomed as executive director of the commission when it meets on Dec. 11 at 4 p.m. at The Terminal in Pittsburgh’s Strip District.

The commission said Fitzgerald will lead a team of 50 staff members in seven departments, including economic and workforce development; transportation planning; strategic initiatives and policy; information and data; finance; human resources; and communications and public relations.

SPC acts as a cooperative forum for collaboration, planning, and decision-making.

An example of that is a year-long process of developing a Transportation Improvement Plan for the region, which began Oct. 26 in White Township, with the first of a series of public meetings, that were both a status update about the 2023-26 TIP and an introduction to what will become the 2025-28 TIP.

A countywide TIP meeting also was held earlier this month for Westmoreland County in Greensburg. Future meetings including sessions Thursday at the Middlesex Township Municipal Building in Valencia, Butler County, and Dec. 8 at Butler County Community College’s Ford City campus for Armstrong County.

SPC also covers Allegheny, Beaver, Fayette, Greene, Lawrence and Washington counties.

Fitzgerald’s new staff includes those who develop public investment plans and programs, and ensure that federal and state transportation requirements are being met.

Fitzgerald served three terms as Allegheny County executive, and will be succeeded by former state Rep. Sara Innamorato, D-Pittsburgh. He also previously served on the Allegheny County Council for 11 years, including being elected four times as council president.

Before his time in public service, Fitzgerald founded and ran a water treatment services and equipment company. He grew up in Pittsburgh’s Bloomfield-Garfield neighborhood before attending Carnegie Mellon University.

He and his wife live in the Squirrel Hill section of the city and are the parents of eight adult children.

Read the full article at indianagazette.com.

Outgoing Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald will join the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission as its new executive director early next year, officials announced Thursday.

Though he’ll no longer be an elected official, Fitzgerald will continue to promote the region in his next job.

Allegheny County and nine surrounding counties are part of the commission, which plans and prioritizes the use of state and federal transportation funding and establishes economic development priorities for the region. SPC is also a federally certified metropolitan planning organization and local development district.

Fitzgerald, who is term-limited, has served as county executive since 2012 and was a long-time member of county council prior to his election to the county’s top office. He will join SPC in January, after he departs the position.

“While I’ve always had a regional focus, I look forward to putting my skills and relationships to work for all 10 of our counties. Together, we will continue to concentrate on infrastructure, communication, economic development, workforce and quality of life issues for our region,” Fitzgerald said in a statement.

Fitzgerald was a member of SPC’s executive committee during his tenure as county executive.

He’ll oversee a staff of 50 in his new role and spearhead the group’s work improving infrastructure, communication, economic development and quality of life issues in the region.

SPC’s current executive director, Vincent Valdes will retire at the end of the year. Fitzgerald will begin his new role on Jan. 2, after his successor, Democrat Sara Innamorato, is sworn in as the next county executive.

View the full article at wesa.fm.

Outgoing Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald has found a new job that will keep him in the Pittsburgh region and have a similar role in guiding investment and economic policy.

Fitzgerald will be named the new executive director of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, the federally designated metropolitan planning organization in charge of guiding government investment for the 10-county region surrounding Pittsburgh. The SPC is in charge of planning and prioritizing the use of state and federal transportation funding and establishing economic development priorities for the region.

“While I’ve always had a regional focus, I look forward to putting my skills and relationships to work for all 10 of our counties,” said Fitzgerald in a statement. “Together, we will continue to concentrate on infrastructure, communication, economic development, workforce and quality of life issues for our region.”

Fitzgerald has served as Allegheny County executive for 12 years. During that time, he has touted his success in growing the county’s rainy day fund, keeping taxes stable and boosting large infrastructure projects such as the $1.5 billion upgrade to the Pittsburgh International Airport.

He will lead a team of 50 staff members, who will focus on economic development, transportation and workforce development.

Fitzgerald is taking over for Vincent Valdes, who has headed the SPC since 2020.

Leslie Osche, SPC’s board chair and Butler County commissioner, said the board sought to attract a candidate who understood the region’s needs and had a track record of growth and leadership. She said Fitzgerald fit that role perfectly.

“We interviewed a diverse group of candidates from the region and beyond,” Osche said. “Rich Fitzgerald certainly exceeded the board’s robust qualifications and competencies.”

A Bloomfield native who graduated from Carnegie Mellon University, Fitzgerald now lives in Squirrel Hill. He served on Allegheny County Council for 11 years before being elected executive.

View the full article at triblive.com.

Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald has a new job lined up after he leaves office in January.

Fitzgerald was named the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission’s new executive director, the board announced on Thursday.

The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission is a federally certified metropolitan planning organization and local development district that serves 10 counties in the Pittsburgh area and plans for the continued growth of the region.

As the executive director, the commission says Fitzgerald will lead 50 staff members in seven departments like economic and workforce development, transportation planning and strategic initiatives and policy.

Fitzgerald has been Allegheny County executive since 2012 but is term limited. He also served on county council for 11 years, and before that, the Carnegie Mellon graduate ran a water treatment services and equipment company.

The commission’s current executive director, Vincent Valdes, will retire at the end of the year.

“Thank you to the SPC and its board for this opportunity and thank you to Vince for his work to energize and elevate the organization during his tenure,” Fitzgerald said in a news release. “While I’ve always had a regional focus, I look forward to putting my skills and relationships to work for all 10 of our counties. Together, we will continue to concentrate on infrastructure, communication, economic development, workforce and quality of life issues for our region.”  

Fitzgerald will start his new job on Jan. 2. Sara Innamorato will take over as county executive.

The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission serves Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Washington and Westmoreland counties as well as the city of Pittsburgh.

View the full article at cbsnews.com.

The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission has named Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald as its new executive director.

According to SPC, the organization serves ten counties in southwestern Pennsylvania and plans for the continued growth of the region.

“Thank you to the SPC and its board for this opportunity and thank you to Vince for his work to energize and elevate the organization during his tenure,” said Fitzgerald. “While I’ve always had a regional focus, I look forward to putting my skills and relationships to work for all 10 of our counties. Together, we will continue to concentrate on infrastructure, communication, economic development, workforce and quality of life issues for our region.”

The organization has seven departments total, including economic and workforce development; transportation planning; strategic initiatives and policy; information and data; finance; human resources; and communications and public relations. Its staff members develop public investment plans and programs and ensure that federal and state transportation requirements are being met.

“The Board is grateful to Vincent Valdes for positioning SPC to be the region’s leading agent of support to local governments for transportation, broadband, and economic development,” said Leslie Osche, SPC’s Board Chair and Butler County Commissioner. “He laid the groundwork for Mr. Fitzgerald to carry the Commission and our region to the next level. We are excited about the future of our region under Rich’s leadership.”

In his new role, Fitzgerald will lead a team of 50 people, according to SPC.

“The Board had several objectives when we launched the search process: to attract a candidate that intrinsically understood this region’s unique needs and characteristics, had a track record of leadership and growth cultivation, and would build upon the current strength, talent, and consistency of the SPC staff,” said Osche. “We interviewed a diverse group of candidates from the region and beyond. Rich Fitzgerald certainly exceeded the Board’s robust qualifications and competencies.”

Fitzgerald will assume the executive director role on Jan. 2, when his tenure as Allegheny County Executive ends.

View the full article at wpxi.com.

Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald will switch his office from one historic building to another in January.

Fitzgerald, who will be leaving elected office at the iconic Allegheny County Courthouse due to term limits, will move to The Terminal complex in the Strip District as the new president and CEO of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission. Fitzgerald has served on the board of the 10-county regional planning agency during his 12 years as county executive, including as the board president for a two-year term that ended in 2021.

The agency moved its headquarters to the remodeled produce terminal building earlier this year to become one of the anchor tenants for the project.

Fitzgerald will replace Vincent Valdes, who is retiring at the end of the year after leading the agency since June 2020. Under federal law, the agency plays a key role in setting regional priorities for transportation projects that receive federal funding.

In addition, SPC is involved in broadband development, water and sewer issues, and economic development.

In an interview, Fitzgerald stressed that his role as head of SPC, where he will carry out policy set by the board, will be different from his county executive role, where he sets policy for the county. Additionally, he will lead a staff of about 50 at SPC concentrating mostly on transportation and development issues in the region rather than a billion-dollar county budget that oversees thousands of employees in diverse areas such as public works, human services, the court system and jail, the airport authority, public transit and economic development.

“It’s a good way to transition,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s certainly a different type of role. When this opened up, I thought it was an opportunity to use the skills I developed over the years to do good work for the 10-county region.

“I’m very fortunate and grateful for the opportunity.”

Fitzgerald said he always has tried to take a regional approach as county executive, noting his strong support for development of the Shell Polymers Monaca plant in neighboring Beaver County’s Potter Township. He said will do everything he can to make sure the agency is meeting the needs of not only the urban and suburban communities in Allegheny, Butler, Washington and Westmoreland counties but also the more rural areas such as Armstrong, Beaver, Fayette, Indiana, Greene and Lawrence counties.

That was the goal for Valdes as well, but he took office just as the pandemic began and didn’t get an extended opportunity to travel to all the counties as much as he would have liked because of the two-year health emergency, Fitzgerald said.

“We have to find out how to build on the assets each community has,” he said. “You couldn’t put a hydrogen hub in Lawrenceville, but you can put robotics there, and you can put a hub in Fayette or Greene County. Each place has a different role.”

Fitzgerald also noted that this is an opportune time to be involved in regional planning because of the massive amount of federal funding available in a variety of areas through the Biden administration’s infrastructure and economic stimulus efforts. He’s hopeful that the contacts and relationships he has built as county executive will pay off for the region when communities apply for their share of billions in discretionary federal funding.

In a news release announcing Fitzgerald’s appointment, Butler County Commissioner and SPC board chairwoman Leslie Osche said the board considered “a diverse group of candidates from the region and beyond” before choosing Fitzgerald.

“The board had several objectives when we launched the search process: to attract a candidate that intrinsically understood this region’s unique needs and characteristics, had a track record of leadership and growth cultivation, and would build upon the current strength, talent and consistency of the SPC staff,” said Osche. “… Rich Fitzgerald certainly exceeded the board’s robust qualifications and competencies.”

Before Fitzgerald became county executive, he spent 11 years as a county councilman, including eight years as council president. He previously founded and operated a water treatment services and equipment company.

Valdes, came to SPC after spending 20 years with the Federal Transit Administration, where he rose to associate administrator in the Office of Research, Demonstration and Innovation. The agency announced in its fall newsletter that he would retire at the end of the year to spend more time with his four grown children and extended family in Norfolk, Virginia.

“Leading SPC has been one of the highlights of my career,” Valdes said in the newsletter. “I’ve been fortunate to work alongside talented and dedicated professionals, and I know that the hard work this team does each and every single day positively impacts our local communities.”

View the full article at unionprogress.com.

Outgoing Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald has been tapped to lead the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, an obscure government cooperative of 10 counties and the City of Pittsburgh that helps funnel state and federal dollars to projects in the region.

The commission announced Mr. Fitzgerald’s hiring on Thursday. A term-limited Democrat who has served 12 years in Allegheny County’s top elected position, he’ll begin his new job in January once he leaves office. After more than two decades as an Allegheny County official — he was previously on County Council — he will lead a commission that helps direct state and federal transportation and economic development funding throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania.

“Thank you to the SPC and its board for this opportunity and thank you to Vince for his work to energize and elevate the organization during his tenure,” Mr. Fitzgerald said in a statement, referring to outgoing executive director Vincent Valdes. “While I’ve always had a regional focus, I look forward to putting my skills and relationships to work for all 10 of our counties. Together, we will continue to concentrate on infrastructure, communication, economic development, workforce and quality of life issues for our region.”

Mr. Fitzgerald has already long served on the commission’s executive committee in his capacity as Allegheny County’s leader, including a stint as chairman. The executive committee includes elected officials from around the 10 counties that the commission serves.

He will oversee about 50 employees in his new role, the commission said. He will replace Mr. Valdes, who has served as the commission’s executive director since June 2020. Leslie Osche, chair of the commission and the Butler County Board of Commissioners, said a thorough search process was conducted for Mr. Valdes’ replacement.

“The Board had several objectives when we launched the search process: to attract a candidate that intrinsically understood this region’s unique needs and characteristics, had a track record of leadership and growth cultivation, and would build upon the current strength, talent, and consistency of the SPC staff,” Ms. Osche said in a statement. “We interviewed a diverse group of candidates from the region and beyond. Rich Fitzgerald certainly exceeded the Board’s robust qualifications and competencies.”

Caitlin O’Connor, a commission spokeswoman, said the search process started months ago, not long after Mr. Valdes told the commission’s board in June that he wanted to retire at the end of 2023. Multiple finalists from more than a dozen initial applicants were interviewed in multiple rounds, she said.

View the full article at dailyitem.com.

Outgoing Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald is taking a post-public service retirement off the table.

Fitzgerald, who has been in the county executive role for 12 years, or three straight terms — the limit for the position — will end his tenure at the start of January 2024 with the inauguration of Allegheny County Executive-elect Sara Innamorato, but according to an announcement made on Thursday, he has already landed a new role for when his term officially ends.

Starting on Jan. 2, 2024, Fitzgerald will serve as the new executive director of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, the federally certified metropolitan planning organization and local development district that serves 10 counties in the region. The organization’s current executive director, Vincent Valdez, will be retiring at the end of the year.

“Thank you to the SPC and its board for this opportunity and thank you to Vince for his work to energize and elevate the organization during his tenure,” Fitzgerald said in a release. “While I’ve always had a regional focus, I look forward to putting my skills and relationships to work for all 10 of our counties. Together, we will continue to concentrate on infrastructure, communication, economic development, workforce and quality of life issues for our region.”

In his role, Fitzgerald will lead SPC’s staff of 50 across seven different focus areas: Economic and workforce development, transportation planning, strategic initiatives and policy, information and data, finance, human resources, and communications and public relations. SPC noted Fitzgerald’s accomplishments and work to grow and diversify the region’s economy, invest in transportation and infrastructure and improve public services during his time as county executive, as well as his 11 years spent on the county council.

“The Board had several objectives when we launched the search process: To attract a candidate that intrinsically understood this region’s unique needs and characteristics, had a track record of leadership and growth cultivation, and would build upon the current strength, talent and consistency of the SPC staff,” Leslie Osche, SPC’s board chair and Butler County Commissioner, said in a release. “We interviewed a diverse group of candidates from the region and beyond. Rich Fitzgerald certainly exceeded the Board’s robust qualifications and competencies.”

View the full article at bizjournals.com.

The road map for transportation projects over the next few years will focus on local bridges, according to a proposed long-term infrastructure plan.

While state and county-owned bridges have been getting a lot of attention in recent years, officials with the state Department of Transportation and Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission said they’re now moving forward with upgrades to lesser-traveled municipal-owned spans in the region.

PennDOT and SPC officials held a public meeting at Courthouse Square in Washington on Tuesday in which they unveiled the upcoming Transportation Improvement Program, or TIP, which offers a road map for future projects and how they will be funded. The four-year plans are adjusted every two years, and the SPC is now preparing to put the finishing touches on its 2025-28 plan with the expectation that its board will approve it in June.

“It’s a work in progress at the moment,” said Domenic D’Andrea, who is the SPC’s director of transportation and planning. “It’s a living, breathing document.”

But it also offers a set of priorities moving forward. In the upcoming TIP under consideration, locally owned bridges will be a focus of the infrastructure upgrades. That’s because while about 10% of state-maintained bridges are considered to be in poor condition, the number of local bridges that are rated poor is around 25%, according to D’Andrea.

Out of the $1.9 billion for major road projects in the region through the 2023 TIP, about 43% of it is earmarked for bridges.

“You’re going to see a lot of bridge preservation projects … and bigger projects,” said Angela Swallop Saunders, who is PennDOT District 12’s transportation planning manager. “We’re making a rather large investment in bridges.”

In addition to helping preserve municipal-owned bridges, she said PennDOT will also educate local leaders on how to maintain them so they can continue to be used for years to come, she said.

For more information on the next four-year TIP plan or to offer feedback about the plans, go to SPC’s website at www.spcregion.org and click on the “Get Involved!” tab.

View the full article at observer-reporter.com

Allegheny Health Network and Highmark Health announced plans Wednesday to build a new $232 million hospital in Washington County to replace Canonsburg Hospital.

The approximately 300,000-square-foot, all-private-room hospital will be built on AHN Canonsburg ‘s existing campus in North Strabane Township.

Construction of AHN’s state-of-the-art, 50- to 100-bed Canonsburg facility is expected to begin in 2024 and will open in 2027.

Additional facilities, including a medical office building and a potential future cancer center, are planned for the campus.

AHN Canonsburg was established in 1904 and has operated at the current Medical Boulevard location since 1983.

“We’re just really excited. It’s been a long time coming,” said Dr. Chong S. Park, president of Canonsburg Hospital. “I think this is going to be fantastic. The current Canonsburg Hospital is an aging building; there’s not a lot of space, and it’s unable to accommodate the new technologies like CTs and MRIs, which are getting bigger, not smaller. The network decided in order to provide what we need to provide to the community, we need a new building.”

The new hospital will provide an array of advanced clinical services, including primary, emergency, and critical care; state-of-the-art surgical capabilities; advanced cardiac, orthopedic, and neurosurgical care; and various multi-disciplinary programs, including women’s health.

“This hospital will have all the bells and whistles, but more important is there will be a medical office building, which I think is fundamental to people in the area. It’s sort of a one-stop shop, and it will have all of the basic things a community would need.”

AHN President Jim Benedict said the health system is excited to provide a “beautiful, modern campus that will enable us to better meet the diverse health-care needs of the community and advance our living health model.

“Our goal is to provide enhanced access to a much broader array of integrated, high-quality, comprehensive clinical programs that will enable more patients to stay close to home for the services they need,” Benedict said.

Washington County’s population, now approximately 210,000, has experienced minimal to moderate growth over the past decade. But the communities around Canonsburg – including Cecil Township (12%), Chartiers Township (10%), North Strabane Township (8%) and Peters Township (4%) – have experienced considerably more growth, with continued population gains expected in the coming decade, according to projections from the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission.

“Building the hospital now is quite timely. We’ll be able to take care of our people now, and be able to accommodate the future, which is key,” said Park.

Canonsburg Hospital’s service area also is home to approximately 115,000 Highmark members.

The new AHN Canonsburg Hospital is expected to create hundreds of additional permanent health care jobs when it’s complete, along with hundreds of construction jobs. Currently, there are approximately 400 employees at AHN Canonsburg, all of whom will be tracked to the same roles at the new facility.

“Designing an exceptional clinical environment for our physicians, nurses and other caregivers is essential to providing the best possible experience for our patients,” said Dr. Donald Whiting, Chief Medical Officer at AHN. “As with all of our new facilities in recent years, we look forward to our caregivers playing a key role in helping us determine the look, feel and functionality of this new hospital to help us fulfill that promise.”

Over the past five years, AHN and Highmark Health have significantly increased the reach of its services throughout the Western Pennsylvania region, including five new hospitals, six new cancer centers, five Health and Wellness Pavilions and other outpatient facilities, major emergency department expansions at three hospitals, significant expansion of women’s health services and facilities, and other technological and infrastructure upgrades.

The current hospital will operate during construction of the new facility. Once the new hospital is constructed, the current building will be torn down.

View the full article at heraldstandard.com