The Appalachian Regional Commission awarded $68.2 million for 65 projects to aid economic revitalization in the U.S., including $18.5 million for programs in Pennsylvania to advance training for workers in robotics, advanced manufacturing and nursing.

The grants are through ARC’s Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization initiative, which is designed to improve job training and attract investment in Appalachian towns hurt by the downturn in the coal industry, including 52 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties.

This year’s POWER awards were the biggest for ARC since the program began in 2015, according to the Washington-based federal-state partnership that serves parts or all of 13 eastern states.

Gayle Manchin, ARC Federal Co-Chair and wife of Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, said rural Appalachia’s natural resources continue to power urban centers, even though coal mining collapsed in many small towns long ago, leaving them hollowed out and distressed. The Appalachian region continues to need financial support to reach competitive parity with the rest of the U.S., she said.

“We’re talking about communities that turned on the lights in the country and continue to keep the lights on,” she said at a Wednesday news conference at Mill 19 in Hazelwood, a sleek structural iron and glass reconstruction of a former coke-making complex.

“We are starting to see momentum. We’re starting to feel hope. We have to keep pushing.”

U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Lawrenceville, former Allegheny County Executive and current Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission executive director, Rich Fitzgerald, and Petra Mitchell, president and CEO of Catalyst Connection, were among the other speakers.

Mill 19-based private nonprofit Catalyst Connection received a $2 million grant from ARC to build a pipeline of qualified workers for advanced manufacturing opportunities in 12 counties in southwest Pennsylvania. Some 60 businesses and 400 workers are expected to benefit from the project.

The Jewish Healthcare Foundation, a Downtown-based nonprofit, received $1.9 million for a training program that is designed to expand the long-term care workforce in an industry that has been struggling since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic to find enough nurse aides and other workers. A total of 478 workers or trainees will benefit from the program.

Independence Health System’s Westmoreland Hospital in Greensburg will get $769,193 to expand nurse training programs in partnership with vocational and technical schools in Westmoreland and seven other counties. A total of 435 nursing students are expected to benefit from the program.

Pittsburgh Robotics Network, a Lawrenceville nonprofit that sponsors conferences, networking and recruiting events for the industry, will receive $750,000 to provide Allegheny and nine surrounding counties with workforce improvements that will expand job opportunities. Businesses, workers and students are expected to benefit from the project.

Other projects that received funding include:

• Saint Vincent College, $662,672 to fund medical equipment and other supplies needed in the college’s new bachelor’s degree nursing program.
• Indiana University of Pennsylvania, $452,326 to create opportunities for entrepreneurship in Erie and Crawford counties.
• Greene County Commissioners, $50,000 to develop an economic development strategy focused on attracting new businesses and workforce development in the county’s 26 municipalities.
• Downtown-based Center for Employment Opportunities, $50,000 to expand job readiness and skills training and opportunities for formerly incarcerated individuals in Allegheny County.
• University of Pittsburgh Office of Child Development, $49,751 to assess workforce training needs and improve literacy in Fayette County.

View the full article at post-gazette.com.

Our Executive Director, Rich Fitzgerald, returned for his weekly spot on KDKA radio with Larry Richert to talk regional news. Rich and Larry recapped the AI Horizons symposium which featured prominent tech companies, industry leaders, and elected officials. The event highlighted how Southwestern Pennsylvania is seizing this opportunity and becoming a national leader in this space. Additionally, Rich and Larry discussed the recent improvements to the region’s infrastructure.

If you missed the show, you can catch up here: https://www.audacy.com/podcast/the-big-k-morning-show-8dd79/episodes/an-hour-with-rich-fitzgerald-14df3

On Oct. 14, East Liberty’s Bakery Square played host to the very first AI Horizons Pittsburgh Summit, bringing together global and local experts on artificial intelligence to discuss the future of the sector, safety and regulation, its unique energy requirements, and how it will impact different sectors and our world as a whole.

The event drew about 650 attendees and included a full day’s worth of networking sessions, keynote addresses and panel discussions with an A-list lineup of speakers and more.

The main sponsors for the event were financial giant BNY and Google, whose Pittsburgh offices are Bakery Square’s anchor tenant. Christopher Martin, senior director of BNY’s AI Hub, said the company was “proud to be doing this here in Pittsburgh” and that “one of the reasons why we’re here at this event is to try to help tell [Pittsburgh’s] story.”

Other local big names involved in putting the event together were Carnegie Mellon University, Duolingo, BlueTree Allied Angels, PNC Financial Services Group Inc., the Jewish Healthcare Foundation, the Allegheny Conference on Community Development and Walnut Capital, the owner and developer of Bakery Square.

For the event, Walnut Capital and the AI Avenue Working Group converted a floor of Bakery Office 3 to serve as the primary location. The floor was adorned with “AI Horizons Pittsburgh Summit” branded materials — the wall was plastered with custom wallpaper, and water bottles were distributed with the branding directly on them. But despite the production value and lineup, the event was organized in less than six months.

“What I learned from AI Avenue Working Group was that we have to move fast, and we’ve got to plant the flag,” Joanna Doven, AI Avenue Working Group strategy consultant, said. “I did some traveling and saw what other cities were doing, and I thought, ‘wait, nobody has the world’s No. 1 AI school.’ Nobody has it, but we have it. … We have a governor that literally has the state’s first economic development strategy in [AI].”

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro was the keynote speaker, discussing government policy and its successes and shortcomings in utilizing and regulating AI technology. Shapiro also sat on a panel discussion with CMU President Farnam Jahanian and Cris Turner, global head of knowledge and information products at Google, moderated by former CNN Senior Tech Correspondent Laurie Segall.

Nvidia, a global leader in chipmaking, also had a presence at the event. Anthony Robbins, vice president, federal at Nvidia, was on hand to sign a formal memorandum recognizing Nvidia’s decision to invest in the Pittsburgh region and create its first ever AI Tech Community here in partnership with CMU and the University of Pittsburgh. Shane Shaneman, senior AI strategist, public sector at Nvidia, also was a speaker at the event.

Other prominent leaders in AI who spoke at the event included Zico Kolter, a board member at pioneering generative AI developer OpenAI and director of machine learning at CMU; Andrew Moore, CEO of national security startup Lovelace AI and former head of Google Cloud AI; and Stanford International AI Center Lab Director Karen Myers. Kolter and Myers both spoke on a panel discussing the balancing act of the benefits of AI with the potential dangers, including deepfakes and misinformation.

The event also brought together a litany of policymakers and policy experts, including former Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, Lieutenant Gov. Austin Davis and White House Apprenticeship Board Chair Rob Cherry. Policy focused panels dealt with national security, urban development and the significant amount of energy that AI technologies require.

View the full story at bizjournals.com.

Elected officials, business owners and residents from Verona and Oakmont gathered Sept. 27 to walk from the Off the Rails restaurant in Verona to College Avenue in Oakmont and back again for a Verona Borough walk audit.
 
Trish Hredzak, vice president of Verona council, set up the audit after there was some divide from residents and committee members about the VOPP Trail bike path planned at the intersection of Center Avenue and Allegheny River Boulevard and the viaduct connecting Oakmont to Verona. Despite discussions of rerouting the path, there are still issues with the viaduct that need to be solved, Hredzak said.

“Even if we reroute (the bike path), we can’t forget about the viaduct,” Hredzak said.
 
She said the council has received multiple complaints about the stretch of road, including the condition of its crosswalks, speeding motorists and safety concerns while walking along the road. The roadway was designed in the 1930s and changes from two lanes to five lanes and then back to two lanes in less than a mile.
 
Hredzak said she had multiple conversations with state Rep. Joe McAndrew, D-Penn Hills, through which the VOPP Trail will run. After a few conversations, she suggested the walk audit to get first-hand opinions from residents.
 
“We wanted to think of (solutions) from a non-motorist perspective,” Hredzak said.
 
The day of the walk audit, 50 people, including government officials, business owners, residents of Oakmont and Verona and Riverview students attended the event.
 
Officials included state Sen. Jay Costa, D-Forrest Hills, Allegheny County councilman Nick Futules, Riverview School District superintendent Neil English and McAndrew.
 
Attendees were split into four groups to make the almost mile-long trek. Some members of the group were given strollers, walkers, wheelchairs or canes to use during the walk to give an accurate perspective of what it would be like to walk with those additions.
 
Riverview student Eli DeVita, 18, pushed a stroller during the audit. He expressed how difficult it was for him to maneuver the stroller over cobblestones and around potholes while crossing the street. He said it was difficult to find a place to walk off the sidewalk onto the road to cross the street at Center and Allegheny River Boulevard without being placed in front of traffic.
 
“There’s some really strange geometry at Center and Allegheny River Boulevard,” said Craig Toocheck, an employee of Pittsburgh Regional Transit who attended the audit to discuss methods to make bus stops fit with crosswalk placements or edits in the borough.
 
DeVita was joined by classmates Renton Biondich, 17, and Cailey Trosch, 17. Trosch used a walker during the study and expressed the same difficulties as DeVita.
 
Hredzak said nine students attended the audit. Trosch said she and the other seniors attended the event for their civics class — for class they are required to attend a council meeting, but the walking audit counted as a replacement event.
 
Suzie Davis, 69, of Verona had complaints about how faded the crosswalks are on the road.
 
“My husband and I are crossing guards down here,” Davis said. “People don’t pay attention. They blow the red light on my husband (at the intersection of South Avenue and Allegheny River Boulevard) all the time. As a crossing guard, you see a lot.”
 
The group also discovered that some sidewalk ramps were pointed in the wrong direction for visually impaired people trying to cross the street safely.
 
During the walk, participants were asked to check off boxes for how easy the route was for walking and make suggestions for traffic deterrents such as on-street parking and mid-block crosswalks.
 
After the audit, Hredzak asked participants to fill out a survey to see what residents want prioritized.
 
“It’s always good to check in with your base,” Hredzak said.
 
Leann Chaney, senior active transportation planner with the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, helped Hredzak to organize the audit.
 
“Without (SPC’s) guidance, I would have no idea how to organize this,” Hredzak said. “Without them, it would not have been as well orchestrated.”
 
The results of the survey will be used in future road studies in the borough.

View the full story at triblive.com.

It was a historic moment for Pittsburgh’s Artificial Intelligence industry on Monday, as Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro signed a certificate that officially launched the first-ever NVIDIA AI Tech Community.

“We are profoundly grateful to NVIDIA for investing here and for showing the rest of the country what we already know about Pittsburgh.” Gov. Shapiro said.

NVIDIA, an AI company, is partnering with Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh to enhance the city’s innovation in robotics and artificial intelligence.

“I have for a long time been amazed at the talent that exists here in the commonwealth and here in Pittsburgh,” Anthony Robbins, vice president of NVIDIA, said.

The plan has CMU leading a center focused on robotics, autonomy, and AI, while the University of Pittsburgh will head a center for AI and intelligent systems.

“It’s momentum and a special kind of momentum that gives us so much optimism about what AI can do in this community,” Joan Gabel, a Chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh said.

Hundreds of technology experts listened as Artificial intelligence leaders laid out the roadmap of where AI could go.

“The impact of AI is so vast that in the next decade, it’s estimated to be about $50 trillion,” CMU President Farnham Jahanian said.

“Pittsburgh for our history has always been on the forefront of technology and new innovation,” former Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said.

“That’s where Pittsburgh can lean all the way in given all the elements you’ve got here on the stage and who you are as a people..you are problem solvers for the world,” Cris Turner from Google said.

“Pittsburgh has what is considered to be a global anomaly in terms of our ecosystem. Most cities don’t have over 125 robotics companies that operate in the city, that’s incredibly rare and that’s what makes us special.” Jennifer Apicella, the executive director of the Pittsburgh Robotics Network added.

View the full story at wpxi.com.

Artificial Intelligence is changing life as we know it, and it may be the key to the future of the Pittsburgh region.

On Monday, hundreds of tech leaders from around the country descended on Pittsburgh’s Bakery Square as organizers tried to unleash the potential of AI to transform the region’s economy.

“AI is going to be the future. It always will be,” Anthony Todora of Carnegie Robotics said. “Pittsburgh is going to be your East Coast Silicon Valley.”

Monday’s first-of-its-kind Pittsburgh summit brought together hundreds of AI leaders from around the country, linking upstart companies with computer scientists and roboticists from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh.

“We’re trying to make sure people know that you can build companies here in Pittsburgh. You don’t have to go to San Francisco or Boston or New York,” Hellbender CEO Brian Breyer said.

Companies like Hellbender, which makes devices like AI-enabled smart cameras that can scan people in a room and generate real-time data on each. It’s looking to double in the next year making those products here.

“Bring manufacturing and industry, not just software jobs, here into Bakery Square,” Breyer said.

Organizer Walnut Captial believes the region’s technological base, workforce and energy resources can provide the workers and the enormous power AI requires — the key ingredients to transform the regional economy.

“For folks in Beaver County and Washington County and Butler County, they’re going to be every bit as involved as people here in Bakery Square,” Rich Fitzgerald of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission said.

“I don’t think it is possible to quantify the potential,” Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said. “It is extraordinary.”

Pittsburgh lost out of computer chip manufacturing to Ohio and New York, but Governor Shapiro says that will change.

“We didn’t have an economic development strategy before I took over as governor,” he said. “Now, we have one for the first time in 20 years. One of the five pillars of opportunity is around AI and robotics.”

Organizers say the sky is the limit, but it won’t happen by itself. Startups say they need government help and incentives to transform the economy.

View the full story at cbsnews.com.

The Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority announced on Thursday that more than $1.2 million in grant funding has been awarded to German Township to bolster internet access within the community.
 
“This grant provides the township with an opportunity to make some municipal building upgrades, as well as provide a safe and secure location for people to come and use computers and have broadband access,” said township Supervisor L.C. Otto.

The $1,242,251 grant will be used to add a multipurpose community building to the township’s municipal complex that will serve as a hub for various civic activities and public services as well as provide more members of the community access to broadband internet.
 
“Broadband connectivity is such a critical need to succeed in life,” Otto said. “And everyone should be entitled to have connectivity in their homes, but in the meantime, until we can get that done, people will have a safe place they can come and use the internet locally.”
 
Along with a computer lab, Otto said the new facility will allow local community groups such as Scouts or church groups a space to conduct meetings. Additionally, there are plans to include spaces for the police department and sewage authority to provide a “convenient one-stop” location.
 
“Right now we’re in multiple locations, so it’s very inconvenient for our residents,” Otto said. “So now we’re going to have a location for the supervisors, water authority and police department to be in the same spot.”
 
Otto said the process of applying for the grant was a collaborative effort, stating state Rep. Charity Grimm Krupa and state Sen. Pat Stefano helped guide supervisors. Otto said Widmer Engineering in Connellsville and McMillen Engineering Uniontown were also instrumental in the efforts.
 
“It was definitely a team effort,” Otto said.
 
Access to reliable internet has been an issue for Fayette County. In 2022 the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission found that 7,100 households and businesses in the county had download speeds of less than 25 megabits per second (Mbps) compared to the average speed of about 242 Mbps.
 
“For far too long, rural Pennsylvania has been left behind when it comes to high-speed internet access,” Krupa said. “So many facets of our life work under a false assumption that everyone has broadband available at home. While we still have a long way to go, this project will give folks in German Township a reliable internet connection for whatever their needs may be.”

View the full story at heraldstandard.com.

Our Executive Director, Rich Fitzgerald, returned for his weekly spot on KDKA raduo with Larry Richert to talk regional news. On the show was Lt. Governor Aust Davis and well-known regional consultant, Joanna Doven to talk about upcoming AI Horizons symposium. This AI symposium is taking place on Monday, Oct. 14 and will feature companies, industry leaders, and elected officials. It will highlight Southwestern Pennsylvania is seizing this opportunity and becoming a national leader in this space.

If you missed the show, you can catch up here: https://bit.ly/3BDdg9k.

When he was named Point Park University president last year, Chris Brussalis touted his school’s potential to spark a “Downtown Renaissance 3” with targeted development including a new venue for sports and recreation.
 
On Thursday, Brussalis unveiled a sizable part of that vision for the Golden Triangle.
 
He and the Downtown university are proposing a 2,000-seat community events center estimated to cost $80 million to $100 million. It would accommodate entertainment events and the school’s burgeoning athletics program — all while giving students practical experience in putting on professional quality shows.

“I’m excited to unveil a conceptual rendering of something that could be transformative for our city,” Brussalis said during a panel discussion Thursday on development that was held in the Point Park Playhouse.
 
He told the audience that the attractive venue they were sitting in — developed by Point Park — epitomizes the school’s ability to take on large projects and succeed.
 
“You know, we have the only fully equipped soundstage in Downtown Pittsburgh,” he said. “Just last year, we had 324 events.
 
“Point Park students don’t just perform here. They immerse themselves daily in mastering the intricacies of both performing and managing a world-class entertainment hub,” he said. “Just a few years ago, this remarkable venue was merely a concept. Today, it stands as a centerpiece of Point Park’s commitment to arts education and innovation.”
 
Point Park is home to the nationally known Conservatory for the Performing Arts. Its athletics program is a provisional member of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) and the Mountain East Conference (MEC).
 
There is no established timetable to establish the center, university spokesman Lou Corsaro said.
 
“This was a call to action. We are looking for input and community support to build the momentum for it,” Corsaro said after the event. “We would still maintain our student center facilities.
 
“New space would be so we can play sports like basketball, volleyball, and wrestling in a facility with appropriate fan seating and athletics facilities.”
 
The president did not specify a potential site, though the university has real estate Downtown, including the former YMCA building along the Boulevard of the Allies and a nearby parking lot.
 
Corsaro said “community input and support may help guide the ultimate location. But it’s not locked into a specific site.”
 
Point Park, once a two-year business school, was founded in 1960 and has long promoted Downtown as its campus. But it has also sought to develop more of a physical campus by acquiring property and moving the Playhouse from Oakland to Downtown.
 
Brussalis assumed the presidency of the private 3,300-student school at a difficult time for higher education, with enrollment down nationally and growing skepticism of cost, student debt and the value of a bachelor’s degree. Shrinking numbers of high school age students are another woe.
 
A strategic plan that Brussalis and the university unveiled last October sought alternative routes to building enrollment.
 
Point Park wants to attract artists, single parents and retirees to live on its campus as part of an effort to reinvigorate Downtown Pittsburgh and add 30% to the school’s enrollment by decade’s end.
 
Thursday’s center announcement came as Point Park and Brussalis hosted a presentation and panel discussion of the final study on Downtown from the Urban Land Institute.
 
Panelists at the morning event were Rich Fitzgerald, executive director of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, and Audrey Russo, president and CEO and Pittsburgh Technology Council, among others.

View the full story at triblive.com.

Rich Fitzgerald joins Larry in the studio! Xochitl Torres Small, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, USDA calls in to talk with Larry and Rich about her visit/announcement to Jeanette later on in the morning. Jenna Cramer, President & CEO of Green Building Alliance, calls in to talk with Larry and Rich about the organization and its “Green Pathways” workforce development program.

View the full story at audacy.com.