The economy of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is diversified, focused on services, medicine, higher education, tourism, banking, corporate headquarters and high technology. Once the center of the American steel industry, and still known as "The Steel City", today the city of Pittsburgh has no steel mills within its limits, though Pittsburgh-based companies such as US Steel, Ampco Pittsburgh and Allegheny Technologies own several working mills in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area.
Pittsburgh was chosen for the 2009 G-20 summit as its transformation is an example of a 21st-century economy. On September 8, 2009, President Barack Obama stated, "Pittsburgh stands as a bold example of how to create new jobs and industries while transitioning to a 21st century economy." [1]
On the list of best cities for job growth in 2009, created by Tara Weiss, a writer for Forbes magazine, Pittsburgh secured its spot because of its strength in the health care and education industries with healthy foundations in technology or robotics and banking industries. [2] The 2009 list of all cities places Pittsburgh as the 169th-best city for job growth. [3]
Pittsburgh has also ranked in the top five most livable cities in four of the seven multi-year rankings of Places Rated Almanac (1983, 1985, 1989, and 2007). [4]
During the mid-18th century, the economy of the Pittsburgh region was focused on agriculture and trade. After the American Revolutionary War, the government placed a tax on whiskey in order to pay off national debt. In 1794, the Whiskey Rebellion occurred in Pittsburgh and was the first challenge to the government.“The fledgling Federal government had decided to levy its first tax against whiskey, but the farmers argued they didn't have cash to pay taxes on bartered goods, and marched in protest. Washington had to send troops to squelch the protest and enforce the tax laws.” [5]
During the 18th century, large coal deposits were discovered throughout Pittsburgh. Mount Washington, originally called "Coal Hill", the “most valuable deposit of bituminous coal in the entire United States, was discovered there in 1760”. [6] Along with the natural resources of the area, Pittsburgh was located at the intersection of the Monongahela, Ohio, and Allegheny Rivers, that is, along the major trade routes of the United States, thus making Pittsburgh "one of the world's leading industrial powerhouses".
“The first and largest industry emerging in the 1800s was boat building—both flatboats to transport waves of pioneers and goods downriver, and keelboats, which a strong crew could propel upstream as well.” [5] The second biggest industry in the region was glass production. The first glass factory was built in 1795 by James O'Hara and Isaac Craig. [5]
Pittsburgh’s wealthiest industrialists during the 19th century all lived in a single neighborhood known as East Liberty. The major list of industrialists includes H. J. Heinz, George Westinghouse, Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Mellon, Andrew Mellon, Henry Clay Frick and Philander Knox. All of these men shared similar ideas in the system of capitalism and utilized their skills to net the world’s highest income per capita during the 19th century in this single neighborhood. [7] Andrew Carnegie was also known as a philanthropist to the region. “In 1889 he wrote "The Gospel of Wealth", in which he asserted that all personal wealth beyond that required to supply the needs of one's family should be regarded as a trust fund to be administered for the benefit of the community”. [8] Subsequently, the Carnegie Library, which is free to the public, opened in Pittsburgh in 1890 and is still open presently. [9] Overall, Carnegie donated over $350 million for the establishment of organizations that benefit the public. [8] Wealthy industrialists founded the Duquesne Club in 1873 and the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce in 1874. The Pittsburgh Stock Exchange was also formed in 1864 as the "Oil Exchange" before becoming the "Coal Exchange" in 1870 and then back to the "Oil Exchange" in 1878 until opening for all general stocks by 1894. The stock exchange closed its Fourth Avenue "financial district" doors in August 1974 after computerization had consolidated trades in New York, Chicago and other global centers but not before a 1966 response from the New York Stock Exchange board of possibly relocating their trading floor to the city's facilities. [10]
Railroad networks reached the Pittsburgh area in the mid-19th century. The Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad opened in 1851, which allowed passengers to travel through Allegheny and New Brighton while the Pennsylvania Railroad established "Pittsburgh service" as close as Turtle Creek from their Philadelphia hub that same year. A year later, in 1852, the Pennsylvania Railroad was completed to Downtown Pittsburgh. In 1856, the Allegheny Valley Railroad was built. [9] [11] Andrew Carnegie was one of the first to capitalize on the railways; in 1865 he founded the Pittsburgh Locomotive and Car Works which would be an industry leader from the city until 1919.
In 1892, the economy of Pittsburgh faced the Homestead Strike between the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers and the Carnegie Steel Company. After the workers' previous wage contract expired in 1892, and a new negotiation was not reached, a violent conflict ensued leaving several dead and wounded. Ultimately, The Carnegie Steel company won and had avoided union formation in Pittsburgh. [12]
After Carnegie Steel was reorganized as U.S. Steel in 1901, it and J&L Steel dominated the local economy. Several secondary players contributed to the capacity of the metro area such as Cyclops Steel in Bridgeville, Pennsylvania from 1908 until 1987, Mesta Machinery in West Homestead, Pennsylvania from 1898 until 1983, Dravo Corporation at Neville Island, Pennsylvania until 1984, [13] National Steel Corporation until 1992, Wean United as an independent until 1993 (still maintaining US headquarters in the city), Harbison Walker Refactories as an independent until 1967 (while still maintaining US headquarters in the city) and the still operational Allegheny Technologies and Ampco Pittsburgh. Bethlehem Steel, Republic Steel and LTV Steel also had large local operations. Other major mills of the area included:
Carnegie's Union Railroad was founded in 1894 and is still in operation serving area steel mills.
In the early 20th century the economy of Pittsburgh was primarily driven by the steel industry and the city had reached a population 321,616. [28] Throughout this period, Pittsburgh would see a spike in population and a slow decline at the end of the century. At one point Pittsburgh was the eighth-largest city in America.[ citation needed ] In 1901, The Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers organized a general strike against the U.S. Steel Corporation subsidiaries, the first strike since 1892. [29]
A 1903 Pittsburgh Press front page highlighted the city's being a focus point for three different railroads. [30] In 1911 the city was being referred to as the "Stogie capital of the nation" with several high quality cigar manufacturers located in the region. [31]
Pittsburgh produced around one third of the national output of steel by the 1920s. During this period Pittsburgh was home to the world's largest tube and pipe mill, structural steel plant, rail mill, wire manufacturing plant, bridge and construction fabricating plant. [32] "Boat building and metal industries were later the economic base of the region. When coke from coal began to replace charcoal from wood in iron and steel making Pittsburgh grew up as the heart of the industry. A plentiful supply of bituminous coal underlies the Pittsburgh area." [33] Around forty percent of the nation's coal was obtained from within 100 miles of Pittsburgh. [32]
Due to the reforms of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, steel unions gained success in Pittsburgh. The Wagner Act of 1935 gave employees rights to self-organize in labor unions and made it unlawful for employers to prevent or interfere with such unions. [34]
By the 1950s industrial leaders worked with regional government leaders to foster and retain more local industry; organizations such as the RIDC were formed to further this goal. [35] [36]
However, in the early to mid-1980s the steel industry collapsed, leaving half of the nation's steelworkers unemployed. [37] "The number of steel workers in the Pittsburgh area dropped from 90,000 in 1980 to 44,000 in just four years". [38]
Motor Coils manufacturing company of suburban Forest Hills and Braddock has been a leading supplier to American railroads since 1957. [39]
Pittsburgh was a major center for advertising and public relations firms in the 20th century such as Ketchum and Burson-Marsteller. [40]
Retail chains such as G. C. Murphy, Thrift Drug, Thorofare, Fisher's Big Wheel and Giant Eagle were founded in the early part of the 20th century with Phar-Mor dominating local retail from the 1980s to the 2000s. Thorofare ceased operations in 1982 and Thrift Drug was bought out by Eckerd in 1996. Local stores of Loblaws closed in 1958, Kroger in 1966 (although it retains stores in nearby West Virginia counties) and A&P in 1972. [41] IGA closed its area stores in the early 2000s. [42]
Within the transitional years between 1970 and 1990, Pittsburgh's Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area saw shifts in its main employers, which were the manufacturing sector. In 1970, one out of every three jobs was in the manufacturing sector. By 1980 this had slipped to one in four. In 1980, the average production worker in manufacturing was making $360.89 weekly, which was almost $70 more than the state and national average. During this period the largest group of occupational employment was blue collar. This group in 1980 accounted for almost 68 percent of the jobs market. In the 1980s, a decline in the manufacturing industry was expected. The accepted trend was that Pittsburgh would embrace “industrial robots”. Since 1955 Pittsburgh has seen a steady decline in manufacturing employment. In 1955 Pittsburgh had a population of 41.8 percent in the manufactory business. In 1980 that number had slipped to almost 25.3 percent. [43]
Allegheny County is the center for health care and higher education employment. Higher education and health care were the biggest creators of high-wage[ clarification needed ] jobs in the Pittsburgh region between 1999 and 2005. Education accounts for almost 80% of high-wage jobs in Allegheny County. The Pittsburgh area has seen growth in other sectors as well. Professional services, finance and wholesale trade were among the growing sectors. However, much of this growth was outside the borders of Allegheny County. This was detrimental to the county of Allegheny; however, the growth in the outer nine counties helped to stabilize the loss of employment. With big events happening in Pittsburgh throughout the late 2000s, the tourism industry has flourished. The industry has created over 11,000 new jobs in the area, some 6,000 of them within Allegheny County. [44]
Pittsburgh has long been a major finance and banking center. [45]
Since 2009 Pittsburgh has hosted the annual DUG East Conference. [46] [47]
The following is a list of the top ten private employers in Pittsburgh. [49]
Rank | Employer | Number of Pittsburgh employees | Product(s) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | University of Pittsburgh Medical Center | 40,600 | Health care |
2 | University of Pittsburgh | 12,600 | Higher education |
3 | PNC Financial Services | 9,200 | Financial services |
4 | Allegheny Health Network | 8,900 | Health care |
5 | Giant Eagle | 8,000 | Supermarkets |
6 | Bank of New York Mellon | 7,610 | Financial services |
7 | Highmark | 5,270 | Health insurance |
8 | U.S. Steel | 4,700 | Steel manufacturing |
9 | Carnegie Mellon University | 4,600 | Higher education |
10 | Verizon Communications | 3,750 | Telecommunications |
Pittsburgh saw fewer effects of the 2008 economic recession than many other American cities. The city's transition from heavy dependence on the manufacturing industries to an economy based on health services, education, and innovative technologies kept Pittsburgh from the worst of the recession. The housing industry never saw the over-inflation rates other regions were dealing with as housing prices rose two percent in the last quarter of 2008, while other cities in the nation saw a much higher decline percentage. [50] In the period between 2006 and 2011, the Pittsburgh MSA experienced over 10% appreciation in housing prices—the highest appreciation out of the largest 25 MSAs in the United States. 22 of the top 25 MSAs saw a depreciation of housing values during the same period. [51]
Several national or global non-profits call Pittsburgh home including:
The shifting economy of Pittsburgh has seen changes since the 1990s; these are primarily in banking, health care and technology. However, In December 2004, Pittsburgh was forced into an Act 47 because the finances in the city were down. In January 2003 Pittsburgh's unemployment rate reached 6.8%, but has seen a major decline in, as in April 2005 the rates were near only 4.8%. [55] Since one in every five jobs in Pittsburgh lies within the health care service, Pittsburgh was able to hold steady during the recent economic downturn. [56] [57] During this, the city also began to see growth in other occupations such as the business service and construction. The business service sectors in 2008 saw an increase of over 3,000 jobs. During the downturn, Pittsburgh still developed many parts of the city creating over 1,000 construction jobs in the region. [58]
Pittsburgh has established itself as a technology hub with such companies as Google, Apple Inc., Intel, Uber, Facebook and RAND establishing campuses in the city. The Pittsburgh Technology Center, Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center and Pittsburgh LAN Coalition also develop major innovations.[ citation needed ]
Companies such as Duolingo, Petrosoft, Modcloth, Guru.com, Songwhale and others have global headquarters in the city. The Crons company designs motivational athletic apparel. [59]
Pittsburgh was chosen to hold the 2009 G-20 summit for multiple reasons. Pittsburgh utilizes its past by building on previous successes in manufacturing, business services, and green energy. "Pittsburgh manufacturers employ almost 100,000 workers and the region is the second-largest market in the United States for metals industry employment." [60] Pittsburgh is also home to some of the world's largest business and financial services, which supply the greatest amount to the regional economic output. In the past, innovation in energy has been advanced through commercialization of oil, coal, and natural gas. More focus and attention is being given to the innovation in sustainability and efficiency while protecting the environment as Pittsburgh has more than 30 LEED certified buildings. [60]
The State of Pennsylvania requires every county to develop a land use and growth management plan. Allegheny Places is the plan for Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. It was adopted in November 2008 and is a “unique blueprint for a sustainable future envisioned by the citizens of the County”. [61] The plan has a steering committee with over 100 members, an advisory committee with over 400 members, and a sounding board. The plan advocates a future in which:
The economic development plan includes enterprise zones, research and technology developments, development of research parks, such as the University of Pittsburgh Applied Research Center, partnerships with economic development organizations, and venture capital initiatives.
An Urban Enterprise Zone is a location within the inner city free from import duties, taxes, and some government regulations. [63] Studies of enterprise zones have shown increased job growth and investment. In the majority of studies, there is an apparent relationship between the creation of enterprise zones and increased economic activity in the zones. The zones also show economic activity not typical of the surrounding metropolitan area. [64] However, success is often questionable and subject to local conditions. [65] Allegheny County has 26 enterprise zones, in which 17 are in the City of Pittsburgh. [62]
The research and technology sector is growing due to the local universities, medical centers, the technology cluster, and the provision of financial capital to fund its development. These attributes provide the specific infrastructure required of sought-after industries. [62] Therefore, this could attract business to the region and sustain or expand existing firms, which should result in a net increase in total jobs. However, this type of development is still fairly new, which means it is difficult to draw any noteworthy conclusions about its potential. Also, the presence of universities provides the context for university-industry technology transfers, which is the effective movement of technology to industry via students trained in detailed programs to meet the detailed wants of the industry. [66]
According to a 2014 report published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, Pittsburgh is the second-best American city for intergenerational economic mobility; [67] in other words, Pittsburgh is the second best city to achieve the American Dream. [68]
As of early 2013 the largest property managers in the Pittsburgh area included CBRE Group, [69] Oxford Development, [70] RIDC [71] and Jones Lang Lasalle. [72]
On August 13, 2013, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that the H. J. Heinz Company would lay off 350 office employees who work in the Pittsburgh area. After the layoff, the company will still have approximately 800 employees in the Pittsburgh area. [73]
Work is underway for an innovation roadmap for the city. [74]
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Maryland to its south, West Virginia to its southwest, Ohio and the Ohio River to its west, Lake Erie and New York to its north, the Delaware River and New Jersey to its east, and the Canadian province of Ontario to its northwest via Lake Erie.
Pittsburgh is a city in and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the second-most populous city in Pennsylvania, after Philadelphia, and the 68th-most populous city in the U.S., with a population of 302,971 as of the 2020 census. The city is located in southwestern Pennsylvania at the confluence of the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River, which combine to form the Ohio River. It anchors the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, which had a population of 2.457 million residents and is the largest metro area in both the Ohio Valley and Appalachia, the second-largest in Pennsylvania, and the 26th-largest in the U.S. Pittsburgh is the principal city of the greater Pittsburgh–Weirton–Steubenville combined statistical area which includes parts of Ohio and West Virginia.
Allegheny County is a county in Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,250,578, making it the state's second-most populous county, after Philadelphia County. Its county seat and most populous city is Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's second most populous city. The county is part of the Greater Pittsburgh region of the commonwealth, and is the center of the Pittsburgh media market.
Gilpin Township is a Second class Township in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is a township rich in history, dating back to early 19th-century settlement. Officially incorporated on December 26, 1878, it evolved from an agricultural and timber-based economy to an industrial hub, supported by its abundant natural resources—including coal, salt, timber, natural gas, and sand—and its strategic location along the Allegheny and Kiskiminetas Rivers. These rivers not only fostered trade and transportation but also enabled Gilpin’s transformation into a manufacturing center. The township includes various communities—Bagdad, Johnetta, Schenley, Georgetown, Banfield, Forks Church, Aladdin, and Maher Heights—each contributing uniquely to its development and legacy. As of the 2020 Census, its population was 2,411.
The history of Pittsburgh began with centuries of Native American civilization in the modern Pittsburgh region, known as Jaödeogë’ in the Seneca language. Eventually, European explorers encountered the strategic confluence where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers meet to form the Ohio, which leads to the Mississippi River. The area became a battleground when France and Great Britain fought for control in the 1750s. When the British were victorious, the French ceded control of territories east of the Mississippi.
U.S. Steel, or United States Steel Corporation, is an American steel company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production facilities in the U.S. and Central Europe.
The North Side is the region of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, located to the north of the Allegheny River and the Ohio River.
Downtown Pittsburgh, colloquially referred to as the Golden Triangle, and officially the Central Business District, is the urban downtown center of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located at the confluence of the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River whose joining forms the Ohio River. The triangle is bounded by the two rivers.
Western Pennsylvania is a region in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania encompassing the western half of the state. Pittsburgh is the region's principal city, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic and cultural center. Erie, Altoona, and Johnstown are its other metropolitan centers. As of the 2010 census, Western Pennsylvania's total population is nearly 4 million.
The Columbia Rolling Mill, an iron and steel works, operated in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, from 1887 to 1895. In 1895 it was sold to Andrew Carnegie, who moved the mill to Homestead, Pennsylvania. The mill was Uniontown's largest industry in the early 1890s.
The economy of West Virginia nominally would be the 62nd largest economy globally behind Iraq and ahead of Croatia according to 2009 World Bank projections, and the 64th largest behind Iraq and ahead of Libya according to 2009 International Monetary Fund projections. The state has a projected nominal GDP of $63.34 billion in 2009 according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis report of November 2010, and a real GDP of $55.04 billion. The real GDP growth of the state in 2009 of .7% was the 7th best in the country. West Virginia's economy accelerated in 2014 with a growth rate of 5.1%, ranking third among the fastest growing states in the United States alongside Wyoming and just behind North Dakota and Texas. In 2021, the state GDP was $72.48 billion, an increase over $69.71 billion in 2021.
Greater Pittsburgh is the metropolitan area surrounding the city of Pittsburgh in Western Pennsylvania, United States. The region includes Allegheny County, Pittsburgh's urban core county and economic hub, and seven adjacent Pennsylvania counties: Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Lawrence, Washington, and Westmoreland in Western Pennsylvania, which constitutes the Pittsburgh, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area MSA as defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.
Union Railroad is a Class III switching railroad located in Allegheny County in Western Pennsylvania. The company is owned by Transtar, Inc., which is a subsidiary of Fortress Transportation and Infrastructure Investors, after being acquired from U.S. Steel in 2021. The railroad's primary customers are the three plants of the USS Mon Valley Works, the USS Edgar Thomson Steel Works, the USS Irvin Plant and the USS Clairton Coke Works.
The Pittsburgh City-County Building is the seat of government for the City of Pittsburgh, and houses both city and Allegheny County offices. It is located in Downtown Pittsburgh at 414 Grant Street. Built from 1915 to 1917 it is the third seat of government of Pittsburgh. Today the building is occupied mostly by Pittsburgh offices with Allegheny County located in adjacent county facilities. It also contains a courtroom used for the Pittsburgh sessions of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.
Erie, Pennsylvania is the Commonwealth's primary access point to Lake Erie, the Great Lakes, and the Saint Lawrence Seaway. The city developed first as a maritime center after the American Revolution, as a railroad hub during the great American westward expansion, and as an important manufacturing center during the Industrial Revolution. By the 21st century, electric locomotive building is all that remains of big industry, but smaller-scale steel and plastics manufacturers, as well as health care, insurance, tourism and recreation have emerged as Erie's new diverse mix of key industries.
The Allegheny Conference on Community Development is a nonprofit, private sector leadership organization dedicated to economic development and quality of life issues for a 10-county region in southwestern Pennsylvania, United States centered around the largest city in the region, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Mine 3 was a station on the Port Authority of Allegheny County's light rail network, located in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. The small station was located directly adjacent to an industrial park and was designed mainly to provide access for workers at the associated businesses.
The Regional Industrial Development Corporation of Southwestern Pennsylvania—known colloquially as the RIDC—is a privately funded non-profit serving the Pittsburgh metropolitan area to focus on a regional approach to economic development primarily through managing and rehabilitating area research and business parks for modern tenants. The RIDC was formed on August 8, 1955, as a non-profit corporation after area business, corporate, government and labor leaders supported a central agency responsible for developing and coordinating efforts to create new employment and economic diversity. As of March 2013 it is listed as the third largest commercial property manager in metropolitan Pittsburgh with 7,400,000 gross leasable square feet, behind only Oxford Development and CBRE Group while surpassing Jones Lang LaSalle.
The Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce is a Pittsburgh area non-profit that promotes business and community development throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania.
Angel G. Jordan was a Spanish-born American electronics and computer engineer known as the founder of the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) and co-founder of the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and served on its faculty for 55 years, since 2003 as Emeritus. He was instrumental in the formation of the School of Computer Science (SCS) at Carnegie Mellon. He has made contributions to technology transfer and institutional development. He served as Dean of Carnegie Mellon College of Engineering and later as the provost of Carnegie Mellon University.
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