![My ountain View](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/My_ountain_View.jpeg)
The economy of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is diversified, focused on
services
Service may refer to:
Activities
* Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty
* Civil service, the body of employees of a government
* Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a p ...
,
medicine
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...
,
higher education
Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...
,
tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
,
banking
A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets.
Because ...
,
corporate headquarters
Corporate headquarters is the part of a corporate structure that deals with important tasks such as strategic planning, corporate communications, taxes, law, books of record, marketing, finance, human resources, and information technology. Corpor ...
and high
technology
Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...
. Once the center of the American
steel industry
Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...
, and still known as "
The Steel City", today the city of
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
has no
steel mills within its limits, though Pittsburgh-based companies such as
US Steel
United States Steel Corporation, more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an American integrated steel producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production operations primarily in the United States of America and in several countries ...
,
Ampco Pittsburgh and
Allegheny Technologies
ATI Inc. (previously Allegheny Technologies Incorporated) is an American producer of specialty materials, the company is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.
ATI produces titanium and titanium alloys, nickel-based alloys and superalloys, grain-or ...
own several working mills in the
Pittsburgh metropolitan area
Greater Pittsburgh is a populous region centered around its largest city and economic hub, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The region encompasses Pittsburgh's urban core county, Allegheny, and six adjacent Pennsylvania counties: Armstrong, Beaver, ...
.
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
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
stated, "Pittsburgh stands as a bold example of how to create new jobs and industries while transitioning to a 21st century economy."
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. The 2009 list of all cities places Pittsburgh as the 169th-best city for job growth.
Pittsburgh has also ranked in the top five
most livable cities
The world's most livable cities is an informal name given to any list of cities as they rank on an annual survey of living conditions. In addition to providing clean water, clean air, adequate food and shelter, a ‘livable’ city must also ge ...
in four of the seven multi-year rankings of ''Places Rated Almanac'' (1983, 1985, 1989, and 2007).
History
Early foundation
![Pittsburgh 1795 large](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Pittsburgh_1795_large.jpg)
During the mid-18th century, the economy of the Pittsburgh region was focused on agriculture and trade. After the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
, the government placed a tax on whiskey in order to pay off national debt. In 1794, the
Whiskey Rebellion
The Whiskey Rebellion (also known as the Whiskey Insurrection) was a violent tax protest in the United States beginning in 1791 and ending in 1794 during the presidency of George Washington. The so-called "whiskey tax" was the first tax impo ...
occurred in Pittsburgh and was the first challenge to the government.“The fledgling Federal government had decided to levy its first tax against
whiskey
Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden cask ...
, 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.”
During the 18th century, large coal deposits were discovered throughout Pittsburgh.
Mount Washington
Mount Washington is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States at and the most topographically prominent mountain east of the Mississippi River.
The mountain is notorious for its erratic weather. On the afternoon of April 12, 1934, ...
, originally called "Coal Hill", the “most valuable deposit of bituminous coal in the entire United States, was discovered there in 1760”. Along with the natural resources of the area, Pittsburgh was located at the intersection of the
Monongahela,
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
, 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.”
The second biggest industry in the region was
glass production
Glass production involves two main methods – the float glass process that produces sheet glass, and glassblowing that produces bottles and other containers. It has been done in a variety of ways during the history of glass.
Glass container ...
. The first glass factory was built in 1795 by James O'Hara and
Isaac Craig.
Nineteenth century
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
Henry John Heinz (October 11, 1844 – May 14, 1919) was an American entrepreneur of Palatine descent who, at the age of 25, co-founded a small horseradish concern in Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania. This business failed, but his second business exp ...
,
George Westinghouse
George Westinghouse Jr. (October 6, 1846 – March 12, 1914) was an American entrepreneur and engineer based in Pennsylvania who created the railway air brake and was a pioneer of the electrical industry, receiving his first patent at the age of ...
,
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans i ...
,
Thomas Mellon
Thomas Mellon (February 3, 1813 – February 3, 1908) was an American entrepreneur, lawyer, and judge, best known as the founder of Mellon Bank and patriarch of the Mellon family of Pittsburgh.
Early life
Mellon was born to farmers Andrew Mellon ...
,
Andrew Mellon
Andrew William Mellon (; March 24, 1855 – August 26, 1937), sometimes A. W. Mellon, was an American banker, businessman, industrialist, philanthropist, art collector, and politician. From the wealthy Mellon family of Pittsburgh, Pennsylva ...
,
Henry Clay Frick
Henry Clay Frick (December 19, 1849 – December 2, 1919) was an American industrialist, financier, and art patron. He founded the H. C. Frick & Company coke manufacturing company, was chairman of the Carnegie Steel Company, and played a major ...
and
Philander Knox
Philander Chase Knox (May 6, 1853October 12, 1921) was an American lawyer, bank director and politician. A member of the Republican Party, Knox served in the Cabinet of three different presidents and represented Pennsylvania in the United States ...
. All of these men shared similar ideas in the system of
capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...
and utilized their skills to net the world’s highest income per capita during the 19th century in this single neighborhood. Andrew Carnegie was also known as a
philanthropist
Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...
to the region. “In 1889 he wrote "
The Gospel of Wealth
"Wealth", more commonly known as "The Gospel of Wealth", is an article written by Andrew Carnegie in June of 1889 that describes the responsibility of philanthropy by the new upper class of self-made rich. The article was published in the ''N ...
", 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”.
Subsequently, the
Carnegie Library, which is free to the public, opened in Pittsburgh in 1890 and is still open presently.
Overall, Carnegie donated over $350 million for the establishment of organizations that benefit the public.
Wealthy industrialists founded the
Duquesne Club
The Duquesne Club is a private social club in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, founded in 1873.
History
The Duquesne Club was founded in 1873. Its first president was John H. Ricketson. The club's present home, a Romanesque structure designed by Lon ...
in 1873 and the
Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce
The Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce is a Pittsburgh area non-profit that promotes business and community development throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania.
Founded on December 5, 1874 the chamber received its charter on July 8, 1876 due to ...
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.
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
The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
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
Downtown Pittsburgh, colloquially referred to as the Golden Triangle, and officially the Central Business District, is the urban downtown center of Pittsburgh. It is located at the confluence of the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River whose ...
. In 1856, the
Allegheny Valley Railroad
The Allegheny Valley Railroad is a class III railroad that operates in Western Pennsylvania, and is owned by Carload Express, Carload Express, Inc.
AVR acts as a feeder line connecting its many and varied customers to Class I railroads such as ...
was built.
Andrew Carnegie was one of the first to capitalize on the railways; in 1865 he founded the
Pittsburgh Locomotive and Car Works
The Pittsburgh Locomotive and Car Works was a railroad equipment manufacturing company founded by Andrew Carnegie and T.N. Miller in 1865. It was located in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh and since 1907 part of that city.
It repa ...
which would be an industry leader from the city until 1919.
In 1892, the economy of Pittsburgh faced the
Homestead Strike
The Homestead strike, also known as the Homestead steel strike, Homestead massacre, or Battle of Homestead, was an industrial lockout and strike that began on July 1, 1892, culminating in a battle in which strikers defeated private security agent ...
between the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers and the
Carnegie Steel Company
Carnegie Steel Company was a steel-producing company primarily created by Andrew Carnegie and several close associates to manage businesses at steel mills in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area in the late 19th century. The company was forme ...
. 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.
Emergence of "Big Steel"
After Carnegie Steel was reorganized as
U.S. Steel
United States Steel Corporation, more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an American integrated steel producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production operations primarily in the United States of America and in severa ...
in 1901, it and
J&L Steel
The Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation began as the American Iron Company, founded in 1852 by Bernard Lauth and Benjamin Franklin Jones, a few miles (c 4 km) south of Pittsburgh along the Monongahela River. Lauth's interest was bought in ...
dominated the local economy. Several secondary players contributed to the capacity of the metro area such as
Cyclops Steel in
Bridgeville, Pennsylvania
Bridgeville is a borough in Allegheny County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The population was 4,804 at the 2020 census.
Geography
Bridgeville is located along Chartiers Creek, about southwest of downtown Pittsburgh at .
According to the ...
from 1908 until 1987,
Mesta Machinery
Mesta Machinery was a leading industrial machinery manufacturer based in the Pittsburgh area town of West Homestead, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1898 by George Mesta when he merged his machine shop with another. Mesta "machines" can be found ...
in
West Homestead, Pennsylvania
West Homestead is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, southeast of Pittsburgh, on the Monongahela River. Heavy industries associated with nearby steel mills existed here. Established were axle works, brickworks, and manufactories of mac ...
from 1898 until 1983,
Dravo Corporation Dravo Corporation was a shipbuilding company with shipyards in Pittsburgh and Wilmington, Delaware. It was founded by Frank and Ralph Dravo in Pittsburgh in 1891. The corporation went public in 1936 and in 1998 it was bought out by Carmeuse for $ ...
at
Neville Island, Pennsylvania
Neville Township is a township in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. Its land area consists entirely of Neville Island, which is an island on the Ohio River. The population was 1,084 at the 2010 census.
History
The island was former ...
until 1984,
National Steel Corporation
The National Steel Corporation (1929–2003) was a major American steel producer. It was founded in 1929 through a merger arranged by Weirton Steel with some properties of the Great Lakes Steel Corporation and M.A. Hanna Company with headquar ...
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
ATI Inc. (previously Allegheny Technologies Incorporated) is an American producer of specialty materials, the company is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.
ATI produces titanium and titanium alloys, nickel-based alloys and superalloys, grain-or ...
and
Ampco Pittsburgh.
Bethlehem Steel
The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For most of the 20th century, it was one of the world's largest steel producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its succe ...
,
Republic Steel
Republic Steel is an American steel manufacturer that was once the country's third largest steel producer. It was founded as the Republic Iron and Steel Company in Youngstown, Ohio in 1899. After rising to prominence during the early 20th Centu ...
and
LTV Steel also had large local operations. Other major mills of the area included:
*
McKeesport Tube Works 1872–1987
*
Edgar Thomson Steel Works The Edgar Thomson Steel Works is a steel mill in the Pittsburgh area communities of Braddock and North Braddock, Pennsylvania, United States. It has been active since 1875. It is currently owned by U.S. Steel and is known as Mon Valley Works – E ...
1873–present
*
Hays Army Ammunition Plant Hays Army Ammunition Plant was an , 1,650-employee foundry established in 1942 in the Hays neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At first it produced shells and breechblocks for the Navy. Though owned by the Army, the plant was operated by th ...
1942-June 1971
*
Clairton Steel Works April 21, 1903-1984
*
Duquesne Steel Works 1886 – October 1, 1984, employed as many as 9,000 persons in the 1940s.
*
Homestead Steel Works
Homestead Steel Works was a large steel works located on the Monongahela River at Homestead, Pennsylvania in the United States. The company developed in the nineteenth century as an extensive plant served by tributary coal and iron fields, a rai ...
1881-May 24, 1986
*
Carrie Furnace
Carrie Furnace is a former blast furnace located along the Monongahela River in the Pittsburgh area industrial town of Swissvale, Pennsylvania, and it had formed a part of the Homestead Steel Works. The Carrie Furnaces were built in 1884 and they ...
1884–1982
* Saxonburg Mill -1987
* Verona Mill April 4, 1905- (two 20-gross-ton Symthe acid open hearth furnaces) (14,400 tons annually)
*
Mon Valley Works – Irvin Plant 1938–present
* Midland Cyclops Steel Plant until October 15, 1982
*
McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania
McKees Rocks, also known as "The Rocks", is a borough in Allegheny County in western Pennsylvania, along the south bank of the Ohio River. The population was 5,920 at the time of the 2020 census. It is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. In ...
Wheel and Axel plant (Lockhart Iron and Steel and Pressed Steel Car Corp.) Pressed Steel had as many as 12,000 employees.
* Donora US Steel Wire mill -1966 4,500 employees
* Monessen American Chain & Cable -1972 1,000 employees.
* East Monongahela Liggett Spring & Axle -1978 350 employees.
* McKeesport Ft. Pitt Steel Casting -1978 325 employees.
* Hazelwood J&L Steel -1981 1,000 employees.
* Glassport Bucyrus-Erie -1981 430 employees.
* West Homestead Mesta Machinery -1981 300 employees.
* West Mifflin Continental Can -1982 265 employees.
* Alcoa's New Kensington works 1893-March 1971 at its peak employed 3,300 workers on 75 acres under 1 million square feet of manufacturing space.
[http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/Portal/Communities/BHP/MPDFs/Historic_Aluminum_Resources_of_Southwestern_PA.pdf ]
* Alcoa's Logan Ferry Powder Works 1918–?
* Alcoa's Coal Mine (north of New Kensington) 1918–1923
Carnegie's
Union Railroad was founded in 1894 and is still in operation serving area steel mills.
Twentieth century
![The blast furnaces and rolling mills of the Homestead Steel Works, by H](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/The_blast_furnaces_and_rolling_mills_of_the_Homestead_Steel_Works%2C_by_H.C._White_Co..jpg)
In the early 20th century the economy of Pittsburgh was primarily driven by the
steel
Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...
industry and the city had reached a population 321,616.
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.
In 1901, The Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers organized a general
strike
Strike may refer to:
People
* Strike (surname)
Physical confrontation or removal
*Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm
*Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...
against the
U.S. Steel Corporation
United States Steel Corporation, more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an American integrated steel producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production operations primarily in the United States of America and in several countries ...
subsidiaries, the first strike since 1892.
A 1903 ''Pittsburgh Press'' front page highlighted the city's being a focus point for three different railroads.
In 1911 the city was being referred to as the "Stogie capital of the nation" with several high quality
cigar
A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco leaves made to be smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct components: the filler, the binder l ...
manufacturers located in the region.
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.
[Watkins, Thayer]
"The History of the Economy of Pittsburgh"
/ref>
"Boat building and metal industries were later the economic base of the region. When coke from coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when dea ...
began to replace charcoal
Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, cal ...
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." Around forty percent of the nation's coal was obtained from within 100 miles of Pittsburgh.
Due to the reforms of Franklin Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
's New Deal
The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...
, steel unions gained success in Pittsburgh. The Wagner Act
The National Labor Relations Act of 1935, also known as the Wagner Act, is a foundational statute of United States labor law that guarantees the right of private sector employees to organize into trade unions, engage in collective bargaining, and ...
of 1935 gave employees rights to self-organize in labor unions
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
and made it unlawful for employers to prevent or interfere with such unions.
By the 1950s industrial leaders worked with regional government leaders to foster and retain more local industry; organizations such as the RIDC
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 primari ...
were formed to further this goal.
However, in the early to mid-1980s the steel industry collapsed, leaving half of the nation's steelworkers unemployed. "The number of steel workers in the Pittsburgh area dropped from 90,000 in 1980 to 44,000 in just four years".
Motor Coils manufacturing company of suburban Forest Hills and Braddock has been a leading supplier to American railroads since 1957.
Pittsburgh was a major center for advertising and public relations firms in the 20th century such as Ketchum Ketchum may refer to:
Towns, cities, and, geographic features
* Ketchum, Idaho, United States
* Ketchum, Oklahoma, United States
* Lake Ketchum, Washington, United States
* Ketchum Glacier, a glacier in Antarctica
* Ketchum Ridge, a large ridge i ...
and Burson-Marsteller
Burson Cohn & Wolfe is a multinational public relations and communications firm, headquartered in New York City. In February 2018, parent WPP Group PLC announced that it had merged its subsidiaries Cohn & Wolfe with Burson-Marsteller. The comb ...
.
Retail chains such as G. C. Murphy
G.C. Murphy was a chain of five and dime or variety stores in the United States from 1906 to 2002. They also operated Murphy's Mart (full scale discount stores), Bargain World (closeout merchandise), Terry & Ferris and Bruners (junior department ...
, Thrift Drug
Thrift Drug was a U.S. pharmacy chain founded in 1935 and based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The company was purchased by JCPenney in 1968, and was expanded greatly thereafter, serving as the flagship chain of JCPenney's pharmacy group. The cha ...
, Thorofare, Fisher's Big Wheel
Fishers Big Wheel, sometimes known as just Big Wheel, was a discount department store chain based in New Castle, Pennsylvania, United States. The company operated stores under the Fisher's Big Wheel and Buy Smart names. At its peak, the chain comp ...
and Giant Eagle
Giant Eagle, Inc. (Western Pennsylvania English: ) and stylized as giant eagle) is an American supermarket chain with stores in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, and Maryland. The company was founded in 1918 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylv ...
were founded in the early part of the 20th century with Phar-Mor
Phar-Mor (stylized as PHA℞-MOR) was a United States chain of discount drug stores, based in Youngstown, Ohio, and founded by Michael "Mickey" Monus and David Shapira in 1982. Some of its stores used the names Pharmhouse and Rx Place (purchas ...
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
Loblaws Inc. is a Canadian supermarket chain with stores located in the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan. Headquartered in Brampton, Ontario, Loblaws is a subsidiary of Loblaw Companies Limited, C ...
closed in 1958, Kroger
The Kroger Company, or simply Kroger, is an American retail company that operates (either directly or through its subsidiaries) supermarkets and multi-department stores throughout the United States.
Founded by Bernard Kroger in 1883 in Cincin ...
in 1966 (although it retains stores in nearby West Virginia counties) and A&P in 1972. IGA closed its area stores in the early 2000s.
Transition into the present economy
Within the transitional years between 1970 and 1990, the Pittsburgh SMSA 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.
Allegheny County is the center for health care and higher education employment. Higher education and health care were the biggest creators of high-wage 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.
Pittsburgh has long been a major finance and banking center.
Present situation
Since 2009 Pittsburgh has hosted the annual DUG East Conference.
The following is a list of the top ten private employers in Pittsburgh.
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. 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.
National non-profits
Several national or global non-profits call Pittsburgh home including:
* Learning Disabilities Association of America (since 1963)
* Institute for Research, Education and Training in Addictions
* National Center for Juvenile Justice (since 1973)
* Colcom Foundation (since 1996)
* Laurel Foundation Laurel Foundation is a private foundation based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It was established in 1951 by the late Cordelia Scaife May
Cordelia Scaife May (September 24, 1928 – January 26, 2005) was a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-area ...
(since 1951)
* Heinz Endowments The Heinz Endowments is one of the largest philanthropic organizations in the United States, and was formed with the combined support from two smaller, private foundations: the Howard Heinz Endowment and the Vira I. Heinz Endowment. It awards more t ...
* Printing Industries of America
Printing Industries of America was a nonprofit trade association which advocates for the United States printing industry.
It was the world’s largest graphic arts trade association, representing more than 6,500 member companies and an industry w ...
(since 2003)
Twenty-first-century progression
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%.
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. 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.
Technology industry
Pittsburgh has established itself as a technology hub with such companies as Google
Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
, Apple Inc.
Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...
, Intel
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...
, Uber
Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), based in San Francisco, provides mobility as a service, ride-hailing (allowing users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi), food delivery (Uber Eats and Postmates), package ...
, Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
and RAND
The RAND Corporation (from the phrase "research and development") is an American nonprofit global policy think tank created in 1948 by Douglas Aircraft Company to offer research and analysis to the United States Armed Forces. It is financed ...
establishing campuses in the city. The Pittsburgh Technology Center, Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center
The Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC) is a high performance computing and networking center founded in 1986 and one of the original five NSF Supercomputing Centers. and Pittsburgh LAN Coalition also develop major innovations.
Companies such as Argo AI
Argo AI was an autonomous driving technology company headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was co-founded in 2016 by Bryan Salesky and Peter Rander, veterans of the Google and Uber automated driving programs. Argo AI was an inde ...
, Petrosoft, Modcloth, Guru.com
Guru.com is a freelance marketplace. It allows companies to find freelance workers for commissioned work. Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Pittsburgh, Guru was initially known as ''eMoonlighter.com''.
History
Guru Inc. was founded in 1999 in ...
, Songwhale and others have global headquarters in the city.
2009 G-20 Pittsburgh Summit
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." 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
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a
green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, constructio ...
buildings.
Economic development plan
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”. 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:
* Equitable access to the opportunities and benefits of economic development to all residents is provided
* Former brownfields are transformed and developed
* Transit-oriented development efforts reduce road congestion and connect the major economic areas – Oakland, Downtown, and the Pittsburgh International Airport
* The promotion of greenways will link the community with parks, trails, riverfronts, etc.
* Affordable and high-quality housing exists for all
* A diversified economy provides stable, well-paying jobs
The economic development plan includes enterprise zones, research and technology developments, development of research parks, such as the University of Pittsburgh Applied Research Center
The University of Pittsburgh Applied Research Center (U-PARC) is a one-million-square foot (93,000 m2), high-security research park campus of the University of Pittsburgh. Comprising 53 buildings situated on over , U-PARC is located from Downtown ...
, partnerships with economic development organizations, and venture capital
Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which ha ...
initiatives.
An Urban Enterprise Zone is a location within the inner city free from import duties, taxes, and some government regulations. 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. However, success is often questionable and subject to local conditions. Allegheny County has 26 enterprise zones, in which 17 are in the City of Pittsburgh.
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. 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.
Economic upward mobility
According to a 2014 report published by the National Bureau of Economic Research
The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) is an American private nonprofit research organization "committed to undertaking and disseminating unbiased economic research among public policymakers, business professionals, and the academic c ...
, Pittsburgh is the second-best American city for intergenerational economic mobility; in other words, Pittsburgh is the second best city to achieve the American Dream.
2013 news
As of early 2013 the largest property managers in the Pittsburgh area included CBRE Group
CBRE Group, Inc. is an American commercial real estate services and investment firm. The abbreviation CBRE stands for Coldwell Banker Richard Ellis. It is the world's largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (based on 2021 reven ...
, Oxford Development
Oxford Development Company is a real estate firm based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, providing real estate development, property management, brokerage services, investment advisory services, and business operations. In 2021, it was listed as the ...
, RIDC
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 primari ...
and Jones Lang Lasalle
Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (JLL) is a global commercial real estate services company, founded in the United Kingdom with offices in 80 countries. The company also provides investment management services worldwide, including services to insti ...
.
On August 13, 2013, the ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the All ...
'' reported that the H. J. Heinz Company
The H. J. Heinz Company is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 1869. Heinz manufactures thousands of food products in plants on six contin ...
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.
2014 news
Work is underway for an innovation roadmap for the city.
References
Sources
*
External links
Lessons for the G20: The revival of Pittsburgh
''The Economist'', September 17, 2009
Top Ten Employers in the Pittsburgh Region
G-20 Pittsburgh Summit 2009: Pittsburgh News and Blog Posts
Allegheny Places
{{Economy of the United States by jurisdiction