Rooney discusses impact of NFL draft at economic forum

The April 23-25 event will bring a lot of exposure to the Pittsburgh region.

At Thursday’s economic forum, seated from left, are Andy Miller, a partner with Altian & Equipment and manager at Alex E. Paris Contracting; Brian Temple, president of Imperial Land Corporation; and Jamie Colecchi, CEO of Mon Valley Alliance. The moderator is Jeffrey Walentosky, president and CEO of Moody & Associates. Ladimir Garcia / Mon Valley Independent

Hundreds of Washington County officials and business leaders came together Thursday for a forum hosted by the Washington County Chamber of Commerce.

The growth in the county was obvious as more than 300 business leaders gathered at the Hilton Garden Inn Southpointe in Canonsburg.

One of the main speakers was Dan Rooney III, vice president of business development and strategy for the Pittsburgh Steelers, who talked about the upcoming NFL Draft in Pittsburgh with Jeff Kotula, president of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce.

Kotula and Rooney focused on the history of the draft and how Washington County is positioned to benefit from the event.

“The number of eyeballs on our region will be 50 million people watching the draft,” Rooney said. “That’s the world with their eyes on Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania.

“The economic impact — we’re projecting around $200 million to this region just from the number of people — and the effect it will have on our businesses. It’s an opportunity for Western Pennsylvania to launch itself into the future.”

Rooney said the Steelers have made an effort to prepare Pittsburgh and the surrounding region for the draft, especially businesses.

“I would first say, if you’re not ready, it’s time to get ready,” Rooney said. “We’re talking about the number of people traveling through FORUM •A4

“The number of eyeballs on our region will be 50 million people watching the draft. That’s the world with their eyes on Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania.”

DAN ROONEY III and that will be staying in Washington County and driving to the draft, but also experiencing everything this county has to offer, from the bars, the restaurants and the shops.

“There is a toolkit going out to kind of bring yourself into draft branding that Visit Pittsburgh and the team are putting together. So there are several ways to get involved. And this is a regional effort, so the information is available. If you don’t have it, reach out to us or Jeff (Kotula).”

Rooney added that they’re preparing a regional guide that will include businesses throughout Pittsburgh and the surrounding region, including Washington County.

Rooney and his family have owned the Steelers for decades and have had their eyes on hosting the draft for several years. Rooney noted that the idea for the NFL had its origins in Pittsburgh.

“We have seen that there was a owners meeting back in 1935 at the Fort Pitt Hotel in downtown Pittsburgh that would have included my great-grandfather at the time,” Rooney said. “That’s really where they started to talk about the concept of the draft. So we feel like the draft and its origins were born in Pittsburgh. So it’s neat to have it coming back to Pittsburgh.”

Economic outlook

The forum started with a presentation on the current economic outlook of Washington County and the Pittsburgh region.

Russell Mills, a regional executive for the Pittsburgh branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, painted a hopeful economic outlook for the region, showing cautious optimism among consumers and businesses.

“Consumer confidence has rebounded somewhat, but it still remains lower than it was at this time a year ago,” he said.

Mills said Washington County has experienced some population growth in recent years, while neighboring counties like Allegheny have seen a decrease. However, he added that Washington County has an increasingly aging population.

“We have quite a significant natural change, so more deaths than births in our region, and it’s because we’re one of the oldest regions in America, right?” he said. “I believe 20% of our population is 65 and older, which is very high.”

Washington County’s unemployment rate is at 4%, which Mills said is slightly below the rest of the Pittsburgh region. He added that roughly 47,000 people come into Washington County for work, and around 57,000 people who live in Washington County go somewhere else for work.

“The U.S. as a whole has grown quite a bit; most of the growth that’s taking place in the United States has taken place in the Southeast, the Mountain West, where there’s been a lot of population migration,” he said. “Our region hasn’t seen that. Actually, we’ve seen somewhat of an outward migration of the region.”

Mills also gave an explainer on how the U.S. Federal Reserve is organized. He explained that 12 banks act as the operational arms of the Federal Reserve, each with its own jurisdiction.

Mills noted that most people hear about the board of governors, which is based in Washington, D.C., and oversees the 12 Federal Reserve banks. Pittsburgh falls under the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, which supervises parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

The Fed typically aims to combat inflation and keep employment levels high by managing interest rates throughout the country.

Infrastructure development

A panel including Jamie Colecchi, CEO of Mon Valley Alliance, Brian Temple, President of Imperial Land Corporation, and Andy Miller, a partner with Altian & Equipment and manager at Alex E. Paris Contracting, talked about the obstacles some businesses face when trying to start in Pennsylvania.

Temple said neighboring states like Ohio and West Virginia have easier permitting procedures compared to Pennsylvania. Temple also mentioned it’s been a struggle within his own projects.

“A lot of people don’t understand the time and money involved in getting permits,” Temple said. “For our phase one at Fort Cherry, it was roughly 18 months and hundreds of thousands of dollars just to get those permits issued.”

Temple hopes new permitting initiatives started by Gov. Josh Shapiro can ease some of the pain related to the process.

Miller agreed that permitting is difficult, but he also pointed out that the topography and terrain of the region make it difficult to build and add more time to get projects done.

“A lot of the inquiries we get, whether it’s somebody wants 10 acres or 100 acres, and they want it right now, and they want a flat pad ready, ready to build,” Miller said. “Well, they’re calling from Texas or Arizona, and I think a lot of them don’t realize we’re in Southwestern Pennsylvania and the hills and valleys, and you have to move 5 million to 2 million cubic yards of dirt to get this pad ready or get through the permitting process. That all takes time.”

The panelists said the electricity needs for certain projects make it hard to accommodate some businesses.

“That’s the first thing they’ll ask: What do you have available? What are the utilities there? And the first question usually is, what kind of power do you have available?” Miller said. “That’s always a big issue. What power is available? Well, there’s not enough power in the grid in the northeast United States for what some of the people want, or even some of the light manufacturing, or the warehousing.”

Colecchi said despite certain obstacles, Mon Valley Alliance has made major progress at its Alta Vista Business Park in Fallowfield Township. Colecchi said one of the most recent success stories was the opening of the Spaleck USA headquarters.

“This is a German company that found our area in Washington County as something to be attractive,” Colecchi said. “And we were able to respond to their needs and their requests over 18 months and get the project done. So we’re very happy about this project, and with the Spaleck family investment in Alta Vista, on June 17, we plan on having a ribbon-cutting with them.”

Workforce development

Preparing the future workers of the region was the main topic of discussion in a panel that included Don Martin, executive director at Intermediate Unit 1, Michael Lucas, superintendent at Trinity Area School District, and Michael Milanovich, executive director at Western Area Career & Technology Center.

Milanovich said the center has tried to communicate with its community about what its actually does. He added that a lot of people may still think of his technology center as a “vo-tech” institution.

“It was amazing how many people that I got the opportunity to speak with that didn’t truly know what we were doing over at the CTC,” Milanovich said. “And I often still get in trouble because I call it vo-tech. They got rid of the word vo-tech a long time ago to try to remove the stigma, to help people understand that it’s not what it was back in the ’80s or the ’90s. The push has really been towards meeting industry standards.”

Lucas said they welcome any business owners who are interested in talking with their students, especially about what their industries look like. Lucas added that his school district started a program in which teachers toured certain industry facilities to learn more about what has changed in the field and bring it back to their students.

Martin emphasized that students with disabilities need to be included in the narrative of exposing children to certain careers.

“We need to work with our employers in making sure that they are educating and understanding students’ needs,” Martin said. “Coming out of high school, these are really talented students. They are really hard workers. Some of them have minor disabilities. Some of them just maybe need to have a timeout. Some of them may need to walk away from it.

“I think we’ve all dealt with that, and sometimes people don’t understand that, but these are hard-working individuals, and they all want to work.”

Milanovich and Lucas said they’re trying to remove certain stigmas regarding blue-collar positions. Lucas emphasized that students who attend technical schools can still choose to go to a four-year institution.

“This idea of taking on a trade and not going to college is a myth,” Lucas said. “You can do it all, and taking on a trade in high school, it helps you open doors. It doesn’t close doors for you. So this idea that I’m going to go for welding, so I’m not going to go to college, is merely a myth, and that’s about educating the parents in your school district to know and understand that this could be an opportunity to run a business in the future.”

Artificial intelligence

A topic on everyone’s mind was the rise of AI and data centers throughout the country.

Temple said they’ve started looking into tapping into the AI boom, but added that they don’t want to stray from what they know.

“I don’t want to lose focus on those other types of businesses. That’s really been the bread and butter for Western Pennsylvania,” Temple said.

Miller emphasized that communities should try to educate themselves about the impacts of AI and data centers.

“The public perception is a knee-jerk reaction, ‘not in my backyard, I don’t want it,’ but I think there needs to be a lot more education,” Miller said. “I think it’s more of an education thing that people have to be educated, but in the local municipalities and the townships, they have a responsibility to make sure they’re responsible.”

Temple said major tech companies looking to build data centers can be a source of tax revenue for municipalities. Temple noted it could be especially helpful for school districts.

Lucas said that at his school district, they’ve already made great strides in introducing AI to teachers and students.

“I think more and more teachers are embracing AI and how they use it in the classroom, the development of their lesson plans now are it’s just unbelievable,” Lucas said, “and the way they’re using AI with students to make the lesson more engaging is becoming more and more popular.

“We did a survey last year with students, (and asked) ‘how often are you seeing your teacher using the AI? How often are you using it?’ And I have to tell you, it was a tremendous improvement in just one year of training with teachers.”