RIDC Spring Newsletter 2023
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Breaking Ground: Green Building Innovation
RIDC’s Mill 19, which features the largest sloped rooftop solar array in the US and many other environmental attributes, is on the cover of Breaking Ground’s latest issue on green building.
Pittsburgh’s Innovation Funding Outperforms National Trends Again
This region’s resilience in the face of headwinds from national economic uncertainty bodes well for tech companies in the Pittsburgh market over the long term. This article is a part of RIDC’s Pittsburgh Innovation Economy content hub with Pittsburgh Business Times and can be read in full here.
Construction Underway at Historic Carrie Furnace Site
Construction is finally underway at the historic Carrie Furnace site.
TEQ Magazine Forty Forward
RIDC President Don Smith was featured on the cover of TEQ Magazine’s Forty Forward issue, celebrating the Pittsburgh Tech Council’s 40th anniversary while looking forward and dreaming big about the next forty years. Don’s dreams for the region forty years from now: “Pittsburgh is already at the intersection of R&D and manufacturing, with universities producing […]
Pilot Customers are a Crucial Step Toward Commercialization as Innovation Companies Test Their Products
The road from innovation to commercialization is a challenging one. But it’s made easier when early-stage companies have opportunities to work with pilot customers — partnerships with larger users, ranging from government to large companies and organizations, that are willing to work with them to test the real-world applications of their products and services. It’s […]
Pittsburgh’s Tech Clusters: Oakland, Lawrenceville, Strip District … and O’Hara
There’s a thriving life sciences hub at RIDC O’Hara. Read more.
Smith’s Viewpoint: Innovation + manufacturing = jobs
“Manufacturing is where the jobs are. Pennsylvania needs to position itself as a magnet for expanding companies when they are ready to build the large facilities that are necessary to manufacture products at scale and bring them to market.” But we’re lagging behind. More of the latest insight from RIDC President Donald Smith.
RIDC President Makes Pittsburgh Business Times’s 2023 Power 100 List
Earlier this week we announced that RIDC’s President Don Smith made City & State PA’s 2023 Power 100 list. We’re pleased to share that he’s also made this year’s Pittsburgh Business Times’s Power 100 list, which highlights the region’s most influential business leaders. The influencers on this year’s list are connectors, people who build bridges. […]
Creating jobs is job No. 1 for Pittsburgh region
Donald F. Smith, Jr., president of the Regional Industrial Development Corporation (RIDC) and a member of the governor’s transition subcommittee on innovation, points to the need to expand the region’s innovation economy from R&D to commercialization and manufacturing of products. This will allow the Pittsburgh area to compete more effectively for the larger companies that […]
Major Pittsburgh region projects to move forward in 2023: PennSTART, Carrie Furnace, RIDC Mill 19 become growth engines
The coming year promises to be full of progress as major projects move forward in the Pittsburgh region. Long-dormant, former industrial sites are positioned to become centers of economic development and job creation. Article can be read in full at our Pittsburgh’s Innovation Economy content hub at the Pittsburgh Business Times (formerly named Pittsburgh’s Autonomy […]
RIDC President Named Member of the Innovation Subcommittee of Governor-Elect Josh Shapiro’s Economic Development Transition Committee
Donald F. Smith, Jr. has been named a member of the Innovation Subcommittee of Governor-Elect Josh Shapiro’s Economic Development Transition Committee. The committee will review current policies and make recommendations about how to spur innovation, grow the economy and support the creation of high-quality jobs. As RIDC’s President, Smith has played a leadership role in […]
RIDC Winter Newsletter 2022
You can read the latest in your internet browser. Just click here. Not subscribed? Sign up to receive future RIDC newsletters.
Pittsburgh’s Recent Federal Funding and VC and Private-Equity Tech Investment
The Southwestern Pennsylvania region is moving forward with tangible activities to help the autonomous technology sector grow and create jobs: $62.7 million in federal funding will help Pittsburgh grow its autonomy sector. And in this year’s third quarter, venture capital investment in Pittsburgh’s tech sector totaled $171.96 million across 19 local firms: Pittsburgh bucks national […]
Gov. Wolf Signs Driverless Vehicle Legislation into Law & Other Autonomy News
This new law permitting driverless vehicles on public roads is a big win for the autonomous vehicle industry in Pittsburgh and a necessary step towards commercializing this tech and remaining competitive. Pennsylvania joins over a dozen states that permit similar testing arrangements, as reported by Pittsburgh Inno. There’ve been a number of recent stories involving […]
Smith’s Viewpoint: What’s Next for that $62.7 Million?
“And now our region will be moving forward with tangible activities to help the autonomy industry grow and create jobs — not only in R&D, but in manufacturing and in an entire supply chain of industries. The spotlight is shining in our direction — every entity involved will need to rise to the challenge and […]
Pittsburgh Inno: Autonomous Technologies Trailblazing in Space
Pittsburgh’s space robotics cluster has strong ties to university talent and has received NASA funding for projects that heavily focus on autonomous systems. Article written for Pittsburgh Inno and can be read in full here.
Pittsburgh Business Times REQ: Pittsburgh Suburban Office Market Rebound
“Our industrial stuff continues to be strong, and the flex and tech flex stuff continues to go pretty well,” said RIDC President Donald Smith. “But everybody I know is still scuffling a little bit with suburban office…I think pure office product is going to be dependent on how and when people go back to the […]
Austin Business Journal: Shared Facilities Make Testing of Autonomous Vehicles More Practical and Cost Effective
Government partnerships are key to making strides in economic development, and a major project to support the growing autonomous vehicle industry has just been greenlighted in the Pittsburgh region. More on the PennSTART project happening in Westmoreland County. Article written for the Austin Business Journal and can be read in full here. Other articles written […]
Austin Business Journal: Self-driving cars, autonomous tech lead region from industrial past to innovation economy
Fast-growing companies from some of the strongest tech regions in the country are recognizing the attributes that make regions like Pittsburgh attractive. RIDC’s full article with the Austin Business Journal can be read in full here. Other articles written by RIDC for the Austin Business Journal: Robotics, AI, self-driving cars: The innovation economy requires real […]
Smith’s Viewpoint: Pennsylvania’s CNI Tax Rate Cut is Just a Start
“Our region and our state have many attributes, but there are going to be tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in potential revenue we could realize if we show the same innovative spirit and determination in our policymaking that our entrepreneurs and business leaders show every day in creating and building their […]
