The latest from Don Smith on regional economic development penned in the Pittsburgh Business Times.

“Our region is undergoing an economic renaissance, transitioning to gain national recognition as home to companies in autonomous technology, artificial intelligence, robotics and life sciences. It is also true that our state’s population growth in the past decade was the seventh lowest nationally, that we have lost political clout as our number of Congressional seats and electoral votes has dwindled, and that our regional employment numbers still have not recovered to pre-pandemic levels. We need to hear from our gubernatorial candidates about their plans to move us forward and their views on strategic initiatives that have worked in the past and will help us compete with states like Ohio that have robust business climates.”