The FED is currently pursuing three interrelated projects:
1. Creating and sustaining an active regional economic development blog that posts a broad range of different economic development stories and studies from across the political, ideological, and community development spectrum. A key purpose of this blog will be to encourage active dialog, conversation and action around the development issues southwestern Pennsylvania is facing in the 21st century.
2. An examination of new actors shaping regional economic development in Allegheny County. This study will focus on new economic development actors with special focus on the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and their growing influence over the local economy, jobs, and neighborhood development. Indeed, UPMC and related educational and high-tech institutions have expanded to such an extent that regional decision-makers and the public at large have increasingly looked to this medical-high tech-educational complex to guide and satisfy the city’s employment future. This study will explore how UPMC's regional economic development strategies emerged, its evolving relationship with city and county authorities, and what future(s) it is creating for the city's workers, especially older, minority, and unemployed workers.
1. Creating and sustaining an active regional economic development blog that posts a broad range of different economic development stories and studies from across the political, ideological, and community development spectrum. A key purpose of this blog will be to encourage active dialog, conversation and action around the development issues southwestern Pennsylvania is facing in the 21st century.
2. An examination of new actors shaping regional economic development in Allegheny County. This study will focus on new economic development actors with special focus on the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and their growing influence over the local economy, jobs, and neighborhood development. Indeed, UPMC and related educational and high-tech institutions have expanded to such an extent that regional decision-makers and the public at large have increasingly looked to this medical-high tech-educational complex to guide and satisfy the city’s employment future. This study will explore how UPMC's regional economic development strategies emerged, its evolving relationship with city and county authorities, and what future(s) it is creating for the city's workers, especially older, minority, and unemployed workers.
3. A conference on employment with special focus on those groups that have been the most difficult to integrate into the region's changing economic landscape. This conference will bring together local and regional law-makers, researchers, activists, and decision-makers to explore and/or promote innovative approaches to regional economic development with special emphasis on older, minority, or unemployed workers.
