The Issues

We believe in a Pittsburgh that has job opportunities for everyone. Planners often look at a region’s future in a vacuum – failing to consider the need to preserve existing progress. Pittsburgh Works Together advocates for an all-of-the-above strategy when it comes to job creation and job retention. Whether high tech, education, energy, construction, medical, and manufacturing industries, every job counts and every occupation is inextricably linked to another.

In the years Andrew Carnegie was finding ways to turn coal and ore into steel, John Brashear was perfecting lenses that could watch the stars. Pittsburgh has always been rooted in manufacturing with eyes pointed to the future. That’s how we grew. It’s how we became a city of steel, bridges, and energy and home to a great observatory, the first robotics laboratory and birthplace of the polio vaccine and the liver transplant. Pittsburgh Works Together honors that combined legacy, knowing that each is dependent on the other when it comes to building a vibrant economy and broad culture that embraces all.

Our region gave birth to both the heavy industry that creates jobs and the pioneering environmentalists who stand as guardians against excess. Philip Murray, founder of the United Steelworkers, stood sentinel in protecting his workers, just as Rachel Carson gave warning about protecting the environment. Today, Pittsburgh manufacturing is cleaner than ever in its two centuries of production. Natural gas has lowered greenhouse gas emissions. Streetlights that once came on at noon amid smoke, now wait for nightfall. We are making progress and will continue to do so, always mindful that our future depends on including everyone when it comes to building an economy.

Pennsylvania is now an energy state, and Pittsburgh sits in the epicenter of an energy economy that has created thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in commerce in an area that 30 years ago struggled with high unemployment. Our natural gas industry has freed the United States from dependence on foreign leaders, and its workers have infused the economy with revenue for the real estate market to the server at a local coffee shop. We are also seeing a rise in non-carbon energy efforts, and support the idea of an all-inclusive menu of energy options to fuel growth, power our factories, light and warm our homes, and produce the goods and services that make America great.