FEBRUARY 2009

View the 'Events' Section

Pittsburgh Tops the Nation: No. 1 in Commercial Real Estate, Top 10 Job Growth City

Moody's Investors Service deemed Pittsburgh’s commercial real estate market the best in the nation in its most recent quarterly report (read more), which is measured on the health of the commercial real estate markets that support the majority of loans in commercial mortgage backed securities.

Meanwhile, at No. 6 on Forbes.com's “Top 10 Cities for Job Growth in 2009” list, Pittsburgh is in good company alongside Boston; Washington, D.C.; and Richmond, Va. and ranking ahead of Baltimore, Seattle, Houston and Dallas. Read more or go directly to the Pittsburgh profile.

These continue the recent string of reputable national recognitions that our region has garnered for being well-positioned amid national and global financial turmoil.

More Economic Development News

ServiceLink Hiring 150 in IT and Operations
“Fortune 500 company ServiceLink, part of the Fidelity National Financial family and one of the largest mortgage settlement companies in the country, has announced the hiring of 150 people in the Pittsburgh region. The company has full-time entry and mid-level opportunities for operations and IT personnel at its Moon and Hopewell Township offices.” Read more

Hiring 50: SingleSource Property Solutions Doubles HQ
“With its upcoming move in February to Southpointe’s Stealth Technology Center, SingleSource Property Solutions will [gain access to I-79, hire 50 people immediately] and double the size of its operational headquarters. A leading provider of integrated mortgage services and property management solutions with clients throughout the United States, the Pittsburgh-based firm has signed a lease for 32,705 SF of space at the office complex.” Read more

Sports Medicine Innovator ReGear Doubles in Size
“ReGear Life Sciences, developer of cutting-edge sport medicine therapy that penetrates deep below the tissue to treat chronic pain, soft tissue, repetitive stress injuries and more, has recently grown from three to nine [employees] and plans to double to 18 by the end of the year. An infusion of funding is forthcoming as well [from Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse and Innovation Works.]” Read more

Ohara Manufacturer Benshaw Expands
“A Glenshaw-based manufacturer is expanding its local operation in … at the RIDC park in O’Hara Township. Benshaw, a maker of advanced controls for factories and other users, will move nearly 300 employees into 180,000 SF at the 330,000 SF former Eckerd Corp… fill[ing] most of the remaining space in the building.” Read More

Airport Area Business Site Development
Citing great visibility and access as advantages, “Burns & Scalo Real Estate Services plans to build a [45,000 SF] $5 million to $7 million office building in Findlay later this year, showing confidence in the Pittsburgh International Airport corridor despite the economic slowdown. ‘We wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for Allegheny County and the airport authority's efforts to develop sites into shovel-ready pads, and bring the utilities to the sites,’ Scalo said. Those improvements trim 12 to 18 months off development time, and are ‘a true catalyst for the private sector.’” Read more

Thermo Fisher Buys Dick's HQ Building
“Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has purchased Dick's Sporting Goods headquarters building in Findlay, with plans to move some of its 1,000 local employees there in about two years. The company paid $28 million to buy the 189,000 SF building … Dick's [is moving] to [its] 670,000 SF headquarters under construction near Pittsburgh International Airport.” Read more

Plextronics Creates the World’s First Solar Cell Print Technology
“Welcome to the future of information technology … Plextronics, a Carnegie Mellon spinout that has been diligently working for six years to perfect a light-bright, polymer-based ink for flexible displays, plastic solar cells and RFID tags … [Now it is showing] the world how to make a solar cell, one of the basic building blocks of the printed electronics industry … Plextronics [recently] unveiled its own $6 million manufacturing center, a 6,000 SF operation called the D-Line, located in a building adjacent to company headquarters at the University of Pittsburgh Applied Research Center (U-PARC).” Read more

Pittsburgh Region Celebrates Three Years of Progress Since Steelers’ Last Super Bowl Run
The Pittsburgh region has made remarkable progress since the Steelers won the Super Bowl in early 2006. During the past three years, Pittsburgh was named the most livable place in America, total employment in the region reached an all-time high, and business climate improvements enabled hundreds of private sector investments across all 10 counties of southwestern Pennsylvania. From new buildings and business sites to billion-dollar-plus investments … Read more

Cleaner Air (and the Nation’s Most Improved) is Giving Longer Life to Region
“People in the Pittsburgh region are living longer due in no small part to reductions of fine particle soot emissions, according to … the New England Journal of Medicine. Cleaner air in the last two decades has added an average of five months to the life expectancy … [in urban areas around the nation] and 10 months to the life expectancy of Allegheny County residents because air there has improved more than in any other area of the country.” Read more

K&L Gates Opens German Office
“K&L Gates, Pittsburgh’s largest law firm, has opened an office in Frankfurt, Germany, its 29th site and second in that country.” Read more

Startup WhereverTV Captures National Electronics Buzz
“A South Side startup was one of the biggest buzz-generating companies, alongside LG’s mobile phone watch and Sony’s 1.4 pound laptop, at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. WhereverTV, which pulls in online streamed content from nearly 1,300 international television channels, was named by show organizers one of the top 30 new innovators at the four-day trade show.” Read more

Recent Innovation Works Start-up Investments
Innovation Works has recently invested in the following new portfolio companies in our region:

• SMART Warning Systems, LLC ($200,000) – uses a combination of wireless technologies to deliver alert messages to the public in emergency situations and manage crisis communications with emergency responders. 

• Thar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ($100,000) – focused on the identification and development of new forms of widely prescribed drugs (including 70 percent of those currently marketed) that solve clinical opportunities such as improved bioavailability, efficacy, absorption, safety or toxicity.  

Pennsylvania Reaches Energy Independence Milestone
Pennsylvania is out in front of much of the nation in having taken another major step forward to break its dependence on foreign oil in favor of cleaner, domestically (and locally) produced alternative fuels. Governor Edward G. Rendell recently announced that within one year, every gallon of on-road diesel fuel sold in the state will contain at least 2 percent biodiesel. “The 2 percent biodiesel mandate [has] now become a reality because our state’s biofuel producers have reached the first critical threshold established by the alternative energy law I signed last summer. Pennsylvania’s producers can now manufacture 40 million gallons of biodiesel a year right here at home,” he said. Read more

Gov. Rendell Names New Pennsylvania DCED Secretary: George E. Cornelius
Governor Edward G. Rendell recently named George E. Cornelius, the immediate past president and chief executive officer of Arkema Inc., as secretary of the Department of Community and Economic Development. Read more

EVENTS

February 4, 2009 – “Focus the Nation” conference keynote "Beyond Boom to Bust: The Changing World of Energy"
Peter Tertzakian is the author of the best-selling book A Thousand Barrels a Second: The Coming Oil Break Point and the Challenges Facing an Energy Dependent World. He also works as the chief energy economist of ARC Financial Corporation, one of the world's leading energy focused private equity firms. At Carnegie Mellon University, McConomy Auditorium at 7 p.m.

February 11, 2009 – Generate New Business with Social Networking and Technology Tools
Learn the Top 6 techniques for online business development: blogs; social media, such as FaceBook and LinkedIn; webinars; RSS and Google Alerts; Twitter; and text messaging. Presented by the Professional Services Marketing Association. 8-10:00 a.m. at the Rivers Club. Reservations required, $25. Contact Karen Come at 412.566.1901.

February 18, 2009 – An Evening of Entrepreneurial Expertise, Sales and Business Strategy
Get insights from three of the world’s best-selling authors, Mike Bosworth, Jill Konrath and Dr. Tom Sant. Presented by TiE-Pittsburgh, Landslide Technologies and the Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence at the University of Pittsburgh, 5:30-8:30 p.m. at the Pittsburgh Athletic Association.