Conference History

In the 1930s and 1940s, there was increased public concern about the long-term future of the region. Studies showed that other regions were economically more diverse, and therefore, stronger. Pittsburgh's extreme concentration of industrial resources made the region unique. But the dependence on heavy industry limited the region's options and made it unattractive for new business and population growth. In particular, there were serious problems with air and water pollution. Various community groups tried to find solutions but their efforts were disjointed and generally ineffectual.

The Allegheny Conference on Community Development grew out of efforts to unify and coordinate regional transportation and environmental improvement efforts. During World War II, Pittsburgh Regional Planning Association President Richard King Mellon, Carnegie Institute of Technology President Robert Doherty, and others were able to generate support among civic leaders to create a postwar planning committee. Incorporated as the Allegheny Conference on Community Development in 1944, the new organization served as a prominent coordinating mechanism for civic action.

Initial sponsors included key officials of the public sector – Pittsburgh Mayor David L. Lawrence and Allegheny County Commissioner John Kane – and major segments of the private sector. Older private civic organizations provided initial leadership for the Conference until the late 1940s, when more corporate CEOs joined the executive committee. The Conference built consensus around existing proposals and focused support for those initiatives. It used persuasion to achieve community goals and formed partnerships with other agencies.

Pittsburgh's most visible problem in the 1940s was air pollution. Smoke from the mills made the region unattractive for investment or skilled labor. The Conference brokered an agreement for phased-in implementation of smoke control that became city policy. The Conference also coordinated efforts to educate the public about the need for smoke control and build political support throughout the county's 129 municipalities. After the Conference voiced its concern for legal loopholes to the state legislature, a comprehensive anti-pollution law was passed for Allegheny County in 1949.

The clearer skies over Pittsburgh as a result of smoke control attracted new business and encouraged local corporations to retain and expand their Pittsburgh headquarters. The pollution-control program explicitly influenced the decision of the Equitable Life Assurance Society to invest in planning the Gateway Center project - the keystone of economic revitalization in downtown Pittsburgh. This also led to the development of Point State Park, which became a focal point for regional activities. Other projects at this time in which the Conference played a crucial role included: the appropriation of funds for the construction of flood control dams on the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers; construction of limited access highways such as the Penn-Lincoln Parkway; and the creation of public parking authorities to develop and build garages for the growing number of automobiles.

In the 1940s and 1950s, mass transit in Allegheny County was in jeopardy because of 40 private transit companies and increased competition from cars. The Conference released a report in 1951 calling for all local transit lines to be under one authority. Public suspicions and private interests delayed the measure until service cutbacks and strikes rekindled the idea in 1957. The Conference was instrumental in building public and private support. In 1959, legislation was passed to create the Port Authority Transit of Allegheny County, and the first buses were rolling in 1964.

The Conference began to address the problems of African-American economic inequality in 1967. One of its major initiatives was the Minority Entrepreneur Loan Program to assist new minority-owned businesses in southwestern Pennsylvania. The Conference provided grants and loans to the Business and Jobs Development Corporation and used its own resources to guarantee subordinated loans to provide funds for equity. In 1972, the Conference was instrumental in the formation of the Business Resource Center and the Regional Minority Purchasing Council to aid minority-owned businesses.

The Conference continued to work on a number of efforts vital for our region's economic future through the 1970s and 1980s. One example was the revitalization of our region's core. The result was the transformation of the 14-block Penn-Liberty Corridor into the Pittsburgh Cultural District. A related effort was Strategy 21 that enabled public and private agencies in Allegheny County to speak with one voice when requesting state funds. Strategy 21 not only resulted in projects that ranged from the new Pittsburgh International Airport to The Andy Warhol Museum, it marked a significant shift toward a broader regional vision.

At its 1991 annual meeting, the Conference leadership outlined an ambitious new agenda, committing to forge new partnerships in four major areas: education and workforce development, regional development, civic organization, and public governance. Based on this agenda, the 1990s were a period of heightened activity.

In 2000, the Conference entered into a strategic affiliation with the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce, the Pennsylvania Economy League of Southwestern Pennsylvania and the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance (PRA).

The affiliation plays to the strengths of each organization – the advocacy efforts of the Chamber, the research and analysis expertise of the Economy League, and the marketing intelligence capabilities of the PRA. These strengths, guided by private sector leadership, enable an efficient model for regional improvement.

Today, the Conference and its Affiliates work in collaboration with public and private sector partners to stimulate economic growth and enhance the quality of life in southwestern Pennsylvania. The Conference is a private sector leadership organization with more than 300 Regional Investors – all heads of our region’s employers, who provide civic leadership to execute a focused agenda for regional improvement.