JULY 2009

The Economist: Pittsburgh is No.1 Most Livable City in Nation, No. 29 in the World

The Pittsburgh region is on a roll. We are welcoming the world here for September’s G-20 Summit. We continue to receive praise from Forbes, Newsweek, The New York Times, TIME and others for everything from our cultural amenities to our relative protection from the financial blows that have hit the national and global economies. Now, British magazine The Economist has seconded our existing “America’s Most Livable City” ranking in their worldwide study, naming our region the No. 29 most livable place in the world, and No. 1 in the United States. (Check out other recent coverage below in “The Economist, Newsweek, More: Pittsburgh Lauded as a National Model for Economic Transformation”).

The ranking was based on five key factors: stability, health care, culture and environment, education and infrastructure. According to an Economist Intelligence Unit editor, Pittsburgh has come in first every time for U.S. livability since they started the measurement in 2005. Of the 140 cities considered, Vancouver, B.C., took the top spot worldwide, followed by Vienna, Melbourne and Toronto.

More Economic Development News

BitArmor Closes on $5M, Hiring Across the Board
“Pittsburgh startup BitArmor is taking its data protection software to new levels this year. Fueled with $5 million in Series B financing from Draper Triangle and other investors, the firm will expand its channels for product distribution with the hiring of a sales support team around the country as well as engineering and market talent at home.” Read more

Small Latrobe Company Booms in Slow Economy
“For 10 years, Conicity Technology of Latrobe has been trying to convince the nation's largest manufacturers – from auto companies to Caterpillar – that its products could save them millions of dollars. The technology that extends the life of manufacturing tools was a tough sale when the economy was growing. But since the recession began, Conicity's revenue is up 75 percent ... Small companies that offer unique ways to cut costs or help big companies retain customers are seeing their businesses blossom.” Read more

Circadiance Launches Promising New Sleep Apnea Mask, Hiring 5-30
“Sufferers of obstructive sleep apnea may finally get a good night’s sleep with the industry’s first all-cloth mask developed by Pittsburgh-based startup Circadiance.” Read more

First Niagara Leases Headquarter Space in Downtown Pittsburgh
“First Niagra Financial Group, Inc., which plans to take over 57 branches of National City Bank in September, has announced it will establish its Western Pennsylvania headquarters at 11 Stanwix St. in Downtown Pittsburgh.” Read more

Cabot Oil & Gas Relocates to Pittsburgh Region, Capitalizing on Marcellus Shale
“Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. plans to create a new northern regional office in the Pittsburgh area as it closes offices in Charleston, W.Va., and Denver. The natural gas producer is basing the move in large part on its intent to expand well-drilling and production in Susquehanna County, part of the gas-rich Marcellus Shale field that underlies much of Pennsylvania and parts of New York and West Virginia.” Read more

Bombardier Pushing Boundaries to Move People, Looks to Develop Brownfield Site
Flourishing in the Pittsburgh region since 1960, global transportation leader Bombardier is in “steep growth mode,” developing a former LTV Steel Corp. property, and researching high-speed connections to Oakland and Downtown. Read more

Edy’s Ice Cream Expands in Robinson
Due to growth in the Pittsburgh Market, Edy’s Grand Ice Cream needed to expand their operations and move into a 6,000 SF warehouse and flex facility in Vista Business Park, Robinson Township, which is ideally equidistant from both Pittsburgh International Airport and Downtown Pittsburgh.

Obama Applauds Pittsburgh’s National Cyber Forensics Center
President Obama hails Pittsburgh’s National Cyber-Forensics Training Alliance (NCFTA) as one of three international organizations that stand out as an ‘effective model’ in national cyber security. The non-profit “flies under the radar as it fights cyber crime in tandem with international private industry, law enforcement officials and academia.” Read more

Pittsburgh Lauded as a National Model for Economic Transformation
The White House isn’t alone in considering the Pittsburgh region as a shining example of forward-looking reinvention:

The Economist: Pittsburgh a Bright Spot that “Other Cities Could Learn From”
“A recent report by the Philadelphia Research Initiative, an arm of the Pew Charitable Trust, looks at how 13 cities are dealing with budget problems. Pittsburgh is the one bright spot.” Read more

Newsweek: “What Pittsburgh (Don’t Laugh) Can Teach Obama”
“It was a rusting steel-making behemoth that, through struggle, pain and creativity, retooled itself as a surprisingly vibrant, 21st-century leader in education, computer science, medical research, sports entertainment and boutique manufacturing. By most measures – unemployment and foreclosure rates, to name two – Pittsburgh is an island of calm in the raging recession.” Read more

Miami Herald: “Going with the Flow has Served Pittsburgh Well”
“Home to H.J. Heinz, the Steelers and Andy Warhol, the Iron City has morphed from smoky-industrial to vibrant and hip … In an era when so many cities in this region bemoan their boarded-up Main Streets, Pittsburgh is hotter than the horseradish H.J. Heinz sold here in the 1870s.” Read more

Baltimore Sun: “Hot Spot: Pittsburgh”
“The Smoke City has come a long way since its origins as the industrial giant of the world … Pittsburgh has joined the green, eco-friendly movement. The city hosts visitors in the world's largest green-certified convention center, where lights are recycled and water is reclaimed. It's also known for outdoor retreats, historical sites, museums, art galleries and zoos.” Read more

Mission Driven: “Learning from Pittsburgh: What Impressed this Austin Blogger”
“When it comes to innovation, social and otherwise, Pittsburgh has a lot going on.” Read more

Brookings: Pittsburgh Among 20 Strongest-Performing Metros, Amid Recession
Pittsburgh is among the nation's top 20 strongest-performing metropolitan areas, according to the Brookings Institution. “The MetroMonitor looked at the impact of the recession, finding that metro areas across the country have ‘felt the pain of the downturn at radically varying levels’ … The report was based on six key economic indicators: employment, unemployment rates, wages, gross metropolitan product, housing prices and foreclosure rates.” Read more

TIME: Pittsburgh Entrepreneur (and ClearCount Medical Solutions) Featured, Wins Start-Up Award
“ClearCount Medical Solutions, a five-year-old Pittsburgh-based company, was recently featured in TIME magazine. ClearCount developed the SmartSponge System – a technology that features chip-embedded sponges and relies on radio-frequency identification (RFID) to ensure that no surgical sponges get left behind.” Read more

The New York Times: Carnegie Mellon’s Luis von Ahn’s Pioneering E-Security Captcha Developments Featured
“Carnegie Mellon University professor Luis von Ahn, a pioneer in captcha development, is featured in a recent New York Times article…. In addition to creating a new, secure form of audio captcha, Dr. von Ahn has also created a free system, called reCaptcha (recaptcha.net), now used by about 120,000 sites including Ticketmaster, Craigslist, Facebook, Twitter and The New York Times” Read more

USA Today: Pitt Study Says Meds as Good as Surgery for Diabetics with Heart Disease
"New research suggests that prompt bypass surgery holds no advantage over intensive drug therapy in many patients with type 2 diabetes when it comes to dying from strokes or heart attack” according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh. Read more

Fast Company: MAYA Design’s Innovation Boot Camps Featured
“Pittsburgh's MAYA Design is juicing innovation by teaching techies design basics. MAYA – a mash-up of design firm and tech-research lab – has seen great success in recent years with its ‘design boot camps’ for clients such as Emerson, Bayer, GE and Whirlpool." Read more

Pittsburgh Region’s Beaver, Pa. Among Nation’s “Best Old House Neighborhoods”
This Old House Magazine ranks America’s “Best Old House Neighborhoods” in a number of categories. Beaver, Pa. was recognized among the top communities to buy an old house in nine of those categories – including Family, Bargain, Waterfront, and more. “Property values have stayed above average here compared with the rest of the state, and the public schools are ranked among Pennsylvania's best.” Read more

Relocation.com: Pittsburgh a Top City for a Fresh Start
Pittsburgh is one of the “Best Cities for a Fresh Start” according to rankings released by Relocation.com. It is listed 18th in the nation, based on moving request data and other factors. Read more

InformationWeek: UPMC CIO Among Global CIO Top 50
“Dan Drawbaugh, CIO of UPMC, [the Pittsburgh region’s largest employer], was recently named by InformationWeek magazine as one of the Global CIO 50. In addition to being one of the top CIOs in the field of health care technology, Drawbaugh is a venture-capital deal maker for UPMC and also helps lead startups that it funds. In 2006, Drawbaugh was recognized as InformationWeek's Chief of the Year.” Read more

Pittsburgh G-20 Partnership Officially Launches, Follow it on the Web
The Pittsburgh G-20 Partnership is a public-private partnership of organizations throughout the Pittsburgh region that have come together to welcome the world to Pittsburgh during the G-20 Summit on September 24-25, 2009. Chaired by Allegheny County is Executive Dan Onorato and City of Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, the Partnership is providing time, talent and resources to assure a welcoming, clean and green event and to showcase Pittsburgh's economic, environmental and quality of life transformation. Stay up to date at "www.pittsburghG20.org and follow PittsburghG20 on Twitter.

PPG Industries Foundation Pledges $500,000 for Pitt Nanoscience Chem Lab
“PPG Industries Foundation recently pledged $500,000 to the University of Pittsburgh's chemistry department for a laboratory focused on the rapidly developing field of nanoscience. PPG's foundation said the donation will establish a nanomaterials characterization laboratory” Read more

New Catalyst Connection Loan Program for Manufacturers
“Catalyst Connection [recently] announced a new loan program focused on area manufacturers. The Manufacturing Growth Cooperative Fund, established via a partnership between Catalyst Connection and Bridgeway Capital, will provide up to $250,000 to any of the roughly 1,600 manufacturers in Allegheny County with fewer than 500 employees.” Read more

Pitt SBDC Aids Sensor Technology/Engineering Firm
WavesInSolids (WINS) recently received a $100,000 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the University of Pittsburgh Small Business Development Center. WINS offers traditional nondestructive testing and advanced long range ultrasound and acoustic emission inspection products and services for the railroad, petrochemical, oil and natural gas, defense, aerospace, power generation and marine industries. Contact Greg Rice for more information.

Netronome Processor Will Revolutionize Computing
Cranberry-based Netronome Systems has launched a new network flow processor that will revolutionize the world of computing by significantly increasing your speed of receiving information and intelligently scrutinizing each unit for security problems. Read more

Metis Secure Solutions Innovates Campus Security Alerts
Say goodbye to bells. “Oakmont-based Metis Secure has developed a wall-mounted, hardware and software integrated Emergency Notification System (ENS) for college and university campuses that can do what few other new solutions can – unify communication and send it beyond the reach of other frequencies to dispatch life-saving information where it needs to go.” Read more

Intelligent Workplace Lab Designs Offices of the Future
“Buildings account for 40 percent of the world's energy use and are the largest source of climate-changing emissions. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh are addressing these problems in a roof-top laboratory called the Intelligent Workplace … One student is testing bio-fuels in the basement generator. Another is analyzing the common workplace problem of a single thermostat controlling the temperature for an entire suite of offices.” Read more

Pittsburgh-Born GigaPan Robotic Cameras Being Embraced Worldwide
“A group of the world’s leading scientists visited Carnegie Mellon University this month to embrace a pioneering scientific technology that allows them to take some of the world’s coolest research pictures. Armed with low-cost, Gigapan robotic cameras, the scientists are capturing images of some of the world’s greatest archeological sites and nearly extinct plant species, producing breathtaking panoramas in billions of pixels, or gigapixels.” Read more

Streamline Hiring Time with The Resumator
“In a tough hiring economy, a tool that helps to manage the prolific shower of digital resumes comes in handy. Enter The Resumator, and the end of manually fielding and processing the paperwork. An Alpha Lab graduate, The Resumator automates, eliminates and simplifies the busywork, making the entire process painless and paperless.” Read more

UPMC Helps the Blind to ‘See,’ $3M Donation Announced
A cutting-edge device, Brainport, is under development and already helping blinded veterans ‘see’ using a complex system involving a camera mechanism attached to the tongue. It emerged from the center newly-named the Louis J. Fox Center for Vision Restoration of UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh, a joint program with the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Read more

Pitt Study Inches Closer to Finding Diabetes Cure
A team of researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have identified two proteins in the cell cycle that halts beta-cell replication, a key problem for diabetics. Read more

Inaugural Flight to Paris Celebrates Renewed Direct Access to Europe
Nonstop service from Pittsburgh to Europe returned on June 3 with the launch of Delta Air Lines' new service to Paris. Nonstop access to Europe – and the world beyond from there – underscores our region's position as a global center that is open for bilateral business and foreign direct investment. Read coverage of the flight from Pop City and KDKA.

Other News From Pittsburgh International Airport:

New Service to Dallas-Fort Worth (American Airlines), Los Angeles and San Francisco (United).
Worldwide Flight Services cargo handling facilities receive Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) Certification.

EVENTS

July 15, 2009 – Expand Your business today: Develop Corporate and Government Purchasing Strategies (PDF file)
The University of Pittsburgh Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence is hosting Expand Your Business Today from 8-11 a.m. Have you considered approaching large corporations or government agencies to sell your services or products but are unsure of who to contact of what forms will be needed? Hear from a group of distinguished panelists on this subject. Cost: $25.

July 31, 2009 – Bank on It! The Essentials for Small Business Financing (PDF file)
Hear from representatives of PNC Bank who will explain the ins and outs of applying for U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) loans as well as other sources of financing available to small business owners. From 8:30-10:30 a.m. Cost: FREE. The University of Pittsburgh Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence provides a variety of affordable educational programs regarding small businesses and family-owned businesses. See the full event calendar for more information.

September 15-16, 2009 – 3 Rivers Venture Fair
The PRA is a proud sponsor of the 3 Rivers Venture Fair, which is among the nation's most prominent showcases of breakthrough innovations in technology, life sciences and energy. Every 18 months, 500+ A-list venture capitalists, private investors, investment bankers, and leaders in business, finance and entrepreneurship convene in Pittsburgh to discover opportunities in the hottest emerging markets and meet cutting-edge innovators from a 10-state region and beyond. Since its founding in 2002, the 3 Rivers Venture Fair has helped participating ventures raise more than $292+ million in investment capital. At PNC Park. Register by August 7th to receive a $50 restaurant gift card OR a dozen Titleist Pro V1® golf balls.

October 25-29, 2009 – Materials Science & Technology 2009 Conference and Exhibition (MS&T ‘09)
MS&T ’09 is the leading forum addressing structure, properties, processing and performance across the materials community. Produced by a partnership of four leading materials societies, it brings together scientists, engineers, students, suppliers and others to discuss current research and applications, and shape the future of materials science and technology. At the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.

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