Nov 10, 2017 4 min read

CALIFORNIA – A panel of three academics and two area economic development officials agreed Wednesday solving many of the region’s future development challenges will come from an interdisciplinary approach, but also said there are numerous opportunities for growth.

The panelists were assembled Wednesday in California University of Pennsylvania’s convocation center to discuss “Strategic Visions for the Region’s Economic Development.” In addition to students, Wednesday audience of about 60 also included a number of local and state elected officials.

The two-hour discussion, whose topics ranged from establishing a sustainable local food system to creating a rural economic data center, was sponsored by Northern Appalachian Network, which connects people who live and work in the region who want to exchange ideas and information.

Those types of initiatives could cover a lot of people living in a large geographic area. According to Christopher Whitlatch, chief executive officer of Mon Valley Alliance, the area he represents includes 37 communities totaling more than 100,000 residents.

“We have six main streets in the Valley, and they’re looking to rebuild,” he said, adding that besides trying to attract advanced manufacturing and create a workforce that’s prepared for it, he’d like to encourage people to start businesses on the towns’ main streets.

Demographic challenge

Earlier, Lew Villotti, planning and development director for Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, noted that the biggest challenge facing the 10-county region is its low business-formation rate. The other factors that SPC must deal with are the evolution of manufacturing and an energy industry that is prone to boom-bust cycles.

But the biggest challenge relates to workforce demographics, Villotti said.

“We hear it every time we go out to meet with a company,” he said, adding that employers say they can’t find qualified employees.

He noted that across the United States, the workforce in the age 50 to 59 category is 7 percent, but in Southwestern Pennsylvania that same demographic is 10 percent.

Targeting millennials

But there is a bright spot, Villotti said, when it comes to millennials, those aged 18 to 35.

“Pittsburgh does a great job at attracting millennials,” he said, adding that SPC wants to retain that age group, particularly those who may seek the “urban light” in smaller communities that offer amenities like coffee shops, small business incubators or bookstores on their main streets.

Locally produced food can also be a driver in attracting and employing people, said Dr. Sarah Meiss, who teaches botany, plant physiology and sustainable agriculture at Cal U. Meiss has been working to help people develop a local sustainable food system.

Mentioning the millennials again, Meiss noted that many of them place a value on spending locally.

“Many would rather spend a little more to buy food from local producers,” she said, adding that there is demand for locally produced lamb, organic poultry and produce.

“People want local food, and we know how to do this well,” she said of the area’s farming legacy.

Dr. Mark Lennon, a Cal U. associate professor of management who also runs the university’s Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, noted that the school is sponsoring a business plan competition and is also working in the community to promote financial literacy, including a February event in Brownsville.

Many of the challenges to development could be better served by taking a “transdisciplinary” approach, according to Dr. Paul Hettler, a behavioral economist who chairs the university’s department of business and economics. He proposed that the university help people find solutions by establishing a rural economic data center that would gather regional data and use it to create forecasts that could be used by area businesses and communities.

“If you have a problem, come to us,” Hettler said.