Mar 14, 2018 2 min read

CHARLEROI – Pittsburgh has drawbacks in the competition to land Amazon’s second headquarters.

The region’s ineffective public transportation network would be unattractive to Amazon’s employees, said Jeff Burd, founder of the Tall Timber Group research firm in Pittsburgh.

“Certainly we stand a chance,” said Burd, who spoke about the Amazon HQ2 competition Tuesday at a meeting of the Mon Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Pittsburgh has been named a finalist for the Seattle-based company’s second headquarters, and is competing against 19 other cities for the prize.

Burd said there is a rumor circulating that the 20 cities will be narrowed soon to five.

He said Pittsburgh is attractive to Amazon because the city is bursting with talent from places such as Carnegie Mellon University. Google also has a presence in the city.

Hazelwood Green, the last large urban brownfield along the Monongahela River, has been named as a prime location for Amazon.

Whether or not Amazon selects Pittsburgh, new economic development opportunities are in the works, and places like Charleroi need to prepare and identify their assets, Burd said.

He pointed to the booming Southpointe mixed-use park as an example of what can happen through good planning. Southpointe, in Cecil Township, was the brainchild of the late Washington County Commissioner Frank Mascara, initially prompting many people to refer to it as “Frank’s Folly,” believing it was a waste of money.

Twenty-five years later, Southpointe has become “the success story of Southwestern Pennsylvania,” Burd said.

The Shell Chemicals ethane cracker plant coming to neighboring Beaver County also will result in new opportunities in the region.

“The workforce needs to be trained,” Burd said. “There will be jobs.”