Spotlight On: Matt Smith, Chief Growth Officer, Allegheny Conference on Community Development
September 2025 — In an interview with Invest:, Matt Smith, chief growth officer of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, highlighted southwestern Pennsylvania’s aggressive push for economic growth through policy reforms, site readiness, and streamlined permitting. “We realized our region wasn’t achieving the economic growth we wanted, so we’ve doubled down on marketing and selling the region, leaning into our healthy host conditions,” Smith said.
Reflecting on the past year, what have been the most significant initiatives or key changes at the Allegheny Conference, and what has been their impact?
In the last six months, we’ve seen an aggressive, renewed effort toward proactive business development from partners across the state. We realized our region wasn’t achieving the economic growth we wanted, so we’ve doubled down on marketing and selling the region, leaning into our healthy host conditions: public policy and regulatory efforts. For instance, Pennsylvania’s corporate net income tax rate, once among the worst, will be one of the best by the decade’s end. We’ve also raised the net operating loss cap to 80%, aligning with other states and the federal government, making Pennsylvania more competitive. Additionally, the state invested $500 million through the PA Sites program to make sites shovel-ready for large-scale investments like data centers, addressing our past lag in site investment. Lastly, we’ve heard that our state permitting system was a major impediment to business investment and expansion. Through bipartisan leadership, we’ve made significant strides in improving it, ensuring projects move from start to finish quickly, predictably, and transparently. Together, these efforts create healthy host conditions, giving businesses confidence to invest in Pennsylvania and grow.
The Allegheny Conference has been pivotal in Pittsburgh’s transformation over the decades. How do you see its legacy shaping the work you do today?
The work we’re doing now is very much connected to the organization’s legacy, but we’re not resting on that legacy. The conference started in 1944 as one of the first public-private collaborations where sector leaders assembled to solve big problems and take advantage of big opportunities. That idea remains at the core of what we do today.
Eighty years ago, our region’s largest hurdle was cleaning up the Monongahela River — our waterways and air were extremely dirty. You couldn’t enter the water, or even go outside without getting your shirt dirty. The conference was created to solve that problem, which it did. Today, our mission focuses on taking advantage of big opportunities in an effort to grow southwestern PA’s economy, and right now, that’s through our energy assets. We’re well positioned with natural gas assets alongside nuclear energy expertise from companies and partners like Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh. These energy assets are attracting AI, data centers, and large-scale industrial and manufacturing projects, driving the economy forward. Because of these assets and continued public-private collaboration, we’re well positioned to solve the global challenge of power generation over the next 10 to 20 years.
Of those wins, which do you see as having the greatest impact on local business growth, particularly within the energy or industrial sectors?
I can’t pick just one because what is really unique is the projects secured over the last year all point to the nexus of energy and manufacturing. Whether it’s life sciences or robotics and AI, these projects, at their core, all feature energy and advanced manufacturing.
When we look at our economic development wins, the great thing about the last year is that these projects have not only been high capital expenditures and job wins, they have also been very well diversified throughout the region. For example, there’s a big project in Indiana County that will become one of the largest natural gas conversion projects in the country. That’s going to be a massive project for the county and the whole region. And, in Westmoreland and Beaver counties, we saw the Hitachi and Mitsubishi Electric Power Products projects.
What challenges still remain in attracting and retaining businesses in Pittsburgh? How is the Allegheny Conference addressing issues such as permitting, infrastructure, and workforce needs?
The Allegheny Conference works closely at the local, state, and federal level to improve conditions for businesses in our region. Permitting is probably the biggest issue on the public policy side that we’ve had a great deal of bipartisan success in moving forward but still requires more work. Something that is clear across all of these big projects – whether it’s a data center or an industrial project making advanced switchgear – is that they all want speed, whether that’s permitting efficiency or making sure that local governments and the community are supportive. All that goes to the idea of getting the project up and out of the ground quickly. The need for efficient approval processes and start-to-finish construction will be a primary issue for us to solve over the next couple of years.
Regarding the Downtown Vision Plan and renewed investment in PAD-ready sites in downtown Pittsburgh, what are the Allegheny Conference’s top priorities?
The revitalization of downtown Pittsburgh is a critical plank of the region’s healthy host conditions. While we’re very focused on policy, taxes, and the regulatory efficiencies, we can’t have that without quality of life and a robust city center.
Ensuring downtown Pittsburgh is a place where you can live, work, and play is a major priority. Right now, we’re focused on improving public spaces. Market Square is undergoing an expansive multimillion-dollar revitalization led by the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership. Point State Park, located at the confluence of the Monongahela, Allegheny, and Ohio rivers, will receive tens of millions in state investment to modernize this signature public space. The third project, Arts Landing, will feature a dynamic public space for walks, dog-walking, kids, and small concerts, forming a natural amphitheater on the river in the heart of downtown’s cultural district. The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, formed in the 1980s to revive the then-deteriorating cultural district, drives this project. These public spaces are important to ensuring our community feels like downtown is a place they can explore, and we look forward to showcasing these upgrades during the 2026 NFL draft.
What are the major goals and priorities for the Allegheny Conference over the next two to three years?
We will continue to build on the last six months of momentum in securing large-scale business investment that will enable broader industry and job growth in the greater Pittsburgh region. We’re right on the cusp of an AI revolution in the world. Pittsburgh is uniquely positioned to be right at the center of that revolution. We’ll continue to focus our work on energy and innovation that enables other industries important to our region like advanced manufacturing, life sciences, robotics, and research and development.
Most of all, our big priority in the coming years is to ensure that the story of the greater Pittsburgh region continues to get out to people because we have a great value proposition at our core.
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