White House National Economic Council Director Visits Mill 19
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As a hub for robotics and artificial intelligence research, Carnegie Mellon University serves as an important partner when federal funding initiatives are considered for the Pittsburgh region.
“It’s when those partnerships are strong and our research institutions are very good at working together that we can see amplification of these efforts so these investments lead to longer-term sustainable new businesses,” said Lael Brainard, director of the White House National Economic Council(opens in new window).
On July 24, Brainard visited Mill 19 in Pittsburgh’s Hazelwood neighborhood to hear about the effects of federal funding in Southwestern Pennsylvania, including the Build Back Better Regional Challenge. Through the Southwestern Pennsylvania New Economy Collaborative(opens in new window), Southwestern Pennsylvania was one of 21 regions awarded funding(opens in new window) through the grant, receiving $62.7 million from the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Brainard met with program leaders including those from the CMU Robotics Institute Pathways Fellowship(opens in new window) program, created for underrepresented technologists in the Southwestern Pennsylvanian innovation economy.
“There’s federal funding, then there’s federal funding that makes things happen,” said Stefani Pashman, CEO of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, while addressing Brainard later during a roundtable discussion she led alongside Bill Demchak, chairman and CEO of PNC Financial Services Group.
Theresa Mayer(opens in new window), vice president for research at CMU, kicked off the discussion by welcoming everyone to Mill 19. When the CHIPS and Science Act was signed by U.S. President Joe Biden in 2022, he called for strategic investments in science, Mayer said. CMU President Farnam Jahanian attended the act’s signing(opens in new window) at the White House.
Participants in the roundtable included:
- Don Smith, president of the Regional Industrial Development Corporation of Southwestern Pennsylvania
- David Roger, president and director of the Hillman Foundation
- Sylvia Fields, executive director of the Eden Hall Foundation
- Rich Fitzgerald, executive director of the Southwestern PA Commission and former Allegheny County Executive
- Michael Huwar, president of Peoples Natural Gas
- William Generett, senior vice president of civic engagement and external relations for Duquesne University
- Petra Mitchell, president and CEO of Catalyst Connection
- Ira Moskowitz, CEO of the ARM Institute
- Matt Smith, chief growth officer of the Allegheny County Conference Development
- Darrin Kelly, president of the Allegheny-Fayette County Labor Council
- Lauren Connelly, director of economic development for Allegheny County
- Rita Baranwal, senior vice president of AP300 small-module reactor at Westinghouse Electric
- Shanan Guinn, vice president of communications at Westinghouse Electric
- Constantine Samaras, director of the Scott Institute for Energy Innovation(opens in new window) and professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
“(President Biden) recognized the importance of science’s unique ability to expand pathways to opportunity and connect the disconnected to innovation,” she said. “Build Back Better has been such a core part of that.”
Discussion topics included equitable job creation, energy investments, navigating federal regulations and cooperative efforts toward future opportunities.
“The business leaders, labor, nonprofits, all the government organizations — we’re poised for the next step,” said David Morehouse, executive vice president of strategy for the Pittsburgh Steelers. “We have everyone together, everyone committed.”
