Matt Smith: Pittsburgh region a national model for future-focused infrastructure

When President Biden and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg chose our region to make significant announcements about a robust federal infrastructure package, we knew they did so with confidence that the Pittsburgh region was poised to take the lead, and rightfully so.

We have a long-awaited opportunity in infrastructure that can be a game changer for our region. To capture this moment, stakeholders, including elected officials, for-profit and nonprofit organizations, universities, philanthropic organizations, and labor, from across the Southwestern Pennsylvania region have come together. We have a shared vision for the region’s future and a belief in the vital importance of congressional action. Our approach is defined by a commitment to speaking together as One Region with One Voice.

We believe no place in the U.S. is as well-positioned as ours to serve as a model for the country and put federal investment to work to advance U.S. economic competitiveness, climate resilience and equity. This is because we have the assets, ready-to-go projects and the partnerships to drive transformational change and demonstrate to federal policy makers that our region is best to invest.

Fueled by world-class universities and some of the best problem-solvers on the planet, our region is driving innovation in global growth sectors including autonomy, AI, robotics, energy, life sciences and manufacturing. From pioneering driverless vehicles to decarbonizing the freight rail industry and energy innovation using regional assets like natural gas, we are on the forefront of the initiatives of tomorrow.

With partnership from federal partners, our region can propel the new economy opportunities that are burgeoning here — creating jobs, safer and more efficient infrastructure, and a healthier and cleaner environment — for our region and nation.

With broad and robust investment, we can leverage our abundant water resources, making our waterways cleaner and our navigation system more robust and efficient. We can create the transportation systems of the future by modernizing our international airport to meet today’s aviation and public health needs with a terminal modernization that will set the standard in these areas.

Our innovation-intensive industries of 3D printing, robotics, advanced manufacturing, energy and lifesaving technologies can be further supported by building out and connecting the hubs that pioneer and accelerate these industries.

And we can put access to all of this at the fingertips of every resident, student and business by bridging the digital divide with a robust build-out of broadband and 5G across every corner of our region.

We know we can materialize these big ideas from Pittsburgh because we’ve done it before. From the polio vaccine and organ transplantation and computer science, robotics, artificial intelligence and autonomous systems to leveraging energy assets, the seeds planted by Pittsburgh leaders decades ago are still bearing fruit today. The same spirit of collaboration that fueled these breakthroughs is alive and well today. But we can’t do it alone, we need investment from our federal partners.

We strongly urge Congress to act now, act together and pass the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, to ensure that the same opportunities our region and nation enjoyed in the past are passed along to future generations.

The Pittsburgh region stands ready to be a national model for future-focused infrastructure.

Matt Smith is president of the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce, an affiliate of the Allegheny Conference.