Patricia M. DeMarco: RECOMPETE can help heal Mon Valley, put Appalachians back to work

Our Appalachian riverfronts should be thriving centers of commerce, trade and recreation. But, instead, the region is scattered with facilities that were abandoned by industry. The sites lie on contaminated land, seeping waste into our waterways. Meanwhile, the population continues to decline in the Mon Valley. The families that stay struggle to find jobs that pay a living wage.

Thousands of immigrant workers manufactured the steel that built American cities through the Industrial Revolution. They dreamed the American Dream and built the middle class through good union jobs. Now, these communities, abandoned by the industries who used them for their labor, continue to suffer the economic effect. The remnants of mills in urban communities lie abandoned along the Monongahela River.

At its peak in the 1950s, the Mon Valley was home to nearly 160,000 people. When the steel and mining industries collapsed, jobs dried up, and thousands had no choice but to leave the region. Now, the populations of communities across the valley are getting smaller, older and poorer at faster rates than the rest of the region.

But new federal funds can provide the opportunities and the tools we need to recover.

We can build resilience here at home in the face of the climate crisis. And we can put folks back to work with jobs that are safe and pay enough to make ends meet. We just need to ensure that this support actually gets to our communities where it’s needed most.

That starts by making sure Congress fully funds the RECOMPETE pilot program. As a part of the CHIPS Act, it was signed into law by President Biden. But Congress must still fund RECOMPETE through the appropriations process.

The $1 billion grant program targets distressed communities to provide job opportunities, ensure safe, affordable housing and improve infrastructure. And a significant portion of the funding could make it to our region.

Since the program prioritizes communities with the lowest employment, our area stands to greatly benefit. In Pennsylvania, rural counties like Union and Greene have employment rates of around 60%, compared to the national rate of nearly 80%. A stunning two out of every five “prime-age adults (ages 25–54) are jobless.

RECOMPETE is unlike many other federal grant programs that exclude small communities like Forest Hills. Like many other under-­resourced communities, we don’t have the capacity to manage complex federal grants or meet fund-matching requirements. But RECOMPETE helps distressed communities apply, and gives local leaders the flexibility they need to meet their community’s specific challenges. Grant recipients would develop comprehensive economic development plans and implement programs and activities to alleviate persistent economic distress, support long-term economic growth, create lasting, quality jobs, and increase prime-age employment rates and per capita earnings.

The Mon Valley needs support to harness the potential of the emerging clean economy. Many of our riverfront communities are ideally located to manufacture the new clean technologies that already exist, such as zinc-based Eos batteries. The clean and nontoxic product provides for safe conditions for workers and doesn’t produce the harmful emissions, fumes or waste that can make neighboring communities sick.

EPIC Metals has increased its use of renewable energy in its electric arc steel production in Braddock . There are many ways manufacturing can help transform our economy from a fossil-based system of coal and natural gas, to a more renewable energy system with recyclable battery storage systems. These aren’t just critical steps to address the climate crisis, but they create healthy and reliable family-sustaining jobs.

This land waits for the next revolution as it emerges from the ashes. Once more, the people here dream of a future built to last — a future made possible with reinvestment in renewable energy, urban food cultivation on restored land and new ways of manufacturing, designed to be safe and reused. These technologies are readily available and getting more affordable every day.

The opportunity is there; we just need to capture it. Our leaders must invest in our future clean economy, and bring along everyone, including our former steel and coal communities. Fund the RECOMPETE Act so we can bring our fair share of federal dollars to our Mon Valley communities.

Patricia M. DeMarco is a member of the Forest Hills Borough Council