A panel of civic and business leaders spoke at the June 2025 Pittsburgh Tomorrow event. (Photo by Alice Crow/Technical.ly)

By Gavin Petrone, Technical.ly

Pittsburgh business and workforce leaders are calling on locals to be more inclusive and open to newcomers if they want to see the city flourish.  

Speakers, including the recently elected Democratic mayoral nominee Corey O’Connor, gave insight into their respective plans for growth last week at a panel organized by Pittsburgh Tomorrow. Discussion revolved around shifting from research to implementation, looking for ways to grow the population and revising city zoning laws to accommodate business development.

“We have all the ingredients here to build a great downtown, a thriving economy and make places where businesses want to grow,” Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato said during opening remarks. “We’re going to welcome the NFL draft next year, which will really put a global spotlight on this region and get people to experience the best parts of Pittsburgh, and maybe want to stay.”

Doug Heuck, the CEO of Pittsburgh Tomorrow, an organization focused on attracting more residents to the region, brought together politicians, workforce development stakeholders and business leaders alongside O’Connor and Innamorato, including the Pittsburgh Robotics Network’s Jennifer Apicella; director of economic development for Allegheny County Lauren Connelly; associate director of the Andy Warhol Museum Dan Law; and president and CEO of the Advanced Leadership Institute Evan Frazier.

The next step to help the city reach its full potential, they said, is to act on the obstacles that they already know exist. Many Pittsburgh leaders are already keenly aware of the issues facing the region, Apicella said, and forums and studies researching issues are now pointless.

“We know the problems,” Apicella said. “It’s time for action,” like more private-public partnerships. 

Law applied the importance of collaboration to fundraising. As startups look to bring in more money, Law said the companies should form relationships with “the 12 people in Pittsburgh who actually have money,” in order to grow.

(For more of the story, visit Technical.ly)

Gavin Petrone is a student at Point Park University and one of 10 Pittsburgh Media Partnership summer interns.