To community via RAD shows who we are

Commitment

One of the most powerful side effects of putting our best foot forward to the Amazon HQ2 team has been taking stock of the numerous advantages the Pittsburgh region offers that truly make us a special place to live, work and play.

Also I believe, it makes us thenext landing spot for HQ2.

Some of our more obvious advantages are readily available high-tech talent from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh; top-notch medical and research facilities at UPMC and Allegheny Health Network; reasonable housing and cost of living; manageable traffic density; and shovelready sites.

Competing cities might have a few of the above, but

has anything like our Allegheny Regional Asset District. RAD is unique and should vault us ahead of other metro regions. Our one-half of 1 percent portion of the Allegheny County sales tax has been a steady and reliable source of support for more than 100 nonprofit and government organizations, and has allocated nearly $1.9 billion sinceour inception (more than 60 percent of which is allocated to parks, trails and libraries, whichare free to the public).

RAD has also been a source of dependable funding for regional assets including: Carnegie Museums, The Warhol, Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, National Aviary, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Heinz History Center, Pittsburgh Opera, Pittsburgh Public Theater, the Pittsburgh Ballet, Pittsburgh CLO and Attack Theatre. Many smaller organizations such as Hill District Dance Academy Theater, South Park Theater, Pittsburgh Concert Chorale and City of Asylum depend on RAD for critical support and many leverage those dollars with other funders. RADfunded institutions will help attract and retain Amazon’s projected influx of young, professional talent.

The Allegheny Conference created RAD in the early 1990s, and our region has supported these worthy organizations for almost 25 years. Long before there was a thought of Amazon or an HQ2 competition, numerous local foundation partners and individual donors had done the same for even longer. We didn’t create this to win a competition; this isus, this is who we are.

Our community supports these assets because we as a community care. That is what Pittsburgh really values. RAD works here — and

should speak volumes to Amazon! DANIEL J. GRIFFIN

Board Chair Allegheny Regional Asset

District Downtown