FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July, 6 2026
CONTACT:
Bay Epperly, phone: 304-747-8031 email: [email protected]
WHO: ReImagine Appalachia, American Manufacturing Communities Collaborative, Mechanism, and Catalyst Connection.
WHEN: Thursday, July 9, from 9 am to 12 pm ET.
WHERE: Mill 19 – Building A, 4501 Lytle Street, 15207, Pittsburgh, PA
REGISTRATION: https://reimagineappalachia.org/appalachian-manufacturing-action-plan-summer-roadshow-discussion-series-pittsburgh-pa/
PENNSYLVANIA – July 9, 2026, 9 AM – 12 PM ET at Mill 19 – Building A, 4501 Lytle Street, 15207, Pittsburgh, PA – Part of its Summer Manufacturing Roadshow Discussion Series, ReImagine Appalachia, Mechanism, and the American Manufacturing Communities Collaborative (AMCC) will host an in-person gathering to strategize strengthening workforce pipelines for manufacturing in Southwestern Pennsylvania and the Ohio River Valley region of Appalachia as a whole. The goal is to build skilled labor capacity in the region to help execute Allegheny County’s new executive order, which aims to position the region as a clean manufacturing and technology leader.
Recognizing Pittsburgh as the “Paris of Appalachia,” the roadshow series features a multistate tour to share the latest asset-mapping for advanced manufacturing in the region and build a roadmap for transforming the Ohio River Valley of Appalachia into a hub for sustainable manufacturing (West Virginia, Southeastern Ohio, Eastern Kentucky, and Southwestern Pennsylvania).
Organizers will gather feedback and solutions from unique manufacturing ecosystems and work with state partners to address immediate local needs. The Pittsburgh event will be co-organized by leaders from Catalyst Connection (a SWPA manufacturing extension partnership). Central to the discussions will be how to grow a skilled workforce in response to recent government actions to boost clean manufacturing.
The Allegheny County Executive, Sara Innamorato, has signed the ACT NOW Executive Order, which forms an advisory group of organizations, investors, and labor leaders to strengthen the region’s clean tech economy, climate resilience, market access, and clean energy adoption. It also orders new energy-efficiency standards for vehicle fleets, county buildings, and infrastructure. This comes as a dozen other redevelopment projects emerge in Southwestern Pennsylvania in underutilized industrial sites that could create thousands of manufacturing jobs. However, workforce and technical skills shortages make it difficult to match productivity goals with skilled labor. At this event, partners seek to work with local manufacturing stakeholders to find solutions.
ReImagine Appalachia, American Manufacturing Communities Collaborative, and local partners will gather feedback from stakeholders in the state’s manufacturing ecosystem to address labor shortage issues and make a plan for matching the momentum of the new Executive Order.