Power of 32 seeking to turn region into economic powerhouse

The Power of 32 seeks to involve citizens from a region stretching from the Eastern Panhandle of Maryland across Northern West Virginia, Southwestern Pennsylvania and into Eastern Ohio in a process to set a course to act as a single economic powerhouse by the year 2025.

About 20 people attended Tuesday's meeting at Eastern Gateway Community College's Pugliese Training Center. A similar meeting was held at West Virginia Northern Community College earlier in the day for Brooke and Hancock counties.

The process was led by facilitator Maureen Ciarolla, a volunteer for the Power of 32 group. She owns two small businesses in the Pittsburgh area and is president of the Pittsburgh chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners. She said she got involved in the process because of her grandchildren.

"It's the largest effort of its kind in the country," she said.

A DVD presentation set forth a number of facts about the region, known originally in the 1700s as the Ohio Valley Basin, which centers on Pittsburgh and is the service area, generally, for the Pittsburgh International Airport:

There are more than 50 colleges, universities and community colleges in the region, with more than 250,000 students.

22 of the 32 counties have unemployment higher than the national average.

44 percent of the jobs are concentrated in four sectors - manufacturing, government, retail, health care and social assistance.

There are 27,000 people in farming, mostly for dairy and cattle.

Half the U.S. population is within 500 miles of the region.

The outmigration of population has slowed. Statistics from the Census Bureau indicate the population of the region fell by 3.1 percent in the past 10 years, more from the death of elderly people than to people moving out. More people moved into the region than moved out of Greater Pittsburgh for the first time in 20 years during 2009, according to Census estimates.

After viewing the DVD, the audience was broken into groups and asked several questions to consider: What are the challenges facing the area; what are its strengths and opportunities; what are the top two possibilities to pursue to ensure the area thrives; and what will the area be most proud of having accomplished by 2025.

Much of the talk centered on the need for jobs and the ability for jobs to provide for the other needs, such as retaining young people and rebuilding communities. Other concepts were to build on the area's natural beauty and natural resources and to streamline local governments by combining and sharing services instead of duplicating them in community after community.

Fred Brower, president of Trinity Health System suggested the Jefferson County Community Investment Plan, which resulted from a visioneering effort undertaken by local business leaders and led to a plan that is being constantly pursued and updated, be submitted to the Power of 32 as a model.

Ciarolla said the area can hold more community conversations in hopes of getting greater participation and more diverse input. It was noted by members of the audience that there were only one or two people under age 40 and no ethnic diversity in the room. Participation in the event was strictly voluntary.

Ciarolla suggested the group seek to reach out to young people, people of color, churches, community groups, friends and neighbors to seek participation and put together more community conversations.

The input sessions can be held through September. Tuesday was a rollout day for the talks across the region.

All input gathered at the sessions will be recorded, tabulated and then set into review by the think tanks involved in the Power of 32, with a suggested policy document to be unveiled in an Internet town meeting in 2011. The effort is sponsored by a coalition of corporate and charitable foundation partners, led by the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, the Greater Pittsburgh Nonprofit Partnership and the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission.

Groups interested in holding community conversations may contact the Power of 32 at (866) 431-3622.

Information about the visioneering effort also is available by visiting www.powerof32.org.

(Giannamore can be contacted at pgiannamore@heraldstaronline.com.)