The inaugural Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit convened by U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., may be remembered as a turning point for Western Pennsylvania’s economic fortunes, or as just another in a long series of empty promises to transform the Pittsburgh region.

Which way it goes will depend in large part on how well leaders seize the moment.

Throughout his own remarks, McCormick emphasized time and again that the event was meant to be “a starting point” — that is, a catalyst for future deals, future building, future growth — and not an end in itself. We hope that he and others responsible for developing the region’s economy take that to heart. A relatively small proportion of the $90 billion in Pennsylvania investments announced on Tuesday are coming to this part of the commonwealth, though more deals may trickle in during the coming weeks and months.

Still, the purpose of the summit was not the headline-grabbing dollar amount, but rather to convene many of the country’s and the world’s most capacious executives and investors in Pittsburgh — to show off the city and the region, to pitch them on its unique collection of institutional and natural resources, to allow the leaders of regional companies to encounter opportunities they couldn’t in any other way. Therefore, the success of the summit will be measured in years and decades of growth, or of disappointment, and not based on a single top-line figure in a press release.

Yet a necessary word of caution: The complete solution to Western Pennsylvania’s problems will never be found in global capitalists, who see in this region opportunities for profit detached from the flourishing of everyday people. It will take local and regional leadership to continue to court outside investment, yes, but also to ensure truly inclusive development and prosperity. It will be up to us whether transformative investments, should they fully materialize, create a better Western Pennsylvania, and not a worse one.

LET’S MAKE A DEAL

The biggest investments announced on Tuesday involve commitments to invest and to build in the eastern half of Pennsylvania. The investment firm Blackstone is spending $25 billion on “data center and energy infrastructure” in the northeastern corner of the commonwealth. Three separate companies committed to a $6 billion data center in Lancaster County, a $5 billion data center in York County and a $15 billion data center campus in Cumberland County. Google is working with Canadian investment firm Brookfield to restart two hydropower plants on the Susquehanna River to provide electricity for computing.

The Western Pennsylvania announcements were, by any usual standard, very impressive — but not as robust as across the state.

The company that is converting the former Homer City coal plant to a massive natural gas facility said it will purchase $15 billion of Pennsylvania-sourced gas. Frontier Group announced a similar natural gas conversion project at the former Bruce Mansfield coal plant in Shippingport, Beaver County, worth $3.2 billion. Pittsburgh corporate stalwart Westinghouse says it will get to work on 10 new large nuclear reactors at its Aliquippa plant by 2030.

And in a smaller but very important commitment, GE Vernova will put $100 million into its Charleroi, Washington County, factory, creating 250 new jobs after the town was staggered by the closure of the Anchor Hocking glass plant.

While many of these deals were in the works for months or years, the summit provided a catalyst to get them across the finish line. Ideally, the event also served as a catalyst for deals and investments that will take shape in the months and years to come.

FLIES IN THE OINTMENT

Most of the summit’s shortcomings were related to the nature of today’s deeply partisan politics. The event, for instance, could have done without controversial former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who inveighed against “woke” universities and contributed nothing of substance to the proceedings. The slogans and campaign-style statements (“Drill, baby, drill”) from Trump administration cabinet officials contrasted with the more measured remarks of businesspeople.

The event would have benefited from more bipartisan participation. Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro made the right choice to attend, and extolled the virtues of cross-aisle partnerships on stage with Republican McCormick, who strongly echoed his sentiments. Democratic U.S. Sen. John Fetterman did not attend, though McCormick spoke well of him and his support for economic development.

But Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato, Democrat iun an influential seat in Western Pennsylvania, should have at least been invited: She will, after all, have a significant role to play in courting investments and getting construction projects permitted and built. On the bright side, some regional agencies, such as the Allegheny County Airport Authority, were invited and attended the summit.

WHICH WAY?

The Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit appears to have served its public purpose well: It provided a deadline for major deals benefitting the Keystone State to get done, while bringing executives and investors who control trillions of dollars in assets to Pittsburgh to hear about how the region, and Pennsylvania as a whole, is poised to lead in a future where AI is ubiquitous and energy needs are enormous. We congratulate  McCormick on making his own vision for this summit a reality.

But the summit does not, on its own, portend a richer or better future. That will require follow-up to ensure companies follow through on their commitments, and make further commitments to this corner of the state. But more than that, it will require ambitious and savvy regional leaders who see in the summit and its aftermath an opportunity to shape the Pittsburgh region’s future in a way that places its people at the very center.

Data centers and robust energy generation may be the entrance ticket to the new world economy, but they aren’t everything. What Pittsburgh builds on this foundation, from developing its workforce to nurturing companies who offer diverse and well-paying jobs, will determine whether the people of Western Pennsylvania benefit from the region’s competitiveness, or are simply used by forces beyond our control or comprehension.

— Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via TNS