Donald Bonk interviews Tom Link, Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship for the Pittsburgh Urban Redevelopment Authority, on the Pittsburgh Tomorrow podcast series. This interview was conducted before COVID-19. The transcript is shortened and edited for the sake of clarity.
View the episode archive here. View Tom Link’s profile here.
“I think Pittsburgh should send itself out into the world … they are turning this upside down and stop chasing companies, companies are chasing us.” —Tom Link, Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh
Donald Bonk: I hosted Tom Link today, director of innovation and entrepreneurship at the Urban Redevelopment Authority in Pittsburgh. Can you tell us a little bit about your backstory, then who you are and what you do?
Tom Link: I lead all of our tools and efforts in support of entrepreneurs and small businesses, including Business Expansion, Pittsburgh City Attraction, and URA. I’ve been here for 17 years and have worked on these things, these tools, and a variety of projects and transactions throughout my career. I am a graduate of Carnegie Mellon’s Heinz School with a degree in Public Policy Management. I also have an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh and I am a proud Pitt student who was born and raised here in the city of Highland Park. I’m Pittsburgh through and through.
Bonk: That gives a lot of context so when people hear your remarks they will understand that you have a decades-long view of Pittsburgh. And that’s the whole point of this series, Pittsburgh Tomorrow. We wanted to get a feel for the past and the present in Pittsburgh so we could have a better window into the future. I actually like to describe it as Pittsburgh Tomorrow is a tour guide for Pittsburgh’s future.
What would make Pittsburgh the best city in the world, or one of the best?
Link: I want Pittsburgh to be a place of choice for everyone who lives here, works here, wants to invest here, and want to recreate here. It won’t always be everyone’s choice. But you should have this opportunity here. And that should be for everyone and everyone. I think about that every day.
When I graduated from Schenley High School in 1990, Pittsburgh was not the place to go for many people for a variety of reasons. Lots of people didn’t want to be here. If people had options, they almost certainly went elsewhere. People who were here fought.
Almost a generation of workers were forced to move elsewhere because they simply had no options. When I think through that lens, when I think about my personal story and my senior year, the truth is that a lot of the people have left. And it was that simple.
Not every high school graduate in the Pittsburgh area is required to stay in Pittsburgh. But for those who want to stay and live and work here, there should be opportunities.
Bonk: We really want to get to the idea of the moon shot. We talk about it repeatedly in this Pittsburgh Tomorrow series. Give me a great idea that will change the narrative of Pittsburgh in a really powerful and dynamic way.
Link: I was actually familiar with the Amazon process. What that process was was a series of cities pawing at themselves to get Amazon to come here. Pittsburgh learned a lot about itself through this process. A lot of really important work has been done to reflect on the Pittsburgh value proposition.
If my colleague hears this, he may yell, “You’re stealing my idea!” but I’ll say it anyway: I think Pittsburgh should speak out to the world. We’re a place where every business, whether it’s here or anywhere in the world, needs to be here to access the assets we have from a value proposition. In my opinion, turn this on its head and stop chasing companies, companies are chasing us. And I don’t know if that’s a moonshot idea, but I’m thinking about it.
Bonk: Can you give me three practical ideas that will move Pittsburgh forward over the next three decades?
Link: We need clean air. This is outside of a lot of my work, but we have to take it seriously. We have to keep hammering on that. Pittsburgh as the global place of choice must be that, as you know, we must be competitive in this area of the environment from a quality of life and health perspective.
Anyone who routinely has to get back and forth from Oakland, the CBD, and the airport wants a better connection. Wouldn’t it be great if you could jump on a rail system that shot out there?
Also, think that it will take very hard work, not just desire and hope, to ensure deliberate investment in things like affordable housing and wealth creation. How do we invest in our infrastructure so that all of our communities are connected, in work programs not just in our research universities but in all of our schools and colleges?
How do we create a level playing field so that you are trained for the jobs of the future regardless of your location in our communities?
We need a city where, no matter who you are and where you come from, you have the opportunity to participate and be successful.
Bonk: It has a moral dimension, but also a self-interest dimension. We cannot reach our potential or climax if people don’t have the opportunity.
Link: I could put it differently, but I think you have to have the best workforce possible. Everyone needs to participate in an environment in which this workforce can be developed. We need to find ways that everyone can participate.
Bonk: When everyone becomes a wealth creator, the total wealth of the community increases.
Link: You want to be able to go to every church in our region and feel that these churches are participating and have a chance to have a future. We have to change that, so by 2050 it’s a different conversation, a different narrative.
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