Diversity is the key to success – and survival
The beauty of a mixed-use business park is that it isn’t dependent on one single industry. Many will remember when the steel industry in Pittsburgh collapsed, it was a horrible blow to the city, causing a local depression, because it was such a large part of the economy. We’ve learned from that experience, and now the economic landscape of the city is diverse, with education, medicine, technology and more all contributing to the local economy.
So, while many players in the oil and gas industry do call Southpointe home, it’s still a diversified and mixed-use park, and it’s variegated on a micro-level. Take Southpointe II, which was supposed to be a largely retail project and then diversified in the planning stages, following the Great Recession. Sure, there is some retail there, but there are also restaurants, apartments, dental offices, banking, and more on Main Street.
And even though Southpointe II and the Town Center are fairly young in comparison to the 25-year-old area, things are still happening, changing, evolving. Believe it or not, there are even a couple more buildings planned to be constructed, and new businesses are still moving in to Town Center. For the full update, turn to page 6. Business writer Rick Shrum caught up with Horizon Properties principal Mike Swisher, who told Shrum that even though we have a number of energy companies in Southpointe, “Southpointe is not really going to live and die by the energy market.” In fact, he says that the most recent economic downturn actually helped Southpointe.
In other news, Community Bank’s marketing coordinator Marissa Krall breaks down the new Tax Cuts and Jobs act in Financial Planning on page 9; United Way of Washington County president Barbara Murphy gives an update on United Way’s Campaign on page 8; and Dr. Stephanie Urchick talks about how employers have shifted the focus from perks for employees to an overall well-being focus in Executive Decision, also on page. 8.
We’ve got the names of this year’s Washington County ATHENA Awards nominees on page 10, and I’m excited to attend the May 11 luncheon at the Hilton Garden Inn Pittsburgh-Southpointe to see who the committee chooses.
Until next time,