STEEL VALLEY AUTHORITY

The Steel Valley Authority (SVA) is a unique public authority created by union, community and religious leaders. It works to retain and expand the base of manufacturing jobs and to revitalize communities in western Pennsylvania. The SVA intervenes with companies in crisis to identify the best means of retaining jobs. It works regionally and nationally with unions and communities to implement capital formation and firm retention/buyout strategies.

History

From 1975-1995, western Pennsylvania suffered economic devastation as it lost more than 157,000 high-quality manufacturing jobs. The SVA, a regional development entity, was created in 1986 by the City of Pittsburgh and 11 nearby steel mill towns. The SVA was incorporated following pressure by union, community and religious leaders. Each of the communities has one member on the SVA board. The SVA works to revitalize the region's manufacturing base and to identify the best means of retaining jobs. To this end, it employs a range of industrial retention tools, including early warning systems; worker and manager buy-outs; management consulting and financial packaging; training for labor and management; and, in exceptional cases, the power of eminent domain. The SVA has formed a not-for profit Regional Jobs Corporation, supported by the labor movement and chaired by a union representative. The corporation works closely with SVA initiatives. In the past 10 years, SVA has created or preserved more than 7,500 jobs in western Pennsylvania.

Goals

• To revitalize the manufacturing base in western Pennsylvania;
• To create and retain high-quality manufacturing jobs;
• To create new models of worker and union participation in the economy and capital markets;
• To provide workers and firms with the tools they need to succeed.

Activities

The SVA has received national recognition for its early warning systems, job retention efforts and response to closure efforts. It provides services from employee ownership to financial and technical assistance for business operations and training. The SVA is also a leading incubator and designer of strategies, policies and programs that support high road jobs.

• The Strategic Early Warning Network (SEWN) identifies and assists at-risk manufacturers in 20 counties in western Pennsylvania, and develops plans for ownership succession, business planning and securing financial capital. It works with manufacturers to explore stock option plans and to improve labor-management relations, and provides referrals to modernization and other sources of business assistance.
• SVA works directly with the United Steelworkers of America (USWA) and others to build support for regional investment funds through the Heartland Labor Capital Project, a broad-based, U. S.-Canada working group that supports worker-friendly investment vehicles and local development funds.

Results

• The Strategic Early Warning Network has saved or created more than 7,500 jobs in western Pennsylvania.
• The Heartland Capital Project has contributed substantially to regional and national discussions regarding the use of labor's capital to support good jobs.
• The Regional Jobs Corporation brings together labor, community and legislative leaders to develop projects and support policies that will build good jobs.
• The SVA has built up a nationally recognized business retention infrastructure in the Steel Valley that relies on public awareness, quality programming and the unique powers of a public authority.