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Thursday, September 19, 2002

By Donald I. Hammonds, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

A group of local business leaders headed to Nashville, Tenn., this week to get more African-American professionals to move to Pittsburgh.

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Representatives from the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance and several major corporations, including PNC Financial Services Group, Alcoa, H.J.Heinz Co., Highmark Inc., Mellon Financial Corp. and PPG Industries, are using the National Black MBA Association's 24th Annual Conference and Career Fair in Nashville to recruit talent and raise awareness of the Pittsburgh region.

The local businesses are working side-by-side at the convention and using a common theme -- "The Pittsburgh Region: No Barriers ... Just Bridges" to talk up the region and sell prospects on living and working in Pittsburgh.

Some of those attending the conference concede that that can be a tough pitch to make to young African-American professionals.

"While I could sell and market PNC very well, we would hit a stumbling block when we brought up the idea of working in Pittsburgh," said Davie Huddleston, a PNC vice president who has attended past National Black MBA conventions.

"When we tried to find out why, we found that it wasn't that Pittsburgh had a bad reputation. The problem was that we had none at all," he said. "It's simply not on their radar. That's what we are hoping to change."

It hasn't escaped Huddleston or others that many competing cities don't seem to be having problems attracting African-American talent. The frustrating thing, Huddleston said, is that many of these aren't nearly as nice as Pittsburgh as a place to work, live and play.

Of course, marketing and recruiting efforts can't change certain characteristics that hurt Pittsburgh's standing in the eyes of some African-Americans.

For one, unlike many cities where African-American professionals live in cohesive neighborhoods, Pittsburgh's black professionals are widely dispersed in neighborhoods as far flung as Penn Hills and the North Side. That, many in the community say, dilutes political power and cultural influence.

Huddleston says the city can overcome part of that problem by taking potential recruits to African-American churches, gatherings and establishments. "Those considering coming here need to see African-Americans in numbers that would make them feel comfortable," he said.

Pittsburgh does have other advantages. For instance, Pittsburgh has a rich, vibrant African-American cultural history, with playwright August Wilson, the late singer Billy Eckstine, author John Wideman and such places as the Crawford Grill in the Hill District, said Tereneh Mosley, the PRA's director of talent attraction.

Recruits also will be told that their chances for job advancement and making their mark is much greater in Pittsburgh -- in part because there are fewer African-American professionals here -- and because local companies, aware of the importance of diversity, are promoting African-Americans with greater frequency.

"The reason I came back to Pittsburgh is because you can move out and move up fairly quickly here," Mosley said. "You have the ability to take a leadership position in corporate work, or in nonprofits or elsewhere. In Chicago if you're a black MBA, you're just one of millions there."

Donald I. Hammonds can be reached at dhammonds@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1538.