The Southwestern Pennsylvania Municipal Project Hub, announced in February, is a new regional initiative supporting local government and nonprofit leaders across 10 counties in southwestern Pennsylvania as they attempt to access federal funding. The hub serves the 10-county region of Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Washington, and Westmoreland.

According to Chief Executive Officer Megan Zeigler, the SWPA Municipal Project Hub has been working hard to ensure that the region is able to obtain funding for its municipalities, school districts, and nonprofits to create sustainable economic development over time. It aims to provide support to collaboratively acquire federal infrastructure and sustainable economic development funding.

“From Brackenridge to Butler, Aspinwall to Aliquippa, no matter what we look like or how much money we have, all southwestern Pennsylvanians want to ensure a bright future for generations to come. But years without significant federal investment in clean energy policies and climate-friendly manufacturing, and with a lack of dedicated funding for economic development, it has been hard for many local communities to imagine the kind of future we all want for our families,” Zeigler said.

“Finally, thanks to once-in-a-generation federal investments available through the federal Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, our region has an unparalleled opportunity to access new federal infrastructure and clean energy funds.”

Like other local governments, southwestern Pennsylvania experienced a lack of capacity, resources, and support to access and leverage the available federal funding. That’s where the hub comes in, helping to provide capacity and technical support to access and leverage it – and creating new jobs in new industries in the process.

“At the hub, we know and understand the daily challenges small towns across Pennsylvania face and the transformative impact these federal investments can have on rebuilding our main streets, creating good-paying jobs in clean industries, and reducing energy bills for residents,” Zeigler explained. “We help local governments advance meaningful community and economic development initiatives that center on solutions and strategies that communities can feel good about for generations.”

The goals of the SWPA Municipal Hub are clear: To maximize federal investment that supports economic vitality, climate readiness, and community well-being across southwestern Pennsylvania, especially in designated environmental justice and energy communities; close local capacity gaps by rapidly coordinating and funding the technical expertise and services communities need on the ground; and catalyze shared success by fostering accountable and trusting relationships across communities and sectors and building a collective understanding of regional reinvestment barriers and opportunities, said Zeigler.

The SWPA Municipal Hub received its initial funding from The Heinz Endowments, which is, “committed to helping our region maximize the historic funding opportunity that the bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act offer for infrastructure, economic development, and climate-friendly projects,” Matt Barron, program director for sustainability at the Heinz Endowments, said in a statement.

Zeigler discussed continued funding for the project.

“The hub is fiscally sponsored by the Community Foundation of the Alleghenies and supported by local philanthropic institutions,” she said. “But we continue to seek additional financial support so that we can broaden and expand our capacity. We look to support projects that show strong community and municipal support, and we will help them maximize the federal grant opportunities and tax credits.”

Standardized project readiness criteria are being developed to help the communities best pair technical assistance providers with the most impactful projects.

In just a few short months, the hub has had much success in its ventures. Since the launch, it has supported more than $72 million in federal grant applications across the 10-county region on projects ranging from energy efficiency and food systems to multimodal transportation and workforce development.

“The projects we are supporting are community priorities, making them all impactful in their own way. We’ve gotten a lot of really great feedback about the support we’re able to provide,” she said.

Zeigler and her team highly value the input of the community in their project selection process.

“In June, we participated in a series of listening sessions with multiple federal agencies to discuss community priorities in six of the counties the hub is serving. Federal representatives attended these sessions and were available to provide insight and advice.”

The hub has received some important feedback. One of the organizations it supported said that it gave the staff “the ability to dream.” After helping them to submit a transportation grant that would connect low-income neighborhoods to the downtown district, a city manager with whom they worked closely said: “Your team made this complex grant feel manageable, and I feel we just created a team.”

According to Zeigler, SWPA Municipal Project Hub is excited to continue community engagement through the fall and help ensure funding that will have a lasting impact on Pennsylvania communities. They are following up with each of the counties to pair grant opportunities to their needs. Since those sessions, they have been closely tracking broadband grants, brownfield redevelopment and supporting an economic development planning grant opportunity.

“Every day, we work to meet communities where they are, understand what local challenges keep them up at night, and help to connect the dots that bring to life the exciting and impactful projects that have the potential to benefit our communities for generations.”

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