PRA puts Champions to work
Pittsburgh Business Times - by Christopher Davis
DOWNTOWN -- Following its founder's departure and recent interest in modeling a statewide initiative after it, the Pittsburgh Regional Champions program is shifting its focus.
The more than 800 members of the Champions program -- once a loose group of volunteers charged with informally promoting Pittsburgh wherever they go -- now are being asked to play a greater role in local economic development initiatives and be more accountable for their efforts.
Ronnie Bryant, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance, the development group that oversees the Champions, said members have been asked to align with at least one of several PRA-related business development teams.
The teams' focuses include business attraction, existing business development, international business development and marketing and communications.
Champions -- most of whom are young professionals -- will be expected to concentrate their efforts within the areas their teams focus on.
They'll also be asked to submit quarterly reports, rather than the annual ones they now complete, about potential business leads and new contacts.
The new aspects of the program were unveiled during a Champions event Wednesday night at Heinz Field.
"We're not changing direction. We're expanding," Mr. Bryant said. "What we want to do ... is make it a much more accountable organization and really give the Champions a much more substantive role in our economic development efforts."
GETTING INVOLVED
New Champions director Mary Thomas said the Champions are a resource that the PRA should make greater use of.
"We can tap into this valuable bank of energetic people and use them to help to deliver our services and reach our goals and objectives," Ms. Thomas said.
The Champions already have been intimately involved in the PRA's efforts to use the Steelers' recent playoff run as a way to showcase the city.
In a recent e-mail update he sends weekly to PRA board members and regional stakeholders, Mr. Bryant detailed how Champions had hosted Steelers game-viewing parties in 11 cities across the country, including St. Louis, Philadelphia and Boston.
The ambassadors were joined by 2,500 fans "to cheer on the Black and Gold and gain a fresh appreciation of the positive transformation the Pittsburgh region has undergone in recent years," the e-mail stated.
In addition to expanded roles for Champions members, Ms. Thomas said the program will expand its presence in other counties within the region.
The Champions held events in Slippery Rock and Armstrong County last year, and are planning a training session in Indiana County this year.
Mr. Bryant said the group also will look to diversify its membership, by tapping into new leadership groups that target young minority professionals such as the Onyx Alliance and the Urban League of Pittsburgh's Young Professionals Auxiliary.
`A JOB HALF DONE'
The Regional Champions program, founded by Hilda Pang Fu three years ago, started with just 25 volunteers. Now, there are more than 800. With that growth, however, there have been growing pains. The most visible example was Ms. Fu's awkward departure in December.
Mr. Bryant, in a weekly e-mail sent the day Ms. Fu resigned, said he was "very disappointed to see (Ms. Fu) go" but he was "pleased to know she has promised to continue on as an active Champion."
Ms. Fu said this week that she was offered a promotion at the PRA to vice president, working on existing business retention efforts, but was told she would have to focus 100 percent of her attention on those efforts -- not the Champions.
Ms. Fu said she, with the help of other colleagues, had "personally crafted" the new focus plan being implemented this year for the Champions, and she agreed "with the vision and the additional tactics" Mr. Bryant has in mind for the program. Ms. Fu said she was flattered, too, when the state's Team Pennsylvania Foundation said last year it planned to adopt aspects of the Champions program because it had worked better than the state's existing program, called the Ambassadors.
Latest News |
Most Viewed Stories |
Most Emailed Stories |
