Companies seek to cash-in on G-20

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Some Pittsburgh companies will not be satisfied with just having the world come to their doorstep in September when an economic summit convenes here.

Instead, through Web sites, blogs and foreign-language links, many firms are hoping publicity generated by the Group of 20 global economic summit will help expand their businesses overseas, attract foreign investors or convince international companies to set up North American headquarters in the Steel City.

The G-20 has given birth to everything from a nonprofit — GlobalPittsburgh, whose goal is to “spread the word on Pittsburgh,” according to spokesman Thomas Buell — to new marketing campaigns.

Architectural firm Astorino launched a blog in April to promote the children’s hospital it designed for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. But the virtual discussion changed earlier this year when President Barack Obama announced he was bringing nearly two dozen world leaders to Pittsburgh for the summit.

That was when founder and CEO Louis Astorino decided to use the blog to flaunt his firm’s achievements — posting what he calls an A-20 list of its architectural achievements in Pittsburgh — and use the event as a launchpad for his dreams of going global.

“It’s an effort to show our expertise to the world. We want to export Pittsburgh to the world,” said Astorino, whose firm designed and built some of the city’s “green” buildings. Obama cited “green” developments here as one reason he chose Pittsburgh to host the summit.

At the turn of the 20th century, Pittsburgh had more wealth per capita than any city except New York; later, it boasted the third-highest number of Fortune 500 company headquarters in the United States after New York and Chicago. The city was home to the country’s steel industry that fueled two world wars and the mad dash to build skyscrapers and cars.

So when steel collapsed 30 years ago, Pittsburgh sought a new direction.

Now, the city and its business community view the G-20 as an acknowledgment of it’s successful reinvention and an opportunity to change the city’s image as a “two-white-shirt-a-day city” — which is the way Penn State University finance professor Fariborz Ghadar recalls it from his 1968 visit.

Then, Ghadar said, the steel mills that belched smoke into the air caused men to wear one shirt until lunch time, and then change into a clean one to finish off the day. With the mills now shuttered, the city is now home to respected universities, health centers, high-tech startups and other 21st century industries.

Most people, however, don’t know that.

But Ghadar cautions that while the G-20 could boost tourism and help promote Pittsburgh’s transformation, it’s pretty optimistic to think it will persuade investors to put money into an office building or a manufacturing venture.

Tim Calkins, a marketing professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, also warns the success of local businesses’ marketing ventures “hinges on managing expectations.”

“It would be unusual for someone to select an architectural firm in Pittsburgh because the G-20 was held there, but it’s certainly an opportunity,” Calkins said, pointing out that Barcelona benefited in the longterm after hosting the 1992 Summer Olympics.

On the other hand, “the risk is that all that attention spirals negatively if it doesn’t go well,” Calkins said. For example, Eric Robert Rudolph marred the 1996 Summer Olympics for Atlanta when he set off a bomb, killing one spectator and injuring 111 others, Calkins said.

The G-20 certainly poses that risk for Pittsburgh, since thousands of protesters — some violent — often accompany such summits. The city will have 4,000 police on duty during the two-day event and some are concerned television footage of altercations between police and protesters could hurt Pittsburgh’s image.

Still, the city’s excitement is palpable, and many business leaders view the summit as an opportunity.

Jeffrey Deane, a partner in Pittsburgh accounting firm Malin Bergquist, has helped create a German-language link for the company’s Web site. The firm of 120 employees already does business with some 40 international companies — at least 25 of them German owned — and is hoping the G-20 will further expand that reach.