Nippon Steel Deal – Statement from Allegheny Conference CEO Stefani Pashman on behalf of the Board of Directors

The Pittsburgh region's history as a global leader in the steel industry is well known. In 1980, there were 90,000 steel jobs. Today there are around 16,000. We have celebrated our recovery from a reliance on the steel industry, but at the same time, recent trends show that we are losing approximately 13,000 jobs a year. We should embrace projects that create high-paying jobs, attract capital investment, and fuel population growth.

The region, while undergoing a transformation, relies on all jobs across all industries, and what remains of our steel legacy are outdated plants that lack the needed investment to compete globally. While we recognize that legacy, we are not resting on it - we are building on what's next in energy and manufacturing and that's why investments like the Nippon Steel proposal are critical and well suited for the future of southwestern Pennsylvania.

Given this, we are hard pressed to understand how elected officials in Washington can abandon this region and threaten the Nippon/U.S. Steel deal. Are they going to replace the jobs lost? No. Are they going to provide the capital necessary to modernize our plants? No. Nippon has made commitments that will retain and expand environmentally sustainable steelmaking in western Pennsylvania - a future-focused investment that we need. Simply put, we are concerned there is no Plan B that proposes similar or greater value to our region.

We appreciate the honest broker role that Gov. Shapiro has played throughout his engagement in this process, yet his work alone isn't enough; we need federal policymakers to get this done.

Pittsburgh, let's raise our voice and not allow politics to decide our fate.