August 2003

By James Beatty, NCS International, Inc.

What do you think of when Pittsburgh is mentioned? Perhaps smokestacks, foundries and steel mills come to mind. Years ago, that would have been true. Now as they say, 'Pittsburgh Is On It.' Today, it's more accurate to think of CRM, high-tech, info tech, fiber optics, life sciences, logistics and research and development. The 'New Pittsburgh Region,' as they refer to themselves, has been transformed.

Not only did the venerable Mister Rogers call this place home and produced his popular 'Mister Rogers' Neighborhood' show on public television for 30 years, but dozens of call centers and back-office operations have made this region their neighborhood as well.

According to the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance (PRA), which graciously arranged my visit, tour and briefings, there are almost 4,000 firms employing nearly 60,000 people in financial services, major back-office and CRM operations in the area. Call centers alone account for over 17,000 employees in the region.

The PRA is a non-profit economic development organization formed in 1995. It works with public, private and civic organizations in the 10 counties of southwestern Pennsylvania. Its focus and mission is to generate and serve business creation, expansion and relocation as well as to aid in the growth of the skilled workforce.

Contained in the next several tables are some of the reasons call centers are thriving in the 10-county region.

Population
County Total

Allegheny 1,281,666

Armstrong 72,392

Beaver 181,412

Butler 174,083

Fayette 148,644

Greene 40,672

Indiana 89,605

Lawrence 94,643

Washington 202,897

Westmoreland 369,993

10 County Region 2,656,007

Pittsburgh MSA 2,358,695

City of Pittsburgh 334,563

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Pittsburgh Regional Alliance

Gender, Age And Per Capita Income
The region is 48 percent male and 52 percent female. There are 320,771 people in the 25 to 34 age bracket and 418,866 in the 35 to 44 age bracket

Per capita income in the 10-county region ranges from $19,932 in Greene County to $34,431 in Allegheny County. The average for the 10-county region is $29,412

Labor Force
County Total

Allegheny 659,725

Armstrong 32,017

Beaver 87,617

Butler 90,858

Fayette 58,300

Greene 40,672

Indiana 37,033

Lawrence 40,408

Washington 98,333

Westmoreland 185,467

10 County Region 1,306,133

Pittsburgh MSA 1,180,300

City of Pittsburgh 162,675

Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau, Pittsburgh Regional Alliance

Unemployment
According to data compiled for November 2002, the unemployment figures for the region range from a low of 4.7 percent in Allegheny County to a high of 7.7 percent in Fayette County. The 10-county regional average for the same time period was 5.3 percent.

Wage Information
An analysis of hourly and annual wages for selected call center-related occupations reveals the following data for the Pittsburgh MSA.

Average
Average Annual Occupation Hourly Wage Wage

Sales managers $35.51 $73,870

HR managers $27.70 $57,610

Computer programmers $20.21 $42,040

Network and computer administrators $20.21 $42,040

Telemarketers $10.63 $22,110

Office supervisors $12.08 $25,130

Bill collectors $12.30 $25,590

Customer service reps $12.12 $25,210

Computer operators $12.91 $26,850

Retail salespeople $8.70 $18,100

Sources: Pennsylvania Department of Labor, Pittsburgh Regional Alliance

Education
The region produces over 28,000 high school graduates annually, with 28,443 in school year 2000 and 28,883 in school year 2001. This large pool of high school graduates represents a great opportunity for call centers considering the area.

In 2000, there were a large number of degrees granted, as well.

Associate's degree 2,922

Bachelor's degree 13,920

Master's degree 5,968

Ph.Ds 635

There are 129,583 students enrolled in the region's 33 colleges, universities and community colleges. A partial listing of colleges and universities and their enrollments includes:

Art Institute of Pittsburgh 2,497

(The Andy Warhol Museum is in Pittsburgh.)

Butler County Community College 2,913

California University of Pennsylvania 5,899

Carnegie Mellon University 8,514

Community College of Allegheny County 15,556

of Beaver County 2,188

of Westmoreland County 5,272

Duquesne University 9,667

Indiana University 13,410

Robert Morris University 4,958

Slippery Rock University 6,952

University of Pittsburgh 26,329

Telecommunications
The region is well wired, with AT&T, MCI and Sprint operating major primary switches. AT&T has its International Operations Center in Pittsburgh, further attesting to the area's network reliability. Sonet rings and redundancy are provided in the region by over 30 competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) and Internet companies. The area is also establishing itself as a cyber security hub, as it is home to the Software Engineering Institute's CERT Coordination Center, the Sustainable Computing Consortium and one of the world's largest computer security firms.

Real Estate
In the Pittsburgh market, Class A real estate in the central business district is $22.39 and Class B is $16.19. The suburban Class A is $20.04 and Class B is $14.80. As an average, Class A is $21.54 and Class B is $15.65.

Incentives/Taxes
The region has 24 different and creative incentives and has demonstrated its ability and willingness to meet the needs of the call centers in the area. Job training and assistance ranks at the top of the list of programs available. There are also programs to help mitigate the usual corporate taxes. All of these programs can be accessed through the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance (PRA).

Call Centers Operating In The Region
As of the latest count, there are 60 call centers in the region, employing 17,480 people. This represents 1.3 percent of the region's total workforce, with plenty of room for growth to 2 percent (26,122), which would allow the addition of another 9,000 people with minimal upward pressure on wages.

Table 1 is a list of the call centers currently operating in the region.

Summary/Conclusions
During my talks with call center managers, I was pleasantly surprised to learn of the variety of call centers in the area and their affordability. I was very pleased to learn about the great working relationship among each of the 10 counties served by the PRA. This cooperation makes the review and research process very simple ' a kind of 'one-stop shopping.' The area can easily absorb another 9,000 or more call center agents and not miss a step. The region is low cost, ranking at 96 on a scale where 100 is average, as computed by ACCRA, and offers workers and management a tremendous quality of life and a wealth of great cultural and ethnic experiences. Even arriving at the airport was fun, which is a seldom-used word these days to describe air travel. When you fly into the Pittsburgh International Airport, you feel as though you have landed in a major shopping mall. Perhaps this is the reason why even the airport is rated among the world's top five.

As usual, if you have any comments or suggestions for new stories, please contact me at jbeatty@callcentersites.net and visit my Web site www.callcentersites.net for the latest on call center and back-office location information worldwide.

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