PART ONE – Summer is make-or-break time for many of the small businesses in our towns, along the trails, and in the city’s most festive neighborhoods. This summer, many entrepreneurs are thinking big. For the next six weeks, The Progress Fund – which has helped 311 businesses over 21 years – is going to take you into the heat of an entrepreneurial summer.
Our Trail Towns
Pittsburgh’s first hostel opens Easter Sunday, April 1st
Pittsburgh natives, Paul Kletter and Mary Beth Karabinos, are opening South Side Traveler’s Rest, with help from The Progress Fund.
Some former coal towns turn to nature tourism as a new economic driver
Last night, our regional story went national on Marketplace Business News! Last year, our work along the GAP aired on the local environmental show, the Allegheny Front. It was re-broadcast last night as part of NPR Marketplace’s national show.
From coal towns to trail towns: rebuilding Appalachia
The Allegheny Front dug into our impact along the trail towns— and the stories of the lives it changed. Like Rod Darby, who had a great idea, but hit a snag when banks “weren’t sure about […] Continue Reading
“Communities must embrace bike visitors.” Here’s why.
A biking-hiking trail like the Great Allegheny Passage is an economic development opportunity for the communities it passes through — but only if those towns capitalize on it. And, said David Kahley, president and CEO of the Greensburg-based Progress Fund, McKeesport hasn’t exploited the Great Allegheny Passage to its fullest potential.
CEO talks Trail Town challenges and benefits on “Two Rivers, 30 Minutes” radio show
Topics Discussed: As bike trails are being built, everyone thinks it will boost economies in these communities, “but there aren’t cash registers on trails,” Kahley says. So how should Western Pennsylvania towns be capitalizing on bike trails? What are they doing right and wrong? How does the Progress Fund’s Trail Towns Program help?
Connect With Us!