businesses in main street districts. Staff worked with Fourth Economy and EvolveEA consultants to onboard Glassport and Blawnox, conducting business walks, business district advisory meetings, and building sessions with residents, community leaders, and business owners. Development Partners In 2023, the Development Division issued a bid and awarded funds toward stabilization and demolition activities for the Braddock Business Corridor Initiative (BBCI). The BBCI began in the spring of 2018 to combat blight and spur community-driven revitalization along Braddock Avenue where the Redevelopment Authority of Allegheny County (RAAC) owned six properties that were going to be demolished or stabilized. A Request for Development Proposal was released in May 2022 and received numerous viable responses from potential owner-operators in the region. Six RFP respondents were selected by a panel of Braddock citizens to be awarded properties along Braddock Avenue for redevelopment. Throughout the year, the Development Division worked alongside the Business Development Division to issue bids for demolition stabilization services for these six properties. As of the fourth quarter of 2023, demolition and stabilization were well underway with an expected completion by second to third quarter of 2024, weather depending.
Business Development Partnerships The Business Development Division has continued its partnership with Bridgeway Capital and Paramount Pursuits to engage with small business owners by holding a series of Open for Business meetings in various municipalities. The Open for Business meetings offer free marketing, accounting, and legal services to Allegheny County-based micro-businesses (five or fewer employees) in low- and moderate-income areas. The assistance is tailored to each small business to help them become fully open for business. In 2023, the Business Development Division completed four business walks in Mt. Oliver, Coraopolis, Bridgeville, and Bellevue. These walks included meeting with Main Street business owners, community and elected officials, and community development organizations. The long-running Allegheny Together main street development program has continued working with the existing communities of Pitcairn, Clairton, and the BEN communities (Braddock, East Pittsburgh, North Braddock). This work includes market analyses and inventories of buildings and
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