A Sojourn in Steel City

Known as the “City of Bridges,” Pittsburgh has more bridges than Venice. Last week, on 26 April, the newest one was unveiled; a metaphorical bridge, admittedly, in the form of the posting of a UK Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) officer to the Pittsburgh area-based National Cyber-Forensics Training Alliance (NCFTA) marks the forging of an even stronger link between the UK and US.

The announcement was made at Heinz Field, home of the Pittsburgh Steelers, who, as the Hon. Tom Corbett, Governor of the Pennsylvania, reminded us, have won the Super Bowl a staggering six times, the most of any NFL team.

The lunch launch, which did not include any Heinz baked beans, brought together a select crowd drawn from the business and law enforcement communities. As well as the Governor, speakers included Sir Ian Andrews, SOCA’s Chair, and Philip Barton, the Deputy Head of Mission from the British Embassy in Washington, DC, as well as senior representatives of the US law enforcement community. The event, hosted by Ron Plesco, CEO of the NCFTA, saw speaker after speaker emphasizing the importance of international cooperation; this US-UK collaboration clearly strengthens the ability of our countries to respond to and tackle criminal activity.

The events continued into the afternoon with a series of meetings and briefings. That evening we sat down with a different group, this time as guests of Mark Nordenberg, Chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh and the British Honorary Consul in Pittsburgh.

At the beautiful Pittsburgh Golf Club (a golf club without a golf course) discussions continued, looking at international cooperation and our trade and investment links. Pittsburgh has excellent links with the UK – it is even twinned with Sheffield – and more broadly, the UK’s relationship with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is very strong. The UK alone is Pennsylvania sixth-largest export market and also the largest foreign investor in Pennsylvania with around $7.5 billion invested.

It’s always a delight to visit Pittsburgh – it is after all a very important city in the area covered by the Consulate-General in New York – and the warm welcome is wonderful. This is one bridge that all felt has been built to last, and we look forward to our next visit.