Roger Cranville is putting Pittsburgh on the map — in the United Kingdom.
He has the same obstacles to overcome that any promoter of the city would have in the United States. Pittsburgh’s image as a dirty smokestack city prevails in the British Isles, just as it does around this country.
An American, Cranville came to Pittsburgh a decade ago to do economic development work and later worked for the state as deputy secretary for international business. He returned to the city in 2000 to take the posts of vice president of international development for the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance and executive director of the British American Business Council.
Last fall, he led a five-member team to the United Kingdom to introduce companies there to Pittsburgh and talk up the advantages of locating their U.S. operations in this region. The effort has been so encouraging that the PRA is considering similar efforts in Germany, Ireland and Canada.
So we’ll be glad to see him leave town — as long as he comes back.
Ray Marano
