Kansas City economic development leader picked to helm the Urban Redevelopment Authority

Courier Newsroom
December 2, 2019

The Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh is getting its new executive director from the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City.

A five-person committee that led a national search announced in June has selected Greg Flisram, the interim president and CEO of the Kansas City nonprofit focused on business and workforce development. The Urban Redevelopment Authority [URA] board approved Flisram’s appointment at its Thursday afternoon Nov. 14 board meeting. Flisram is expected to start Jan. 13.Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto and Sam Williamson, the URA board chair, announced Flisram’s appointment Nov. 14.

Before the Economic Development Corporation, Flisram served as development director of the City of Green Bay, Wisconsin, and has worked in private sector development roles in Milwaukee; Grand Rapids; Muskegon, Michigan; Newport Beach, California; and Sugarland, Texas, according to a press release from the City of Pittsburgh and the URA.

“From this day forward, the economic development strategy of the city of Pittsburgh is forever changed,” Peduto said at a Thursday press conference. “It is now one that will focus on building a new economy for all and restoring our neighborhoods through housing and entrepreneurship in order to be able to see the full potential of the people that call Pittsburgh home.”

Flisram said he hopes to see Pittsburgh as a “national model, and even a test lab, for new ideas around affordable housing and economic equity and inclusion.”