The Tri-State Conference on Manufacturing was founded in 1979 as the Tri-State Conference on Steel, which was a coalition of labor unions and activists that fought the effects of deindustrialization. The organization created the Steel Valley Authority, which sought to publicly own closed mills through the use of eminent domain, as a means of keeping mills open and thousands of steelworkers on the job. Members were also involved in several regional projects concerning unemployment and plant closures. Tri-State also played an integral role in the grassroots movement to save Dorothy Six, a blast furnace at the US Steel Duquesne Works. The group supported bringing a MAGLEV train to Pittsburgh as a means of solving transportation and employment problems in the area.
From the description of Tri-State Conference on Manufacturing records, 1978-1993 (University of Pittsburgh). WorldCat record id: 31733744
