Leveraging the power of private sector leadership to improve the region’s economic outlook and quality of life, the Allegheny Conference on Community Development created the Strategic Investment Fund (SIF) in 1996. Thirty-three corporations, foundations and individuals helped to capitalize the initial fund with a $40.3 million pool of private capital. A second fund, SIF II, closed in 2002 with a capitalization of $29.7 million provided by 27 investors, 20 of whom were repeat investors from the original fund. Three strategies to guide investments were identified for SIF II: regional core investment strategy, industrial site reuse and technology development strategy and a strategic site acquisition strategy.

In 2020, the Allegheny Conference made a commitment to regional vitality and creating a next-generation economy for all as outlined in the organization’s 10-year plan. In service to this regional vision – one that is anchored in the principles of inclusion, sustainability and collaboration – the SIF realigned its investment strategy to prioritize loans in support of catalytic economic development and community revitalization projects with a focus on historically excluded areas. By the end of 2023, a third SIF fund will close and be used to advance the realigned investment strategy.