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Gov. Ed Rendell on Friday gave $250,000 in state money to an effort to develop promotional videos for a campaign to bring visitors and companies to the region and improve local residents' own opinion of the region.

"You have got to sell Pittsburgh and the Southwestern Pennsylvania region to visitors, companies and people like any product," Rendell said at an event at the Sheraton Station Square Hotel, South Side.

Rendell also touted a cable TV promotional program called "Discover Pittsburgh Country" aimed at providing tourists with information about local attractions and events, as well as making local residents feel better about where they're from.

The $250,000 state grant will be combined with a $750,000 University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and University of Pittsburgh effort aimed at enticing medical professionals and students to the region, said Leslie McCombs, president of Riverview Productions Inc., who will host the promotional videos.

The state money will be given to the city's Urban Redevelopment Authority, McCombs said. The URA, in turn, will forward the funds to Paradiso Group, which handles UPMC's advertising. Paradiso is operated by Doug Romoff, the brother of UPMC President Jeffrey Romoff. Paradiso has provided the creative advertising for UPMC for the past year.

Production of the videos on DVD and TV spots is expected to begin in May, with all views to be in the city of Pittsburgh and the surrounding communities, McCombs said. About 80 local residents will be hired, along with a crew of three from New York. The videos should be available by summer and will be offered to corporations, tour agencies and TV stations for use as public service announcements, said McCombs, who is also the host of UPMC Health Journal, which airs on KDKA-TV.

Discover Pittsburgh Country, produced by Pittsburgh-based Planet Earth Television, was developed from a study by the Uniontown-based Fay-Penn Economic Development Council.

Discover Pittsburgh produces four 30-minute programs a year to coincide with the seasons. Viewing of the series is available through Comcast's On Demand service, which is available to its 350,000 digital cable subscribers. Efforts are under way to expand the programs to other regional cable service providers.

"This has been a tourism development effort to establish a new promotional vehicle to create awareness of the tourism and cultural opportunities in the region among visitors and local residents," said Michael W. Krajovic, Fay-Penn CEO.

Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato said it is discouraging that residents of the region have a negative image of the area.

"Newcomers to the region are stunned when local residents ask them why they came here, instead of asking them what they like about the region," he said.

Bill Flanagan, of the Allegheny Conference, said the latest promotional activities are an extension of the $200,000 Pittsburgh "Image Gap" effort launched several years ago to promote a new regional identity to supplant the outdated image of Southwestern Pennsylvania as dirty and smoky.

Supporters say that effort has guided agencies like the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Pittsburgh Convention & Visitors Bureau in developing subsequent marketing campaigns.

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