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The $1.4 billion charity has given millions to fund everything from the preservation of subway murals by black artist Romare Bearden to, most recently, helping fund the Southwest Pennsylvania Environmental Health Project, which aims to study the health effects of Marcellus Shale gas drilling. The charity has no ties to the company. Heinz Chairman, President and CEO William Johnson tried to alleviate fears that the company's sale might rupture its marriage to the city by noting that Buffet has promised not to move the company in a written sales agreement. The company will also maintain its naming rights deal with the Steelers' stadium, among other commitments, Johnson said. "Anytime you have a name like that that's plastered all over the city, when something happens to it, it injects uncertainty, because it's such a stable part of the community," Inman said. "Heinz is sitting in your pantry, when you open your refrigerator, there it is," Inman said. "You don't see Mellon and U.S. Steel in your refrigerator." Still, the professor believes it's safe to assume Heinz will remain what it is to Pittsburgh because it's not being gobbled up by another food conglomerate. Instead, it's being purchased by investors with a track record of breathing new life into established brands, like See's Candies and Geico, the insurance company represented by a talking gecko. "Think of what Berkshire Hathaway does: They buy great brands that haven't realized their potential and they help them realize it," Inman said.
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