Free Event - TechShop at RCI

Photo by Blmurch

RCI is hosting a free Emerging Tech Series on Monday, January 27th. The event will be held from 6-8 pm in the 1st Floor Conference Room. TechShop is a creative community workshop that aims to make the tools of innovation more accessible. Centers are located all over the nation and offer 3D printing, laser and waterjet cutting, welding, and other tools. At the event you can learn more about what TechShop centers offer innovators and communities.  

You can RSVP for free by emailing events@yourtalentagents.com, and check out the flyer below for additional information.  

NSIDC Brownfield Assessment Program: Asking for Community Input

North Side Industrial Development Co. (NSIDC) is awaiting funding approval from the EPA for our Community-Wide Brownfield Assessment Program. The program redevelops brownfields, sites that are abandoned and potentially contaminated, into places for new businesses. To date, NSIDC has received $4 million EPA funds and surveyed over 50 local sites.

To be eligible for the program sites must:

1. Have a reuse strategy

2. Be accessible by NSIDC

3. Be located in Allegheny or Beaver County  

NSIDC is asking for your involvement.  If you know of a brownfield in the eligible areas, or would like to be involved in the site selection process please contact us here.

If approved, the program can select sites anywhere in Allegheny and Beaver Counties but will target riverfront properties.

What Changes can Pittsburgh Expect from New Mayor Peduto

This week marked the inauguration of new mayor, Bill Peduto.  It will be interesting to see what changes could happen in Pittsburgh with this new leadership.  Pop City Media compiled some highlights from Mayor Peduto’s list of goals during his term.  Many highlights focus on neighborhood revival and investment and support for green, clean technology companies in Pittsburgh.

A self-described data-driven guy, Mayor Peduto moves into the office armed with 1100 pages of notes generated by a citizen-lead advisory committee that worked through the holidays on ideas to lead the region forward.

He has an ambitious to-do list of his own, as well, no less than 100 highly-detailed ways to lead the region, often tapping technology to get the job done.

Here’s a sampling of a few of the items on his innovation checklist, things Mayor Peduto wants that Pittsburgh needs:

· User-friendly government, beginning with a new cabinet position. Among the first hires will be a chief performance and innovation officer, a job expected to go to Debra Lam. Bring on big data!

· City streets with smarter traffic signals. Streamlined digital building permit systems and equal opportunity technology for all.

· A green tech and clean tech investment fund. 

Read more  

How to Keep 2014 Business Resolutions

Forming New Year’s resolutions is a great opportunity to reflect on what had and had not worked for your business and career in 2013.  Many of us create resolutions that sometimes get lost as to-do lists, schedules, and workloads pile up in our personal and professional lives. The key to making sure your goals don’t get lost is to create a system of steps that will lead you to them.  This article from Entrepeneur provides tips.

And for most of us, the path to those things starts by setting a specific and actionable goal. At least, this is how I approached my life until recently. I would set goals for classes I took, for weights that I wanted to lift in the gym, and for clients I wanted in my business.

What I'm starting to realize, however, is that when it comes to actually getting things done and making progress in the areas that are important to you, there is a much better way to do things.

It all comes down to the difference between goals and systems. 

The Difference Between Goals and Systems

What's the difference between goals and systems?

• If you're a coach, your goal is to win a championship. Your system is what your team does at practice each day.
• If you're a writer, your goal is to write a book. Your system is the writing schedule that you follow each week.
• If you're a runner, your goal is to run a marathon. Your system is your training schedule for the month.
• If you're an entrepreneur, your goal is to build a million dollar business. Your system is your sales and marketing process.

Read more

Where To Go On New Years

Highmark First Night Pittsburgh will be kicking off at the turn of the new year, are you prepared for the festivities?

Feeling those annual pangs of New Year's Eve stress just pondering the party options, cover charges, wardrobe choices and travel headaches? We suggest you look no further than Downtown Pittsburgh for an Auld Lang Syne filled with art, culture and community. 

If one of your resolutions is to make more time for art, then the best place to kick off 2014 is at Highmark First Night Pittsburgh. Bid adieu to 2013 and help mark two decades of First Nights Downtown at the 'Burgh's biggest New Year's Eve bash, which boasts some 150 events taking place in 50 indoor and outdoor venues located within the 14-block Cultural District. 

From an immersive ice and LED labyrinth to a miniature city constructed from medicine cabinets, desk lamps, Victorian dollhouses and repurposed junk, Highmark First Night Pittsburgh offers arts-centric family-friendly programming from 6 p.m. to midnight.

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Common Marketing Mistakes

What do you do to keep your marketing campaigns on point? Take a look at these common marketing fails and how to avoid them:

Even after all the marketing, selling, messaging and posturing, it’s not working when: At a chamber of commerce meeting you overhear a peer refer an ideal prospect to your competitor. When you ask him why, he asks, “Your company does that?”

The next day, you learn your vendor just suggested his friend buy from your arch rival instead of automatically pushing the work your way. When confronted, your supplier says, “Your company does that? I had no idea!”

Finally, your new employee hears and misses your client’s buying signals. You gently point this out, and she responds, “Oh, that’s right, I guess our company does that.” This upsets you for three reasons:

Your offline and online marketing isn't working.

If the people you know don't know what your firm does, then who does?
You are needlessly embarrassing your colleague, vendor and trainee.

Read More

Do you know one of the region's outstanding women in business?

Honor them by sending in a nomination for the Pittsburgh Business Times 2014 Women in Business Awards program. Winners will be honored at an event and in a special Business Times supplement in the spring of next year. 

To qualify, the nominee must have a home office located in our region. 

We're looking for women from every industry and profession, including non-profits, women who've blazed a trail and who are leaving a mark on Pittsburgh business. We'll also be considering community and social efforts of nominees, but the primary focus will be on the nominee's work experience. 

The nomination process consists of completing a nomination form with basic contact information and providing narratives to several basic questions. The entire process is online. 

And by the way, if you qualify for this prestigious award, don't be shy. Many of our winners from previous years are self-nominated. The program does not take into account who nominates the candidate or how many nominations are received for an individual. 

Nominations close Dec. 20, 2013. The winners are notified by the end of the year. The names of individuals who are nominated but not selected are not publicized.
To enter a nomination, visit our Women in Business nomination page.

For more information, contact Richard Cerilli, rcerilli@bizjournals.com or 412-208-3815.