Posts by bb4b_Pam

Join Us @ WISH 99.7’s 1st Spring Show!  Inaugural WISH 99.7 Spring Home & Design Show Join Building Bridges for Business at The Galleria of Mt. Lebanon for the Inaugural WISH 99.7 Spring Home & Design Show! Building Bridges for Business, a non-profit 501c3, is proud to support our small business partners at this fun, worthwhile event. Visit our booth to meet Quigley Photography, Atlas Dreams Languages, Close to Home Cleaning and our very own U Can B program. Building Bridges is a 501(c)3 organization that educates and empowers through live and virtual business education, Coffee With Film Series on www.kdka.com/careertalk, U can B career education program for 6th -12th grade students, and Building the Bridges across the business and workforce ecosystem. Our mission is to strengthen the economic vitality of the region by providing educational programming and opportunities for small business and students to connect with vital business resources. The WISH 99.7 Spring Show provides a unique opportunity to feature the partners and small businesses that make our mission a reality. Spring is the perfect time to improve your home, show off your best projects and to learn something new. Close to Home Cleaning owner Sarah Harvey will be on hand to discuss spring cleaning options. Dan Quigley, owner of Quigley Photography will talk about ways to show off landscaping and your beautiful home projects. Atlas Dreams founder and CEO Zineb Outnouna will share options for expanding your horizons and learning a new language. Scott Albert of the Building Bridges for Business U can B Program will provide career tips, books, and resources to help you or your child make great career choices. Join us at the Inaugural WISH 99.7 Spring Home & Design Show. Also, take time to learn about a fantastic non-profit organization that is located right in the South Hills – South Hills Interfaith Movement (SHIM). They are the charity beneficiary for the show. It all tales place this weekend at the Galleria Mall in Mt. Lebanon! For more event information, visit http://www.wshh.com/2016springhomedesign.aspx. For more information about Building Bridges for Business, visit...

U can B – programs and efforts align with nationwide trends. Americans have always taken pride in having the best-educated workforce in the world, but now that is no longer true. In Tough Choices, Tough Times, the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce reports that over the past 30 years one country after another has surpassed the United States in the percentage of its population entering the workforce with the equivalent of a high school diploma, and many more countries are on the verge of doing so. Thirty years ago, the U.S. could lay claim to having 30 percent of the world’s population of college students. Today that proportion has fallen substantially, to 14 percent, and continues to decline. American students place anywhere from the middle of the pack to the bottom in all three continuing comparative studies of achievement in mathematics, science, and general literacy among advanced industrial nations.Students from low-income families are six times more likely not to finish high school than those from high-income families. Building Bridges is a 501(c)3 organization that educates and empowers through: • Live and virtual business education and workshops • Coffee With Film Series on CBS/KDKA digital with a 1.4 M home reach. • U can B teaching program • Student portal with data analytics • and Building the Bridges across the business and workforce ecosystem. Our mission is to strengthen the economic vitality of the region by providing educational programming and opportunities for small business and students to connect with vital resources. The U can B program highlights – • Proven curriculum – Taught in school and after school programs. • “Coffee With…” videos and in person interactive discussions are used to educate students on their purpose, passion and career options. • Educational programming – for students to connect with vital business resources. The students that U can B reaches will use the analytics dashboard that allows schools to follow participating students, gain meaningful and measurable analytics, and keep up with them longitudinally as they progress. • Follow Students • Internal Messaging • Post OpportunitiesImpact • See How They Compare • Show Certifications • Organize Achievements • Geographic Data • Skills Breakdown • Test Score...

Even though they make up nearly half of the overall workforce, women fill fewer than a quarter of the STEM jobs in the US. In 2013, only 26% of computing professionals were female. While these numbers aren’t favorable, things are gradually changing. Thanks to programs that encourage young women and girls’ interests in science-based subjects at school, more women are making waves in STEM fields. Below are a few of the inspirational women leading the way for the future of women in science. Marissa Mayer: CEO at Yahoo, former Google engineer As Google’s first female engineer, Marissa Mayer has helped to break down the stereotypes that prevent women from entering the field in a major way. She says, “People ask me all the time: ‘What is it like to be a woman at Google?’ I’m not a woman at Google, I’m a geek at Google. And being a geek is just great.” For Mayer, the key to success was pursuing her passion no matter how great the obstacle. “I always did something I was a little not ready to do. I think that’s how you grow. When there’s that moment of ‘Wow, I’m not really sure I can do this,’ and you push through those moments, that’s when you have a breakthrough. Sometimes that’s a sign that something really good is about to happen. You’re about to grow and learn a lot about yourself.” Isis Anchalee, software engineer This 22-year-old engineer created the viral hashtag #iLookLikeAnEngineer which spread globally in over 50 countries and started millions of conversations around the world about the stereotypes that exist in STEM field. In an article for the Washington Post, Isis said, “Gender diversity challenges seem to be what mainstream media has picked up on the most. While I think that it is absolutely wonderful that this has sparked so many positive discussions about the way that women are treated in STEM, I want to clarify that #iLookLikeAnEngineer is intentionally radically inclusive. It’s not just about me and it’s not just about women. #iLookLikeAnEngineer is about anyone and everyone who wants to pursue STEM, regardless of their external appearances.” Elizabeth Holmes, Health Technology entrepreneur As the CEO of Theranos, a company that has developed a new method of blood testing, Holmes is proving that gender and age aren’t factors when it comes to being a major force in the healthcare field as well as the business world. Holmes studied chemistry before dropping out of Stanford University during her sophomore year to start her company. At age 31 she made Forbes’ Billionaires List as the youngest self-made female billionaire. Role models like these women are helping to break down the barriers for girls thinking about careers in STEM. In addition, we must focus on continuing to encourage young girls to pursue the careers they are passionate about. According to Fortune Magazine, “early exposure is crucial, as interest in STEM fields in general during high school is associated with the ultimate pursuit of an engineering or computing education or career.” Programs like U can B are looking to do just that. With courses in science and technology, students grades 6-12 are inspired to pursue their passions, no matter what their gender. Together, we can help more girls pursue rewarding careers in...

Building Bridges for Business Announces Participation in PA Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) Support education while helping your company’s financial position. What is EITC? A PA Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) program that provides state tax credits to eligible businesses for charitable contributions made to Building Bridges for Business and their teaching program U can B. Is my business eligible? If you do business in Pennsylvania and pay any of several corporate taxes, the answer is Yes. How can I make EITC work for me and my business? Visit the PA DCED website for EITC Guidelines and access to DCED’s electronic Single Application system. Once you are approved* by DCED, make your contribution Building Bridges for Business. What’s the bottom line? Tax credits equal to 75% of your contribution up to a maximum of $750,000 per taxable year; can be increased to 90% of your contribution, if your business agrees to provide the same amount for two consecutive tax years. *Applications are approved on a first-come-first-served basis by date received, and approved until available tax credits are exhausted. EITC – Tax Credits. How to apply – Check out the online Application process here. Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program (EITC) Email us at...

The skills training system in Germany is a widespread and popular way to prepare young people to be effective contributors in the workplace. In the German dual training model, theory and practice are combined in a nationally standardized curriculum designed for each of 300+ careers; a young person is employed by a company in a training position and, at the same time, is also enrolled in a vocational educational program to acquire needed classroom knowledge. The two parallel experiences reinforce each other. No other apprenticeship system is as widely applied and successful as the German system. Every year, 1.5 million people train in the German system. Because of this, Germany enjoys the lowest youth unemployment of any industrialized nation (7.1%), and youth unemployment far below the United States (16.8%) and the Eurozone average (22.3%). This approach has been adapted for use in the United States, often with support from the German Embassy’s Skills Initiative. One example is South Carolina, where German-owned companies faced a shortage of skilled workers to fill open positions that offered good pay, job security and a career path. The same problem exists in Pittsburgh, where some of the local employers cannot easily find the right mix of skills and education in job candidates. At the same time, Pittsburgh’s youth unemployment rate remains at 18% (above the national average) because of the skills gap that exists. In order to address this need, the partnership between Building Bridges for Business and the Pittsburgh chapter of the German American Chamber of Commerce has adapted the German dual training model for application in the Pittsburgh area. The project connects young people seeking skills training and employment with apprenticeship programs at Pittsburgh area companies. The apprenticeship program, facilitated by Building Bridges and the GACC involves time split between traditional classroom education and on-the-job training in the field that the trainee is interested in. The trainees are recruited as high school seniors, and they will be given the opportunity to finish their high school degree during the program. The curriculum for the program is based on the existing standardized German curriculum for each profession. The goal is that at the end of the program, the trainee will have a job waiting for them in the skill area from their host company, and the company will have a well-trained future employee so that both employer and trainee will benefit from the program. As a result of that, the local economy will have more resilient companies with a globally-minded, competitive workforce, and lower youth unemployment....