German Dual Apprenticeship Program
Join us at the Energy Innovation Center for the Annual Ice Gala! On January 28, 2017, we will hold our annual Ice Gala at the Energy Innovation Center. The Ice Gala is the Signature Event of 2017 for the Pittsburgh Chapter of the German American Chamber of Commerce with high visibility and a C-level audience. You can expect music, an alpine-themed “Ice Room” that will include Ice Sculptures, Glühwein, and more, VIP speakers, great food, a silent auction and a knock-out view of the city. The event will be held at the Energy Innovation Center*. Saturday. January 28, 2017 VIP Reception: 5-6 pm Gala: 6-10 pm Proceeds benefit our apprenticeship initiative. What is the apprenticeship Initiative? In a world of high youth unemployment, where the supply of skilled labor often fails to match employer demand, Germany believes help can be found in its Dual Vocational Training System —a time-tested economic model. This program, many supporters believe, is the reason why Germany has the lowest jobless rate among young people of any industrialized nation in the world—around 7 percent or 8 percent. With so many Americans struggling to find employment after graduating high school and college it might be worth asking: Can the German approach be brought to the U.S.? The German concept is simple: After students complete their mandatory years of schooling, usually around age 18, they apply to a private company for a two or three year training contract. If accepted, the government supplements the trainee’s on-the-job learning with more broad-based education in his or her field of choice at a publicly funded vocational school. Usually, trainees spend three to four days at work and one to two in the classroom. At the end, the theory goes, they come out with both practical and technical skills to compete in a global market, along with a good overall perspective on the nature of their profession. They also receive a state certificate for passing company exams, designed and administered by industry groups—a credential that allows transfer to similarly oriented businesses should the training company not retain them beyond the initial...
read moreGive the Gift of Education
For children everywhere, education is the best hope for a bright future. Education impacts every aspect of children’s lives, as it is the means by which they develop as individuals and come to understand our world, affording them with opportunities to forge their own future. Education level is directly linked to income and job security, and also correlates with health, mental well-being, civic engagement, and more. If you want to use your time or money to help provide children with education and a bright future this year, here are a few options: School Supplies For millions of children whose families struggle financially, school supplies can be hard to come by. To help ensure these children have the tools they need to learn as well as the confidence they need to thrive, World Vision provides school essentials throughout the year to students in need. You can help give the gift of education by providing basic school supplies, such as backpacks, pencils, notebooks, crayons, and more. Art The arts don’t just develop a child’s creativity and offer career opportunities, the skills they learn can also lead to academic achievement. A report by Americans for the Arts states that students who participate regularly in the arts are four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement. The International Child Art Foundation (ICAF) supports the arts by sponsoring art programs, exhibitions, and festivals for children and of children’s artwork. They also have a healing arts program that uses art to help children recover from disasters. Reading Studies show that literacy in young children must be supported by a print-rich environment. Books for Kids creates libraries, donates books, and implements literacy programs to develop the critical, early foundation and skills which young children need to be successful in life. Career Development For many children, half of the battle is figuring out what they want to do after they graduate. Do you own a business? Consider offering an internship or sponsoring an after-school program or activity. Additionally, programs like U can B support career development through curriculum components that allow students to see what life is like after high school and college. You can donate to support career development here. Giving the gift of education is one that can last a lifetime, providing a child with the tools to succeed into adulthood. Your money or time could be the difference in a child’s ability to access powerful learning...
read moreEducational Webinars
Steps To Empowering Your Business Growth Creating business growth takes consistent planning and strategy. Educational webinars are a great source of information and can help you and your business grow. This can be achieved through business education, regular professional business development and presentations of business events. Check out these top 5 resources for Educational WEBINARs: Education For Business Sake Business education doesn’t end with an MBA. Education should be accepted as a lifelong opportunity for focusing on business trends and curves. By maintaining an attitude of continuous education, opportunities to seek out the most advantageous additional courses provide the extra edge for business growth. Professional Development Along with additional education enhancements, professional business development ranks among the necessary elements for business growth. Professional development requires marketing, sales, management, staffing and executive skills. Achieving the rank of professional isn’t just a matter of title. Development at each phase of business determines the quality of professionalism of the individual. Business Events That Affect Business Growth The business professional seeking optimum business growth employs a give and take attitude toward events that help their businesses. It’s as important to present an event as it is to take part in events. This is the basic structure of networking. Surrounding your business with a beneficial network helps grow business stature. To Grow Your Business Today’s webinars and seminars fill a particular gap that links direct offline events and business presentations with the internet world. For businesses, this is an unparalleled opportunity for growth. The hi-tech world can be a catalyst for advancing business image as well as name recognition, branding and ranking. Creating linked business webinars and seminars produces a well-structured microcosm of vested target markets. The links between webinars and seminars should be seamlessly woven to create an overlapping flow of interest and awareness of the specific business. This is also true for patrons attending webinars and seminars. Thus, the “give and take” attitude becomes the operative for giving patrons a direct link online and off while the business takes in a higher rate of growth. Educate, Develop, Grow Present webinars and seminars with a professional style and content. Contrast this by attending webinars and seminars that focus on educating, developing and growing your business. These may contain new ideas for management structure, creating cohesive team embodiment and financial and economic guidelines as well as current compliance regulations relating to business operations. A tightly knit program of webinars and seminars for patrons and businesses offering them are essential for business...
read moreThe Alcoa Foundation and U can B
Pittsburgh’s own Alcoa is a proud partner of our U can B program. Alcoa is a longtime supporter of education and diversity in the world marketplace – through the Alcoa Foundation, thousands of nonprofits, schools, and organizations have been able spearhead sustainable, educational, and career-building initiatives. Alcoa’s partnership with Building Bridges expands the U can B program into more schools in the Pittsburgh region, most recently being Freeport Area School District. For over 60 years, Alcoa Foundation has been a champion of supporting nonprofit organizations worldwide. Alcoa Foundation attentively supports sustainability, STEM, innovation, communities, and students on a daily basis. Funding provided by Alcoa Foundation supports leading nonprofit education and environmental organizations, building strong long-term partnerships that produce meaningful and impactful results. Recognizing the ever-growing challenges of tomorrow, Alcoa Foundation directly supports initiatives that produce an innovative and competitive workforce. At the end of the day, all of the funding decisions that Alcoa Foundation makes are driven by two imperatives: environment and education. The Alcoa Foundation has a vibrant history of supporting STEM education programs, helping thousands of students every year. Our global economy and marketplace is constantly evolving. To prepare the communities where Alcoa operates for the world to come, the Alcoa Foundation focuses on projects that increase the number of students enrolled in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) studies. Seeking to promote a more diverse workforce, Alcoa Foundation places emphasis on engaging girls, women, and other underrepresented groups to enter into science and technology fields. Some of Alcoa Foundation’s several STEM initiatives include Junior Achievement, Academy of Model Aeronautics, Society for Science and the Public, and US 2020. US2020 and Alcoa Foundation aim to bolster the STEM movement by working together to create an online mentoring program to reach 20,000 students and professionals. In line with Alcoa Foundation’s spirit of promoting innovation and education is their current support of U can B. By partnering with nonprofits like Building Bridges, Alcoa Foundation continues to contribute to economic success, environmental excellent and social responsibility worldwide. See the positive change that Alcoa Foundation enables by looking at their website....
read moreWanted — a Skills Gap Solution
Wanted: A Skills Gap Solution Stevie Miller The formula for career success was supposed to be simple: go to college, get a bachelor’s degree, and find a job doing what you love that pays a decent living. As our newest generations of college graduates have discovered, the reality isn’t quite so simple. While more and more college educated employees are available, fewer employers want to hire them. Underemployment, that is, either working part time when you want to work full time, or working at a job that doesn’t utilize your education and training, is a persistent problem that has outlasted our recession-inspired unemployment. PayScale reports in a recent study [1] that 46% of American workers identify as underemployed. The problem is caused by what’s known as the skills gap. Despite a large number of people who would like to find more or better work, industries that require skilled workers–but not necessarily the kind of education you get with a bachelor’s degree–are coming up short. The skills gap is most evident in STEM fields, or industries requiring the use of technology, including healthcare, computer science, and especially manufacturing. It’s difficult to find the right employees for these fields, observes the Harvard Business Review [2], because the technology is changing so quickly that many schools don’t offer the right training. Soft skills, such as communication and teamwork, are in increasing demand by employers, but also aren’t offered in schools, particularly because they require one-on-one efforts with students. Employers, meanwhile, increasingly expect prospective employees to shoulder the burdens of training themselves, the US Department of Labor reports. [3] Yet prospective employees are reluctant to take on this training when the technology is changing so quickly that the skills required by one employer are unlikely to translate to the next job opening. Jeff Selingo, author of New York Times bestseller “There is Life After College”, notes: “The goal of universal college has actually done more harm than good because it banished anything that smacks of job training to second class status.” He further writes: “We need more than just one pathway to good jobs in the U.S. What we need is a place like Harvard–both prestigious and rigorous–that will attract students who have talents and interests to pursue skilled jobs critical for the economy that don’t necessarily require a four-year college degree.” [4] 1: http://www.payscale.com/data-packages/underemployment 2: https://hbr.org/2014/08/employers-arent-just-whining-the-skills-gap-is-real 3: http://www.careeronestop.org/businesscenter/recruitandhire/identifyyourhiringneeds/the-skills-gap.aspx 4:...
read moreU can B – curriculum
At the center of Building Bridges for Business’s U can B Program is the mission to provide essential skills and programs to high schoolers, offering coursework and experience that enhances students understanding, their skillsets, and their preparedness for life after high school. An exciting partnership was formed between Aziksa, Inc. and U can B to provide access to Life Learning Courses for high school students in the Pittsburgh region. Aziksa is a cloud-based learning platform that allows students to take courses online, and use curriculum easily and inexpensively – they can take advantage of courses in entrepreneurship, science and technology, green and sustainable science, and a variety of trades. Earlier this year, Aziksa, Inc. established a multi-year contract with U can B to provide a blended learning system that expands students’ access to courses. Available online and on mobile devices, the Aziksa online platform (www.aziksa.com) is easily accessible. Beyond that, the courses provided through Aziksa are deliberately curated to maximize teacher-student interaction through tools Virtual Classroom and Virtual Lab. “We are committed to offering easy to use classes to young people and this partnership will allow more students to take advantage of the U can B offerings,” said Aziksa President and CEO Santosh Jha. With this blended learning program, students can sign-up online and participate in the courses from their homes or on the go all the while still taking advantage of the benefits of interacting with fellow learners and their instructors. U can B’s reach is amplified by innovative services like Aziksa, now able to provide affordable and accessible educational material to a larger range of Pittsburgh students. “We are very pleased to be working with Aziksa. They really understand how best to deliver online learning in today’s world and I know students will benefit from the increased interaction” comments Linda Handley, U can B. The curriculum offered through U can B connects students with entrepreneurs, businesspeople, and nonprofits like Building Bridges, and engages them with the professional experiences of life after high school and college. U can B promotes student development and exposes young people to essential life learning courses, offering curriculum built to best fit a school’s needs. Courses provided through U can B cover themes such as entrepreneurship, web design and SEO, graphic design and animation, veterinary study and animal related careers, sustainability and environmental issues, green technology, and career preparation and networking education. Beyond engaging students with excellent curriculum, U can B also incorporates their proprietary Coffee With film series, a program that showcases industry leaders, politicians, and entrepreneurs sharing their stories and insights from their careers. Partnered with Aziksa, U can B is now accessible to more students than ever. More information about the U can B program is available at the Building Bridges website. Learn more about Aziksa, Inc....
read moreCoffee With Kelly Collier
Pittsburgh has an abundance of talented entrepreneurs and innovative startups. Joining us today on Coffee With is Kelly Collier, founder and CEO of ActivAided Orthotics, a medical device startup that produces flexible, supportive posture-correcting clothing. ActivAided has revolutionized the traditional medical brace into a product that allows for non-restrictive therapy, providing impressive support and rehabilitation without sacrificing flexibility or comfort. Collier launched the company from the ground up, their product initially developed for her senior project at Carnegie Mellon. ActivAided first saw development in the form of a class project for Collier, a then Materials Science and Biomedical Engineering student at CMU. An avid swimmer, Collier’s back pain problems became the catalyst for the project which was developed by a physician Dr. Gary Chimes, Collier and her peers as a senior project at Carnegie Mellon University. Unlike her classmates, Collier gave herself additional homework when she incorporated the assignment into a post-graduate business. Since founding ActivAvided Orthotics, Collier has become a specialist in commercializable product development and has expertise in all stages of the process. Whether it be design, manufacturing, scalability, or distribution, Collier possesses the business prowess to efficiently tackle any aspect of business growth and operations. Collier’s efforts enabled her to collect honors as the U. S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Western Pennsylvania Young Entrepreneur of the Year. Kevin White, Pittsburgh SBA district director, commented that Collier is an entrepreneur who identified the solution to a problem. He said, “Her back problems led her to turn this project into a business that helps correct posture in a non-restrictive form.” Collier’s transformation from student to entrepreneur is characteristic of the incredibly innovative business environment in Pittsburgh. Want to learn more about the origins, development, and lessons learned from ActivAided? Tune into this episode of Coffee With. Since this blog post and video the company was acquired by...
read moreCoffee With the Beauty Shoppe
This episode of Coffee With features a relatively new member to the Pittsburgh community (moved here in 2009) who has already made a big impact in their time here. Rabih Helou is co-founder of The Beauty Shoppe, a collaborative workspace found in two locations in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty community. The Beauty Shoppe is an innovative new way for businesses and entrepreneurs to work – they provide comfortable spaces and all of the technical services an individual or business needs to run effectively. They provide the basics so that businesses can focus on what’s important. Helou is obsessed with making businesses serve the social good. His experience as a former consultant and business owner have inspired him to create an organization that serves the needs of small businesses and professionals. The Beauty Shoppe revolutionizes the way people work – shifting the dynamic and culture from the skyscraper to the street-side venue. This “breaking-down” of walls and development of a flexible and comfortable space is what has made The Beauty Shoppe’s impact so impressive – they have grown to serve over 100 different individuals or business. Before his involvement at The Beauty Shoppe, Mr. Helou directed server multi-million dollar business operations, including international development projects for the U.S. Department of State. He also served as head of Middle East operations for a Strategy Consulting firm in NYC, a $25 million multi-year initiative for the fastest growing mobile operator in the Middle East and North Africa. Mr. Helou has spent over 15 years consulting to an incredible range of businesses in the private, public, and non-profit sectors, spanning US, Canada, Europe and the Middle East. He earned his PhD in Social Markets from University of Maryland. The Beauty Shoppe offers top-of-the-line infrastructure to meet the needs of organizations and individuals alike. Learn more about the awesome history behind The Beauty Shoppe by tuning into this episode of Coffee...
read moreHow Can Schools Engage Students?
For too many American students, high school is a time of disengagement that fails to put them on a path to success later on in life. In fact, a 2012 Gallup Student Poll indicated that student engagement during high school is at a critically low level. The survey, which asks students how involved and enthusiastic they feel about school, reported that while nearly 80% of elementary school students feel engaged, only 44% of high school students feel that way. So, how can we keep students engaged throughout high school? The answer is a curriculum that connects the classroom to careers. STEM Curriculum Many high school graduates lack exposure to learning that links their work in school to college and careers—especially in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). When students understand that rewarding careers exist beyond the classroom, they are more likely to feel motivated to engage in their studies. Using a variety of activity-based learning models, schools can provide students with opportunities to develop their critical thinking skills and creativity. An integrated STEM curriculum provides equity among students from all backgrounds, empowering them to find their passion and look beyond high school and into the future. Career and Technical Education Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses help develop students’ noncognitive skills such as problem-solving, communication, time management, and critical thinking skills. By providing students with CTE courses, schools help prevent dropouts because the curriculum offers practical applications of knowledge through authentic tasks that allow students to see the relevancy of their instruction. Because the lessons are more practical and hands-on, students feel more engaged. Ultimately, CTE curriculum connects the knowledge that students are gaining in the classroom to the future by helping them understand how that knowledge helps them obtain a career they’ll find interesting and rewarding. Preparing students for success later on in life requires a different approach to the educational experience than it did in the past. Too many of America’s students are not meaningfully engaged or motivated in their academic experience while in high school. By providing kids with opportunities to connect what they’re learning in the classroom to the future, schools can inspire students to take control of their education and find success as adults. Programs like U can B are working to re-engage students in the classroom by providing classes that give students a chance to see what life is like after high school and college. The U can B Curriculum is tailored to meet any school’s needs, and includes classes on topics such as entrepreneurship, careers in the trades, careers in IT, careers in healthcare, career preparation, leadership, and more. Contact us at Info@BuildingBridgesforBusiness.org or click here to learn more about the U can B...
read moreCoffee With Dan Gilman
http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uzHquLxHFA The Coffee With Show was given the incredible opportunity of speaking with City Councilman Dan Gilman. Dan Gilman is currently serving his first term as a Pittsburgh City Council member and has great pride in representing Pittsburgh’s 8th Council District. Gilman was first elected to Council in 2013. Prior to serving as a Council Member, he worked for a decade as the Chief of Staff to then-City Councilman and now Pittsburgh’s Mayor Bill Peduto. Councilman Gilman is a champion for growth, development, innovation and education in Pittsburgh and offers a wealth of exciting news to share with us on the show. As a Councilman, Gilman is consistently regarded as the voice of younger Pittsburghers who are redefining the City as a place of burgeoning growth and endless potential. Gilman and is continually recognized for his tireless advocacy on behalf of Pittsburgh’s technology boom – his activism has helped to bolster business development and innovation in Pittsburgh. Councilman Gilman is perhaps the single most active and effective proponent of Pittsburgh as a nationwide hub for entrepreneurship and business growth. Gilman is proactive in passing legislation that best benefits the City and its residents. In his time as a Council member, he has passed many pieces of critical legislation. His work has resulted in prohibiting perpetrators of illegal hillside dumping from bidding on or participating in city contracts, in providing real workplace solutions for pregnant city works experiencing pregnancy discrimination, and in developing non-discrimination policies in Pittsburgh’s Authorities. Beyond his legislative work, Councilman Gilman is a champion for education. He has been organizing a diverse group of advocates who are working to fight hunger throughout city schools by operationalizing a citywide backpack feeding program. He has also been convening quarterly meetings of all the school principals in his district to discuss issues of importance to both the City and its schools, and to forge working relationships across schools and neighborhoods. Learn more about why Gilman is so excited to be involved in Pittsburgh by watching the Coffee With episode...
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