Business Goals

Building Bridges for Business’ Education Department provides career education and job placement to thousands of Western Pennsylvania’s middle and high school students via its #UcanB Program. The organization’s Workforce Development Department coordinates and/or participates in a number of community events designed to advance the careers of working adults throughout the region.   The Pittsburgh Community has rallied around the #UcanB Career Education Program. A vast array of organizations and individuals contributed time and resources to help educate youth in Western Pennsylvania. More than 50 guest speakers from more than 50 local organizations and businesses visited #UcanB classrooms thus far in 2018, participated in #UcanB events and hosted #UcanB students for tours. This allowed #UcanB the opportunity to expose students to a multitude of career paths and job opportunities. Students met with a diverse group of businesses representing government, retail, IT, entrepreneurship, military, media, advanced manufacturing and more! In addition, the Workforce Development Department received similar support in its efforts to provided services to working-aged adults. Businesses and individuals from Erie, Pa all the way to Charleston, WV contributed to this portion of Building Bridges’ mission. Building Bridges’ Career Fairs were fully booked within 24 hours. Over 1,500 adults received direct services through the Workforce Development Department even though the organization does not have a specific budget dedicated for these...

  Ron Alvarado Building Bridges for Business is excited to welcome Ron Alvarado onto the Coffee With show. Ron Alvarado is the president and founder of Novus Group, LLC, a Pittsburgh-based firm specializing in staffing and recruitment outsourcing. Novus Group, LLC offers professional recruitment services and staffing solutions for business sectors from energy to accounting. In 2013, Novus was ranked one of the Top 500 Hispanic Businesses in the U.S. by Hispanic Business Magazine (for the 3rd consecutive year). In September of 2014, the magazine named Novus the 24th fastest growing Hispanic owned company in the nation. In 2013, Novus was honored as one of the Top 100 Fastest Growing Privately Owned Companies in Pittsburgh by Pittsburgh Business Times (for the 2nd year in a row). Mr. Alvarado has a strong record of service for improving diversity and has extensive experience addressing the workforce needs of the region. He serves as the Chairman of the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and also serves on the board of the Dollar Energy Fund. Mr. Alvarado’s workforce expertise found him serving on the Pennsylvanian Workforce Investment Board (WIB). The WIB is the Governor’s principal private sector policy advising resource on any workforce development issues. Mr. Alvarado was first appointed to the WIB in 2008 by Governor Rendell, then reappointed by Governor Corbett. Beyond his impressive service and dedication to improving our community, Mr. Alvarado has been recognized as the recipient of many awards. In 2013 he was awarded the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) Vanguard Diversity Award. The Vanguard Diversity Award recognizes individuals and organizations who have demonstrate outstanding work towards promoting diversity and inclusion. Mr. Alvarado’s exceptional community service was also recognized when he received the Allegheny County Bar Association’s Hispanic Attorneys Committee 2015 “El Sol Award”. Watch the Coffee With exclusive interview with Mr. Alvarado, where he details his emergence and success within the staffing industry, as well as practical business lessons he’s learned along the way. From his incredible success with Novus to his dedication to improving our community, Mr. Alvarado brings exciting and inspiring experience to share with you on Coffee...

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...

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 Email us at...

Do Videos Help Grow my Business? Five things to remember when considering online videos to brand and market your image, products or services: The digital age makes a TV quality video possible without the extraordinary investment in infrastructure such as large crews, lighting trucks and so on. It’s a simpler and more direct process that can achieve high definition and very polished and professional results simply by sharing your information and goals with the right people. Buy the people, not the equipment… The bill for production and post-production can be sizable and the results may not produce any greater return (and may prove off-putting). Your director, editor and crew who will work with you on a one-on-one basis and steer you through the process of incorporating your sales pitch and brand with an image and tone that supports those elements is key. Hire technically qualified and experienced people. Online video triggers the emotional centers of the brain… and elicits action from the viewer at a far, far greater ratio than printed matter or audio. Your short and efficient branding video can enjoy a life on social media networks, email and your website that outlasts the capacity and range of impact from any print or radio or static image collateral piece. Plus, it’s “greener” by far. You are your online image in today’s marketplace. .. be sure your still photography is updated regularly and that you have or plan to initiate an online video your site and in your marketing and sales planning, as a static website is out of step with your consumers and will not compete with the multiple moving images they process and to which they respond on daily, and hourly basis. By placing video on your website, you can increase your search engine optimization by 53 times! It’s that simple… and that important. Your video company should be a comfortable and integral extension of your marketing strategies and will be invested in moving your brand forward. You should be looking for a company and crew you are excited to work with again. Let every detail to your professional video company… if you feel you cannot after interviewing them and viewing their prior work , move on. Share examples of video work you like and be sure the company has the capacity and talent to produce it. Obtain a firm quote, signed contract and guarantee on delivery and distribution of your final product. Without those commitments, your enterprise can be delayed or your campaign compromised. You may even have the video you desire, but be lost to incorporate if effectively and maximize your return on investment. A very simple, commercial quality video, or video advertising element, can be produced for less than $5,000, depending on the length, degree of sophistication, necessary equipment, voice over and specialized editing requirements. In many cases, much...

TWEETCHAT – The best of the TWEETS Gina Schreck Social Media Maven Make sure you use the right mix of promotional info & helpful and interesting content. Keep ROCKIN’ biz growth in Pittsburgh! See the business advice and strategies from a Tweetchat. In small biz we have to have more discipline to monitor our time. Log in w a purpose don’t sit w chips all day chatting! I don’t spend time on MySpace but in music industry you’d better still be there.  There are many other ways to improve your business – go seek good business advice from the experts. I don’t belong to some assoc I used to because my needs changed–same with social platforms You do have to know what is out there but spend time where the biz opportunity is Staying w/in our comfy social world w our “friends” is like keeping that ad in the YellowPages cause you know the rep The new social consumer has an insatiable appetite for new tools and biz MUST keep up to satisfy If you stay on the social sites where YOU are comfortable, you are missing HUGE opportunities-get out and EXPLORE Pinterest PINS should point to your site–but there are over 7Mill social consumers crawling & sharing there Always ask “Who is my audience or community?” “What do they want or need from me to stay engaged...