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  Career education has been provided by UcanB for several years – inschool – after school and in summer programs. May is Careers Month for #UcanB Students. Below is a list of upcoming events. Career Weeks,  Careers Days and Career Month !! May 7-10 is Career Week @ Sto-Rox High School. Mini Career Fairs will take place everyday in the school cafeteria from 11:00-12:30. Employers & schools will have tables set up. May 14-18 is Career Week @ Hopewell Junior High. In-class presentations every morning from 8:55-10:30. Speakers will present to back-to-back groups of 8th graders. May 21 is Career Day at CAPA. Seeking presenters to discuss Artistic Careers. May 23 is the Career Fair at Carlynton High School. Throughout the day in the school’s gym. May 30 is the Career Fair and Cookout at Clayton High in the North Side. Fair is from 10-12…cookout immediately after. May 30 we will also have #UcanB speakers at Career Day at Environmental Charter School.   Each school will share careers and also soft skill education for students provided by UcanB. The summary findings for the Allegheny Conference /US Chamber of Commerce report: Recent college graduates and employers agree that soft skills are important for workplace success. There is a gap between how prepared recent college graduates think they are, and how prepared employers find them to be. Recent college graduates and employers differ on which soft skills are most important. Recent college graduates and employers differ greatly on which soft skills merit training. Recent college graduates and employers agree that a  certificate course in soft skills training would be beneficial for college...

Career education for schools in the region expands into the Mon Valley. The UcanB program has succeeded in schools around the Pittsburgh area, and has expanded to schools throughout Pennsylvania. In many of the schools where our program has been offered, students are experiencing mentorship, technology, and the first time they were ever given information on planning a successful career. We reach students in communities, and build stronger connections between students, parents, schools, and area businesses with our opportunity fairs, that match community members with local employers. How do I become a UcanB Speaker? The process to becoming a speaker is straightforward and will work to ensure that Building Bridges and UcanB career education is the best fit for you. The process includes: 1. Complete the online information session by phone (15 minutes) 2. Apply online (8-10 minutes) 3. Complete an in-person interview with staff (30 minutes) 4. Pass a background and finger print screening (15 minutes after in-person interview) 5. Participate in Training (1.0 hour) Please reach out to info@BuildingBridgesforBusiness.org if you are interested. What is Building Bridges for Business? Building Bridges is a 501(c)3 organization that educates and empowers through: • U can B Career education program (Educating 6th-12th grade students on careers) • Job fairs and job placement for students and adults • The Coffee With Show • Building the Bridges across the business and workforce ecosystem Other Ways that you Can You Get Involved? • Donate to our U can B career education program and help provide students with the skills they need to succeed. All contributions are tax deductible and support classroom education and job placement. • Ask us about our EITC, Education Improvement Tax Credit, program for your business. • United Way Donate Now –...

Three Ways to Maximize Your Facebook Reach You’ve had your Facebook brand page for months, invited your friends and received some initial Likes, filled in your About section and started posting here and there – but after that first couple months when your total Likes and overall reach started to taper, you began to wonder – What is this doing for my business? The truth is – if you aren’t doing anything with Facebook, it probably won’t do anything for you. A hammer purchased and then left in the tool box won’t drive any nails, after all. But rest easy – these three simple tips can help you boost your online image, spur your Facebook growth, manage your relationships, heighten your visibility and – ultimately – drive your sales. 1. Reward Your Audience – Whether you offer a coupon or simply just mention your audience members, a little reward can go a long way. Try creating a ‘Fan of the Week’ or ‘Fan of the Day’ to create interpersonal engagement that drives Likes to your page. If people see their friends are getting rewarded, odds are they’ll want a free slice of pie too! You’ll also want to make sure you’re providing your audience with a mix of information they can use in their daily lives, in addition to promotions for your business. If you make it about THEM, they’ll make it about YOU. 2. Keep Your Content Fresh – If you don’t update your content regularly, your page will fall by the wayside and people will have no reason to check on it, aside from never being reminded about your presence on their newsfeed. How often you post a photo, status, link or event may depend on how busy things are for you, but don’t forget that the social space is all about sharing. Ask your audience how they are, share industry news, and talk about current events with a spin that ties your business into the equation. The Web is near infinite, so you should never really have an excuse not to have something to say. At the very least, post 2-3 times a week – but not more than 2-3 times a day (people don’t like to be bombarded either). 3. Be Proactive – Many argue that the social media space is a new public relations function – and PR is all about establishing and maintaining relationships. Keep in mind that it’s highly likely that no one is looking for your page, which means you have to invite them in. Ask your friends to give you a Like and connect with other local non-competing businesses and non-profit organizations by Liking their page and sharing their content. Facebook is all about taking the initiative to start a conversation and then making the effort to keep it going! These three tips should help you get your Likes up, improve your reach and boost traffic to your page – but it’s important to have realistic expectations and to be patient. If you keep yourself focused and have a daily or weekly social media plan that utilizes all of these ideas, keeps you focused, and efficiently maximizes your gains by minimizing your time spent, you can expect realistic growth in your numbers and carry that over to your...

U can B taught at East Liberty, Erie, Wexford, Allentown, Philadelphia, and Harrisburg. Each Thursday from 3 to 4 p.m. over a 15-week period that began Jan. 15, participants gathered at seven PA Cyber support centers and satellite offices across the state for live, interactive online sessions on specific topics including entrepreneurship, website and graphic design, government and politics, jobs in the “green” sector, film, and trade careers. The live online sessions in this series originated from PA Cyber’s office in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty business district. They were streamed using Google software to offices at Greensburg, Erie, Wexford, Allentown, Philadelphia, and Harrisburg. Hissam and Brian Boothby, a facilitator in the gifted-talented program, are simultaneously streamed the sessions to other PA Cyber students at home on their laptops, using the same Collaborate meeting software students use to attend their regular PA Cyber virtual classes. In the second session, for example, Tom Kubilius of Bally Designs of Pittsburgh explained what entrepreneurship is, what entrepreneurs have in common, choices to be made in starting a business, creating a business plan, what a small business looks like, and why having a passion for what you do is important.   Jill Valentine, Director of Admissions and Marketing, 724.888-7814,...

There are so many social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, Tumblr, just to name a few. They are always changing, growing, updating, expanding. And there are always new channels to learn. How can your company keep up with the ever changing landscape that is social media? Here are a few social media tips to get you started. • First of all, don’t try to post on every single one of them. Pick two or three that your company would benefit from the most and hit them hard. Post as often as you can so you get the most views from the largest amount of people. • Time is critical. If you have an in-house employee handling your accounts, make sure he/she has the time to do the job properly. If they have other responsibilities, they might not always get to their social media activities in a timely manner. • Social media marketing demands constant attention. If someone comments negatively on one of your posts, you need to react instantly. You want to take care of the problem as fast as possible to insure your customer relations reputation. • Your business has its own personality and you want to make sure your social media marketing reflects that. Make sure the person who is handling your accounts knows your firm and can post in a tone that conveys that personality. • Social media is always changing. Make sure you keep up with the times. Take training classes and refresher courses so you know what it new and relevant to the platforms you are working on. • Consider the benefits of outsourcing your social media. Make sure you hire someone who has marketing experience. Remember that social media is not really about being social. It is entirely about marketing your business. You do want to be social and build relationships, but you need to do that in a marketing atmosphere. • When looking for a marketing firm, make sure you check out other clients they have worked for. Do you think their marketing reflects their business? Are you happy with the amount of posts you are seeing? Social Media marketing is an ever changing technology. In order to get the most out of it you need to plan your actions. Take the time to do it right, get the best person for the job, know what is new and relevant, and make those connections that...

Once I start getting a #cashflow, how can I continue to grow? Once again, you need a plan. How can you reinvest that cash flow in the best way to get you to next level? It might be in hiring the right people. Every business needs great team to grow. What skills augment yours? Hire someone who brings added value to the biz so U can focus on what you do best. It’s what I call the mytop theory. Mytop stands for multiply yourself through other people. In addition to people need to invest in technology. Technology gives smallbiz a competitive advantage; and it levels the playing field. What are some ways I can get to know my customers better? Customer surveys are an excellent way to understand and connect to your customers to learn what they are thinking. There are survey resources online. Some free, but my favorite is MailChimp. Customer advisory councils also good way to learn what customers think & how you can enhance service even add new products. I think face-to-face contact is important. Lunch, coffee, Make it about building rapport not selling and build a bond. E-newsletters that are informative are a good way to keep connected and once again Social media keeps communication open. Don’t forget customer loyalty programs – reward customers for their...