(Photo courtesy of Pittsburgh Technology Council)
How the Pittsburgh Technology Council connects with the community
Fostering connections is at the heart of the Pittsburgh Technology Council. Its STEM 2 Work events pair companies with high school teachers to help prepare students to compete for the jobs of tomorrow. The CREATE Fest celebrates the intersection of art and technology.Both connect the community to ideas and knowledge across Pittsburgh’s innovative technology ecosystem.
The goal of the Pittsburgh Technology Council is to help tech companies succeed through a proven platform of business development, talent retention, government relations and visibility services.
What the Pittsburgh Technology Council does
The council plays the part of business accelerator and policy advocate for Pittsburgh’s technology industry, serving startups, Fortune 500 companies and everyone in between, to help them build new businesses, connect to capital and grow a talent pool.
“It’s a different kind of world when you think about people who are doing research or creating ideas and trying to commercialize them at the early stages,” says Audrey Russo, Pittsburgh Technology Council’s president and CEO. “But we help larger companies, as well, because very often, they’re essentially competing for the same kind of talent.”
How its people help
To create visibility, the nonprofit uses a multimedia approach that includes magazines, social media, its own radio program (TechVibe Radio), video and its TechVibe Radio Tour, an initiative supported by Huntington.
“Huntington is a key supporter of the Tech Council’s TechVibe Radio Neighborhood Tour, and we record our weekly hour-long tech talk show at local Huntington branches,” Russo says. “On these tours, we engage the neighborhood tech companies, along with Huntington’s community managers and executive leadership.”
The 35-year-old advocacy group also assists its approximately 1,300 members with business development, pulling together community resources to get needed capital, marketing and exposure. That means connecting people to strategic investors and advisers, which Russo sees as the lynchpin that helps companies launch, beta test and take their products to market successfully.
“We’re really about trying to foster these connections that are meaningful and helpful to companies,” Russo says.
About the organization
Name: Pittsburgh Technology Council
Website: www.pghtech.org
City: Pittsburgh
Phone: (412) 687-2700
Mission: To empower our members through four core service areas: talent, business development, government relations and visibility
How you can help
Visit the Pittsburgh Technology Council website to learn how you can get involved with The Pittsburgh Technology Council.