Pitt’s Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence Reports Its Many 2012 Successes

Four hundred jobs created or impacted. More than $14.4 million of increased revenue for Southwestern Pennsylvania’s entrepreneurial companies. Thirty-nine start-up businesses created.

These accomplishments, detailed in the newly issued 2012 Community Impact and Benefit Report of the University of Pittsburgh’s Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence, show that entrepreneurship is thriving in Southwestern Pennsylvania, with the institute leading the charge toward greater business innovation. The release of the report also marks the launch of the institute’s celebration of 20 years of service to Southwestern Pennsylvania businesses.

“For two decades, the institute has been helping local businesses find the power to prosper,” said Ann Dugan, the institute’s founder and assistant dean in the Katz Graduate School of Business. “Entrepreneurs and dedicated family business owners are the driving force of our economy, and helping them find success benefits the entire region. It’s incredibly rewarding to know that for every start-up business we help develop and every hour we spend consulting with existing closely held businesses, we’re boosting profits, creating local jobs, and building a larger, healthier economic market in Southwestern Pennsylvania.”

Among the other achievements highlighted in the institute’s 2012 Community Impact and Benefit Report are:

• 824 businesses served;

• $10.7 million in capital raised; and

• 56 programs and seminars offered, educating more than 1,400 business leaders.

Since its inception 20 years ago, the institute’s impact on the local economy has multiplied by several hundred percent. Beginning with a federal/state grant of $300,000, the institute has grown to $3 million in annual revenue from varied sources.

“The institute’s 20th anniversary celebrates the intersection of experience with innovation,” said Dugan. “We take great pride in our established history of helping Western Pennsylvania business leaders grow their businesses, but experience is only half the equation. We also have to be innovators and continually reinvent ourselves and our programs to address the changing problems facing local businesses.”

The Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence offers local businesses a wide range of programs designed to boost business, from one-day workshops, to monthly seminars, to the yearlong Entrepreneurial Fellows Program. Institute services in addition to educational programs include family business transition planning, mentoring and coaching, internships for graduate students, networking events, peer forums, and customized business consulting in a variety of areas, including IT, new-product development, and financial and business planning.