Economic Development / Small Businesses

Ideas that pertain to Economic Development / Small Businesses


Attention/Retention

This Idea did not make it to the Top 20.  If you are still interested in it, consider applying for a Sprout Fund Seed Award. 

Idea Overview

[Overview needed]

Idea Round Up Concept Sheet

Who worked on idea?

Marley Kay, Tom, Meredith, Brian, Paul, Katrina, Johanna, Olivia, Beth, Jina, Greg

What is the idea?

  • Jobs - know about funding and start-up opportunities, offer exposure of good pay
  • Entertainment - too many bars
  • Attracting business to Pgh, or creating support for small and new business
  • Banking services that support business
  • Downtown housing
  • Downtown grocery
  • Re-zoning/structuring of Downtown to create an area that is more "livable" and not so extremely white collar

Bribe To Stay

This Idea did not make it to the Top 20.  If you are still interested in it, consider applying for a Sprout Fund Seed Award.

Idea Overview

Entrepreneurial effort to educate and fund high school students to start their own local businesses in lieu of going to college or provide scholarship to attend a local college

Idea Round Up Concept Sheet

Who worked on idea?

Luis Elorreaga, Dan Vogel

What is the idea?

Entrepreneurial effort to educate and fund high school students to start their own local businesses in lieu of going to college or provide scholarship to attend a local college

How would idea work?

  • Business plan development training at high school level
  • Mentorship/internship opportunities in local businesses and associations, universities
  • Continued support
  • Start-up funds for business or scholarship to remain in the region

Pluses:

  • Retention of youth (3-5 year minimum)
  • Development of economic base
  • Provides alternative for motivated high school students to contribute to region

Concerns:

  • Interest in program
  • Potential for businesses to fail
  • Failure to honor residency requirements
  • Reliant on collaboration of businesses and colleges

Community opportunities:

  • High school students looking for alternatives to college
  • Entrepreneurial community (CMU, Pitt, etc)
  • Reinvention of Pgh economic base
  • Neighborhoods with empty store fronts and lot

Idea Bridge

This Idea did not make it to the Top 20.  If you are still interested in it, consider applying for a Sprout Fund Seed Award.

Idea Overview

Pgh' universities offer an enormous untapped resource of knowledge and ideas that could benefit the community. We seek to bridge the gap between this resource and the city leaders.

Idea Round Up Concept Sheet

Who worked on idea?

Ben Pelhan, Colleen Everett

What is the idea?

Pgh' universities offer an enormous untapped resource of knowledge and ideas that could benefit the community. We seek to bridge the gap between this resource and the city leaders.

How would idea work?

  • Idea scout will develop a network of contacts with Pgh Universities and its civic and business leadership
  • We will scout the universities for projects and ideas that can improve Pgh
  • Introduce idea creator to appropriate Pgh leaders for implementation

Pluses:

  • Taps one of city's greatest resources
  • Creates opportunities for students, possibly keep them in Pgh
  • Benefits various community aspects and city's leadership
  • Potentially millions of dollars of free consulting

Concerns:

  • Need to get social network in place
  • Need to convince leadership and community of program credibility
  • Individual projects

Community opportunities:

  • It is a win-win-win situation
  • Students benefit form opportunities that develop
  • Community benefits from successful ideas
  • Leaders benefit from good publicity, happier community and money saved

Pittsburgh Information Gap

This Idea has been incorporated into the Greater Pittsburgh Web Hub. 

Idea Overview

Establish an organization to bring small businesses and organizations to web by using starter web pages. Establish a portal web site that automatically aggregates information from these new/existing web sites.

Idea Round Up Concept Sheet

Who worked on idea?

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What is the idea?

Establish an organization to bring small businesses and organizations to web by using starter web pages. Establish a portal web site that automatically aggregates information from these new/existing web sites.

How would idea work?

  • Small technical assistance group - half paid tech people and volunteers
  • Consult, design, modify websites for small business
  • New websites incorporate active code that broadcasts information to the portal site
  • Portal site is comprehensive database of information and events in Pgh, aggregates information from websites

Pluses:

  • Small business and organizations on the web
  • Easy, single stop public access to Pgh information
  • Easy access for under represented organizations

Concerns:

  • Funding
  • Stability
  • PR/advertising

Community opportunities:

Community organizations and small businesses


Pittsburgh New Business Co-op

This Idea did not make it to the Top 20.  If you are still interested in it, consider applying for a Sprout Fund Seed Award. 

Idea Overview

Incubate new businesses and entrepreneurships and non-profits using a co-op and shared-space model

Idea Round Up Concept Sheet

Who worked on idea?

All of room 519

What is the idea?

  • Incubate new businesses and entrepreneurships and non-profits
  • Facilitate synergy/collaboration and use of resources from moving businesses
  • Be a co-op and provide a physical space for businesses to come together

How would idea work?

  • Shared physical space - no or low-rent offices for new businesses
  • Small business advisory services (business plans, mktg, finance, insurance)
  • Focus and emphasis on collaboration
  • Grants for businesses in co-op to use each others' services
  • Service element required for those involved

Pluses:

  • Retains young entrepreneurs in region
  • Encourages innovation
  • Creates networks
  • Attracts entrepreneurs to area
  • Creates traffic
  • Encourages dense urban development
  • Encourages intersections of many disciplines

Concerns:

  • Starting capital
  • Risky

Community opportunities:

Business and community development


Take A Risk Foundation

This Idea did not make it to the Top 20.  If you are still interested in it, consider applying for a Sprout Fund Seed Award. 

Idea Overview

Provide support and funding to 2-3 risky, big budget ventures in the following areas: marketing/re-branding efforts; high-risk businesses with big growth potential; risky, progressive governmental policies, and arts

Idea Round Up Concept Sheet

Who worked on idea?

Greg Heller LaBelle, Martha Riecks, Allyson Katz, Rachel Vallozi, Ryan

What is the idea?

Provide support and funding to 2-3 risky, big budget ventures in the following areas: marketing/re-branding efforts; high-risk businesses with big growth potential; risky, progressive governmental policies, and arts

How would idea work?

Create national media attention with wacky, insane publicity stunts around our brand (green, clean, cheap)

Pluses:

  • We are raising the stakes for artists, politicians, business owners
  • Fix Pittsburgh's inadequacy complex
  • It's visible out of town
  • Businesses will begin to re-brand our region as over the top, risky

Concerns:

  • High risk - take a risk foundation
  • Ideas could marginalize people

Community opportunities:

Business, arts, politics