Urban Innovation21 Transitions its Programs to Riverside Center for Innovation New partnership between the organizations will provide additional opportunities for startup companies in Pittsburgh’s underserved…
In June 2017, the Pittsburgh Hop Company received a $5,000 Kiva loan to purchase a used tractor to help them operate their farm, which…
A few weeks ago, I had a chance to chat with two-time Kiva loan recipient, Anita, co-owner of Dragonfly Industries. Anita received her first…
When Sarah first heard about Kiva’s 0% interest loans from a fellow business owner within the I Made It! Market network, she thought it…
Caitlyn is a registered Dental Hygienist on a mission to provide dental fashion for dental enthusiasts. Her business based out of Oakdale, PA was created…
D’s Natural Products is a cosmetic and body products line that includes an array of natural pain creams, body butters, natural deodorant, oils, scrubs and…
Popsburgh is a small business that brings Mexican-style, handcrafted, ice pops to the people of Pittsburgh. Established in 2014, Popsburgh makes all-natural, hand-crafted, delicious frozen…
--Non-Profit Focuses Awards on Revitalization of Homewood and Hill District Neighborhoods Since 2012, Urban Innovation21 has recognized the strong entrepreneurial spirit in the Hill…
The Keystone Innovation Zone (KIZ) tax credits program is one of the largest unencumbered sources of financial support for high growth startup companies in the…
MEDIA ADVISORY Urban Innovation21 & Kiva Pittsburgh Join Forces to Provide Greater Access to Capital for Pittsburgh Entrepreneurs As a result of a $300,000 grant…
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MEDIA ADVISORY LA DORITA AND URBAN INNOVATION21 TEAM UP TO ASSIST FOOD ENTREPRENEURS AND ADVANCE THEIR BUSINESSES With funds provided…
Thanks, Dr. Paul Harper, Clinical Assistant Professor of Business Administration at the University of Pittsburgh's Katz Graduate School of Business for teaching a class for…
“As Pittsburgh undergoes a tremendous economic transformation from its industrial roots toward a new economy driven largely by its educational and health care institutions, portions…
Now more than ever, the traditional approaches to economic development are simply not working for cities—they exacerbate inequality and stifle growth, leaving the talent and…
Pittsburgh was named as one of the most livable cities in the United States by the Intelligence Unit of The Economist magazine. That title makes…
“The barber shop, historically, has been a place where people can come in, hear the news, and feel some sort of camaraderie,” says Norman. “We…
In partnership with Welcoming Pittsburgh, NEXTpittsburgh will feature some of the diverse people who make up the region’s population. Titled 30 Neighbors, 30 Days, the project provides…
Watch the full-length video of Green Building Alliance and p4 Pittsburgh Present: Envisioning a Sustainable, Collaborative and Inclusive Economy, with Jeremy Rifkin and Bill Generett…
“What I love about this city is when we figure out that ‘why’ [as it relates to race and diversity], we can do things that…
What resources are available to schools, home schoolers, kids and just regular folks who don't have access to sophisticated laboratories but would love to learn…
Everything else will fall into place, and when the chips fall, Blackwell may or may not be the wealthiest bowtie conglomerate owner on the East…
“We need to be bold, to take risks and not just work around the edges,” said panelist William Generett Jr., president and CEO of Urban…
The shared kitchen space is a concept that builds both small business and community. Read More
After more than a year of roundtables, surveys and analysis, the City of Pittsburgh on Tuesday launched the Pittsburgh Roadmap for Inclusive Innovation, a strategic…
A unique program launched by the City of Pittsburgh, Google and other partners to help neighborhood small business owners manage their online presence wraps up tomorrow night…
Making mushrooms that glow in the dark? A new community lab opened its doors Downtown on Thursday to local students and adults to experiment in…
Nearly $1 million in foundation and in-kind contributions have been raised to support a community bio lab being built by Duquesne University and Urban Innovation21 at the Hill District's…
Last week, Next City CEO Tom Dallessio wrote about the radical decision for the Ford Foundation to shift its grantmaking to focus on issues that address inequality. This may…
You don’t have to look any further than Baltimore and Ferguson, Mo., to see what happens when broad segments of the population feel marginalized, brutalized…
A traveling team of thinkers, artists and executives arrives in Pittsburgh this week in search of ideas for remaking the U.S. economy. Read More
The term pro bono legal service generally carries with it the thought of civil and criminal justice, domestic disputes and the like. Over the last…
The Homewood community has become known as an area of crime and despair to some. But for those who conduct business in the area, crime…
In 1989, when Bill Generett, Jr. left his Point Breeze home for Morehouse College in Atlanta, he vowed he would never return to Pittsburgh. Read…
The Citizen Science Lab: A hands-on laboratory where inquisitive minds and science-enthusiasts can explore the life sciences! The Citizen Science Lab is open to everyone—from…
Homewood-Brushton Business Association (HBBA) came to fruition based on the results of a business survey distributed throughout the Homewood neighborhood. A total of 27 businesses…
Homewood-Brushton Business Association (HBBA) came to fruition based on the results of a business survey distributed throughout the Homewood neighborhood. A total of 27 businesses…
More than $17 million in tax credits are going to about 200 Pennsylvania companies under the Keystone Innovation Zone tax credit program. Read More
"I used to ride my bicycle on these streets," Bill Generett says, glancing out the car window. In Homewood, driving down Penn and Frankstown and…
Urban Innovation21 President & CEO William Generett Jr. has been selected to serve on the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (NACIE), U.S. Secretary…
On a Clarion County farm north of Pittsburgh grows a small plot of a plant vying for shelf space in the billion-dollar health supplement industry.…
The staff at Urban Innovation21 saw a fundamental flaw in Pittsburgh’s employment pipeline: Companies need talent, but a lot was being overlooked. Read More
After a year when ActivAided Orthotics founder Kelly Collier grew the medical brace business from a handful of customers to a following of more than…
Much like Detroit, Pittsburgh is an historic industrial city. And like Detroit again, when American manufacturing went into decline, so did the steel city. Read…
A movement to spotlight the nation of innovators that exists — sometimes unrecognized — between New York and Silicon Valley is scheduled to pull into…
Across America, vibrant startup communities are gaining momentum. We believe entrepreneurs and their companies can change the world. Our mission is to accelerate the “Rise…
As the largest and most diverse innovation economy based internship program in the region, Urban Innovation21 will place 50 local students with paid internships this…
The Pittsburgh region is a national model for the way that a region can transform its economy. During the 1980s, Pittsburgh lost 100,000 jobs. Today,…
Today, Urban Innovation21 and its public-private partners announced the winners of the “Inclusive Innovation” Small Business Grant Competition. Read More
Duquesne University announced Monday that it is partnering with Urban Innovation 21 to establish Pittsburgh's first community biotechnology laboratory space that will be open to middle…
After years of juggling clients in her home-based hair salon around a corporate job, in 2012, Tracy Carter was ready to make her part-time gig…
Kiva City Pittsburgh formally launches Thursday morning, almost three years after Kiva City, a partnership program of the San Francisco-based nonprofit microlending website Kiva.org, was…
When she was 7 years old, all Shimira Williams wanted for Christmas was Legos. Read More
While Urban Innovation21 President and CEO Bill Generett was pleased to recently hear of a project that could bring tablet computer manufacturing to Homewood in…
Each year the Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development Ben Franklin Development Authority (BFTDA) offers high growth start up companies located within a Keystone…
An effort to connect entrepreneurs from the area’s most distressed communities with some of the most experienced and prominent attorneys in the region started with…
When Reed Smith partner Matthew Mohn saw a video at the Allegheny Conference's annual meeting featuring the work of Urban Innovation21, he knew that this could be a prime…
Urban Innovation21 is excited to announce that Max Miller has joined the Urban Innovation21 team as the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Read…
Some students believe that in order to have a successful career, the only skills they need are the ones taught within their field of study.…
Members of the McAuley Ministries Board outline this foundation's grantmaking priorities, grantee stories, and the number and amount of grants made in its first five…
Global law firm Reed Smith is teaming up with Urban Innovation21 to provide a suite of pro-bono legal services to African American entrepreneurs in Pittsburgh's…
Operation Better Block and Urban Innovation21 are seeking proposals from entrepreneurs wishing to establish a business in the retail space of Homewood Senior Station Apartments.…
The Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence at the University of Pittsburgh has been named a trustee for the micro-lending group Kiva Zip. Read More
Most high school graduates attend college with the goal to study hard, to successfully graduate and to obtain meaningful employment in their field of interest.…
What William Generett, Jr. J.D. does is hard work. But it reflects the American entrepreneurial spirit and represents the best possibility for leading Pittsburgh's underutilized…
McAuley Ministries said it has awarded 19 grants totaling $1.2 million to 17 nonprofits in the Hill District, Uptown and West Oakland communities. Read more
Are you interested in starting or growing your small business? Do you have a particular skill or idea, but want to learn more about business…
Gretchen S. and Berthanie G. are both students at the Community College of Allegheny County and interned at UPMC Health Plan this past summer.
With a startup or freelance work, it’s often hard to find a place to work beyond the home. There’s your local coffee shop, where power…
This time last year in Pittsburgh (July 2012), now disgraced Nate Harper was still our highly respected African-American chief of police, the Mellon Arena had…
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Pittsburgh, August 7, 2013 Urban Innovation21 Celebrates Conclusion of the Region’s Largest and Most Diverse Summer Innovation Economy Internship Program As the…
Mayor Ravenstahl Announces New Website to Connect Entrepreneurs With Opportunities to Help Launch New Businesses (PITTSBURGH) August 1, 2013 Mayor Luke Ravenstahl today announced…
Urban Innovation21 awards $150K to Hill District and Homewood businesses.
In November of 2012 the staff of Urban Innovation21 introduced to the Homewood-Brushton community the Homewood Business Grant Competition to an audience of approximately 50…
Just because they didn’t win last season, you wouldn’t dare to call the six-time Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers a “once-thriving” team. That’s not the…
Raja talks with Harish Saluja, an Indian filmmaker now living in Pittsburgh, about his role as Founder and Executive Director of the Silk Screen Asian…
Urban Innovation21 CEO Bill Generett, Jr. has been named a finalist for the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year award for Western Pennsylvania and…
Seven Pittsburgh-area startups operating in redeveloping neighborhoods are receiving grants from the economic development group Urban Innovation21. Read More >
Urban Innovation is boosting the local economy by awarding 5K in grants to small businesses this calendar year. Tech startups located in the Pittsburgh Central…
Urban Innovation21 added a new feature to its website. This tool will give you full access to the list of grant winners and participants of…
Thirty years ago, Pittsburgh was given up for dead. City leaders realized that if the town were ever to recover it would need a more…
PITTSBURGH, PA -- The Institute of Consultative Bioethics (ICB), a Pittsburgh-based technology startup, announced today the release of EthAssist™, the company’s inaugural software offering that…
The Duquesne University School of Law has been awarded a $500,000 grant from the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) that will be utilized for developing…
Urban Innovation21 recently announced the first 20 companies to receive seed grants and business support services to help drive growth in Pittsburgh’s underserved communities. Read…
Bill Flannigan interviews William Generett and the winner of the Hill District Grant Competition. Read More >
Urban Innovation21 president and CEO William Generett Jr., J.D. and Kimberly L. Slater-Wood, director of outreach for the Pittsburgh Penguins who served as a judge…
Twenty businesses and entrepreneurs in the Hill District are among the first recipients of funding to be officially announced by Urban Innovation21 on Thursday night.…
With the region churning out tech talent by the thousands each semester, it would seem local companies are in position to woo top choices before…
An awards ceremony to announce the winners of the Urban Innovation21 grant competition for Hill District Businesses will take place at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday,…
Earlier this month Urban Innovation21 announced a third round of grants for small businesses in underserved communities. Read More >
For good reasons, the term "innovation economy" isn't usually associated with many entrepreneurship opportunities for women and people of color. Read More >
Urban Innovation21 announces a $100,000 grant competition to assist business creation and growth in the Homewood section of Pittsburgh. This initiative will provide capital to…
Meet Fenil Patel: Summer and Fall intern with PCKIZ innovative start-up, AllPoint Systems. Read More >
It’s been about two years since Uptown has had a coffee shop. Read More >
Bill Generett Jr., J.D. remembers Homewood as a thriving community. Speaking to an audience of approximately 50 people he mentioned the former Athletic Foot, the…
Everyone who has performed in a play or concert knows the importance of a dress rehearsal. (Pages 12-13) Read More >
As Hurricane Sandy plunged the northeastern U.S. into a climate disaster, Bill Generett Jr. considered canceling a meeting that he had scheduled for this evening.…
"There's a lot of negativity displayed in the media toward the Hill District youth, and I wanted to give Hill District youth a chance to…
By: William Generett Jr., J.D. Like many social problems, the work necessary to connect underserved communities to the innovation economy is very complex. It is…
The Pittsburgh region is one of 20 areas across the country to have recently secured a federal in Read More >