Winners announced in Green Workplace Challenge

A friendly environmental competition among 50 Western Pennsylvania companies, nonprofits and other organizations resulted in $1.5 million in energy savings and 436 fewer tons of waste heading to landfills over the past year, organizers said. The Green Workplace Challenge, which wrapped up its third installment with an awards ceremony at the Andy Warhol Museum Wednesday evening, encouraged participants to reduce energy and water use, cut pollution and get more employees involved in environmentally friendly work. Participants earned points in the…

Transforming Urban Blight Into Community Spaces In Pittsburgh

Vacant properties in Pittsburgh are increasingly becoming more abundant, driving property values down and costing tax payers nearly $400,000 a year. Essential Pittsburgh spoke to several PA based nonprofits to discuss blight and what is being done to remediate it. GTECH's Director of Operations and Programming Evaine K. Sing discussed how GTECH is fighting blight in the region through programs like Green Playces.

Grant to fund outdoor YouthCAST project in McKeesport

A new McKeesport YouthCAST initiative, Bring Youth Outdoors, has drawn $25,000 in continued support from the Heinz Endowments. YouthCAST — Communities and Schools Together — Leadership Network is an organized youth-driven model that engages youth in sixth through 12th grades. In collaboration with Mayor Michael Cherepko's office and McKeesport Area School District, YouthCAST has provided young McKeesporters with opportunities for community engagement. With this grant, YouthCAST and its community partners can sustain many of GTECH Strategies' nine ReClaim McKeesport sites,…

Larimer landlord sees solar energy as way to cut costs for tenants

GTECH landlord Craig Marcus explains the effects of installing an array of 54 solar panels on the roof of the building and 52 panels on a shed behind it. The array is expected to pay for themselves in five to six years. Then, Mr. Marcus will be able to sell excess energy back to the power company while his tenants, GTECH Strategies and Grow Pittsburgh, get 70 percent of their electrical needs supplied by solar.

McKeesport residents honored for city projects

Nine McKeesport residents will be honored as graduates of the ReClaim McKeesport program during a ceremony to be held Sept. 30 at the McKeesport Heritage Center.

Biking: ‘Two Wheels Lots of Green’ takes unique approach

GTECH Strategies says its Fourth Annual “Two Wheels Lots of Green” bicycle event Aug. 22 “is not your typical high-priced schmooze fest.” That’s an understatement. It begins with guided bike tours from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. through a community that is experiencing “a spate of resident-driven development” and ends with a party at a former vacant lot, now the site of the Wigle Whiskey Barrelhouse and Whiskey Garden in Spring Garden.

Two Wheels Lots of Green offers Northside bike tour and a whiskey garden

Each August for the past three years, GTECH Strategies has hosted a fundraiser—Two Wheels Lots of Green—that is not your typical high-priced schmooze fest. Their take on fundraiser begins with a guided bike tour through a community that is seeing a spate of resident-driven development—and ends with a party at a former vacant lot, now the Wigle Whiskey Barrelhouse and Whiskey Garden.

412 Build’s business is training teen entrepreneurs

Imagine having the chance to pitch your entrepreneurial idea to the executives at Google. Imagine being 17 and having that chance. That’s just part of 412 Build, a five-week program that accepted its second cohort of 12 teenagers last week. With funding from the Hillman Foundation and using Chromebook computers donated by Google, the entrepreneurial training program brings the nonprofits GTECH Strategies and City of Play together with the TechShop, Innovation Works and AlphaLab Gear on behalf of young people…

Pittsburgh’s philanthropic sector drives community change as nonprofits evolve

There’s an old saying that Pittsburgh business and government leaders have an ability to come together to transform the city. That may have been true in the 1940s and 1950s; today, the dynamic is more complex. In the wake of the collapse of the steel industry, many rust belt cities rolled up their sidewalks for a long time, says Grant Oliphant, president of the Heinz Endowments. Pittsburgh, however, had the foundation community that continued to invest. Even while the city…

Fostering the next generation of tech entrepreneurs in Pittsburgh

412Build, a new program developed by Innovation Works (Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southwestern PA) in the East Liberty area of Pittsburgh, is doing its part, encouraging teens to consider high-tech careers. The initiative instructs participants in the use of advanced manufacturing equipment, product design and the basics of starting a business. And the impact goes beyond the enrolled young people -- during each of two five-week sessions, students use their new skills to improve local neighborhoods, helping them become…