Blog

Manufacturing remains one of the largest industries for employment in southwestern Pennsylvania. Yet, there is a persisting lack of awareness within new generations about the availability and growth opportunities of manufacturing careers across a range of experiences and interests. Manufacturing today is high-tech, and technology-driven skills such as coding, programming, and more are needed to keep production running in this modern era.  As existing workforces are retiring in significant…

By Julia Mericle, Reporter, Pittsburgh Business Times Catalyst Connection introduced its new Women in Leadership program on Tuesday, created in partnership with management consulting company Development Dimensions International.  The year-long series of sessions aims to give women in leadership positions actionable strategies to accelerate their careers, said Erica Frischmann, small manufacturing business advisor at Catalyst Connection. She said the curriculum pairs DDI’s research with Catalyst Connection’s access to networking opportunities.  The…

by Audrey Smith, Ph.D. and Debra Walker, DDI Open, unique, valued, team-oriented, transparent, everyone, inviting, and belonging. These are words people use when asked to describe their understanding of inclusive leadership. They also portray how employees feel in an environment where diversity isn’t just invited, but is ignited, to realize better outcomes. What differentiates inclusive leaders from others is that they take purposeful, explicit actionto leverage the abilities, perspectives, styles and ideas of each individual for the…

Article From Mirage News Carnegie Mellon University researchers and robots will soon occupy a state-of-the-art facility at the newly constructed Mill 19 building on the 178-acre site known as Hazelwood Green. The first building of the new Hazelwood Green development, Mill 19 once served as the location of the Pittsburgh region’s most productive steel mills, employing more than 5,000 workers during its heyday. Today, as Carnegie Mellon gathers with community…

By Mark Engleman, Engleman AssociatesERP software is complicated and difficult for buyers to assess what functions really exist and what constitutes ERP vendor viability. It is even more difficult to arrange favorable initial and ongoing costs and commercial terms for ERP.  Companies purchase new ERP software maybe once a decade or less often—so they are at a disadvantage to ERP sellers that practice their selling trade continually. Therefore it's…