The Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence

Since the pandemic began, many businesses have experienced supply chain issues, hiring difficulties and inflation.

Pitt’s Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence (IEE) is there to help, doing what it has been doing steadfastly for more than 25 years. IEE offers consulting, education and networking opportunities to individuals, entrepreneurs and small business owners throughout the region.

In fiscal year 2022, IEE and its Small Business Development Center held several specialized events designed to connect minority-, women- and veteran-owned businesses to contract opportunities and other regional resources. More than 400 small business owners attended at least one of these events, opening doors for their businesses to grow while further diversifying the Western Pennsylvania economic landscape.

IEE also saw 29 graduates—more than half of them minority business owners—of its full-year Entrepreneurial Fellows Class, a business training program for leaders in companies with annual revenue of more than $1 million, and 22 graduates of its Community Power to Prosper Program, a business training program for entrepreneurs starting businesses in urban or disadvantaged neighborhoods.

IEE’s newest programs include PantherlabWorks’ Concept to Commercialization program for new product entrepreneurs and Seeds for Growth, a showcase with product-based business training.

The IEE team believes in the power of network connections to add jobs and create new businesses, which in turn have a positive influence on the region. IEE has seen firsthand the truth in its formula of offering resources to help build businesses and make beneficial contributions to a broader, more robust, more diverse and healthier Western Pennsylvania business ecosystem.