In the News

Philadelphia and Pittsburgh among top cities for VC in tech startups

Mashable Thursday, February 28, 2013

Philadelphia and Pittsburgh rank ninth and 13th, respectively, in the National Venture Capital Association's list of top cities for venture capital investments in tech startups, reports Mashable.

"Venture capitalists will go to where the entrepreneurs are — and there is a great deal of startup activity outside of Silicon Valley," a NVCA spokesperson told Mashable. "Those regions with thriving VC ecosystems tend to have strong universities where technology is developed and research is completed and commercialized."

Original source: Mashable
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Mod Squad: Pittsburgh's Modcloth founders among most influential

Under30CEO Thursday, February 28, 2013

Eric and Susan Gregg Koger, the husband-and-wife founders of Pittsburgh-based online clothing distributor Modcloth were listed among Under30CEO's most influential entrepreneurs of 2012.

ModCloth was launched as a website in 2002 by Susan Gregg-Koger with the help of her then-boyfriend, now-husband Eric Koger. ModCloth.com is an online clothing, accessories, and decor retailer with a focus on independent and vintage-inspired fashion. Modcloth is expanding with more than 300 employees and more coming on board.

Original source: Under30CEO

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Inside Warren Buffet's $23B acquisition of H.J. Heinz

The New York Times Tuesday, February 19, 2013

The New York Times ponders what it calls an unsual deal, but classic Warren Buffet: acquiring Pennsylvania-based consumer products giant H.J. Heinz.

Heinz appears to have consciously limited its options. Why would it do this? One reason is simple market dynamics – Mr. Buffett and 3G wouldn’t allow a go-shop provision it. But mergers are market driven, and the common use of go-shop provisions in these situations would have given Heinz good grounds to draw a line in the sand. After all, it would satisfy shareholders that this really is the best deal out there.

But here another reason comes into play: the peculiarities of Heinz. The company is not incorporated in Delaware, as most American corporations are, but in Pennsylvania.

Original source: The New York Times

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Pittsburgh's time of transition, magnified

The New York Times Tuesday, February 19, 2013

The New York Times writes about the economic transformation in Pittsburgh and how another mega-corporation reduced its operations there while smaller technology and medical companies have risen up.

But in the course of reducing it reliance on industry and big corporations, Pittsburgh has become one of the more envied stories of urban revival in the Rust Belt. The proportion of Pittsburgh’s work force in manufacturing is now actually lower than the national average, according to Christopher Briem, a University of Pittsburgh professor. But so is its unemployment rate, at 7.2 percent.

Original source: The New York Times

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A Zynga comeback? Pittsburgh entertainment technology guru dishes ideas and opinions

VentureBeat Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Carnegie Mellon entertainment technology professor and entrepreneurial game designer Jesse Schell spoke recently at the DICE Summit 2013 and VentureBeat has the scoop.

A good way for developers to entice gamers is to invite them to engage in plans, like figuring out how to reach goals in titles. But Schell worries about the mad rush into free-to-play games — not because it’s a good way to reach a wider audience. Rather, he worries about properly motivating players and distinguishing between work and play. When players want a game so much that they’re willing to pay $60 upfront, there’s nothing wrong with that. But if you create a free-to-play game and then create frustrating hurdles so that the player is forced to pay money in a microtransaction, then it becomes a pain. If you trick players into playing a game that forces them to pay, they may resent you and quit.

Original source: VentureBeat

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Philly's CHOP and Pittsburgh's CHOP at UPMC rank first and, sixth, respectively, among nation's chil

Parents Thursday, February 07, 2013

Parents magazine ranks Children's Hospital of Philadelphia first and Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC sixth in its list of the 10 Best Children's Hospitals in the U.S.

1. The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

It's the leader in kids' cancer research. Besides using a successful treatment for the sickest leukemia patients that was developed by oncologist Stephan Grupp's, M.D., Ph.D., it has masterminded a way to wipe out certain types of neuroblastoma and lymphoma with a single pill. Researchers found that some kids have a genetic snafu in the expression of a protein that's linked to the diseases, and they worked with a drug company to develop medicine that inhibited the protein. Seven of eight kids studied with lymphoma, and one of two with neuroblastoma, are in remission. "Targeted therapies for children with cancer are a hot area of research," says John Maris M.D., director of the hospital's Center for Childhood Cancer Research. "Chemotherapy kills off healthy cells too, while our new treatments zero in on just the bad ones."

Original source: Parents Magazine

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Pittsburgh among Kiplinger's 10 top cities to start a business

Kiplinger's Thursday, February 07, 2013

Citing Pittsburgh's innovation potential in the energy sector, venture capital activity, research prowess and economic development capacity, Kiplinger's named it one of the top 10 cities in the U.S. to start a business.

The city built on steel and coal might prove to be a diamond in the rough for entrepreneurs. Pittsburgh is looking to become the "new center of innovation in American energy" and putting up the cash to get there. On top of nearly $143 million the area raised in start-up capital during the first nine months of 2012, the area's research and development funding through Carnegie Mellon, the University of Pittsburgh and other institutions amounts to $3 billion annually.

Original source: Kiplinger's

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Redevelopment on Pittsburgh's downtown waterfrot earns another win

The New York Times Thursday, January 31, 2013

Former Keystone Edge Innovation & Jobs News Editor Christine O'Toole writes in The New York Times about massive investment in Pittstburgh's downtown waterfront and the tremendous impact it has had on the city.

This month, the city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority approved preliminary plans for an $80 million to $90 million investment in new roads, streets and utilities on a 178-acre former industrial site that is the biggest remaining waterfront property in the city. The developers will use a tool called tax increment financing, which earmarks a portion of a site’s future property taxes to build its infrastructure. Such financing, approved by both the authority and the City Council on a case-by-case basis, has galvanized redevelopment on Pittsburgh’s complex industrial sites.

Original source: The New York Times

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PNC to fund $5.5M financial services innovation center at Carnegie Mellon

American Banker Thursday, January 24, 2013

American Banker reports on PNC teaming up with Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business to create a center for financial services innovation.

PNC is expected to invest $5.5 million over the coming five years in the venture, which will be directed by Sunder Kekre, a professor of operations management at the Tepper School.

"Advances in technology and their potential application in financial services underscore the importance of research and education in these areas," James Rohr, PNC's chief executive, said in a press release. "Carnegie Mellon is regarded as a global leader in business and technology, and our company has enjoyed a long and productive relationship with its students, alumni, faculty and administrators."

Original source: American Banker

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Inside the LEED Gold restoration at Pittsburgh's Market Square

Sustainable Cities Collective Thursday, January 17, 2013

The Sustainable Cities Collective features an interview with Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation Art Ziegler and Pittsburgh-based evolveEA principal Marc Mondor that centers on restoration and LEED Gold status of three buildings at Pittsburgh's Market Square.

Art: A big mall would not have worked—he tried this in the past, with the Mellon Bank building and the Lazarus building, but the fact is that people who shop downtown like historic buildings, they like the scale and the variety of architecture, and the density of a historic district. It’s worked over and over again, and we see this everywhere—abroad the shopping areas are in historic neighborhoods and also in New York. The Market at Fifth project has set the pace for retail to flourish in the area, in Market Square and along Fifth Avenue and Wood Street.

Original source: Sustainable Cities Collective

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Making Pittsburgh the ultimate resolution

Suitcase Scholar Thursday, January 10, 2013

A travel blogger from Pennsylvania makes her first trip to Pittsburgh.

During my short visit, I explored the Carnegie Museum, checked out the Nationality Rooms at the University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning, explored a Victorian-era estate and art gallery at the Frick and Clayton, and roamed the biomes of the world at the Phipps Conservatory. And I took more notes than I have during many lectures I’ve attended during my own years in college.

Original source: Suitcase Scholar

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Unicorns and forests: Pittsburgh's underground art scene

Boing Boing Thursday, December 20, 2012

Boing Boing ventures into the Pittsburgh underground art scene at artist collective Unicorn Mountain to get a glimpse of its third anthology of local art, comics, music and literature.

The collection covers a broad range of styles, and is packed with more than twenty different artists' work. Some parts are creepy and scribbly. Others are intricate and mysterious.

Original source: Boing Boing
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Did Marcellus Shale save Pittsburgh's U.S. Steel?

The New York Times Thursday, December 20, 2012

The New York Times takes us on a ride through U.S. Steel's bumpy history and suddenly bright future that should benefit greatly from increased natural gas production.

U.S. Steel, which is based in Pittsburgh, also happens to be right on top of the Marcellus Shale, the oil-rich formation that stretches from New York to Ohio. No one knows exactly how much gas is down there, but modest estimates suggest it’s at least 100 trillion cubic feet. Given this bounty, U.S. Steel recently spent $100 million on a facility whose entire purpose is to make “tubular product” for gas companies.

Original source: The New York Times
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Beating Rust Belt poverty in New Castle

Washington Post Tuesday, December 11, 2012

The Washington Post unleashes a lenghty opus about a teenager's efforts to break free from poverty in New Castle, Lawrence County.

Tabi heard stories about the olden days. She came from welders and ceramic production workers. But, to Tabi, the sprawling Shenango China factory where her grandfather and great-grandfather worked was just a boarded-up place on the way to Wal-Mart.

Her New Castle was the one that existed now: white, working class, with poverty that had deepened into the second and third generations. Nearly three-fourths of the students in Tabi’s school qualified for free or reduced-price lunches, and one-third of New Castle families with children younger than 18 had incomes beneath the poverty level.

Original source: Washington Post

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Study: Pittsburgh among few to see economic recovery

Reuters Thursday, December 06, 2012

Reuters reports that Pittsburgh is joined by Knoxville and Dallas as major U.S. cities cited by a Brookings Institution study that have experienced economic recovery.

The Pittsburgh skyline partly tells the city's economic story, said Mayor Luke Ravenstahl. A major bank just finished building one skyscraper and started construction on another.

"In my mind, it's already recovered. We employ more people in Pittsburgh than we ever have," he said.

Original source: Reuters

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