Bob Stein, Executive Director, Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence at the University of Pittsburgh

In an interview with Invest:, Bob Stein, executive director of the Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence at the University of Pittsburgh, discussed navigating federal priorities, driving regional economic growth, and leveraging key educational programs. “These are times of considerable change, but there are also many great developments occurring for Pittsburgh, which is becoming increasingly vibrant within its business ecosystem,” Stein said.

What changes over the past year impacted the Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence (IEE), and in what ways?

Over the past year, we have witnessed a significant shift between the Biden administration and the Trump administration. As a result, we must pivot to align with the changing priorities of each administration in order to best serve their objectives for greater macroeconomic development. For example, the Trump administration is focused intensely on energy and AI, which are very exciting areas of growth. Consequently, we are looking forward to applying for federal grants to support and serve those specific initiatives. These are times of considerable change, but there are also many great developments occurring for Pittsburgh, which is becoming increasingly vibrant within its business ecosystem. It is a very exciting city to consider.

How have initiatives like “Doing Business With Pitt” and “UPMC Essentials for Success” shaped IEE’s strategic focus and capacity?

Our goal at the Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence is to provide economic development for business owners and entrepreneurs. We accomplish this through consulting, education and networking. No matter what size business or entrepreneur we work with, we aim to help them become more profitable. We want to increase their revenue, increase their investment in the business, increase the number of jobs saved or created within their company, and create more startups. Those are our five key economic metrics. We work with more than 1,500 businesses each year, representing all different sizes. 

Our objective is to be the one-stop shop for whatever a business may require. If they need succession planning, we can help them. If they require financial assistance, such as securing loans or financial analysis, we want to help them. If they need startup assistance, we want to help them. We strive to be the comprehensive resource for business needs here in Pittsburgh. It is also very rewarding to be part of the University of Pittsburgh. Few universities have an economic development organization as part of their mission and strategic plan. While education is central to any university’s mission, to have an organization that serves all of Western Pennsylvania with such depth and breadth is truly remarkable.

How is your department structured to best serve the needs of the Pittsburgh community?

We have five different programs within the Institute. The first is our Small Business Development Center, which is a federally and state-funded program. Federal funding comes from the Small Business Administration, and state funding is provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development. Through the Small Business Development Center, we provide no-cost management consulting to small businesses with under 500 employees. Within this center, we have several specialty initiatives, including an Environmental Management Assistance Program that helps businesses with environmental air quality permits. We also have an International Trade Program to help businesses increase their exporting processes, and we provide bilingual consulting in Spanish. Additionally, we have a Center of Excellence in Digital Services within the Small Business Development Center that assists businesses with e-commerce and online internet marketing analysis.

The second major program is called PantherlabWorks, our virtual accelerator that helps businesses conduct market research or develop new products. Under PantherlabWorks, we are managing the Build Back Better grant, which was awarded to us a couple of years ago, and we are assisting with advanced manufacturing and robotics. The third program is the Entrepreneurial Fellows Class, which is an annual program for businesses with $1 million or more in revenue. The class consists of 35 to 40 people, begins in January, and graduates in December. We teach these business owners how to take their companies to the next level and achieve further growth.

The fourth program is our Urban and Community Entrepreneurship Program, which includes the Community Power to Prosper class. This program is held twice a year and is designed for smaller businesses, typically in underserved areas of the city and region, with revenues usually under $100,000. We do not charge for this program, and it meets twice per month. We hold graduations in July and December. The fifth and final program is our membership program for businesses with $1 million or more in revenue. These members pay an annual fee to the university and, in return, receive high-level networking and educational events. For example, today we hosted a program with the president of the Savannah Bananas, a very popular and innovative baseball team, who shared their story.

The Entrepreneurial Fellows Class educates but also builds entrepreneurial talent locally. How does IEE leverage this program to support workforce development in Pittsburgh?

Through the Entrepreneurial Fellows Class and the Community Power to Prosper classes, we are teaching entrepreneurs how to be successful business owners. For many of the smaller businesses in the Community Power to Prosper program, this is the only formal business education they have ever received. We are giving them the keys to their future success through education. We teach them how to grow their business, which will enable them to add jobs, increase revenue, and foster more economic development in the region. The same is true for the Entrepreneurial Fellows Class.

What challenges does IEE face, and how are you turning them into opportunities?

Challenges are always present, and they are interlinked with opportunities. We are primarily a self-funded center within the university. So we have challenges on funding. We always need to raise our own funds and obtain foundation support and grants. That is always a challenge of any nonprofit. I think that turns it into an opportunity because we can think through what new initiatives we might not have previously considered before and how to get funding for them. We are seeing a lot of AI right now, which presents a challenge to everybody. It could be, in a lot of ways, a good challenge. We have to figure out how we are going to use technology to do a better job helping our clients, but also to help the customers embrace it and use it to help their businesses grow. 

Given IEE’s 25-plus years of regional impact, how do you assess its current role in driving Pittsburgh’s entrepreneurial and economic growth?

As a leader of one of Pittsburgh’s largest economic development organizations, I think it is my role to make sure that the institute is available for the business owners to help them grow. We want to make sure we are providing services according to the administration’s strategic priorities of energy and AI. I need to make sure I rally my team around our mission of supporting business owners and entrepreneurs. I think the future is strong for the Institute. Our core services are very important and they are very impactful and they provide a lot of value to the businesses. I just need to make sure our network continues to grow.