Jasika Shaker, Senior Membership & Engagement Director, The Pittsburgh Business Exchange

In an interview with Invest:, Jasika Shaker, senior membership and engagement director of The Pittsburgh Business Exchange (PBEX), highlighted the importance of networking, and the initiatives that keep Pittsburgh growing, such as inviting people to “talk about what they’re doing, as well as the needs of the city, to show that there is opportunity.” 

How have the past year’s changes impacted PBEX? 

As we get further out of COVID, people get hungrier for events. And with Pittsburgh being such a grassroots city, people don’t trust a lot of soliciting that comes digitally-like emails or cold calls. The main way to connect and actually get business owners to form any sort of relationship is through networking events through seeing you, feeling your authenticity, and really liking your vibe. It takes genuine relationship and connection, and trust that’s built over time and by repeatedly seeing them at events. The huge impact we saw at PBEX was our membership growth. It was so significant that we had to add more events, more staff members, just to take on the needs of the city. Everyone was craving for that human connection. 

How does PBEX plan and execute Pittsburgh’s largest Women in Business event – the annual Women Shaping Our Region? 

It’s done in tandem with the Butler County Chamber of Commerce. This is the fifth year for Women Shaping Our Region, and it has been trial and error. The first year was nowhere near as good as last year, when we had 500 women in the room. One of the highlights from among our incredible speakers is Laura Ellsworth of Jones Day. It all comes down to the community. We ask previous year’s panelists to recommend somebody of equal or higher status than they are to be the following year’s panelists. And we always do a survey after every single event. About 30% of people end up filling out the survey completely and give feedback, which is a lot for a 500-person event. The reconciliation reports will guide on what we could do better for the next year. So, the community and trial and error are the two biggest things that help us. We also hold the Great Energy Gathering for 1,000 people at Hilton Garden Inn Southpointe, Washington County, in March every year. We have 40 vendors and partner with another 40 organizations, from chambers of commerce and business associations, to energy associations. The list includes Butler County Chamber of Commerce, Women in Energy, and Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association. It’s a great way to bring the community together. Another event that we are proud of is Meet the Presidents. This is only our second year doing it, but we had 500 people on the rooftop of the convention center last year. We invited all the leaders of Pittsburgh to come meet one another, because we found that a lot of them don’t know each other. The way to bridge their collaboration is by providing a space to cross-pollinate their networks. In Pittsburgh, that’s how you get things done.

How does PBEX tailor its initiatives to align with the unique characteristics of the region? Pittsburgh is a unique market. We have many amazing sectors, like healthcare, tech, robotics, and Al. There are so many tech startups here, but sadly, we’re losing a lot of young talent. They’re going to big hub cities, like Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Florida, and even overseas. I understand why those can be a lot more attractive cities – they’re fun and lively. What we’re trying to do with PBEX is to highlight that Pittsburgh has it, too. We have so many awesome districts, including the cultural district, the Strip, Lawrenceville, Shadyside, East Liberty, and North Shore, and they’re all lively and popping. So, we try to host the majority of our events within the city, at different cool venues every month. 

I have personally taken the initiative to get the younger crowds to network. Coming out of college, they are rather timid, feeling that these events are for more seasoned people. I encourage all my friends to bridge that gap between the older and the younger generations. Our future leaders will come from the younger generation, and we have so many businesses in Pittsburgh that will need their leadership. 

The monthly Pittsburgh Executive Speaker Series is a new initiative started this year, where it’s not only just a networking event, but also features an educational element. Big figures doing manufacturing, transportation, and different industries in the city talk about what they do, as well as the needs of the city, to show that there is opportunity in Pittsburgh. 

How have PBEX partnerships enhanced its offerings? 

The main reason for our partnerships is because we understand, and we actually encourage, that we should not be the only place to network. Different companies have different needs, different target clients that they’re trying to reach. We have something that’s completely different from what you would get from a chamber of commerce event, an energy-specific organization or a real-estate-specific organization. People come to us because we have all these partnerships, and we can point them in the right direction. 

PBEX is the largest networking group of its kind in Pittsburgh, with 35,000 members and subscribers. We’ve been around for 15 years, and we cover every industry, every size, every niche. We’re more than happy to welcome everyone into our organization. But people might not know how to network. So, we have a three-hour interactive orientation that bridges the gap from meeting people to the next level, either to a meeting or to a sale. Anybody you meet is somebody who can be in your network. It takes knowing what questions to ask, how to approach, how to have confidence, and how to articulate yourself and your body language properly. The networking skills become the value that we bring, alongside all these partnerships. 

How does PBEX ensure meaningful engagement across its members and subscribers? The cool thing about PBEX is people can engage in different ways. You can get regular membership for the year or you can be a sponsor. We have people who regularly attend at non- member ticket rates. We understand that a membership is not feasible for everybody. Some people live further away, so they can only come to select events. We like to offer many opportunities to interact with our network, depending on your unique challenges or goals. We also have a dedicated and engaged member email list. Whenever we send out an email blast for our events, the events get populated with 300 people. At this point, we have the credibility in the city that we have good-quality people and good-quality events. We try to keep them local — with good parking, good food, and good venues – and make it as easily accessible as possible for people to find us. 

What are PBEX’s key goals and priorities for the coming year? 

Education is the key priority — people have to see the value in whatever they do. They have to learn how to network, and see it work. Then, they’re hooked. On top of that would be continuing to bring in younger leaders and learn from them. We already have some relationships with many different universities, and will be building more with bigger schools, so their students can join our events. We also plan to have collaborations for mentorship events, to engage even more people, and show them the value in Pittsburgh. They can invest and build in Pittsburgh with our super affordable economy. It is clean, safe, and diverse. By continuing to shift the conversation about Pittsburgh positively and educating about what we have to offer, we continue to grow – there really is a reason to invest in Pittsburgh.