Pittsburgh Gateways has always been about how people, places and communities intersect. Firmly rooted in the Hill District, the communities and people we serve extend to all of Pittsburgh and the surrounding region.
You may be used to seeing the fleet of Meals on Wheels vehicles zipping through the neighborhood on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. For over a decade, the Energy Innovation Center’s commercial kitchen has been the homebase for Macedonia FACE’s meal delivery program, focused on providing healthy meals to seniors who can’t cook for themselves. But you might not know that our kitchen is shared by local food truck entrepreneurs, caterers and other small businesses. One thing they have in common is that all of the food waste they create making food for senior citizens, music festivals, weddings, repasts, coffee shops and people on special diets is used to create organic fertilizer through our partnership with Ecotone Renewables.
*Artwork by Larry Bridgett
Pittsburgh Gateways from its founding has used University partnerships as a cornerstone of economic development. Of the five research laboratories inside the EIC, University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University researchers focus on energy efficiency, battery technology, sensing technology and grid resilience side-by-side with utility partner Duquesne Light and industry partners including Eaton, CorePower and Sensible Photonics. They have access to a 13,800 volt state-of-the-art electrical grid and the opportunity to develop new products and showcase their research in a space created for energy innovation. In the heart of downtown Johnstown, our FutureReady project will bring together the manufacturing and education communities in the historic Jupiter building, which will undergo a historical renovation, welcoming Pitt-Johnstown as an anchor tenant.
Pittsburgh Gateways’ partnership with Penn College compliments our efforts to tackle the housing crisis by addressing the total cost of home ownership. Training the residential construction workforce in building performance results in more homes being built or renovated that will use less energy, improve occupant health, and be more resilient to extreme weather events – all qualities that save money for our neighbors. We support contractors with access to funding and other business development resources, making them more stable and profitable, and therefore willing to invest in training for their team. We also connect contractors with new talent, such as through our participation in Occupational Advisory Committees for multiple regional high school Career & Technical Education (CTE) construction training programs. A workforce trained in quality, efficiency, safety, and building performance leads to more affordable housing for our communities.
