Pittsburgh Business Times

Pittsburgh Business Times is a diversified business newspaper publishing daily stories online and through social media networks and weekly editions printed and available digitally and in print copies. A member of American City Business Journals.

The Pittsburgh Business Times unveiled its 2023 30 Under 30 list this week. These young business leaders represent Pittsburgh and its environs with distinction.

Founded in 1848

Pittsburgh Business Times was first published in 1848 and remains one of the oldest newspapers in America today. Specializing in local business news and articles highlighting Pittsburgh’s economic and social development, its excellent editorial staff captures city culture. Furthermore, regional and national business news are available here, making Pittsburgh Business Times an invaluable resource for new and existing businesses. Using Optical Character Recognition technology (OCR), text can easily be searched so readers can quickly find what they are searching for quickly.

Pittsburgh was strategically situated between the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers, making it an ideal environment for commerce and industry. Abundant natural resources, including wood and coal, provided fast river transit bringing raw materials directly to its doorstep for processing before shipping out for processing or shipping out again. According to an almanac of 1803, Pittsburgh earned income through shipping, glass & iron making, textile production, furniture production & distilling.

In 1791, Congress implemented an excise tax on whiskey. In Western Pennsylvania, where most farmers operated distilleries, this hit particularly hard – these farmers often had few cash assets to spare, and whisky was an indispensable commodity in frontier economies. Many fought this tax but did not object to its unfairness.

Samuel Kier was an early industrialist who produced canal boats, fire bricks, and medicines and created a process to refine crude oil into lamp fuel – becoming the center of petroleum refining until John D. Rockefeller took control.

Due to its proximity, New York City was well situated for trade with the Western states. Still, as new cities developed downriver, this dominance began to falter, and with the Erie Canal opening a direct route directly into the Great Lakes, other ports started gaining more importance than New York City had held over time.

At Carnegie’s teenage, Pittsburgh had become an epicenter of entrepreneurialism. Other noteworthy entrepreneurs included Thomas A. Mellon, who rivaled J.P. Morgan in financial acumen, and Henry Clay Frick, who built an extensive multi-faceted empire encompassing steel mining banking operations and infrastructure development.

Founded by William Carnegie

Carnegie began working 12 hours per day, six days per week at age 13 in a Pittsburgh cotton factory as a “bobbin boy,” responsible for changing thread spools on various machines. His starting wage was only $1.20 each week. Within months he learned the art of telegraphy and became promoted to operator; Colonel James Anderson allowed Carnegie access to his library – an unprecedented opportunity for working boys of those days; Carnegie decided if ever wealthy, he would give other children this same privilege.

Industrialism rendered home weaving obsolete for Carnegie’s family, forcing them to struggle financially. He joined a political group called the Chartists, who believed workers’ conditions would improve if the masses took control of the landed gentry; when this movement collapsed in 1848, however, Carnegie and his family were forced to sell all belongings they owned before booking passage to America.

Carnegie quickly settled in America and promptly amassed wealth. He invested in companies that supplied iron, rails, and bridges for Pennsylvania Railroad. He profited from inside trading by paying bribes to officials such as Thomas A. Scott and John Edgar Thomson on board their railway. Reinvesting the profits into other railway-related businesses eventually propelled Carnegie into becoming wealthy.

He backed companies that employed the new Bessemer steel production process, significantly improving quality and quantity while decreasing costs. Subsequently, he merged his railroad-related businesses and acquired licenses for its patents – becoming one of the wealthiest men ever!

Carnegie expanded his fortune even further when he founded Carnegie Steel Company in the 1870s, quickly growing it into an industrial behemoth with and market value of $480 million by 1901 – sold for $830 million to JP Morgan, who then combined it with other steel firms to form U.S. Steel. Carnegie dedicated the rest of his life to extensive philanthropy projects like local libraries, education, and world peace initiatives.

Founded by Andrew Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie started his career at 14 as a messenger with the Ohio Telegraph Company of Pittsburgh. Through hard work and perseverance, he caught Thomas Scott’s attention, superintendent of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. Soon after, he became Scott’s private secretary and telegrapher while making wise investments in railroads and industrial concerns. By the 1880s, Carnegie’s wealth had skyrocketed significantly, and he started publishing articles about labor issues for various periodicals such as Triumphant Democracy (1886), Gospel of Wealth (1899), and The Law of Success (1928).

After the Chartist movement collapsed in 1848, Carnegie and his family sold their belongings to book passage to America for themselves and their children. Carnegie’s father had been a weaver who depended upon textile work; but with industrialism’s advent leaving many workers unable to provide for themselves due to unemployment; coupled with poverty that plagued Dunfermline at that time; these circumstances inspired Carnegie to embrace revolutionary socialism as his way out.

Upon arriving in America, Carnegie quickly made his mark, rapidly honing his skills and learning as much as possible about its culture and landscape. He read widely, memorized all business locations within cities he visited, translated incoming telegraph signals by ear, developed a strong work ethic, and was willing to put in long hours; using his money, he built several libraries and contributed regularly to periodicals on labor issues.

At its height in 1900, Carnegie Steel was one of the world’s largest and most profitable companies. He sold it to J.P. Morgan, who combined it with other steel firms into U.S. Steel. Carnegie used his wealth for good, opening over 2,500 libraries globally while giving over 7,600 church organs away for donation, endowing organizations dedicated to research in science education, and world peace as well as contributing US$2 Million each to establish the Carnegie Institute of Technology at Pittsburgh and Carnegie Institution in Washington D.C.

Founded by the Carnegie Foundation

The Carnegie Foundation was established by steel magnate Andrew Carnegie over 100 years ago to shape educational policy. Over that time, its impactful generosity has given rise to such efforts as insulin development, dismantling nuclear weapons, Pell Grants and Sesame Street; millions have benefitted from its foresighted generosity.

In addition to its educational services, the Pittsburgh Foundation has made great strides toward protecting the environment and encouraging economic growth. They have helped launch more than 1,500 projects – such as Carnegie Science Center and Pittsburgh Zoo – while offering scholarships and grants to individuals.

Mushtaq Gunja was interviewed for an article in Trusteeship Magazine in May-June 2023. In this interview, he addressed the future of Carnegie Classifications and the challenges that higher education faces in the United States.

At first, Carnegie became concerned that there was no way of telling whether an institution of higher learning met academic standards or qualified for pension benefits. His solution: Carnegie credit hours were developed as a time-based measure that became widespread.

The Carnegie International 2022 opened on February 20, true to its founder’s maxim of looking ahead and surveying “the field lying back of us.” However, media support from CMOA’s staff has been disappointing; including denials of artist interviews and flat refusal to answer any inquiries from participants and visitors alike.

The Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership is unveiling a new initiative to assist business owners and entrepreneurs in taking advantage of opening storefronts themselves known as Project Pop-Up. Grants of up to $15,000 are available for businesses looking to transform vacant storefronts into retail concepts for up to 12 months. This program is implemented jointly with the Pittsburgh Downtown Advisory Commission as part of the Pittsburgh Business Times Leadership Trust program.