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From YouTube: Inclusion Counts
Description
On this episode of Inclusion Counts, Rick Williams interviews Karan Waigand from the Small Business Association and Anita Brattina from PowerLink.
A
Hello
welcome
to
inclusion
counts.
My
name
is
rick
williams.
I'm
the
business
inclusion
manager
for
the
city
of
pittsburgh
office
of
equity
office
of
mayor,
william
peduto
inclusion
counts,
is
a
show
that
educates
informs
and
inspires
minority
women
and
veteran
contractors
across
the
state
of
pennsylvania,
with
a
local
focus.
It's
a
monthly
conversation
with
subject
matter:
experts,
government,
practitioners
and
businesses
that
operate
in
the
space
every
day.
The
goal
of
the
program
is
to
share
resources,
provide
capacity,
building
information
and
to
promote
contract
opportunities
for
vendors
in
this
region.
A
Our
first
guest
today
is
karen
wagon
from
the
u.s
small
business
administration.
Miss
wagon
is
an
economic
development
specialist
where
she
is
responsible
for
conducting
marketing
training
and
outreach
efforts
for
27
counties
that
encompass
the
sba's
western
pennsylvania
district
office.
Karen
is
a
designated
liaison
for
the
sba's
eight
small
business
development
center,
where
she's
responsible
for
resource
partner
compliance
and
award
oversight.
A
B
A
B
A
B
A
B
I've
had
different
roles,
but
the
program
has
been
around,
I
believe,
since
2008
and
sba
or
headquarters
selects
various
cities.
So
five
years
ago,
back
in
2016,
we
offered
the
program
for
the
first
time
and
then
in
2017,
2018
and
2019.
I
was
the
program
manager.
I
was
supposed
to
be
it
last
year,
but
due
to
covid,
because
this
is
a
program
we
normally
meet
in
person.
B
A
A
B
Well,
really
the
same
thing
as
you,
the
networking
piece
you
know
getting
out
there.
You
know
we
cover
27
counties,
so
we
have
quite
the
terrain.
You
know
we
have
mountainous
areas,
we
have
the
rural,
the
small
towns,
the
bigger
towns
and
just
trying
to
get
out
there
and
let
people
know
about
the
programs
and
services
through
the
federal
government
and
sba
in
general.
So
we've
done
a
lot
of
webinars
such
as
what
we're
doing
here
we're
conducting
more
training
via
webinars
and
it
seems
to
have
worked
because
we
have
a
larger
reach.
A
B
B
Well,
first
of
all,
it's
a
long
program.
It's
gonna
be
stretched
out
over
seven
months,
so
we
meet
every
other
week
for
three
hours
and
during
that
course,
of
the
seven
months
you
know
I
bring
in
some
guest
experts.
They
talk
about,
especially
your
financials.
I
bring
in
financial
experts,
I
bring
in
cpa
firms,
you
learn
how
to
do
government
contracting
or
at
various
levels.
Maybe
it
is
local,
maybe
it's
getting
certified
just
so
you
can
think
about.
B
Should
I
take
that
next
step,
but
all
during
this
course
they
are
creating
a
three-year
strategic
growth
plan
designed
for
their
business
and
our
instructor
one
of
the
nice
things
about
him
he's
been
with
the
program
since
the
very
beginning.
This
will
be
his
fourth
year
as
well,
and
he
knows
the
program.
B
B
Well,
we
do
like
to
see
businesses
that
are
established.
Businesses
have
revenues
from
250
000
up
to
10
million,
because
that's
like
that,
breaking
point
that
you
know
you're
not
really
a
startup.
You
know
you
are
able
to
stand
on
your
own
you're.
Taking
that
next
step
and
one
of
the
other
requirements
rick,
is
that
they
have
another
person
in
the
business
full-time
so
that
they
can
concentrate
on
this
program.
A
A
B
Of
course,
you
know
providing
they
meet
the
criteria
for
the
8-a
program
and,
of
course,
if
they
want
to
go
into
that
program,
you
know
not.
Everybody
wants
to
sell
to
the
federal
government,
but
you
know
it's
a
great
stepping
stone
for
businesses.
The
training
that
you
receive
and
you
know
emerging
leaders
is
free,
and
so
is
our
8
a
you
know.
People
really
need
if
they're
not
familiar
with
the
small
business
administration,
please
you
know
we're
probably
one
of
the
best
kept
secrets
around.
A
Yes,
you
are,
and
hopefully
you
know
at
this
time-
we
really
need
you
and
I
kind
of
like
you
know.
Our
our
program
here
in
inclusion
counts
is
a
local
focus,
and
so
I
want
to
ask
about
the
local
stats
and
there's
three
parts
that
I
want
to
get
information
from
you
on.
You
know
how
many
small
businesses
received
the
training
in
southwestern
pennsylvania,
how
many
jobs
were
created,
what
type
of
financing
was
provided
and
how
much
got
government
contracting
was
secured
from
businesses
that
were
in
the
program
so
go
ahead.
B
B
B
New
jobs
were
created
and
204
jobs
were
maintained.
So
that's
a
nice
statistic
from
you
know
the
businesses
that
have
gone
through
this
program
and
of
the
ones
that
have
received
federal
contracting-
they
probably
totaled
six
million
about
6.8
million
dollars
in
contracting
and
that's
another
nice
sum
to
see
that
you
know
maybe
some
have
not
really
been
involved
in
contract.
B
This
is
a
new
avenue
for
growth
for
them,
and
some
of
them
have
secured
loans
and
we're
looking
at
probably
close
to
half
a
million
dollars
in
loans
that
you
know
to
make
businesses
grow
and
you
know
maybe
expand
their
product
line
or
you
know
any
number
of
reasons
add
on
new
people.
So
it's
really.
The
program
is
working.
A
What
type
of
outreach
are
you
conducting
in
your
27
county
footprint,
because
we
need
to
get
this
out
a
little
bit
more
of
what
the
sba
provides
and
then
also
you
know
the
services
and
information
that
you
have,
because
there's
a
lot
of
things
going
on
in
our
federal
government,
with
the
covid19
relief
and
so
forth,
and
the
sba
has
kind
of
been
the
center
of
that.
So
where
can?
Where
can
people
find
the
information.
B
Well,
they
can
go
to
our
website
at
www.sba.gov,
that's
gov,
and
if
they
are
looking
for
information
on
the
coronavirus
as
soon
as
our
homepage
comes
up,
there
is
information
right
there
that
can
direct
them
to
the
ppp.
The
idol
just
different
facts
about
it
and
other
relief
efforts,
also
for
the
emerging
leaders
in
the
search
block
they
can
type
in
emerging
leaders.
B
B
So
there
is
a
link
under
the
emerging
leaders
program
on
our
website
that
takes
you
directly.
There
just
make
sure
you
select
pittsburgh
for
the
drop
down
box
and
I'm
marketing
this
program.
We've
sent
it
out.
Gov
delivery,
so
anytime,
there's
announcements
on
programs
that
s
our
office
is
having
people
can
sign
up
for
our
gov
delivery.
B
Word
of
mouth.
You
know
it's
like
email
updates,
so
we
sent
that
out
and
our
reach
probably
covers
25
000
people
that
have
signed
up,
so
they
each
get
an
announcement
about.
You
know
emerging
leaders,
I've
sent
it
out
to
some
of
the
chambers,
I'm
trying.
I
sent
it
out
to
our
small
business
development
centers.
You
know
we
can
they
cover.
We
have
eight
of
them
that
cover
our
whole
27
counties.
So
they're
getting
the
word
out.
I'm
talking
on
your
show.
Thank
you
so
much
today,
I've
done
a
couple
other
guest
spots.
B
A
Yeah
we
we
need
to
create
that
pipeline,
because
businesses
really
need
that
support
and
hopefully
we'll
be
able
to
expand
the
participants
in
the
program.
Because
it's
such
a
good
program,
we
we
don't
want
it
to
be
forgotten
or
no
one
knows
about
it.
I
wanted
to
kind
of
mention
in
my
last
question
I
mentioned
about
covet
a
little
bit
and
the
resources
and
so
forth
available.
B
Well,
you
know
everything
like
I
said
is
on
our
website.
Some
of
our
resource
partners
are
holding
events
and
as
well
as
us.
You
know
we
are
talking
about
the
ppp
loans,
you
know,
and
the
idle
relief
and
some
of
our
other
loan
programs
have
relief
efforts
built
into
them
right
now
for
a
specific
period
and
things
keep
changing
constantly.
You
know
we're
trying
to
find
new
ways
to
help.
Maybe
certain
groups
of
people
you
know
like
the
shuttered
venues,
which
is
still
waiting
to
come
on
board.
B
So
there's
a
lot
of
programs
and
as
updates
are
occurring,
you
know
it's
a
good
idea
to
look
at
sba's
website
www.sba.gov,
because
that's
the
key
change
every
time
they
change
something
they
update
that
website.
So
what
you
see
today
may
be
changed
tomorrow,
as
we
get
maybe
more
legislation
about
how
some
of
these
programs
are
put
together,
but
there
is
a
lot
of
good
information
there.
B
A
B
You
know
that
because
of
cove
it
had
to
close
down
you
couldn't
host
these
because
they
they
were
considered
spreading
areas
so
yeah.
This
is
one
of
the
programs
that
you
know
they're
still,
writing
the
legislation
a
little
bit.
So
I
can't
really
talk
on
it,
but
there's
some
good
information
on
our
website
and
that's
another
thing
to
keep
checking
on,
especially
if
you
are
a
venue
that
hosts
you
know
like
a
small
movie
theater,
oh
gosh,
you
know
there's
so
many
out
there
but
yeah.
B
A
Yeah
I
wanted
to
ask
that
and
lift
that
up
a
little
bit,
because
a
lot
of
people
don't
know
that
a
movie
theater
can
get
this
type
of
love
and
and
support.
You
know
our
movie
houses
our
theaters
across
our
region
and
we
have
a
lot
of
them.
I
can't
wait
till
they
open
back
up
to
see
some
live,
entertainment.
B
A
B
To
me,
it's
removing
those
invisible
and
physical
blockages
in
order
to
welcome
in
and
appreciate
other
opinions,
other
ideas,
thoughts
and
processes,
because
you
know
we
all
learn
different,
but
we
can
all
learn
from
everybody
else.
How
you
do
something
and
how
I
do
something,
maybe
totally
different,
but
if
I
could
tweak
something
that
you
do
to
fit
my
business,
you
know
it
only
behooves
me
to
learn
and
be
open
to
those.
B
You
know
and
that's
part
of
getting
back
to
emerging
leaders.
You
know
it's
that
sharing
of
ideas,
what
your
business
does
and
what
my
business
does.
They
may
be
in
totally
different
industries,
but
I
can
learn
from
your
business
and
I
can
also
share
ways
that
my
business
has
grown
and
hopefully
it
can
affect
yours
as
well.
A
C
Hello,
my
name
is
ross
chapman,
I'm
worries
matthews,
I'm
dan
gilman.
This
is
chief
scott
shubert
city
of
pittsburgh,
bureau
of
police
and
I
support
ending
domestic
violence
in
the
city
of
pittsburgh
because
everybody
has
a
mother,
I
hope
to
lead
by
example,
one
day
for
my
children,
because
nobody
should
ever
live
in
fear
of
their
intimate
partner.
E
A
A
All
facilities
inc
is
a
research
and
database
management
company
specializing
in
helping
companies
reduce
operating
and
maintenance
costs
of
their
buildings.
Her
company
holds
one
of
the
largest
facility
global
management
databases
of
real
estate
in
this
country,
and
I
also
mentioned
power
link
she.
She,
she
has
a
dual
role
here:
power
link
founded
in
1991.
A
its
mission
as
a
501c3
public
charity
is
to
serve
small
and
emerging
companies
to
grow,
using
an
innovative,
low-cost
and
time-tested
advisory
board
model.
Stanford
university
endorsed
this
learning
model
as
one
of
the
fastest
ways
for
different
students
to
learn
in
a
group
setting
with
highly
targeted
guest
advisors.
A
A
F
So
thank
you
for
that
question.
Actually
to
answer
it.
I'd
like
to
tell
a
short
story
so
pricewaterhouse
and
a
business
owner,
a
woman
business
owner
in
washington
county
got
their
heads
together
and
decided.
They
wanted
to
form
this
powerlink
idea
into
giving
advisory
boards
to
small
businesses,
and
so
they
developed
the
model
and
then
they
started
recruiting
and
they
happened
to
call
on
me
and
that
was
in
1991.,
and
they
said
you
know
you
already
have
built
your
company
to
about
200
000.
You
seem
pretty
successful.
F
F
A
F
Yes,
so
I
jumped
back
into
powerlink
about
five
years
ago
and
looked
at
how
do
we
grow
powerlink?
How
do
we
make
it
more
sustainable,
and
what
I
found
was
that
it's
very
scary
to
have
seven
strangers,
come
into
your
company
and
tell
you
what
to
do
so.
We
created
what
a
mini
advisory
board
model,
so
it's
basically
two
advisors,
a
facilitator
and
about
10
businesses.
F
Similar
to
this.
What
karen
was
talking
about
with
her
emerging
leaders?
We
have
about
12
people
in
our
group.
We
meet
monthly
for
90
minutes,
we
meet
over
zoom
and
we
have
different
kinds
of
businesses
in
each
group.
So
we
right
now
in
western
pennsylvania,
have
15
community
advisory
board
meetings
every
month
and
we
have.
We
are
helping
about
160
companies
right
now
in
this
okay.
A
F
So
actually
we
didn't
start
out
that
way.
We
just
started
out
with
you
know:
here's
a
time
of
day,
here's
a
location,
eaton
park
back
room,
you
know,
can
you
come?
We
always
worked
with
partners,
so
the
chamber
of
commerce,
the
sbdc
the.
So
we
always
had
somebody
referring
people
to
the
meetings,
but
after
covid
we
just
started
to
do
outreach
differently.
So
we
now
have
four
different
types
of
groups.
F
F
We
are
just
launching
a
new
program
through
huntington
where
we're
going
to
be
opening
up
groups,
specifically
around
government
contracting,
so
I'll,
be
very
interested
to
talk
to
karen
about
what
they're
doing,
because
we're
building
a
model
for
our
community
advisory
board
for
government
contracting,
and
we
are
also
doing
one
for
diversity,
set-aside
of
any
kind.
So
you
know
upmc
university
of
pittsburgh
highmark.
They
all
have
diversity
and
inclusion
goals,
and
we
feel
that
we
can
help
our
clients
to
learn
how
to
get
access
to
those
contracts.
A
I
was
going
to
ask
that
question.
You
kind
of
jumped
me
jump,
jump
the
gun
on
a
little
bit,
because
I
wanted
to
to
kind
of
set
it
up
a
little
bit
where
we
find
out
more
about
what
the
participant
gets
out
of
the
advisory
board
participating,
because
it
is
a
commitment
just
like
we
heard
with
karen.
You
know
it's
a
long
stretch
that
people
have
in
their
time
to
do
and
what's
their
t,
what's
the
takeaway.
If
I'm
a
powerlink
participant,
you
know
what
type
of
things
should
I
expect
being
in
the
program.
F
So
there's
four
things
that
that
our
owners
tell
us
they're
getting
out
of
the
program
number
one.
We
have
a
lot
of
owners
who
cannot
figure
out
how
to
go
from
fifty
thousand
dollars
a
year
to
two
hundred
and
fifty
thousand
dollars
a
year.
That's
a
really
big
jump
for
I'd,
say:
90
percent
of
the
small
businesses
out
there.
F
The
average
small
business
in
america
only
does
about
a
hundred
thousand
dollars
a
year,
so
we
have
to
help
them
learn
how
to
get
from
50
to
250
and
that's
by
looking
at
their
pricing
their
value
proposition.
In
other
words,
how
are
they
different,
better,
smarter
than
the
next
guy
doing
the
same
thing
or
gal,
and
the
third
thing
is
we're
looking
at
their
ability
to
do
both
sales
and
operations,
because
at
that
level
most
owners
are
doing
everything.
F
So
what
we
do
is
work
with
them
to
figure
out.
What
are
you
good
at?
What
should
you
be
doing,
and
how
do
you
start
to
let
go
of
some
of
the
things
that
you're
not
so
good
at,
so
that
you
can
grow
your
business
and
the
last
thing
is
we
have
a
surprising
number
of
owners
who
who
are
doing
their
businesses
as
a
side
hustle,
so
they've
got
a
full-time
job
and
they're
doing
this
at
night.
I
I
was
that
was
me.
A
What
would
be
those
key
things
for
someone
to
make
that
transition,
for?
I
guess
you
know
working
their
job
and
then
working
their
business
at
the
same
time.
So
what
things
that
would
they
have
to
look
at
to
make
a
determination
and
saying?
Okay,
I'm
going
to
leave
this
corporate
job
and
if
you
have
to
use
your
experience
as
an
example
to
share
with
our
inclusion
counsel,
viewers
feel
free
to
do
that.
F
Yeah,
so
it's
a
really
common
problem
that
starts
with
kind
of
some
private
consultation,
so
we
actually
sit
with
each
of
our
owners
for
two
or
three
hours
before
they
join
the
group,
the
advisory
board,
because
we
really
want
to
understand:
do
you
know
what
it's
going
to
take
for
you
to
get
from
35
000
a
year
to
a
hundred
thousand
a
year?
What
what
does
that
look
like
and
what
we
find
oftentimes
is
it's
kind
of
like
how
do
you
cross
the
grand
canyon?
F
Your
average
sale
is
very
small:
no
one's
trying
to
get
a
hundred
thousand
dollar
contract
when
they're
when
they're
doing
it
on
the
side.
So
we
actually
sit
with
them
and
brainstorm
on.
If
you
got
a
hundred
thousand
dollar
contract,
who
would
do
it?
How
would
you
do
that
and
well,
I
actually
have
a
african-american
woman.
Who's
got
a
great
side.
F
Hustle
business
she's
got
a
full-time
job
and
we
decided
that
her
best
bet
will
be
to
try
to
go
through
the
diversity
procurement
arm
of
either
upmc
or
pitt,
because
what
she
does
would
be
well
received
by
both
organizations
to
try
to
get
a
larger
contract
where
she
could
bring
in
some
of
her
outside
contractors,
turn
them
into
w-2
employees
and
actually
service
the
business.
While
she
was
still
working
because
a
hundred
thousand
dollars
wasn't
enough
for
her
to
quit
her
job.
F
F
F
What
should
what?
Let's?
Let's
look
at
plans,
you're
comfortable
with,
and
then
we
go
recruit
advisors
to
help
them.
So
when
we
put
somebody
into
one
of
our
community
advisory
boards,
we
are,
they
have
already
decided
what
they
want
to
do
and
they're
using
the
advisory
board
setting
to
help
them
get
there.
A
A
F
A
Yeah
I
mean
it's
a
safe
place
and
you're,
creating
that
safe
place
for
people
to
vent,
for
people
to
grow
in
power
link
to
provide
that
that
mentoring,
that's
much
needed
for
the
businesses
that
are
out
there
and
that's
a
great
thing,
and
so
the
partners,
you
know
you
know
how
can
the
various
partners
you
know
what
role
do
they
play?
You
already
mentioned
the
power
link
model.
So
how
would
your
resource
partners
come
into
play
to
help
these
business.
F
So
our
goal
is
to
create
at
least
three
community
advisory
boards
to
serve
the
retail
and
downtown
area
to
serve
any
african-american
companies
that
are
looking
for
diversity,
procurement
opportunities
and
women-owned
and
veterinary.
So
we
have
like
a
diversity
group
and
then
we're
also
looking
for
something
I
didn't
mention
earlier,
but
every
life
cycle
of
a
company
they
reach
a
point
where
they're
ready
to
retire
and
what
we
found
in
our
market
is
a
lot
of
business.
F
Owners
have
been
struggling
for
years
to
keep
their
businesses
alive
and
now
they're
approaching
retirement
and
they're
not
sure
what
to
do
so.
We've
created
a
special
group
best
for
succession
and
we
will
teach
them
the
four
or
five
ways
you
can
exit
a
business
and
help
them
again
sit
down
and
figure
out
what's
their
plan.
And
then
we
have
some
great
advisors
who
are
helping.
A
Yeah,
you
know
you
allowed
me
to
kind
of
sit
in
one
of
your
sessions
and
there
was
a
gentleman
that
would
had
a
business,
but
he
still
wanted
to
continue
to
work,
and
I
think
the
conversation
was
around
succession
planning
and
moving
the
business
forward
still
be
part
of
the
business
and
being
able
to
con
to
provide
that
capacity
to
an
organization
to
support
it.
So
how
does
that
element
come
into
play?
A
F
I
am
one
of
those
people
right,
so
I've
been
in
business
for
a
long
long
time
and
I'm
I'm
going
to
be
turning
65
this
year.
So
if
I
haven't
been
thinking
about
it,
believe
me
now,
I
am
and
what
I've
learned
is
it's
a
five-year
strategy.
You
cannot
just
decide
wake
up
in
the
morning
and
say
I'm
going
to
sell
my
business
or
I'm
going
to
pass
my
business
to
my
kids
or
I'm
going
to
sell
my
business
to
my
employees.
F
So
we
established
a
five-year
plan
for
a
five-year
advisory
board
for
anyone
in
succession
and
that's
how
we
do
it
so
we've
put
together
wealth
management,
people,
attorneys
mergers
and
acquisition
specialists
and
we
have
a
like
a
cfo
type
person
who
can
help
you
look
at
your
books
and
figure
out
kind
of
what
your
val,
how
to
value
your
company
and
they
sit
in
those
meetings
and
as
we
come
across
people
that
were
interviewing
about
their
plan,
sure
enough.
We
discover
it
doesn't
really
matter
where
they
are
downtown
washington,
downtown
pittsburgh.
F
You
know
in
shelf
fund,
it
doesn't
matter.
Somebody
at
some
point
says
I
I
need
to
figure
out
a
way
to
get
out
of
this
business
and
that's
where
we
come
in
and
I
think
we're
going
to
continue
to
see
that
grow
too,
because
people
get
tired.
You
know
of
of
climbing
up
the
mountain
every
morning,
so
we
we
think
we're
we're
putting
together
a
great
advisory
board
for
that
group.
A
A
Don't
you
know
they
don't
want
it?
The
children
don't
want
the
business,
they
don't
have
an
interest
in
it,
but
they
still
want
the
business
is
still
needed
in
the
space
yeah.
And
so
how
do
you
kind
of
manage
that
and
powerlink
provides
that
we're
winding
down
a
little
bit?
As
far
as
the
end
of
the
show
and
my
last
question,
I
guess
what
does
inclusion
mean
to
you.
F
So
I
thought
about
that
question
a
lot,
I'm
glad
that
you
asked
so
we
are
very
sensitive
to
that,
because
what
we
found
from
working
with
women-owned
businesses
from
working
with
minority
businesses-
I
can't
really
say
too
much
about
the
veteran
owned
yet,
but
every
business
is
unique
and
everyone's
mindset
about
business
is
unique.
So
what
people
are
afraid
of
you
know.
I
was
afraid
that
I
could
not
compete
against
a
guy
in
the
space
that
I
was
in.
F
It
was
simply
my
mindset,
so
inclusion
to
me
means
that
we
somehow
help
you
to
see
that
there
are
ways
to
get
over,
that
there
are
ways
to
overcome
that
and-
and
there
are
probably
more
than
one
way
to
overcome
it
so
kind
of
seeing
how
to
cross
the
grand
canyon,
no
matter
who
you
are,
how
what
your
beliefs
are
about,
your
future
success
and
no
matter
what
your
capacity
is.
We
believe
that
every
business
owner
is
trainable
if
they
have
a
mindset
that
they
really
want
to
do
more
than
they're
doing
now.
A
Wow
great
answer,
you
know,
hopefully
the
city
of
pittsburgh-
and
you
know
our
office
of
equity
and
office
of
business
diversity
will
be
able
to
help
you
take
these
businesses
across
the
grand
canyon.
You
know
we
want
them
to
win,
you
know,
because
that
helps
our
city
become
more
inclusive.
You
know
absolutely
anita.
Thank
you
for
your
time
and
in
sharing
your
insights
and
your
personal
story
with
powerlink
and
all
facilities,
and
hopefully
you
won't
be
a
stranger
to
our
show.
A
F
And
rick,
I
would
love
to
bring
back
some
of
our
owners.
You
know
who
really
are
the
ones
that
should
tell
the
story
for
us
because
it
wasn't
just
me,
that's
been
helped,
there's
so
many
companies
that
have
been
helped
by
powerlink
and
I
I
feel
grateful
actually
that
I've
gotten
a
chance
to
come
back
to
powerlink
and
help
all
over
again.