A New Neighbor in the Hill District

March 31, 2022 - Catapult’s “Gallery on Centre” had its ribbon cutting ceremony at the new location 1840 Centre Avenue in the Hill District neighborhood. The opening was made possible with a collaboration between the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and a 10 million dollar contribution by PNC Bank. The 1,422 square-foot space will house six businesses from the Catapult Hill District cohort, with shelf space available for future Hill cohort participants and graduates. 

“This is an amazing opportunity for new entrepreneurs from the Hill District or those wanting to start a business in the Hill District," said Catapult Executive Director Tammy Thompson in the official press release. "Participants will get access to retail space to sell their products, technical assistance, and opportunities to participate in collaborative events. The URA was instrumental in helping us launch our Catapult: Startup to Storefront and Gallery on Penn programming in East Liberty, so now the opening of our second location in the Hill District is just very exciting. We hope that the residents of the Hill District will be proud to have our programming and these new businesses operating in their community.”
 
The beautiful event was introduced by the soon-departing URA Deputy Director, Dr. Diamonte Walker, who was followed by the host, newly appointed Executive Communications Strategist, Tanika Harris. The entrepreneur graduates of the program were all in attendance, with a speech by both Nikki’s Magic Wand creator, Nicole Narvaez Manns and Aquene Wise-Watkins of Royally Fit; and they were all present in celebration of their Director, Ms. Tammy Thompson, who has gone through an organizational name change, from “Circles” to “Catapult Greater Pittsburgh” and sought to honor Maelene Myers -Executive Director of East Liberty Development, Inc., who gave her the space to work on her “crazy” ideas, in East Liberty.

Catapult Greater Pittsburgh engages in emergency resource distribution, peer-to-peer support, wealth building, trauma-informed financial counseling, and policy advocacy to ensure systematically disenfranchised communities can meaningfully achieve economic justice and lead dignified and equitable lives. 

Also in attendance for this festive event were elected officials State Senator Wayne Fontana, Mayor Ed Gainey, Chief of Staff, Jake Wheatley and City Councilman, Daniel Lavelle.

To support these entrepreneurs go online or stop in their store location! 
To learn more about Catapult's programs, email: info@catapultpittsburgh.org