History

In 1993 Pittsburgh was just beginning its long slow climb from the economic abyss. Barry Maciak and Silvio Baretta were colleagues from regional economic development agencies that both recognized that there had to be more innovative ways leveraging leading-edge business concepts and market-basedsolutions to address regional needs. And thus, World-Class Industrial Network was formed. They were pioneers in building collaborative cross-sector models bringing together leaders from private industry, non-profit organizations, academia and government to identify and solve societal challenges.

Because WIN has always worked at the intersection of business, government and community organizations we have cultivated clients in all three sectors. And with our experience in incubating ideas, we have been involved in the founding of three non-profits, created one for-profit spin-off, and were instrumental in the formation of three social ventures. But because we valued results, it was necessary to build capacity and expertise in growing organizations and executing plans. As every organization grows, the need to develop good people and good processes. They need to leverage information and technology. They might need to invest in facilities and equipment. And of course, they need to fund it all. So we learned how to get good at these things. But it isn’t just by accident, or even just by experience they we learned. We brought on partners with expertise, and we relentlessly research and benchmark best practices to execute as professionals.

In 2018 Barry and Silvio retired, leaving a legacy of impact and excellence to the three remaining partners.