Starting this year Point Park University will play host to business people and employees from all over the downtown Pittsburgh area giving them the opportunity to better their skills for the workplace through a partnership with the Center for Management Excellence.”The Center for Management Excellence is designed to respond to the members of the business community, who are our neighbors.  We’re looking to see how we can be a good member of the downtown community, by providing things that the business community might need,” said Karen McIntyre, senior vice president for Academic and Student Affairs and dean of faculty.McIntyre, along with Point Park University President Paul Hennigan, reached out to Rex Gatto, the founder and president of Gatto Associates, LLC, in hopes of expanding the university and also providing exposure.”It really has been on the agenda for quite some time and some advisory members of the business department and members from the community have said there is a need for this kind of work and that there is also need for people in businesses to take continuing education classes and we’re the only downtown university. We are able to focus on it now and there is an ongoing need for this kind of experience,” McIntyre said. The CME has been in discussion since the early part of 2011 and will be up and running by Feb. 2012. There will be lectures, workshops, courses and web based seminars all focused on giving employees already in the workforce the necessary skills that businesses and companies like to see in their staff members.”The goals are to support employees in all levels of their career, from the beginning and in the middle and at the executive level.  Second, to help the employees develop and grow their skills … and promote themselves and gain confidence in themselves in what they are able to do well,” Gatto said.Gatto is the executive director of the CME and has been working to establish this program and get the word out into downtown Pittsburgh.”We are working very closely with the marketing and PR departments of Point Park,” Gatto said. “We’ve established a landing page on Point Park’s website and are also getting the word out through the media.”Jeff Cermak, manager of operations of the CME, does not only want to use the media to get exposure, but also “as a way to show what the Center for Management Excellence can provide for companies and its employees.”The CME is working closely alongside the Pittsburgh Human Resources Association of which Gatto is a member.  According to their website, the PHRA provides “superior professional development, networking opportunities and educational resources to enhance the value of the profession” which goes hand-in-hand with what the CME wants to accomplish.”The majority of HR professionals have a Human Resource certification, so they have to take either workshops or webinars to get continuing education credits throughout the year,” Cermak said. “We’re partnering with them to do this series of three webinars, which are Conflict Resolution, Controlling Stress in the Workplace, and Work/Life Balance through Time Management.”In addition to these webinars, there will also be a workshop series that is going to start on March 21.  The programs will be Change/Leadership, Collaborative Team-Building and Strategic Planning. These programs will take place in room 701 of the Student and Convocation Center.  More information can be found at www.pointpark.edu/cme.  McIntyre said that building relationships with companies and organizations to find out what they are looking for in future employees can benefit students.”We can use that information to ensure our curriculum is covering those issues and also use that connection to help students learn about what businesses are asking for and eventually over time, build new friendships or practicum experiences for students,” McIntyre said.