Who We Are

Catalyst Connection is a private not-for-profit organization headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We provide consulting and training services to small manufacturers in southwestern Pennsylvania, accelerating revenue growth and improving productivity. Through active collaboration with our clients and the manufacturing community, we contribute to the growth, vibrancy, and ongoing robustness of manufacturing in our region.

Catalyst Connection is supported, in part, by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Community and Economic Development, and by the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Hollings Manufacturing Extension Partnership.

Explore the New Manufacturing’s Purpose

For the past 20 years, Catalyst Connection has been engaged in STEM programming to build a pipeline of talent for manufacturing companies in our region. Annually, we connect with over 60 school districts, 100 manufacturing companies, 2,000 students, and partner with over 40 regional STEM organizations. We design and develop our own programming and partner on regional and state-wide initiatives.

Meet Our Staff

Scott Dietz

Director, Workforce Education Initiatives

sdietz@catalystconnection.org
412.918.4227

Scott is responsible for the program development and delivery of Catalyst Connection’s STEM initiatives. These include an in-school project based program called Adventures in Technology and two manufacturing college internship programs. Scott is also responsible for all STEM outreach activities supporting programs such as BotsIQ, the Fluid Power Challenge, and other regional STEM initiatives in partnership with non-profits, school districts, colleges, and economic development organizations. He is a frequent speaker for school districts, industry consortiums, and conferences on the topics of STEM education, manufacturing, and workforce programs. To date, Scott has worked with more than 60 local school districts, 200 local companies, and over 2,500 regional students.

Scott has been involved in human resource and workforce education, with expertise in the manufacturing, retail, financial, and consulting industries, since 1999. As a recruiter for Mellon Financial Corporation, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and a small consulting firm, Scott has recruited technology and management talent, delivered training, developed internship programs, and conducted outreach with local nonprofit organizations and youth programs.

He holds B.S.B.A. degree in Human Resource Management from Robert Morris University

Hannah Kusenko

Workforce Associate

hkusenko@catalystconnection.org
412.918.4267

Hannah has been with Catalyst Connection since July of 2017, joining the organization as a recent graduate from Slippery Rock University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, focused in Marketing and Communication. Hannah was hired by Catalyst Connection as the Data and Reporting Administrator. After a year with us, she moved positions and became a member of our growing Education Initiatives team. In her new role, she works to support our region’s students, teachers and manufacturers throughout Catalyst’s many Workforce Development programs.