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Where Legacy Meets Opportunity for Small Business Owners

Main Street Businesses

BEAM Collaborative helps preserve local businesses, create generational wealth, and keep Main Street in local hands. Through mergers, acquisitions, and succession planning, we support both retiring owners and new buyers in transitioning businesses that anchor our communities.

 

 

Our Framework for Excellence helps small business owners scale with confidence—offering strategic coaching, operational support, and a roadmap for long-term success. Whether you're preparing to sell or planning for growth, we meet you where you are.

 

 

BEAM IQ, our AI-powered planning tool, equips entrepreneurs with the insights they need to make smarter decisions faster—turning everyday challenges into clear, actionable strategies.

 

 

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Discover New Collaborative Opportunities

BEAM Collaborative is redefining the role of local businesses in driving economic vitality.

 

Too often underestimated due to their size, these adaptable and innovative companies are essential drivers of our economy, employing 45.9% of the U.S. workforce in 2023.

 

Our approach leverages their strengths to create a resilient, interconnected economic ecosystem where small businesses and large institutions collaborate to power regional growth and shared success.

 

 

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Why Work with BEAM

M&A Buyers
For First-Time Buyers, Career-Changers & Community Builders

 

BEAM helps people become business owners—even if they’ve never considered it possible. Whether you’re a laid-off professional, a veteran, a returning caregiver, or someone simply tired of being overlooked, we’ll help you step confidently into business ownership.

 

We’re not just here to close deals—we’re here to build futures. BEAM exists to expand access to ownership and keep Main Street thriving.

 

You’re a fit if you’re:
  • Exploring entrepreneurship through acquisition
  • A corporate escapee seeking control and flexibility
  • A mission-driven leader who wants to build community wealth
Learn more
M&A Seller
For Retiring Owners Who Want to Protect Their Legacy

 

 

You’ve built something that matters. But exiting your business shouldn’t mean losing what you’ve worked so hard to create. BEAM helps business owners transition with confidence—while keeping your team, community, and impact intact.

 

 

We work with owners who care as much about who takes over as how much they earn in the process.

 

 

You’re a fit if you’re:
  • Thinking about retirement within the next 5 years
  • Unsure how to find a trustworthy, local successor
  • Worried about keeping your business rooted in the community
  • Interested in an exit plan that honors your values and people
Anchor Engagement
An "anchor" is any company or institution committed to strengthening its supplier network to drive better pricing, service, and innovation. At BEAM, we support anchors by connecting them with skilled, local small businesses that enhance project outcomes and create lasting community impact.

 

Anchors come to BEAM when:
  • They’re overwhelmed by the complexity of managing local business engagement projects and need a partner to streamline and oversee the process.
  • They’re unsure how to develop local suppliers to reliably meet ongoing demand and grow alongside their needs.
  • They struggle to locate local businesses that align with their specific requirements and quality standards.

 

 

 

With BEAM’s expertise, anchors gain a powerful advantage: access to local talent that drives sustainable, impactful growth.
Learn more
Small Businesses
Become a part of the Portfolio

 

A portfolio company is a local SBA-defined small business seeking growth strategies, new opportunities, or ways to scale. BEAM’s Framework for Excellence provides high level strategic planning support to these businesses.

 

Typical clients come to BEAM because:
  • They are unsure of the next steps for their business growth.
  • They often feel isolated while managing their organization, clients, or team.
  • They want to expand but lack the right network or connections to do so.
Start Now
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News and Media

The tariffs are killing Pittsburgh's small businesses

Special to the Post-Gazette

Joel Burstein | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Proposed 2025 Budget Invests $100 Million in Economic Development
Allegheny County Press | Allegheny County
Workforce Talent Hub eyeing 2025 for rollout of new initiatives
Jordyn Hronec | Pittsburgh Business Times
Acquiring and retaining AI and digital talent through M&A
Max Wright and Asumi Ishibashi | Willis Towers Watson
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Reviews

"I'm in many meetings, and our discussion with BEAM really encouraged Dollar to move forward with an ideation session. What they do is really solution oriented. I was truly impressed with their approach to diverse business engagement."

Jim McQuade, President of Dollar Bank

"BEAM has been a partner in helping us with our global ESG goals by moving us think outside the traditional procurement box. BEAM helps me to think differently about the way we do business.”

Amy Baudino, Vice President of Portfolio Management at Thermo Fisher Scientific

“BEAM has helped me design my sales strategy and increased my profits by 50% percent over a one-year period”

Taylor Ford, Owner of Taylor Made IT Services

"...What stood out for me is that BEAM Collaborative, unlike a lot of other entities out there, is itself a very mission-driven enterprise with important sources of earned income."

Xavier de Souza Briggs, Senior Fellow at The Brookings Institution

“BEAM was able to guide me through the expansion and attraction process by making introductions to key regional business allies”

Paul Douglas, President JPI Group

“With BEAM in the conversation, we were able to negotiate a longer term contract which assures our growth and ability to hire employees”

Blayre Britton, President CDI Printing

"One thing that I really like about the structure of our engagement with BEAM is we're not trying to solve all the world's problems at once."

Will Pickering, CEO of Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority