Our Approach
Our Approach
Our Approach
Main Street Legacy
Our flagship initiative, the Main Street Legacy program, is a comprehensive system designed to preserve existing businesses, empower new owners, and strengthen communities.
The program is designed to be a true public-private partnership—a model for what economic development nonprofits should strive to achieve in creating system-wide change. Instead of solving problems in silos, BEAM unites stakeholders to align their efforts and achieve a more cohesive approach.
This is not a theory. This is the reality of what it takes to strengthen a region: aligning our anchor partners’ purchasing power with small business succession, creating new ownership opportunities, and keeping wealth, services, and leadership local.
This is how a region grows—intentionally, inclusively, and sustainably.
BEAM offers the only full-spectrum solution—from education and assessment to deal making
and post-acquisition support.
How We Drive Change
BEAM’s work across anchors, small businesses, and local economies is not a collection of independent efforts—it is a single, coordinated strategy designed to drive regional growth.
These three buckets are interconnected drivers of economic development.
- Anchors depend on small businesses to fulfill critical procurement needs.
- Small businesses are deeply embedded in their communities—they hire locally, donate locally, and help stabilize neighborhoods.
- Local economies thrive when both are supported in tandem.
Anchor Partners
BEAM Collaborative partners with large institutions—such as hospitals, universities, utilities, and corporations—to protect supply chains, preserve local vendors, and strengthen regional economies.
Small Business Engagement
BEAM equips small business owners with the strategy, support, and structure needed to scale with confidence—whether you’re planning for growth or preparing for a future sale.
Success Stories

Controlled Environment Agriculture
Steel City Roots is an indoor farming initiative that addresses food insecurity and effects of climate change in Pittsburgh.

Sample Management
We developed a national sample management program that spotlights a locally-owned business. BEAM collaborated with the anchor partner, who had long sought a company with the right capabilities, to remove obstacles and support the small business through a successful pivot.

PWSA/BFW Group
We partnered with a committed anchor focused on increasing local spending. After finding no suitable local candidates, we expanded our search and identified a qualified business BFW Group, who was interested in entering the Pittsburgh market.