Best Buy partners up to offer tech to teens
Big-box retailer expands its reach beyond brick-and-mortar sales
A freshman at Pittsburgh Allderdice High School, Melissa Foster is a gaming fanatic who is thinking about a career in game creation or software.
That interest drew her to a new tech center — outfitted with video and music production equipment, coding resources, 3-D printers and the like — aimed at teaching area teens the latest tech skills.
“My school just doesn’t have access to all of this stuff,” she said.
Her sister Alyza, a junior at Pittsburgh CAPA, agreed that being able to get hands-on experience is “a great opportunity” at the Best Buy Teen Tech Center, a partnership between the electronics retailer and the nonprofit Phase 4 Learning Center in Shadyside.
The center offers free afterschool programs to underserved teens to learn in a hands-on environment.
This Best Buy Teen Tech Center is the 16th center in the country, and the first in Pennsylvania. Other states include Minnesota, where Best Buy is based, as well as California, New Jersey, Texas and Washington, D.C.
The Phase 4 Learning Center has locations across the state. The private alternative school started with six students and now serves 15,000 students, according to Terrie SuicaReed, founder, president and CEO.
The teen tech center occupies the school’s Phase 4 Clubhouse, which is a chapter of the Boston Museum of Science and Technology Clubhouse. It’s part of an effort to connect young people from underserved neighborhoods to tech tools.
Through the partnership with Best Buy, the retailer provides operational grants and equipment, while Phase 4 provides the space.
“Pittsburgh is growing as a tech hub, and we need to train youth and young adults to meet the demands that come with this economy,” Ms. Suica-Reed said.
The location in Shadyside has a list of 200-300 applicants, Ms. Suica-Reed said. School districts connect their students to the program, which generally starts at 2 p.m. and runs six days a week.
“It’s life-changing,” she said. “The kids gain experience and see their dreams come to fruition in a space that’s safe and comfortable. And it’s not just about the tech skills. It’s the relationships they build with other students and with their families.”
For Best Buy, investing in education may not leap to mind when thinking of a retailer known as a brick-andmortar fixture at shopping centers across the country.
The retailer is competing in a fierce race for market share against the likes of Seattle’s Amazon.
The company is among the big-box retailers who have revamped their delivery options to appeal to shoppers accustomed to speedy shipments as it has shrunk its store footprint over the years, including a recent closure near the Pittsburgh Mills mall in Frazer.
But the teen tech centers are an extension of its business, according to Andrea Wood, director of community relations for the chain. She said the company plans to have 60 teen tech centers by 2020.
“We’re a national retailer, and we want to have a presence in the communities where we serve.”
In addition, the centers help build the pipeline of future workers who will have the skills that are in demand by Best Buy partners such as Sony, Microsoft and Canon.
Many companies can’t find enough people who have the skills required for careers in tech, she noted, but “it’s not just tech careers but what we call tech-reliant jobs. For most positions now, if you don’t have these skills, you’re further behind.” Ms. Wood said another initiative on the horizon is a career pathways grant for older students and high school graduates to specialize in areas such as cyber security, media and design. The program also will teach soft skills for students entering the workplace, as well as abilities such as resume writing.
The company’s Geek Squad employees volunteer to work with students to help troubleshoot problems or test ideas.
The center, which had a soft opening in January and opened its doors officially on Wednesday, occupies a former day care facility.
For Wiley Wos, a sophomore at Central Catholic High School, being at the opening was remarkable for a couple of reasons.
Not only did he see the day care center revamped into an educational facility, but he also helped set up the network for the center.
“It’s been great seeing the progress,” he said. “It’s crazy seeing how fast this came together.”