Thrival is an annual Innovation + Music Festival hosted by Thrill Mill, Inc., a Pittsburgh-based incubator, to celebrate entrepreneurship in this region. In 2014, the festivities took place on September 13 and 14 at Bakery Square. The festival was created to shed a light on the innovation movement that is growing and changing each day in Pittsburgh. Their initiative brings together thought leaders to share best practices in interactive seminars, panels, and workshops. Thrival showcases the companies and projects growing in the region, and culminates with an outdoor concert that celebrates the success and growth of our community.Thrill Mill, Inc., the host of the Thrival , creates an organic, self-sustaining cycle of economic growth that will invigorate the entrepreneurial core of students and professionals, generate new businesses and jobs in the Pittsburgh region, while ultimately attracting new investors in order to foster a cycle of innovation that will drive Pittsburgh for generations to come. Bobby Zappala, CEO of Thrill Mill, Inc. shared that “While I’m very pleased that we more than doubled the turnout at the music festival in Bakery Square — we had 5,000 attendees over the weekend — I’m most excited that we had 1,500 attendees participate in the various workshops, programs and round tables held throughout the week. Next year, we hope to engage even more.” Thrill Mill, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that provides office space, financial support, programming, and mentorship to early stage start-ups across all industries.
Kelsie Augustin, a Chatham University Business major attended the event this year and recalls, “Many startups had the opportunity to pitch their ideas in a competition for more funding. There were also a wide variety of musical acts and people who showed off their creative talent. While I was there, I watched a mural be created and groups of people create a large wooden sculpture of the festival’s name…Even though this is only Thrival Music Festival’s second year, I will definitely go to next year’s!”
This year, MIX Salad Concept, a start-up owned by Chatham MBA alumna Lia Vaccaro, and Chatham Undergraduate Business alumna Rachael Bane, was a featured booth. Vaccaro and Bane are developing a specialty salad delivery service that will provide fun and nutritious lunches to time-crunched professionals as part of the 2013 class of Thrill Mill Entrepreneurs.
Ya-Wen (Aven) Hsiao is one of the Graduate Assistants for Chatham’s Business Department and a first year MBA student. After experiencing Thrival for the first time, Ya-Wen walked away with a sense of how important marketing is for any business. “Marketing is a necessary technique to get people’s attention and to enhance the opportunity for sales and a connection with your customers”, she remarked. Getting to meet Thrill Mill CEO and creator, Bobby Zappala, had a huge impact on Ya-Wen, and she was inspired by his passion for making Pittsburgh and its entrepreneurs stand out on the global stage.
This is the second year that Chatham students have participated in Thrival. Click here to read more about what Chatham business students said about last year’s festival!
