Jill is known as a Center of Influence and Consultant with over 30 years of experience in working with companies locally, nationally, and internationally by providing unique growth strategies to connect with all industries and verticals. She is the Founder of the Commercial Industrial Service Trades Organization (CIST) which focuses on the A/E/C industry and provides consulting services for growing MWBE and Veteran-owned companies.
Dubbed “the queen of Pittsburgh networking,” Jill McKibbin is an expert business development consultant with over 35 years of sales experience. In 2010, she became the owner and president of McKibbin Consulting, a Pennsylvania-based firm where she implements her own signature approach to connect businesses across diverse backgrounds. With the help of a highly dedicated team of skilled professionals, Jill provides numerous companies with the tools necessary for growing their businesses, building sales teams, reaching different markets, and using new networking strategies. She credits her success to the long-term relationships she has maintained with a plethora of customers: architects, general contractors, surveyors, and construction mangers as well as audio visual, civil, environmental, geotechnical, structural, and MEP engineers. As testimony to her accomplishments, Jill was the recipient of the 2014 Women in Business Award and is a multi-nominee of the Athena Award.
Jill’s multifaceted background makes it easy for her to connect with clients. Nothing has ever been freely handed to her, and she is a survivor having overcome countless obstacles and hardships. “Early in my career, I did all kinds of jobs,” Jill says. “I even toured as a professional singer for a number of years.” As the mother of an ailing child who required extensive medical attention, she was also forced to hold her fair share of difficult roles. However, each job introduced her to a vast network of people, taught her the importance of teamwork, and enabled her to personally relate to the challenges of her clients.
Jill’s career took a positive turn in 2005 when she accepted a position at a mechanical contracting company. She was involved with several organizations in her city and knew that meeting more people would be key to building sales and procuring larger industrial accounts, so that same year, she founded a networking organization called Commercial Industrial Service Trade (CIST). Over the years, as Jill transitioned into other companies and moved into different roles, her network continued to grow.
In 2010, an architect recommended that she take all her skills and experience—and her special brand of relation building—and branch out on her own, and McKibbin Consulting was born. Now, for more than a decade, Jill and her team have been serving as a one-stop shop—connecting clients with property owners and managers, directors of operation, purchasing agents, architects, and facilities directors. The private consulting firm has also been a conduit for those interested in working with local universities, women, veterans, and minority-owned companies. No matter what kind of company Jill looks at—from the billion-dollar, publicly traded to the small, privately owned—she identifies ways to connect them to the right people, whether local, national, or international.
Jill also during COVID 19 never turned away her clients when some of them had an inability to pay. “That’s what makes both my firm and the CIST network unique—we are all from different backgrounds and industries; we are transparent; and we go above and beyond for each other and for our clients,” she explains. “At McKibbin Consulting, people come first, and the money is secondary.”
Part of Jill’s determination to serve others stems from her own past f struggles. She learned firsthand how daunting it is to battle seemingly insurmountable difficulties. Therefore, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jill not only recommended strategies to help other companies survive, but she also drew upon her experience to expand McKibbin Consulting.
Jill would like to include a special thank you to Autumn Edmiston, the CEO and owner of The Edmiston Group based in Allison Park, PA. Autumn has been instrumental in helping Jill to reach her current level of success and to become the versatile businesswoman she is today. Jill also wishes to thank God.
The ATHENA Awards Program of Greater Pittsburgh distinguishes itself from other regional awards through its emphasis on women mentoring other women and girls. Jill McKibbin was nominated in both 2015 and 2018 for the Athena award in many ways because of her efforts to help women-owned and disadvantaged businesses compete in a larger market. For those of you that know Jill, you know she works hard at connecting her clients and has created various programs to fit a person’s budget. CIST provides monthly opportunities for her clients to learn of upcoming construction projects and network with referral partners.
Jill McKibbin was recognized as one of the most influential female business leaders in the region by Pittsburgh Business Times during their annual Business Women First Award Ceremony! Congratulations Jill!
The ATHENA Awards Program of Greater Pittsburgh distinguishes itself from other regional awards through its emphasis on women mentoring other women and girls. Jill McKibbin was nominated in both 2015 and 2018 for the Athena award in many ways because of her efforts to help women-owned and disadvantaged businesses compete in a larger market. For those of you that know Jill, you know she works hard at connecting her clients and has created various programs to fit a person’s budget. CIST provides monthly opportunities for her clients to learn of upcoming construction projects and network with referral partners.