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SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES (click on names to expand bio) Melissa Aird
Chris Allison In 2002, Chris was honored at Entrepreneur of the Year by the Pittsburgh Venture Capital Association. He was named CEO Communicator of the Year by the Public Relations Society of America in 2001. The previous year's recipient of that the PRSA Award was Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill. Chris teaches entrepreneurship at Allegheny College in Meadville, PA, as well as at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA. He also runs the Entrepreneurial Leadership Forum at the Don Jones Center for Entrepreneurship at CMU's Tepper School of Business. In addition to teaching, Chris writes a column for Pittsburgh Quarterly called "You'll Manage." He is a member of the Board of Directors of Timesys Corporation and Chemdaq Corporate. David Althoff Jr. David’s current responsibilities include providing assistance to energy and environmental technology enterprises within PA. David and his staff help companies evaluate technologies and opportunities to expand alternative energy deployment in PA. David and his staff provide key involvement in DEP’s AFIG, PEDA and Energy Harvest Grant programs from proposal consultation through grant management. David has worked at PADEP for 15 years and been a two-time winner of PADEP’s Individual Award for Excellence and received a DEP Certificate of Achievement in 2002. David is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh. Melanie L. Ansell Melanie L Ansell has 30+ years experience in commercial lending and bank management. Through her involvement with a family-owned business, Melanie has learned to analyze the business request from "both sides" of the banker's desk, lending with compassion and a true understanding of the many stages of small business ownership. As a life long resident of Westmoreland County, she attended Westmoreland County Community and St. Vincent Colleges, where she now acts as a continuing education instructor and speaker. She focuses her lessons on proper business planning, what to expect during the loan process and the challenges of being self employed. Melanie Bard Melanie Bard is the Director of Information Strategies for i-Squared. Her role is to identify potential areas of growth and to seek out companies who are interested in increasing their efficiency by adopting new ways of capturing and sharing information. Melanie has over 15 years of experience in Sales and Sales Management primarily in the Pittsburgh market. Prior to working at i-Squared Melanie was responsible for new business development in highly regulated industries. Daniel Bates Daniel Bates, an award-winning journalist and editor, is Strategic Relations Manager in the University of Pittsburgh's Office of Technology Management. The office facilitates the commercialization of innovations from University faculty, staff and students. Dan oversees marketing, faculty education, outreach and other strategic relations efforts there. Dan joined Pitt in 2002, after 18 years in the media as a writer and editor in Pittsburgh and Boston. Prior to Pitt, Dan served almost eight years as editor of SBN Magazine, whose mission was to motivate, educate and inspire entrepreneurially minded senior executives. Previously, he was a reporter for the Pittsburgh Business Times. Cathy Brennan Prior to joining Cohera, Dr. Clower specialized in commercializing early-stage technologies through her leadership position in the University of Pittsburgh’s Office of Enterprise Development. She was instrumental in the early formation of Cohera dating back to 2003 and led the development of Cohera from its ideation to its successful seed financing. In addition to her work with Cohera, Dr. Clower was involved in the incubation and start-up of four additional biotechnology spin-outs. Dr. Clower is a neuroscientist and chemist with over fifteen years of research experience in both industrial and academic environments. After obtaining her PhD in Neuroscience from Emory University, she received a Human Frontier Long-Term Fellowship Award, which funded her neuroscience research performed at the Institute of Cognitive Science in Lyon, France. Dottie Clower Prior to joining Cohera, Dr. Clower specialized in commercializing early-stage technologies through her leadership position in the University of Pittsburgh’s Office of Enterprise Development. She was instrumental in the early formation of Cohera dating back to 2003 and led the development of Cohera from its ideation to its successful seed financing. In addition to her work with Cohera, Dr. Clower was involved in the incubation and start-up of four additional biotechnology spin-outs. Dr. Clower is a neuroscientist and chemist with over fifteen years of research experience in both industrial and academic environments. After obtaining her PhD in Neuroscience from Emory University, she received a Human Frontier Long-Term Fellowship Award, which funded her neuroscience research performed at the Institute of Cognitive Science in Lyon, France. Frank Demmler Frank Demmler is Innovation Works' Director of Entrepreneurial Services, the internal group that guides portfolio companies' efforts to commercialize and market new technologies and generally provides business assistance to promising start-up companies. Mr. Demmler has more than 20 years experience teaching and advising both entrepreneurs and investors. Throughout his 20-year career, Mr. Demmler has worked with nearly 2,000 entrepreneurial efforts, leading to the formation of roughly 400 companies. These companies have gone on to create more than 10,000 jobs and raise more than $500 million dollars of investment capital. Before coming to Innovation Works, Mr. Demmler served as Associate Teaching Professor of Entrepreneurship at the Donald H. Jones Center for Entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University, where he continues to lecture.
Gerald DiFrango
Lisa Edmonds
Previously, Lisa was a Project Engineer for URS Construction Services and served as an M/W/DBE Procurement Specialist for the City of Pittsburgh’s Office of Minority and Women Business Enterprise. Lisa earned her B.S. in Electrical Engineering at Hampton University in Virginia. William M. Elliot, Jr. Bill joined Dollar Bank in 1989 and has been the Manager of the Small Business Banking Department for the last fifteen years. Dollar Bank is a $5.3 billion full service bank with more than 50 offices in the Pittsburgh and Cleveland markets. With more than twenty years of banking experience, Bill oversees Dollar Bank's lending activity to small businesses in both markets. Prior to joining Dollar Bank, Bill worked in a financial institution in Atlanta, Georgia. He received his BSBA from Slippery Rock University and his MBA from Robert Morris University. Chester G. Fisher
Thomas J. Fitzpatrick
Steve Fleck
Paul Furiga
Arnold Gefsky
Ryan Giobbi Mr. Giobbi works on the Vulnerability Analysis Team at the CERT Coordination Center (CERT/CC) at Carnegie Mellon University. In this role, he conducts technical analysis, interactions with stakeholders, and coordination and disclosure of vulnerability information. Mr. Giobbi has written advisories, alerts, and vulnerability notes for CERT/CC and US-CERT. Richard Goldman
David Harel
Jeremy Hettman
Michael Hills
Holly Maurer-Klein
She is a graduate of Penn State with a Bachelor's in Foreign Service and International Politics! She has staffed and run a consulting business locally for fourteen years. HMK Associates are "HR Medics", recruiting technical and management professionals and diagnosing and fixing hr problems In May 2001, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania named her one of Pennsylvania's Best 50 Women in Business. Hobbies are digging in her garden and digging into her ancestry. Patty Horvatich
Patty Horvatich
Daniel K. Jenkins
Mary Beth Jenkins
Tom Jones
James Jordan
Tom Joseph
Michael Kolbrener
Patty Kreamer
Tom Kubilius
Bruce Lane
Cynthia Laurash Cynthia Laurash is a business consultant with the Duquesne University Chrysler Corporation Small Business Development Center. For the last fifteen years, she has assisted start-up and existing businesses in areas of general management, marketing, business planning, and loan proposal preparation. In addition to working with small business clients, Ms. Laurash supervises the research program at the SBDC including resources, staffing, and online services. She’s developed curriculum for training programs, and writes many of the SBDC’s educational materials. Previous work experience includes private consulting for companies, public and nonprofit organizations, and nine years experience as a municipal planning director. She serves on the Business Loan Review Committee for the Urban Redevelopment Authority, Business Development Center and has served on the board of several nonprofit organizations. She holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. Larry Lewis
Marc S. Malandro, Ph.D.
Craig S. Markovitz Craig S. Markovitz, NextStage Capital Venture Partner, has spent the past 15+ years working with hundreds of companies in the areas of technology commercialization, early stage fund raising, business plan development and technology licensing. He is an active speaker, advisor and guest lecturer discussing topics such as: technology transfer, business start up/financing strategies, and other entrepreneurial topics. Craig is also co-founder and CEO of Blue Belt Technologies, Inc. in Pittsburgh, a medical technology company developing innovative computer assisted surgical tools for the medical field. He has an MBA from DePaul University and a BA from Washington and Jefferson College. Angel
Marschik Angel Marschik, Vice President of Lending at the CL Fund, has over 26 years of experience in her field. Prior to joining the CL Fund in 2003 she worked in positions of progressing responsibility at several banks in the Pittsburgh market including National City and Mellon Bank. Angel is responsible for originating business loans from within the CL Fund and its subsidiaries ranging in size from $35k to $4 million. Angel is the 2006 recipient of the SBA Champion Award. Shea Murtaugh Shea Murtaugh is the President of Hoffmann Murtaugh Advertising Inc. Established in 2004, Hoffmann Murtaugh Advertising is an agency that focuses on the media buying of Broadcast TV, Cable, Radio and Print. Clients include: Don Allen Auto City, King's Jewelry, Gateway Clipper and Duquesne University. Shea has been working in the media industry for over 13 years with prior experience in selling radio and print in the Pittsburgh market. Shea is a 94 graduate of Duquesne University with a B.A in Advertising. During her years at Duquesne she also was a performer with the Duquesne University Tamburitzans. Gayle Nuppnau Gayle Nuppnau is the Western Region Representative, for the PA Dept. of General Services, Bureau of Minority and Women Business Opportunities. She is responsible for educating businesses on the contracting policies and procedures for doing business with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Prior to her current position, she managed a Procurement Technical Assistance Center for 11 years. In this position she provided businesses with marketing and technical assistance related to government contracting. Brian J. Ortman Brian Ortman brings clients the benefits of over 20 years of experience as an accountant and management consultant to small and mid-size companies. Mr. Ortman's career has encompassed financial, strategic and business leadership within a variety of industries. Through Venture Support Services, LLC, an affiliate of Pittsburgh-based law firm Gefsky & Leman, PC, Mr. Ortman advises business clients and assists them with the operation and control of their accounting systems. In addition, Mr. Ortman oversees the financial and administrative operations of the Gefsky & Lehman firm and provides financial analysis to the firm's litigation department. Mr. Ortman earned his Master's of Business Administration from Robert Morris University and his Bachelor's of Science in Accounting from Valparaiso University outside of Chicago. His career has included corporate financial and operational management, business development, and public accounting. Prior positions held include Chief Financial Officer, Director of Finance, Controller, and Senior Accountant at a regional CPA firm. Mr. Ortman resides in Hampton Township with his wife and two children. DeWitt Peart Dewitt Peart oversees the operations of the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance (PRA), an affiliate of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, applying his public and private sector experience to effectively market the Pittsburgh region worldwide. He also works to ensure that the PRA represents a true economic development partnership among the 10 counties of southwestern Pennsylvania. In 2002, Peart began his advocacy career as the Executive Director of the Regional Development Consortium. The former Senior Vice President of Government Affairs for the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce - also an affiliate of the Allegheny Conference - Peart has more than 20 years experience in commercial real estate development having worked previously for national real estate companies and at one point operating as principal in a brownfields redevelopment consultancy firm. He is actively involved in the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP) serving on their Environment & Infrastructure Committee and Green Task Force. Eve D. Peterson Eve Peterson is Executive Director of Professional Referral Exchange, an organization presently expanding nationally that teaches entrepreneurs and sales people how to expand their business opportunities. She has perfected a "consultative" model of networking that integrates the power of group dynamics, personal development, financial acumen, and a disciplined focus on how to assist businesses in achieving their marketing goals. Prior to founding Professional Referral Exchange in 1991, she was an Assistant Vice President with a major bank in California granting loans and advising businesses. In 1984, Eve received an "Outstanding Performance" award for her sales and management abilities. Upon being promoted into the Personnel Department, she directed the training for 7,000 employees. In 1985 she began her consulting business, using her Human Resources background to assist small businesses with hiring the right person for the job and implementing employee procedures to enhance company growth and profitability. Mel Pirchesky Having likely raised much more equity from angel investors than anyone else in the Pittsburgh region, Mel Pirchesky, President of Eagle Ventures, delivers high impact coaching to help them dramatically improve how they articulate their company's value proposition. As an entrepreneur, Mel has raised over $50 million of equity for more than 30 deals, all of which came from high net worth individuals located almost entirely in the Pittsburgh region. This past year, Mel raised $6 million for a medical device startup, believed to be the largest single private equity raise for a startup in our Region solely from high net worth individuals. Mel has forty years of experience in deal evaluation and structuring and has been a CEO or board member in a variety of industries. Taylor Pratt Taylor Pratt is a Search Analyst for LunaMetrics, a Pittsburgh Internet consulting firm. LunaMetrics works to increase traffic to websites and convert more of that traffic into business. Mr. Pratt's primary focus at LunaMetrics is Search Engine Optimization. He is on the Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organization Marketing Committee. Mr. Pratt is a 2006 Grove City College graduate. Brian Reese Brian has a broad financial background which includes various financial, operational, and project management roles at UPMC. As Vice President of operations at TSTS, Inc. Brian led the company through double digit growth and record profits. He couples innovative techniques and outside-the-box thinking with an extensive MIS and systems background to produce measurable operational efficiencies that translates into real cost savings and value added services. Brian has a BA degree in Finance and Marketing from Clarion University and received his Masters in MIS and Accounting from the Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh. Andrew Remes Andrew Remes, Ph.D., is Assistant Director of the Office of Enterprise Development (OED). Andrew co-founded Remes Biomedical (RB) which worked with leading edge pharmaceutical and tissue engineering companies developing computerized image analysis methods for examining the interaction of biomaterials with tissue and in the development of wound care products. RB won the Glasgow John Logie Baird award for Innovation in 1999 and two United Kingdom millennium product awards. Andrew moved to the U.S. to join TissueInformatics. Subsequently, he became Assistant Director of the OED. In this role, Andrew reviews hundreds of technologies developed by university scientists. His primary responsibility is as business development liaison to biopharmaceutical industry partners. Andrew holds a BSc in Immunology from Glasgow University, and a PhD in Bioengineering from Liverpool University. In 2006, one of Andrew's papers was honored by the publisher Elsevier and an International scientific committee as being one of the best 25 papers to be published in the Journal "Biomaterials" in the last 25 years. Jack Roseman Jack Roseman, Director of the Roseman Institute, was a chaired Professor of Entrepreneurship of Carnegie Mellon University. Previously, he founded three companies and was President of On-Line Systems, an American Stock Exchange company eventually sold to Sprint He has been a director/advisor for many organizations. Besides having been a columnist for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Jack co-authored Outrageous Optimism: Wisdom for the Entrepreneurial Journey, a well-received book on his philosophy of business and life in general. A serial entrepreneur, Jack has been described as a warm, insightful and often amusing guide to the realities of running your own business. Diane Sandstrom Diane Sandstrom is Consulting Manager at the Duquesne University Chrysler Corporation Small Business Development Center (SBDC) located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In this capacity, she supervises a staff of professional business consultants providing individualized consulting services to existing and start-up business clients. Duquesne University's SBDC offers management consulting, environmental consulting, global business consulting, and training workshops at little or no cost to business clients in the southwestern Pennsylvania region. Diane completed undergraduate studies at West Virginia University and graduate studies at California University of Pennsylvania. She has over 27 years of business management experience in both the public and private sector. Edward G. Scherer Edward G. Scherer joined HR&R in October of 1991 and is currently a Partner in the Audit and Assurance Group. Prior to joining the team at HR&R, Ed worked at a multi-national, closely held steel manufacturer in the Controllers office. Ed currently concentrates his practice in accounting and auditing for family-owned and closely held businesses as well as management consulting and business advisory services. Ed's industry specialties include manufacturing and technology. Ed is a graduate of Allegheny College with a Bachelor's Degree in Economics and is a member of the AICPA, PICPA and currently serves as the Treasurer of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the American Marketing Association. Anne Flynn Schlicht Anne Flynn Schlicht joined the Center for Women's Entrepreneurship at Chatham University as Assistant Director in September 2006. The Center is dedicated to the vision of economic empowerment and personal growth for women at all stages of the business cycle. Anne brings a wealth of international experience in entrepreneurship as a professor and business consultant to the Center. For six years Anne worked at the Center for Entrepreneurship Studies at the University of Limerick, Ireland and on international projects such as the European Network of Entrepreneurial and Innovative Training and Support (EINET). In January 2005 Anne was chosen as the second "Rooney International Visiting Scholar" which facilitated her move to the US. Alan W. Seadler, Ph.D. Dr. Alan Seadler is the Associate Academic Vice President for research at Duquesne University. In addition, Dr. Seadler holds the Edward V. Fritzky Chair in Biotechnology Leadership and is director for the Center for Biotechnology. Dr. Seadler's career includes both academic and industrial bio-medicine as well as entrepreneurship. He has held senior management positions with diverse organizations including Ciba-Corning, Fisher Scientific, BDS, and Visible Genetics. Dr. Seadler was COO of Cellomics Inc., a drug discovery company, and CEO of Crystalplex a start-up nanotechnology company. Alan has a BA and a Ph.D. in Biology from Case Western Reserve University Lawrence J. Sipos, CPA, JD Mr. Sipos is a shareholder and the Director of Tax Services at Alpern Rosenthal, a large regional Pittsburgh based Certified Public Accounting firm. He received a law degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1983 and an accounting degree from Duquesne University in 1980. He focuses on taxation, business consulting, and accounting for middle market business entities; he also has extensive experience in litigation support matters. Mr. Sipos has developed a comprehensive expertise in pension valuations for equitable distribution. He has worked closely with counsel on a variety of economic damages, insurance defense claims, and loss of income cases. He has authored several articles, including one on taxation issues related to divorce and several on pension valuation related matters. He has also lectured before various organizations, including state and county bar associations and has appeared on local radio programs to discuss a variety of tax topics. Steve Smith Polyxena C. Speros Polly Speros provides action-oriented business development strategy for Campos Inc and its clients. She works closely with clients at the beginning of a project, where she helps to identify their research objectives within the context of their business needs, and then again at the end, where she is involved in developing a strategy for deploying the qualitative and/or quantitative data to their business. Polly's 12 years of experience in marketing and business development includes cross-functional expertise in sales management, communications, and project management in a variety of business sectors. Polly completed her BA in Economics and is pursing an MBA in Planning and Strategy. Contact Polly at psperos@campos.com Robbin Steif Robbin Steif is CEO of LunaMetrics, a Pittsburgh Internet consulting firm. Steif and her team work to increase traffic to websites and convert more of that traffic into business. They have a strong emphasis on testing and web analytics. (LunaMetrics is the only Google Analytics Authorized Consultant in W. PA.) Steif, a serial entrepreneur, has spent 23 years in direct response and technology marketing. She is on the board of the Web Analytics Association, in charge of Marketing. Steif is a PA Best 50 Women in Business, and is a graduate of Harvard College and the Harvard Business School. D. Lansing Taylor, Ph.D. D. Lansing Taylor, Ph.D., is the Co-founder, President & CEO of Cellumen, Inc., a Pittsburgh, PA company providing collaborative drug discovery programs using multiplexed High Content Screening (HCS) as well as offering proprietary reagents for both contracted and customers' in-house HCS programs. Dr. Taylor previously served as the Chairman, and former President & CEO of Cellomics, Inc., a company he also co-founded, from 1996 until 2004. Prior to entering the biotech industry, Dr. Taylor spent 22 years as an academician starting as an Assistant Professor of Cell & Developmental Biology at Harvard University and rising to Vice-Dean of Molecular Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University before starting his first company, Biological Detection Systems, Inc. Dorothy Andreas Tuel Dorothy Andreas Tuel created a market for day spas in our region with the Sewickley Spa in 1997. With need for expansion, she added two additional locations, Ligonier and the Wisp Resort in Maryland. She has been recognized for the dramatic growth in both sales and employment by the Pittsburgh Business Times, and for outstanding customer service with 34 'Best Day Spa' awards to date. Dorothy opened her first salon at age 19, selling her car to raise capital. Along with her business, she developed and delivered the seminars "Possibilities for Success" and "Yes, There is Enough Time." She founded the Women in Leadership League (WILL), a national organization of professional women. In 2004, her idea for a new concept in the beauty industry, on-line printable gift cards, led to SpaEdge Inc, which services spas and boutiques around the United States. The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, and Governor Ed Rendell, honored Dorothy in May 2003 by selecting her as one of Pennsylvania's Top Fifty Women in Business. In 2006, The Winners Circle of Westmoreland County awarded Dorothy the "Entrepreneurial Excellence Award" for 26 years as a mentor and a role model to young women, and positive community impact in the Westmoreland region. John M. Twigg John Twigg is CEO of Ascent Systems. Ascent Systems is a regional IT professional services business that provides rapid and profitable information technology services to manufacturers and other small and mid-market companies. Under John's leadership as CEO in 2006, Ascent Systems was listed three times in the Pittsburgh Business Times as the 19th largest technology firm, and was named among the "Pittsburgh 100" list as the 7th-fastest growing private technology firm and the 14th-fastest growing private company overall in Pittsburgh. In 2005, Ascent Systems won awards from the City of Pittsburgh and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for retaining IT jobs in Southwestern PA. John has appeared on several programs including "Our Region's Business" on WPXI discussing business issues. John has a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the University of Pittsburgh. He is a member of the IEEE and ACM. John S. Walsh A lifelong resident of Bethel Park , John is the oldest of seven children. His parents, Morris and Anna Walsh were the founders of Bethel Bakery, established in 1955. After graduating from Duquesne University in 1978, John started his full time career at the bakery. In 1991, Morris and Anna sold the business to John and his wife, Christine. Bethel Bakery currently has 71 employees and the cornerstone of the business is beautiful and delicious decorated cakes. Blessed with a loyal clientele and employees, the business was one of the retail bakeries in the country to offer on line ordering. Having been active members of the local and national bakers association has also help keep the bakery a destination for cakes, cookies and coffeecakes for decades. The bakery was recently featured in "What Makes Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh" a WQED documentary by Rick Sebak. David Wilke David Wilke, MBA, CPA is the founder and managing partner of Wilke & Associates, which employs 18 professionals who provide over 1500 clients with accounting, tax, and consulting services. Wilke & Associates was included in the Pittsburgh Business Times list of top 100 fastest growing companies in 2003 and 2004. David appears on The American Entrepreneur Show Saturday mornings for his "Ask the Accountant" segment on WPTT 1360 am. David was nominated for Entrepreneur of the year for 2003 and was awarded Accountant Advocate of the year by the SBA in 1997. David speaks regularly at many small business and entrepreneur events. Deborah Wojcik Deborah Wojcik has worked with the Government Agency Coordination Office (GACO) of California University of Pennsylvania since 1985. She is the Director of the program which operates three offices located at California University of PA, Slippery Rock University and in Pittsburgh. GACO is a Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) which provides services to businesses interested in pursuing federal, state and local contract and subcontracting. Craig A. Wolfanger Mr. Wolfanger founded RAPTOR, a boutique investment bank specializing in mergers and acquisitions and private financings. Previously, Wolfanger was Head of Investment Banking for Parker/Hunter. Mr. Wolfanger began his career as an investment banking partner with Kidder, Peabody & Co. and Alex. Brown & Sons in New York. Over the last twenty-five years, Wolfanger has completed over 350 transactions comprising nearly $25 billion in value for clients in the public and private debt and equity markets. Mr. Wolfanger received a BA from Valparaiso University and an MBA from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University. |