2012 Pacesetters lifetime achievement: Wayne Zanardelli, founder, Professionals Services Group

Wayne Zanardelli, founder, Professionals Services Group

At just 34 years old, Wayne Zanardelli was promoted to vice president and CEO of the ICM Division, a high point in his 28-year career with the ICM School of Business. In his time there, he watched the company reach new heights and helped establish the first 1,000-hour program in computer programming and systems design and built new facilities in Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Baltimore.
In the midst of his career, ICM was sold to Litton Industries, which then offered to sell the ICM Division to Zanardelli in 1983 following his appointment as CEO. While he operated the ICM Division, he also started Professional Services Group, a computer consulting company. Zanardelli sold ICM in order to devote all of his energy to the company he was building from scratch.
PSG had impressive successes under Zanardelli’s leadership. In just 14 years, the company grew to 100 employees and $30 million with operations throughout the United States. The company worked with clients such as Westinghouse, U.S. Steel, Alcoa and PPG Industries. Zanardelli’s success was largely derived from the innovative methods he employed to keep both customers and employees happy. PSG was sold in 1997 and Zanardelli retired in 1999.
His business acumen has also served him well in his many roles outside of ICM and PSG. Zanardelli was elected president of the Pennsylvania Association of Private School Administrators in 1987. He was also elected to serve on the Pennsylvania Private School Licensing Board in 1989, where he has held various roles for 21 years and counting.
In 1995, he joined the board of trustees for the Pittsburgh Technical Institute, helping the school grow into an accredited two-year, associate-degree granting school with 2,000 students on an 80-acre campus offering six schools of study.
In 2007, he joined the 22-person board of The Early Learning Institute. He served three years on the finance and public relations committees becoming vice president before leaving the board.
With such an impressive career and diverse array of talents, Zanardelli has been able to build a successful business into a globally recognized company, as well as help transform many other organizations for the better.