Smart 50 Specialty Awards recognize innovation, impact and business continuity

Last month, the leaders of 50 top organizations in Pittsburgh were recognized as the inaugural Smart 50 class of 2014. These leaders were chosen for their ability to effectively build and lead successful organizations by plying innovation, demonstrating impact and forging companies built to last.
These leaders were honored at a special celebration Nov. 19 at the Marriott Pittsburgh City Center. And, from this group of Smart 50, the leaders of three organizations were recognized with special awards in three distinct categories:
Innovation: How does the organization develop and take to market new products, services and solutions?
Impact: How do these products, services and solutions benefit the organization, its employees, investors and other constituents, as measured by such items as:

  • Sales and expansion.
  • Revenue or employee growth.
  • New building construction and expansion.
  • Attraction of funding and investments.
  • Diversification of products and services.
  • Use of technology as a business tool.
  • Differentiation from the competition.
  • Giving back to the community.

Business Continuity: How does the combination of innovation and impact create a sustainable organization that is scalable?

The 2015 Chase Smart 50 Awards were presented by Smart Business and sponsored by Chase, Carnegie Mellon University, Clark Hill PLC, Fragasso Financial Advisors, HDH Group and Marriott Pittsburgh City Center. Here are the Smart 50 Specialty Award winners that were unveiled on Nov. 19.

 
 

Innovation

pit_EdwardKennedyEdward Kennedy
President and CEO
Tollgrade Communications Inc.

  • Edward Kennedy, president and CEO of Tollgrade Communications Inc., has led a research and development effort to produce something no other industry player has achieved to date. With “inductively-powered” hardware (battery-free sensors), and Tollgrade’s Predictive Grid Analytics software, utilities receive vital information to get ahead of outages.
  • And, the best part is that the utility doesn’t need to take on significant structural hardening or major equipment upgrades to get the benefit of a reliable grid. It simply retrofits its network with sensors and starts receiving real-time data to pinpoint trouble so it can respond more intelligently.
  • Kennedy not only lead employees to develop and deliver a winning product, he also had to find the right investment partner to make its smart grid business a reality. As part of this effort, Kennedy took the company private and completely aligned Tollgrade in his first year to achieve a new level of profitably. He then negotiated the company’s acquisition to the private equity firm Golden Gate Capital to obtain funding.
  • This innovative product has helped fuel new growth for the company by doubling Tollgrade deployments and revenue in back-to-back years.

 

Impact

pit_KraigMcEwenKraig McEwen
CEO
Aesynt Inc.

  • Kraig McEwen, CEO of Aesynt Inc., formerly McKesson Automation, has steered the company through a complete transformation since 2011 — being acquired by a private equity investor, acquiring Health Robotics, launching more new products in the past 12 months than in the past four years and continuing to aggressively pursue new patents.
  • McEwen leads by example, encouraging his people to make suggestions and provide feedback, regardless of their roles within the company. By being open and honest, there has been a significant decrease in employee attrition and turnover and dramatically improved employee satisfaction ratings.
  • After joining the company, McEwen and his senior executive team instituted a monthly e-newsletter that combines photos and video to provide business updates against the company’s balanced scorecard, established a forum for employees to submit anonymous questions while committing to responding to all and began hosting breakfast roundtable discussions.
  • McEwen’s rapport with the company’s customers and employees is allowing Aesynt to continue to successfully transform as a standalone business.

 

Business Continuity

pit_DennisOatesDennis M. Oates
Chairman, president and CEO
Universal Stainless & Alloy Products Inc.

  • When Dennis M. Oates assumed leadership at Universal Stainless & Alloy Products Inc. in 2008, the company had already revived three specialty steel operations in the greater Pittsburgh and Dunkirk, New York, areas. The business was healthy but opportunities for future growth were limited.
  • Thanks to Oates’ transformative strategic plan, Universal has successfully elevated itself within the specialty steel industry by focusing on manufacturing excellence and product innovation.
  • Universal has invested millions in its operations to upgrade and retrofit the company’s existing equipment and supply chain, under the company’s “four plants — one manufacturing system” effort. This has enabled Universal to offer more technologically advanced specialty alloys to its customers, serving the aerospace, oil and gas and power generation markets.
  • Oates’ bold plan to expand and deepen the company’s manufacturing capabilities has in turn generated new client approvals, expanded sales of technologically advanced products, new jobs, staff development, increased size and sophistication of its manufacturing footprint as well as more efficient operations. This has set the company up to help challenge the notion of the demise of the domestic steel industry.