For more than 25 years, Ernst & Young has celebrated the entrepreneurial spirit of men and women pursuing innovation and entrepreneurial excellence in their businesses, teams and communities.
The blood, sweat and passion they’ve poured into their businesses and the triumphs they’ve achieved stand as a testament to the role they play as visionaries, leaders and innovators. Ernst & Young founded the Entrepreneur Of The Year Program to recognize this passion for excellence and to build an influential and innovative community of peers.
We have gathered here and in 25 other cities in the U.S. to honor the men and women who are regional finalists and welcome the winners into our entrepreneurial Hall of Fame. We toast their commitment to succeed. We applaud them for launching start-up companies, opening new markets and fueling job growth.
So let’s celebrate their achievements, their perseverance and their tireless pursuit of business excellence.
Enjoy this special coverage from Smart Business featuring this year’s finalists and winners from Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
Kevin E. Pickels is the Entrepreneur Of The Year Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia program director at Ernst & Young.
Finalists and Honorees
Supporter of Entrepreneurship
• Richard Lunak, Innovation Works
Construction
• H. Rochelle Stachel, HRV Conformance Verification Associates Inc. (Winner)
• Melvin E. Clark Jr., G.W. Peoples Contracting Co. Inc. (Finalist)
• Reed Mahany, RECO Equipment Inc. (Finalist)
Health Sciences
• Dr. Frank Alderman, MedExpress Urgent Care (Winner)
• Arnold Burchianti II, Celtic Healthcare (Finalist)
• Patrick Daly, Cohera Medical Inc. (Finalist)
• Doug Engfer, invivodata inc. (Finalist)
Industrial Manufacturing
• Dennis Oates, Universal Stainless & Alloy Products Inc. (Winner)
• James Lind, McKees Rocks Industrial Enterprises Inc. (Finalist)
• David Sweet, Mecco Marking & Traceability (Finalist)
Manufacturing
• Bill Lambert, MSA – The Safety Company (Winner)
• William Baker, Irwin Car and Equipment (Finalist)
• Fred Potthoff, Kroff Inc. (Finalist)
Nonprofit
• Michael Robb, Center for Community Resources (Winner)
• Grant Oliphant, The Pittsburgh Foundation (Finalist)
Services
• Charles Sanders, Urban Lending Solutions (Winner)
• Scott Barnyak, Christy Maruca, Chris Simchick, SDLC LP (Finalist)
• John Sell, Wayne W. Sell Corp. (Finalist)
Technology
• Xuecang Geng, Ph.D., Blatek Inc. (Winner)
• Robert Daley, Henry Thorne, 4moms (Finalist)
• Jay Whitacre, Ph.D., Aquion Energy Inc. (Finalist)
• Don Charlton, The Resumator (Finalist)
