SBA Exporter of the Year is Local Scientist Dr. Richard Somiari

News Release
PITTSBURGH  DISTRICT OFFICE          
Release Date:  May 16, 2012
Release Number: PGH12-16      
Contact:  Janet Heyl (412) 395-6560, ext. 103
Janet.Heyl@sba.gov                                                                   
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Local scientist helping world science community unravel medical mysteries named SBA exporter of the year

Dr. Richard Somiari

JOHNSTOWN, PA – This May, people across the country will participate in charitable events for a breast cancer cure while each day Dr. Richard Somiari, president and chief scientific officer of Integrated Technologies & Services International, works with his 11-member scientific team analyzing blood for biomarkers to help develop a blood test that can screen for breast cancer.

“Our research may help to create a blood test that will lead to early detection of breast cancer as it sometimes can take 15 years for a lump to appear,” said Somiari. “The test will be of great service to women in rural areas as well as men – who can also contract breast cancer.”

Recently named SBA Region III and Western Pennsylvania Exporter of the Year, Somiari decided after one year as an intern to study applied science, subsequently completed a PhD in Biochemistry and started working as a scientist, then formed a research facility to share his biotechnology and genetic profiling expertise with the worldwide medical community.

Somiari will be lauded at the Western Pennsylvania SBA May 25th Awards Luncheon at the Sheraton Station Square Hotel Pittsburgh. The luncheon is held in conjunction with the 49th annual celebration of National Small Business Week. Like the other 68 district winners, his nomination was forwarded to their respective regional office – in this case Region 3, which spans Delaware, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia – where he became the regional winner.

The breast cancer screening effort is funded by a grant from the National Institute of Health (NIH). The grant is a rarity for the seven-year-old firm, which relies on exporting its technological services in order to succeed.

Growing up in Nigeria, Somiari spent time at hospitals with his widowed mother, a nurse and the family provider. Witnessing both joyous and sorrowful medical outcomes, he realized he wanted to join the medical research community. Recruited to the area in 2000 to launch the Windber Research Institute, Somiari believes the daily research and analysis his team conducts will help meet tomorrow’s medical needs.

“My main motivation in forming ITSI was to accelerate discovery and the validation of basic research results without going through many bureaucratic layers,” he said. “We offer analytical services on tissue samples, produce analytical testing kits and offer consulting services.”

Somiari, once a fellow at the University of Maryland School Of Medicine, began with virtually no clients in the United States. Instead, his testing kits have been sent to Nigeria and Europe, where he has research contacts.

“The Southern Alleghenies Planning and Development Commission came to me about opportunities to export to Europe and beyond, as everyone wants to export to the United States,” he said. “In the bioscience world, everything that comes out of the U.S. is of the highest standard.”

His company, which utilized three SBA loans for equipment, working capital and construction, has at various times been awarded consulting contracts in South Africa and Nigeria. In Nigeria, ITSI was contracted to design, equip, train and support the Nigerian Defense Headquarters military DNA banking and analysis center. The reference DNA bank will allow identification of fallen military personnel and support biomedical research of national significance. Somiari also began creating analytical kits that ensure accuracy in the biomedical research field.

“This service started by accident as people want to do what we are doing, but in their own laboratory to validate their research. Because samples often arrived in different conditions due to packaging, pre-processing and temperature and this can make the results obtained different,” he explained. “We make kits that are standardized, contain the necessary and appropriate chemicals and even exact protocol on how to perform the analysis.”

ITSI also provides analytical services to help universities and drug manufacturers unlock the mysteries of cancer, often by analyzing proteins and DNA. “Every human being has a unique order of molecules that make up their DNA, and machines can determine the order of the ATCG molecules that make up DNA,” he said. “Certain diseases, like cancer, arise because of sequential errors in DNA.”

He added that the human body has molecules that act as a proofreader and altered sequences detected can be repaired.  But problems arise when errors go unrepaired and multiple errors accumulate over time. “Our research effort is not used to treat patients today, but to gain more insight as today’s medical treatments are the results of studies performed 10-15 years ago.”

According to Somiari, ITSI finally is receiving attention from United States scientists who pore over scientific journals and find out that other scientists have used ITSI’s kits or services. “Scientists have to cite the source of any chemicals used and where they were purchased,” he said. “Therefore, scientists who want to do the same research will naturally purchase the same product, which often is our product.”

Western Pennsylvania SBA District Director Carl Knoblock said that Somiari’s research facility further cements the region as a medical research and technological hub. “He is performing research that will help universities and drug companies throughout the world gain insight into unlocking the mysteries of diseases that plague mankind,” he said. “He has exported his ideas and concepts to a great many countries and now U.S. scientists are taking note. I’m pleased to recognize him as SBA’s Exporter of the Year for Region 3 and Western Pennsylvania.”

Somiari said he was humbled and excited to capture both local and regional exporting honors. “I appreciate the recognition as it truly is an honor to help the medical field succeed.”
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The U.S. Small Business Administration – helping small businesses start, grow and succeed.  If you would like to speak with the Dr. Richard Somiari or Carl Knoblock, Western Pennsylvania SBA district director, please contact Janet Heyl at 412-395-6560, ext. 103

Posted on behalf of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates.  Joyce Kane is the owner of Cybertary Pittsburgh, a Virtual Administrative support company, providing virtual office support, personal and executive assistance, creative design services and light bookkeeping.  Cybertary works with businesses and busy individuals to help them work 'on' their business rather than 'in' their business.  www.Cybertary.com/Pittsburgh

Smithmyer Honored as Small Business Person of the Year

News Release
PITTSBURGH  DISTRICT OFFICE          
Contact:  Janet Heyl (412) 395-6560, ext. 103
Janet.Heyl@sba.gov

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Local proprietor carves up win as Western Pennsylvania SBA Small Business Person of the Year award

LORETTO, PA – Residents from 37 different Cambria County zip codes know where the beef is – because they can visit Jay Smithmyer, proprietor of Smithmyer’s Superette, who is the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Western Pennsylvania’s Small Business Person of the Year.

Smithmeyer and eight other local small business owners and advocates will be lauded at the Sheraton Station Square Hotel Pittsburgh during SBA’s Western Pennsylvania Awards Luncheon May 25th, held in conjunction with the 49th annual celebration of National Small Business Week.

Smithmyer, 65, has worked in the small business sector his entire life, beginning with working for his father, who founded and sold several small businesses: a service station, coal-mine stripping business and TV picture tube manufacturing venture. His last project, a superette, was purchased by Jay and his wife, Louise, 40 years ago.

“I majored in economics and worked in the store starting in my freshman year at Saint Francis University,” Smithmyer said. “I decided that I enjoyed small town living, made a commitment to stay here and decided to focus on why people shop at our store and what draws them in.”

According to Smithmyer, the major reason people patronize the superette is the selection of fresh-cut meats and its customer service.

“We focused on meats and still do, we can cut 200 different pieces of beef, chicken and poultry,” he said. “Our meat isn’t pre-packaged and we smoke our own meats and offer unique products like homemade Jack Daniels burgers for grilling. We even carry your groceries to the car.”

Smithmyer said a superette sports 5,000-10,000 square feet of selling space and stocks 4,000 to 8,000 items. Since 1965, he’s seen many items come and go.

“When I first started about one-third of the superette was a hardware store and we stocked a section of matches,” he said. “Many name brands have come and gone, but if you walk through the store, you will still find everything you need. We sell the top selling items in each grouping, just not all 33 sizes.”

During his tenure as Smithmyers’s proprietor, he’s also ushered in numerous offerings reflective of societal changes.

In the early ‘70s, Smithmyer said he read a small article on the state legalizing the sale of self-service gasoline. He applied for a license, and Smithmyer became one of the first owner-operators of self-serve gasoline stations in the entire state.

“About that time, the convenience store concept was developing, so we devoted the front end of our store to that,” he said. “Back then we used to sell frozen sandwiches that had to be heated in a microwave, now we prepare approximately 200 fresh-made sandwiches each day.”

Smithmyer, with the help of his family and the Saint Francis University Small Business Development Center (SBDC) also has ventured into social media with a blog and Facebook site as well as an email that informs customers about weekly in-store specials. He said the Facebook site has approximately 600 friends, which is about the same number of people who shop at the superette each day.

A genuine fondness for his hometown has led Smithmyer to become a local curator of Loretto’s past, utilizing wall and upper shelf space to display pictures of the town and products from a bygone era – such as glass-bottle milk and soda containers. Customers regularly donate items knowing their treasures will find a safe haven at the superette.

Smithmyer often donates anonymously to persons in need and lives by his personal mantra: “I like to measure my life not by what I make, but what I do for others,” Smithmyer said. “I’ve never gone to bed hungry and I never want to see anyone else go to bed hungry.”

According to Western Pennsylvania SBA District Director Carl Knoblock, Smithmyer truly exemplifies what it means to be a small business person of the year. “He knows his community, his niche and knows how to position his superette for its continued growth among the large, chain-store grocers,” Knoblock said. “And most importantly, he’s remembered to give back to the community.”

Smithmyer said it was an honor to be selected as the Western Pennsylvania Small Business Person of the Year.  “My family and cow-workers are the reason this superette works,” he said.  “I’m really just a figurehead, and I really enjoy working here and being around other people.”
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The U.S. Small Business Administration – helping small businesses start, grow and succeed.

Note:  If you would like to speak with Jay Smithmyer or Carl Knoblock, Western Pennsylvania SBA district director, please contact Janet Heyl at 412-395-6560, ext. 103

Posted on behalf of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates.  Joyce Kane is the owner of Cybertary Pittsburgh, a Virtual Administrative support company, providing virtual office support, personal and executive assistance, creative design services and light bookkeeping.  Cybertary works with businesses and busy individuals to help them work 'on' their business rather than 'in' their business.  www.Cybertary.com/Pittsburgh

Priory Hotel and Grand Hall Honored as Family Owned Business of the Year

News Release


PITTSBURGH DISTRICT OFFICE

Release Date: May 17, 2011 Contact: Janet Heyl (412) 395-6560, ext. 103

Release Number: PGH11-11 Janet.Heyl@sba.gov

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The Priory

Historic North Side Hotel and Monastery Honored by SBA

as local Family Owned Business of the Year

PITTSBURGH – In the 1980s, residents of Pittsburgh’s historic Deutschtown neighborhood were the recipients of the immaculate redirection.

It wasn’t a game-saving football play but an interstate blueprint redesign that kept the former Saint Mary’s church and adjacent monastery intact for purchase by Edward and Mary Ann Graf. Their artistic vision transformed the structures into the Priory Hotel and Grand Hall at the Priory.

Grand Hall at The Priory

“They were going to turn it into office space, when a friend suggested they convert [the monastery] into a small hotel for people staying at Allegheny General Hospital,” said son John Graf, vice president and director of operations for The Priory Hospitality Group. “The place had been boarded up for years and had paint peeling and water damage, but with the original woodwork and high ceilings you could see it could be something neat.”

His parents’ vision of a hotel became reality when the Priory Hotel opened in 1986. John Graf, an attorney, made a second-generation contribution to the family business by transforming the church into The Grand Hall, a majestic facility suitable for weddings and banquets.

Graf, 46, who joined the hospitality group full-time in 2002, will be honored by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) as the Family Owned Business of the Year. Graf and eight other local small business owners and advocates will be lauded at the Western Pennsylvania SBA May 27th Awards Luncheon at the Sheraton Station Square Hotel Pittsburgh. The luncheon is held in conjunction with the 48th annual celebration of National Small Business Week.

While his parents assembled collections of Victorian-era furniture for the rooms and added bathrooms to each guest room, as the monks shared a single bathroom, Graf has put his own touches on the thriving destination.

“In addition to the Grand Hall, I’ve updated operations by utilizing the internet to boost reservations,” he explained. “Also, when a fire destroyed a nearby apartment building and parts of The Priory, I purchased the building and added a 17-room handicap accessible addition.”

The new rooms offer a seamless transition to the original Priory Hotel, which now is complimented by The Monks Bar – an intimate pub for guests and residents to frequent. Graf also has plans for an outdoor urban garden and bike parking area.

It was his concept of a Winter White Wedding Package garnered him accolades as the Grand Marketer of the Year by the American Marketing Association.

“We have twinkling, white lights on the tree, the dance floor looks like a skating rink and we sell a package consisting of the Grand Hall, hotel space and cakes and we even have a bakery a few blocks from the hotel,” Graf added. “We offer a complete package with exceptional food, cake, accommodations and parking because we know that if they all are good then people will come back. If one aspect is off, guests won’t return.”

Graf even paired with Pittsburgh’s business community to offer a complimentary wedding package to a veteran of the Iraq or Afghanistan War. “Local merchants donated wedding dresses and tuxedos, entertainment and photography services and even wedding bands,” he explained. “We’ve done it for two years and we will continue until our soldiers are out of harm’s way.”

According to Western Pennsylvania SBA District Director Carl Knoblock, Graf and his family were bold visionaries who opened a city inn and perhaps helped turn around Pittsburgh’s Deutschtown neighborhood “You can see the rehabilitation and civic pride all through this historic neighborhood,” he said.

Graf said winning this award accentuates the family side of his business.

“It’s exciting, to be a part of this business where people come for a respite and leave their problems behind, we try to do it right so they leave happy”

Note: If you would like to speak with John Graf or Carl Knoblock, Western Pennsylvania SBA district director, please contact Janet Heyl at 412-395-6560, ext. 103
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The U.S. Small Business Administration – helping small businesses start, grow and succeed.