Art Green Lauded as Local SCORE Volunteer of the Year

News Release


PITTSBURGH DISTRICT OFFICE

Release Date:
May 23, 2011
Contact: Janet Heyl
(412) 395-6560, ext. 103

Release Number: PGH11-17 Janet.Heyl@sba.gov

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Former executive receives accolades from SBA

as local SCORE Volunteer of the Year

PITTSBURGH – When Art Green, a retired engineer and quality improvement consultant at Westinghouse, opened the doors to his own consulting firm years ago, he admitted he could have used the assistance of SCORE – America’s Counselor’s to Small Business.

At that time, Green hadn’t yet heard about the volunteer corps of retired and working professionals who lend their expertise counseling area entrepreneurs and small business owners. Ironically, Green, was recently selected as the 2011 Western Pennsylvania District SBA SCORE Volunteer of the Year.

Green and eight other local small business owners and advocates will be lauded at the Western Pennsylvania SBA May 27th Awards Luncheon which will be held at the Sheraton Station Square Hotel Pittsburgh. The luncheon is held in conjunction with the 48th annual celebration of National Small Business Week.

A native of Ambridge, Pa., Green earned a degree in mathematics from Saint Vincent College and a degree in electrical engineering from [now] Carnegie Mellon University. He went to work at Westinghouse, serving in the process control computer systems engineering division.

“We built control systems to automate steel mills and power plants,” Green said. “The systems controlled the settings, speeds and power to generate optimum output.” But Green did more than build the control systems; he also installed the systems throughout the country and often took his family with him.

“One time I helped install a control system at a steel mill near Chicago and I moved my family out there for about six months; another time we rented a furnished apartment in Phoenix while I did installation work for a power plant,” he said. “The funny thing is those computer control systems were housed in a cabinet that was about seven feet high and today it would fit in a laptop computer.”

Green obtained his master’s degree in business administration from the University of Pittsburgh, transferred out of engineering to finance and accounting and then spent the last third of his Westinghouse career as a quality improvement consultant. He focused on productivity and quality techniques to improve profitability.

“I travelled around the world and the U.S. and when I retired after 34 years, I started my own consulting business and spent time with many U.S. companies and made frequent trips to Saudi Arabia,” he said. “When I became the sole owner of my business, I was the consultant and the marketer and the accountant and I probably did a lot of things wrong.”

While Green was unaware of SCORE and how the organization assists small business owners, a chance golf game introduced him to a local member. In 2005, a now-retired Green joined the Pittsburgh Chapter of SCORE.

“It’s been a great experience and I even have an office – which is the Panera Bread restaurant in Monroeville,” he added chuckling. “I love one-on-one counseling and right now I have about 30 active clients.” Green said he not only helps entrepreneurs determine if they are prepared to start a business, but recently assisted a specialty cleaning operation with their inventory management system.

“I went to their site for a few hours each week for six months to look at their inventory needs,” he said. “I suggested they employ the “Just in Time Management System” that enabled them to never run out of a product or over order… it involves labeling items used and determining the lot size of that item.”

According to Western Pennsylvania SBA District Director Carl Knoblock, Green is prime example of how SCORE volunteers continue to give back to their community. “Here you have a retired executive who for many months lent his productivity and inventory expertise to a small business,” Knoblock said. “It’s a win-win situation for the counselor, the business and the community.”

In addition to counseling, Green serves as the co-chair for Pittsburgh SCORE’s monthly Small Business Basics workshops, in which guest speakers teach topics such as business planning, recordkeeping/taxes, marketing, finance and legal issues.

“Those workshops are my baby, I attend each session to make sure it runs correctly,” he said. “I coordinate the speakers, venue, and catering and have been doing that for five years. In that time we’ve had almost 1,000 attendees.”

Green, who never thought his career would span volunteering and coordinating workshops, said that he was floored to be nominated and even prouder to win. “I spend a great deal of time with SCORE and I enjoy it,” he said. “It’s fun and there are about 20 of us who do part-time counseling. It’s a great experience.”

Note: If you would like to speak with Art Green 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.

SBA Score Champion of the Year Also Career Soldier

News Release


PITTSBURGH DISTRICT OFFICE



Release Date: May 11, 2010 Contact: Janet Heyl (412) 395-6560, ext. 103

Janet.Heyl@sba.gov

Release Number: 10-13/PGH



Local commissioner SCORES win as Western Pennsylvania SBA Volunteer of the Year Award



GREENSBURG, PA – For almost 28 years Col. (Ret.) Charles Anderson served his country as a decorated officer in the Marine Corps, with tours of duty as a pilot in Japan, Korea, the Philippines, and holding executive positions at the Pentagon and Cherry Point, N.C. But for the past eight years, Anderson has stayed grounded lending his business expertise as a counselor and motivational speaker for the Westmoreland Chapter of SCORE – Counselor’s to America’s to Small Businesses.



Anderson, a Westmoreland County commissioner, will be honored by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) as the 2010 Western Pennsylvania SCORE Volunteer of the Year.



Anderson and eight other local small business owners and advocates will be lauded at the Western Pennsylvania SBA May 28th Awards Luncheon which will be held at the Sheraton Station Square Hotel Pittsburgh. The luncheon is held in conjunction with the 47th annual celebration of National Small Business Week.



Carl Knoblock, Western Pennsylvania SBA district director, said that Anderson is an example of how one never stops serving their fellow countrymen. “Here is a decorated Marine Corps colonel, who is a commissioner of a large and growing county, and he still sets time aside to counsel prospective small business owners,” Knoblock said. “His SCORE clients are benefiting from his business and government experience, as well as his dedication.”



Anderson started his career at the tender age of four or five working at his grandfather’s store, Anderson’s Market. “I would sit on the floor with a big bag of potatoes and put those potatoes into small, five-pound bags,” he said. “It was work, but like a game to me.”



As he got older, Anderson’s duties increased and soon he was cutting meats, delivering food and learning the day-to-day operations of running a grocery store. Majoring in business at Waynesburg University, Anderson thought he would stay in the retail arena until he entered the Marine Corps as an officer.



“I was a supply officer because I thought it would enhance my business skills, but I really wanted to be a pilot,” he stated. After serving his three years, Anderson went back to the grocery business but never was able to let go of his dream of flying.





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‘I took flight classes at the (former) Latrobe Airport, and loved it,” he said. “I sent a letter to the Marines asking them if I could come back and enter flight school.” When he found out that at age 26 he was considered too old to fly, Anderson took to the hallways of the Washington, D.C. Marine Headquarters to tell his tale to anyone who would listen.



After three days, one officer granted Anderson the right to compete for Navy/Marine flight school where only the top three candidates were awarded the chance to fly jets. The spirited Anderson made sure he was prepared. “I hired myself a tutor to prepare and study vectors and trigonometry and got a flight physical,” he said. “During flight school, I carried around a model plane. Sure, everyone made fun of me, but guess what? I was the third jet pilot selected.”



Anderson relocated back to Westmoreland County in 2002 as a retiree and joined a host of organizations in order to give back and better the community – SCORE was one of those organizations. He said he uses his flight analogy to tell people never to take “no” for an answer, to set high goals and prepare for them.



“I tell my SCORE clients to write a business plan and set a goal,” he explained. “They (clients) need to go through the process of what they want to do, how to get there and become dedicated to achieving that goal.”



While Anderson is proud of his selection as the SCORE Volunteer of the Year, he said the award really is for the entire chapter.



“We have such great volunteers at Westmoreland SCORE all who had successful careers, giving up their time to make the community a better place – just like I wanted to do,” he stated. “They are so dedicated it makes my eyes want to water.”



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



The U.S. Small Business Administration – helping small businesses start, grow and succeed.



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