Dreams of grandeur from a Sharpsburg vegetable garden, tapping backyard natural gas reserves to heat a Point Breeze home … any local can identify these chapters from the hoary biographies of Pittsburgh legends H.J. Heinz and George Westinghouse. But what are the 57 varieties of success for entrepreneurs today?
Next week, a downtown lunch event could provide answers by connecting today’s entrepreneurs with Pittsburgh’s famous success stories from the past.
Karl A. Schieneman, winner of the 2004 Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year will moderate while historical author Tim Palucka will speak about the historical contribution of businesses in Pittsburgh; Frank Demmler of Innovation Works will talk about his experiences as a present-day entrepreneur; and Dan Onorato, Allegheny County chief executive, will focus on how collaboration among entrepreneurs can help Pittsburgh become a center of innovation and leadership in commerce.
Other speakers include entrepreneurs Glen Meakem, co-founder and CEO of FreeMarkets Online (now part of Ariba); Carl Cohen, executive managing director of Raptor LLC; and Sunil Wadhwani, CEO of iGATE.
The event is sponsored by Entrepreneurial Lifelines (
www.elifelines.org), Helping Entrepreneurs Learn from Entrepreneurs, and M2 Technology.
April 6, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Engineers Society of Western Pennsylvania. $25 ($15 for students), lunch included. Call 412-261-0710, ext. 10, for reservations, or e-mail eswp@eswp.com.