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There are remarkable business men and women here in Northeast and North Central Pennsylvania. Stories of hard work, sacrifice and success, told by people and families who started or built successful companies that improve our communities, employ our neighbors and are living examples for future generations.
Northeast Pennsylvania Business Journal is produced in association with
Seasons One, Two and Three of the Northeast Pennsylvania Business Journal are available for purchase through the WVIA Online Store. To visit the store, click here.
Watch the Northeast Pennsylvania Business Journal Season Four highlight reel.
Kerby “Scott” Confer joins WVIA President Bill Kelly for the Season Four kickoff show Thursday, October 13, 2011 on WVIA-TV
From their humble beginnings, Mary and Harry Kiesendahl fell in love, not only with each other, but with Lake Teedyuskung, a shimmering jewel in the forested foothills of the Pocono Mountains. The Kiesendahl’s opened Woodloch Pines; now their son John has taken over and tells us how the resort has grown into one of the largest in the Poconos.
Dente’s catering early days began as a deli and food market and the business has been a fixture in our region since 1959. Biagio Dente and his son Blaise have grown a highly successful off premises catering business combining personality, hard work and attention to detail. Bon Appetito!
Scranton native Louis Nivert’s family started a very modest scrap yard that today is a one hundred and twenty thousand square foot metal working facility. His children are part of the business, now being mentored to take over when Louis retires.
Darren Crispin’s Berwick valves are in the Kennedy Space Center, Animal Kingdom at Disney World, the Panama Canal and the world’s largest aluminium smelting plan in Dubai. This unassuming man tells us how his great grandfather started Crispin Valves and how proud he is to continue this long running family business.
Maslow Lumia and Bartorillo Advertising serves clients locally and nationally, but according to Melanie Maslow Lumia some of the agency’s most successful, rewarding and important work has been partnering with community non-profits. 
Randy B. Williams is the small town boy with the national reputation. Owner of oil companies, car dealerships and 70 Dandy Mini-Marts, Randy is low key and was born to build businesses.
The fascinating characters behind Savo Auctioneers are John Senior, his sons J. Bear and Carlo. They are successful and very funny.
Pat and John Atkins own and operate Patsel's Restaurant in Clarks Summit. He’s British, a former International Salt Company Executive, and met his wife Pat while serving in the military on a Caribbean island.
John Nackley is the President and CEO of Intermetro Industries, an International manufacturing company based in Wilkes Barre. Learn how he multiplied its success.
It’s not often that we meet three generations still coming to work in the family business every day. Meet the Corazza family of Fairway Motors and hear how mom jumped into the business after her husband passed away and how today she is now working with her son and grandson.
Keith Eckel’s parents bought their farm in 1949 , starting with 8 cows, 800 chickens and 3000 tomato plants. Eckel’s farm is now over one thousand three hundred acres in Lackawanna County. Keith was a political science major in college; little interest in farming. Today he’s an internationally recognized leader in agriculture, insurance and politics.
Jeanne Shuman Genzlinger and Grant Genzlinger own Settler’s Inn in Hawley. This quaint country inn, built in 1927, stands as a fine example of English arts and crafts design. Now they’re restoring the Hawley Silk Mill. And it all started at Woodstock.
Bill Kelley, Sr. and his son Bill own and operate Taylor Rental. Bill Sr. wanted his son back in northeastern Pennsylvania. Together they started a business that flourished because of Marcellus Shale. Their motto is “Our business was born and has prospered due to one simple rule: never say no unless there are no options.”
Knowles Insurance Agency traces its origins back over 75 years. Robert J. Knowles is the third generation, proud of family history and growing the tradition. 
Vince Benedetto of Bold Gold Media owns 9 radio stations, serving the Scranton Wilkes-Barre area, the Pocono lake region and the Catskills in New York. But for Vince it all began in the military and the O.S.I.
Charles and Ginny Kirkwood, owners of The Shawnee Inn and Golf Resort first met in Turkey where Ginny was serving in the Peace Corps. Charlie has always known what he wanted, but real happiness started with Ginny.
For nearly thirty years Philip Decker of Hospice Community Care has dedicated his life to helping people with life limiting illnesses. This kind and gentle man prides himself on easing passages for those at every phase of life.
Douglas Fink’s grandfather made his deliveries with a horse and wagon. Three generations later, the company thrives and Doug is grateful.
Drive by the lovely town of Tunkhannock and you’ll see Gay’s True Value Hardware. With the example set in 1913 by his grandfather, today Doug Gay is a successful businessman and community leader. 
Learn how Jack Tighe, Founder, President and CEO of TMG Health brought over thirteen hundred jobs to northeast Pennsylvania with revenue exceeding one hundred million dollars. He could have done it anywhere but came back home.
A face and name very well known nationally, Gary Sojka is a former president of Bucknell University who is now, along with his wife Sandy, raising and breeding endangered livestock on their farm. Hear the fascinating story of this teacher, scientist, environmentalist, breed conservator, farmer and gaming regulator.
Joe Biondo Sr. regrets only that he waited too long to start Biondo Investment Advisors of Milford. Wall Street held his attention until Joe Jr. joined dad and today they’re partners.
Richard Allen of Williamsport learned how not to do executive searches by working for others. It took a lot of lean times to create RPA, Inc., but today he’s calling his own shots.
Meet Edward and Seth Alberts of Ralph S. Alberts Company. Their business is flourishing because of the Marcellus Shale play in Williamsport. Seth also runs Alberts Spray Solutions a subsidiary of Ralph S. Alberts and Company. This father and son team are a force to behold in the region.
Lisa Scheller is President and CEO of Silberline Manufacturing, founded by her grandfather Ernest Scheller in 1945. Lisa wasn't at all sure this was what she wanted, but asked for a chance to lead before her families company was sold. Today she travels the world building it.
Meet David and Chad Geise of Furman Foods. You’ve seen their products in your grocery store, under the label of Furmano’s, but you’ve probably never heard a family business success story like this. Listen carefully and be moved by values and beliefs you thought were long gone.
Clyde Peeling knows Jay Leno, appeared with Johnny Carson, and flies his own plane with creepy, crawly passengers. Today Reptiland is a national business and his partners, including son Chad, are family.
Marion Munley, Esq. of Munley, Munley and Cartwright, one of NEPA’s top women in business has also been a trial lawyer for over 24 years. She’s a trail blazer and mentor, proud of her family history.
Dr. George Speace owns Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons of Wilkes Barre. His world is one of emergency rooms where motorcycle accidents and other catastrophic events tragically change the way we look. His clients also seek beauty and youth.
You know their business as Gerrity’s Markets but the family is named Fasula. Mom Joyce still comes to work and is a force to be reckoned with. When husband Neal died at 49, Joyce had a very difficult decision to make. Meet her family and learn what she did.
Here’s a businessman you won’t soon forget. His family construction company started with one backhoe and today owns over 600 pieces of equipment. He’s Marcellus Shale and much more. Scott Linde today travels the world on business. Learn how he does it.
Christopher M. "Kip" Condron joins WVIA President Bill Kelly for the season three kickoff show Wednesday, October 6, 2010 on WVIA-TV
Maggie Wilderotter, Chairman and CEO of Frontier Communications, was named one of Fortune Magazine's 50 Most Powerful Women of 2009. During a recent visit to northeast Pennsylvania she met with regional employees and answered our questions about Frontier's acquisition of certain Verizon properties this past July, making Frontier the largest rural communications company in the U.S. She also explains why women are uniquely qualified to manage companies of all sizes.
Sisters Natalie Pettinato O’Hara & Lisa Pettinato Davis own PACE Construction Managers, a business started by their grandfather in 1932. Natalie was always daddy’s little girl, going to work with him whenever possible, while Lisa wanted no part of the construction business. But after 10 years in Public Accounting she too decided to make PACE her future. Not many construction companies are owned and managed by women, but these two make it work. Natalie, a civil engineer, is projects manager while Lisa, a CPA, handles the business side. 
Jack Williams Tire Company has been a family owned and operated business for 81 years. Bill Williams was only 10 when he started helping his dad around the store. There were difficult steps along the way, but he never lost focus, crediting his wife for much of the success. Now Chairman and CEO, Bill Williams looks back, while still growing, and says hard work and an insistence on customer satisfaction was the key. 
Ken and Letha Reinheimer’s partnership in life started at Bucknell University, while their business partnership began in 1965 when they decided to join Letha’s father in the insurance business. Learn how this couple’s hard work, commitment to community and sense of humor helped make their business and marriage a success.
Phil Condron spent almost 2 decades in broadcasting sales before joining a local advertising agency. Over the years Phil began to recognize ways he would do things differently if it were his own business. Hear how in 1994 he took the leap and began Condron & Company, a successful advertising and public relations firm located in Scranton. When this interview was taped, Condron was also Interim Executive Director of the Scranton Chamber of Commerce. 
As the youngest of seven children, Paula Rochon Mackarey assumed that one day she too would leave northeast Pennsylvania and move to the big city, like her siblings. But she literally never left home, today raising her family where her Dad and Mom did the same. This is the story of Happenings Magazine, where Paula began as an employee and bought it two years later. Hear how this enterprising woman seized the opportunity and used her passion for the region to become a successful entrepreneur. 
Andree Phillips worshipped her father, a man she describes with love and
respect. But to bring the family together Andree moved back to Williamsport from Long Island and her husband eventually took over Radiant Steel. Year’s later mismanagement caused the business to fail and Andree was advised by accountants, lawyers, and bankers to file for bankruptcy. Instead, through sheer grit and sacrifice, she took over and saved the company her father began in 1927. Andree Phillips is a single mother of four, a tiny and remarkable combination of toughness and compassion. Hear about her journey back from near ruin to being recognized as one of the top ten woman-owned companies in Pennsylvania.
Survival is priority one in business, and the automobile business has seen better times. Minooka Subaru owner Jim Corbett reflects on how his father, a born salesman, became a franchised Subaru dealer in the early 1970s selling brand new cars for only nineteen hundred dollars. Everyone is family for the Corbett’s and never has there been a lay off. Hear how the family dealership maintained its commitment to customers and each other through fifty years. 
Pat Stella is an effervescent and interesting lady. When you see or think of Ronald McDonald around here, know that Pat is his boss.
Patrick J. Dempsey, Sr. had been taught by his father to grab hold of opportunity, work hard and not embarrass the family name. In 1959 he formed Dempsey Uniform & Linen Supply with his brother Dick. Pat says he never stopped improving and 51 years later the family business is a leader in the industry. Now the patriarch is mentoring his own next generation to carry on. 
Paul Manning received a full football scholarship to Vanderbilt, but only a year into his academic career a family crisis brought him home. That was 45 years ago, but Manning never looked back. Paul and his wife sacrificed so all six of their children could go to Harvard, Cornell or Princeton. Then the three sons chose the family farm. Paul explains why farming is the best way to raise a family and how Manning Farms is a great business. 
Citizen Amilcar Arroyo was a university-educated Peruvian banker when he came to America to pack tomatoes. Troubled by animosities surrounding Latinos arriving in the region, he created “El Mensajero”, a local Hispanic newspaper. When the Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader bought the paper three years ago, Amilcar remained managing editor, multiplied circulation and became an outspoken and articulate advocate for diversity in our region. 
Grotto Pizza started in a small northeast Pennsylvania storefront with a family recipe. Today 21 locations in two states stand as a monument to hard work and fine business partners. Joe Paglianite is “Mr. Grotto Pizza”. Meet the man who started it all and soon will have a college building named for him. 
Lew Dryfoos III considers himself the inheritor and builder of the family business. Dryfoos Insurance Agency began in 1901 by insuring coal-mining operations in the region. Later the company became the first in this area to insure an automobile, and then an airplane. Now more than a century and four generations later, Lew Dryfoos III treasures the legacy and builds on it. 
Not a lot of people know the remarkable story of Taylor Packing Company in Wyalusing. This family recently documented centuries of Taylors, an epic story of love for the land and each other, loyalty, patriotism, tradition and a powerful work ethic. Parents and Grandparents had a dozen employees; when Ken Taylor and his brother sold the company eight years ago to Cargill, eleven hundred and fifty people were collecting paychecks. The decision to sell was a deeply emotional one for Ken Taylor, but he knew the employees and community would be better for it. However, he and his wife still live on hallowed family land that overlooks the plant, and Ken Taylor’s heart will never leave the Endless Mountains region. 
Lou Ciampi Sr. started Independent Graphics in 1980. With no formal education, he exemplifies for all of us, and particularly his son Lou Ciampi Jr., what a determined man and born entrepreneur can do. He insisted his son get a fine education and pursue his own dreams. So Junior graduated from Dickinson College, moved to New Mexico and worked for a large corporation. Dad bought out his partner and an opportunity opened for his son. Over a New Mexico Thanksgiving dinner, when Dad said he could only promise a lot of hard work, Lou Junior said, “When do we start?” 
The Amato name is synonymous with racing and A&A Auto Parts stores, but hear how a personal crisis took Peter Amato on a journey of self-discovery. Deeply troubled with life and abusing drugs and alcohol, Amato’s search took him around the world seeking different methods of health, wellness and spirituality. The result is Inner Harmony Wellness Center; a business Amato believes can change lives. 
Chase Mattioli is a marketing major at Fordham University during the week and a racecar driver on the weekends. At age seven he began helping his grandfather, Doctor Joe Mattioli at his Pocono Raceway. At 21 years old, young Mattioli races cars at speeds that top 200 mph. But he’s also a businessman with Dad Joe Mattioli III, involved in branding and marketing on a national level. Learn about Chase Mattioli Racing Inc. and the business of NASCAR. 
Chris Hackett is a businessman, lifelong athlete, husband and father who balances it all in ways few successful businessmen have managed. With no resources other than intelligence and a powerful drive to succeed, he went to work for his in-laws at their local personnel company and bought it. Today The OneSource Companies are national, as Chris Hackett empowers his managers while diversifying his business interests.
Daniel Siniawa was 11 years old when he started his own business. By age 14 and in the 1940’s, he was making about $1400 a month. From rubbish pickup to Christmas Trees to landscaping and real estate, meet the man who figured it out before most of us started to drive; Daniel Siniawa of Siniawa & Associates in Lackawanna County. 
After years of living in hotels and airports to meet with clients of his employer, Jon Craighead and wife Beth settled in northeast Pennsylvania to create their own business. Offering the services and skills they honed over many years and many miles, Craighead Associates professionally coaches managers and consults with companies to improve the workplace. Hear how the Craigheads’ faith in people and passion for leadership have led them to fulfill their dream. 
He started from very humble beginnings, but John Metz is a survivor. He discovered his love of food service while working in various kitchen positions. Then came the Army where John learned management systems and sensed he’d found his calling. Today, Metz & Associates owns Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, Wolfgang Puck, Lucky’s Sporthouse, Krispy Kreme Donuts and numerous TGI Friday’s restaurants. John Metz is a humble man grateful for good fortune; a risk taker, hard worker and crediting his success to respect for others and his family. 
Electric deregulation, fresh ideas and a flair for computer software led Scott Stiner and Karen Tomaine to create their own business showing companies ways to save big money on their electric utilities. But they thought Taylor Consulting and Contracting would be a “nice” little business that would keep Karen at home and reasonably comfortable. Then everything changed and their business exploded. 
Raised in Centralia, Blaise Alexander always wanted to be a Chevy dealer, but all he had was a dream, a willingness to work very hard and a mentor who asked for ten years to get him ready. Today there are 10 Blaise Alexander dealerships. He also found personal strength that saw him through the loss of his son and wife. Today he lives on the farm he and his wife dreamed of sharing. Humble, grateful and generous, Blaise believes sharing with those who run his businesses is how to succeed.
As soon as John Walker was old enough to drive, his father would insist he rush home from school to make business deliveries. RJ Walker Plumbing, Heating and Cooling Supplies, is a wholesale supply company started in 1954. In 1979 when their father died, John and his brother Bob stepped in to carry on the legacy. Hear about the risks and sacrifices that grew the business into a large distribution company with eight locations and the largest inventory in NEPA.
Meet a former high school teacher, principal and coach who started a business that decades later continues touching young lives in fourteen states. Jerry Preschutti has always loved motivating and mentoring boys and girls into men and women through academics and sports. As CEO of JP Sports Traditions, operating Pine Forest Football and Cheerleading camps in NEPA, his sons now work with Dad to honor tradition and produce results. Jerry’s countless protégés hail from across the country, but you’ll meet one from this area in our interview. 
Ask anyone what’s in the town called Elysburg and they’ll say Knoebels Amusement Resort. Ask the Knoebel family who printed their tickets for almost a century, and you’ll discover National Ticket Company. They’ve made billions of tickets that opened doors and gates from Broadway to Europe. National Ticket Company started 103 years ago and in still owned by the founding family. Meet the man in charge, President Earl Foura.
You’ll rarely meet two more different but highly compatible business and marriage partners than Rich and Deborah Connor. He’s a rare combination of passionate journalist and pragmatic businessman. She traveled internationally, speaks several languages and achieved major success in business all before meeting her husband. Today they own and operate newspapers in Pennsylvania and Maine, balancing their family and professional responsibilities while living life to the fullest. 
Jack Conyngham and his nephew Frank Conyngham don’t care to be called regional royalty, but in Benjamin Franklin’s time the family started in Philadelphia shipping and became lawyers and judges. One day a Conyngham rode the stagecoach to northeast Pennsylvania and a fortune in coal mining and real estate followed. Centuries of photographs, letters and memories have been preserved and beautiful land they once owned for farming has become a non-profit 412-acre classroom without walls called The Lands at Hillside Farms. 
Nicholas DeBenedictis was elected Chairman of Aqua America, Inc. in May 1993. Prior to joining Aqua America, DeBenedictis was senior vice president of corporate and public affairs for PECO Energy, a $4 billion nuclear utility and was president of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. DeBenedictis served in two cabinet positions in Pennsylvania government: Secretary of the Department of Environmental Resources (1983-1986) and Director of the Office of Economic Development (1981-1983). 
Citizen Gruver is a retired Goldman Sachs Wall Street executive who re-located to Eagles Mere (Sullivan County). He continues to consult for financial firms in the US, the UK, Italy and Switzerland and these days is a Distinguished Clinical Professor of Management at Bucknell University.
Citizens Bob and Shirley Fortinsky and their daughter Jill Fortinsky Schwartz are the owners of Fortune Fabrics, Inc./Wyoming Weavers in Luzerne County. Theirs is a wonderful story of humble beginnings, hard work, generosity and family succession.
Citizen Bohlin is an internationally recognized architect who was hired by Bill Gates of Microsoft to design his Seattle mansion overlooking Lake Washington and Steve Jobs to design an amazing new Apple store on Fifth Avenue. Gates and Jobs may not agree on much, but they both hired Peter Bohlin of Lackawanna County.
Citizen Twardzik's grandmother, Mary "Mrs. T" Twardzik had a homemade pierogies recipe her son and grandsons turned into a business. Everyone knows the colorful blue & yellow box in the frozen foods aisle, “Mrs. T’s Pierogies.” Mrs. T made them by the dozen in her Shenandoah home; now 200 employees make more than eleven million a week.
Citizen Lee, owner of Peking Chef Restaurants of Wilkes Barre and Dallas in Luzerne County was born in Malaysia and educated in the United States. What he has to say can change the way all of us think about America. Get ready to be inspired. 
Citizen Smith was raised poor and educated in a one-room schoolhouse, but remained disciplined enough to years later create a nationally recognized real estate business. She saved her money, made a lot of sacrifices along the way and needed to be relentless. Today she’s an investor, a mentor and regional leader. 
Citizens Dick and Ron Knoebel's family started in lumber but are known for their family amusement park, Knoebel's Amusement Resort, which is unlike any you’ll find elsewhere. Here there are no fences to keep you out, or an admission price to pay; there are plenty of benches to rest on and fun everywhere you look. For the Knoebel family, preserving the land in Elysburg PA. they’ve loved for generations, is the most important gift they can give YOU.
Citizens Pete and Carol Sides own Robert M. Sides Music Company, with stores in Williamsport, State College and Wilkes Barre. Pete and his staff became artists at restoring magnificent grand pianos. Their kids are running the stores now and the transition has not always been easy for Pete, a lifelong entrepreneur and former race car driver. Wife Carol is one of Lycoming County’s most active women, in politics, music, education and business.
Citizen Len Cornish is a remarkable Wilkes Barre African-American business owner and civic activist. He is a quiet man who gets emotional about five generations of his family who’ve lived here, and three generations who started businesses. This is one conversation you’ll remember for a long time. 
Citizen Chuck Parente is one of Northeast Pennsylvania’s quiet but highly influential investors. He owns or is a partner in TV stations, construction companies, coal mining and real estate. His success and generosity have benefited many of us, but in almost all cases, you’d never know it. Chuck Parente is mentoring the next generation.
Citizen Andrew Cornell's family-owned company made gun turrets for the Civil War; five generations later Cornell Iron Works today employs 600 people in three states. You’ll be captivated as you see how Andrew Cornell sees life differently than most entrepreneurs. 
Citizen Joe Nardone knows more than how to play a mean saxophone. He befriended rock stars like Billy Joel, Chicago, Jethro Tull, Barry Manilow, Daniel O’Donnell, Neil Diamond and the Four Seasons, opened a chain of stores called Gallery of Sound, and now, there’s a Joe Junior leading the band.
Citizen Noble “Bud” Quandel earned his success the hard way. What began as a horse-and-buggy limekiln operation in Minersville in 1882 is today one of the tri-state’s largest construction companies, the Quandel Group. 
Today Citizen John R. Lenahan, Jr., Esq. is the President of Lenahan and Dempsey of Scranton. A generation ago his father set the scene and now if your last name is Lenahan and you live in Scranton, there is a good chance you’re a lawyer. And your brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews are lawyers, too.
Citizen Ed Carr was a small-time, struggling entrepreneur at his fledgling Scranton Label when the US Hostage Crisis with Iran occurred and he printed those bumper stickers that said “Free The Hostages.” He thought his patriotic offer to make them for free would require a couple thousand. Eighty million later he was almost bankrupt, but he kept his promise and was invited to the White House. That’s only the beginning of Ed Carr’s story of generosity and success. 
Citizen Roger Haddon of WKOK Sunbury Broadcasting in Pennsylvania’s Central Susquehanna Valley is a third-generation operator of community radio. There aren't many left like him.
Citizen Larry Sarno is not alone when he says it was not easy working side by side with his father. Two “independent men” is how Larry describes it. But things are easier now; Sarno and Son is in the imaginative hands of his son and daughter. The very competitive business of renting and selling formal wear is thriving. 
Citizen Ed Deets could not wait to start building businesses and eventually a fortune. Shortly after graduating high school, he became the 3rd generation of the family to get involved with transportation by founding his own trucking business in 1947. His is one of those remarkable stories of loving hard work, having a dream and having it all.
Citizen Larry Cohen’s father Benjamin sold dental supplies from a 100 pound bag he lugged by train from Philadelphia to clients throughout the Northeast. From those modest beginnings grew Benco Dental, now located in Wilkes Barre and servicing customers in 30 states. 
Heller’s Orchards in Luzerne County, owned by Citizens Quentin, Ruth and Greg Heller, is a charming country destination for thousands of regional residents. It’s a year-round business that doesn’t always have a great relationship with Mother Nature, and a big responsibility, but it’s still “all in the family.”
Citizens Mario and Tom Nardone own a 100,000 square foot manufacturing plant that makes pizza all day long. They ship it across the country where kids in schools from California to here have it for lunch. Mario’s the dad, Tom’s one of the sons, and although the business changes and grows, tradition continues. 
Citizen Cliff Melberger created a company in Scranton named Diversified Information Technologies in the early 1980s. Twenty-seven years later there are 18 American locations and three across the world. His idea was as simple as the security of paper, of ideas, deals, business records, and more.
Until 1999, Citizen Kris Jones considered the word “Pepperjam” a reference to his Grandmother’s recipe for one of his favorite dishes. Not long after, and still in his twenties, he created an internet marketing firm that today is one of Inc. Magazine's Fastest Growing Privately-Held Companies in the United States. Not bad for a guy who once had sixty-thousand dollars in credit card debt and no idea of what he wanted to be.
