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23
Christina Springer
Age 37 | Co-founder and administrative director,
Sun Crumbs
"Sun Crumbs
is very concerned about how people in the 20-40 age bracket are
being served culturally in the city," says Christina Springer.
"Sun Crumbs fills that cultural void."
The North Side
resident is a multicultural artist whose work encompasses poetry,
theater, dance, music, film and other visual arts, but whose passion
is language. Her father quoted Shakespeare over the dinner table
in their Squirrel Hill home, and her mother took her to every kind
of lecture, reading and art opening in the region.
"I'm deeply
and passionately connected to artistic expression," says Springer.
She has been fortunate to spend her life working as an artist (with
diversions into the nonprofit working world), but she knows that
not everyone has that chance.
So in 1998
she and Christiane Leach (part of local band Soma Mestizo) started
Sun Crumbs to give artists the opportunity to perform.
"We were
agitated to action," says Springer.
The nonprofit,
transcultural and multi-arts organization combs the world (and Pittsburgh
itself) for artists, and it presents about 46 programs a year in
various venues. (The organization does not have a permanent home
yet.)
Sun Crumbs
has several regular recurring programs -- the most well-known of
which is the Pittsburgh Poetry Slam (housed in the Shadow Lounge
in East Liberty).
"We've
created so much steam and hullabaloo, people think we're doing some
pretty great things around town," she says.
The spring
promises to be a busy time for Springer. A performance that debuted
in Chicago this fall, Odditorium: a sideshow in four movements,
will be coming to Pittsburgh (location TBD).
She also is
planning two more shows here during the spring: Color Cast/ Sugarfree,
featuring six black women artists talking about color; and Four
Corners, a show about the Wild West. Springer has traveled all over
the world during her life as an artist, but she always returns home.
"Pittsburgh
provided a wonderful home base for me," she says. "ZIP
code has nothing to do with artistic excellence."
Sun
Crumbs:
412/732-0762.
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27
Joe Kuklis
Age 30 | Senior partner, GSP Consulting Corp.
Joe Kuklis
isn't your typical lobbyist. He doesn't live and work in Washington,
D.C., or the state capital, and he doesn't lobby for huge companies
or interest groups. Instead, he and his partner, John Dick, work
in Station Square and represent start-ups and early-stage companies.
"Our company
has a different way of lobbying," says Kuklis. The Baldwin
Borough native in February quit his job of seven years as U.S. Sen.
Rick Santorum's Western Pennsylvania economic-development director
to start his own company, GSP (Government Service Providers) Consulting.
While working
with the junior Republican senator, Kuklis was lobbied and saw the
good and bad of lobbying. GSP
Consulting specializes in providing affordable government-affairs
assistance to growing companies, mostly tech companies.
He and his
partner noticed a trend in tech companies -- they were beginning
to take interest in government as a business resource. But "they
were nonpolitical," says Kuklis, and unfamiliar with the lobby
process.
"They
knew what an ISP was and an ASP [referring to Internet service provider
and application service provider]. GSP was a way of reaching out
to them," he says.
GSP assists
companies in securing grants, venture capital, low-interest loans
and other forms of government assistance. GSP also helps companies
market themselves to government through elected official visits,
tours and open houses.
Less than a
year old, GSP already has 12 clients -- six of them tech companies.
Kuklis says his firm doesn't limit itself to tech companies, but
also serves nonprofits and developers. In fact, Boston-based Saturn
Venture Capital was GSP's first customer.
Currently,
GSP consists of Kuklis and his partner, but they are hoping to hire
one, possibly two, employees by the end of the year.
Kuklis has
no plans to leave Pittsburgh, although he may establish offices
in Harrisburg and D.C. Last
year, he completed the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance's Regional Champions
program, which trains local professionals to act as ambassadors,
promoting the region.
"I love
Pittsburgh," says Kuklis. "It's my home."
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24
Brian Conboy
Age 29 | President, Advanticom and ICN
Brian Conboy
has been an entrepreneur for 21 years, which is pretty amazing when
you consider he's only 29.
The Pleasant
Hills native's first venture was buying candy wholesale and then
selling it to other children -- when he was 8 years old. He made
about $500 every six months until he was 14. His profits helped
pay for his tuition at Penn State University. And Pittsburgh continues
to be a good place for Conboy to do business.
"I have
always liked Pittsburgh," says Conboy. That's part of the reason
his latest endeavors, Advanticom and ICN (Integrated Communication
Networks), are here.
Conboy bought
a 23-year-old telecommunications business (then called Telecom)
4 1/2 years ago after meeting the company's former owner while working
at Allnet, a Fortune 500 long-distance carrier. The idea was to
bring high-end communication capabilities to small and mid-sized
markets, he explains.
His renamed
Advanticom installs and maintains voice, data and video systems,
and local and wide-area network systems. Since he took over, the
company has grown to 35 employees, is worth $3.4 million and has
about 2,200 customers in the Greater Pittsburgh area. Two
years ago, he bought ICN, a business that does for computer networks
what Advanticom does for telephone systems.
Conboy takes
pride in providing consistent, stable service to his customers.
"We've been profitable in an up-and-down market," he says.
Conboy isn't
content, though, and plans to expand the businesses. "The talent
that is here [in Pittsburgh] is great," he says. "We're
using Pittsburgh as the template."
When not working
at Advanticom (or deep-sea fishing, Conboy's other passion), he
is working with other companies, establishing relationships with
other business owners.
He also is
involved with two business organizations, the Pittsburgh chapter
of the Young Entrepreneurs' Organization, a global, nonprofit educational
organization that provides its members with educational and networking
opportunities; and TAG (Technology Assurance Group), a national
organization of vendors that try to develop quality business practices.
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28
Justin Strong
Age 23 | President and founder, Seventh Movement/
Shadow Lounge
Justin Strong
has big plans. The Point Breeze resident just incorporated his entertainment
and retail-development company, Seventh Movement, in September.
He sees the company's expanding to encompass clothing lines, diners,
clubs, and progressive, multicultural events.
Seventh Movement's
first (and, for now, only) project, the Shadow Lounge in East Liberty,
is less than 2 years old, but it's already making a difference.
The all-ages, smoke- and alcohol-free venue features live music,
DJs, art shows and poetry events.
"I'm a
natural host," says Strong. So Shadow Lounge seemed an appropriate
first venture. "It [Shadow Lounge] gives an outlet to a lot
of talent." And a lot of young people are taking notice of
this laid-back "chill spot."
Strong grew
up in Point Breeze, helping out at his grandfather's dry-cleaning
business. He got the entrepreneur bug. Later he became involved
in the New York-based National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurs,
interning in 1997 and serving as its alumni coordinator.
He got his
first hosting experience in 1998, when he and a friend put on a
fashion show. Soon, they were doing other events.
Strong says
that Shadow Lounge (named because it serves a community that Strong
feels is overlooked and in the shadows) is 60 percent completed.
(He wants to eventually get a coffee shop in there.) Right now,
he's renting out the venue frequently because of a lack of smaller
venues in the region, but the Lounge still offers regularly scheduled
events each week from Tuesday through Sunday.
Strong is already
thinking about his next project, an upscale dance club/bar, which
he hopes to make a reality by 2005. Don't look for Strong to leave
the region any time soon. "This is the land of opportunity,"
he says.
Shadow
Lounge.
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25
Walt Nesbit
Age 32 | Owner, Nesbit's Karate and Fitness
Walt Nesbit
has a very full life. In fact, it's virtually impossible to get
hold of him.
That's understandable,
when you consider that the Oakdale native is a single father raising
his 8-year-old son, Tyler, while juggling a full-time job at Gooding
& Shields Rubber Co., running his own karate studio, working a side
job selling water filters, and periodically selling his own line
of barbecue sauce at local flea markets.
The second-degree
black belt's Hanky Farms-based studio, Nesbit's Karate and Fitness,
celebrates its second-year anniversary this month. Nesbit teaches
karate classes to children and adults, as well as personal training,
self-defense and kick-boxing classes.
"I enjoy
helping other people release stress," he says. Nesbit keeps
himself busy outside his karate school and day job in administration
at Gooding & Shields by making and selling his own line of gourmet
marinades and sauces, Big W Barbecue, using old family recipes.
He has taken
a break recently from sauce-making to spend more time with his son
and girlfriend, Jennifer, but plans on starting it back up this
fall.
Big
W Barbecue inquiries.
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26
Dr. Michael Collins
Age 32 | Assistant director, UPMC Sports Concussion
Program
"Two passions
of mine are sports and the brain," says Dr. Michael Collins.
And he has found a way to put the two together and make a significant
difference in the lives of athletes here and elsewhere.
The nationally
known sports-concussion researcher came to Pittsburgh in September
2000 to work with UPMC's one-of-a-kind program, which aims to more
accurately evaluate sports concussions and assess when it is safe
for an athlete to return to play. The question has troubled sports
trainers and doctors for years.
The Shadyside
resident (and director Dr. Mark Lovell) both came from the Henry
Ford Health System in Detroit. While there, Collins had completed
a neuropsychology fellowship under Lovell's direction.
Besides heading
two major multi-site studies involving the effects of concussion
and return-to-play evaluations, he helped develop ImPACT (Immediate
Post-concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing) -- software that
Collins says is "like giving the brain a physical." (Most
of the research team that developed ImPACT now work at the sports-concussion
program.)
ImPACT collects
pre-season baseline data on an athlete's neurocognitive function.
If he or she experiences a concussion during the season, another
test is done and compared with the first.
The software
is being used by the Steelers and other pro-football teams, as well
as by several college and high school sports teams. (Collins and
the UPMC team oversee the neuropsychological testing for the National
Football League and the National Hockey League.)
An athlete
himself (he runs and plays flag football), Collins says ImPACT and
the sports-concussion program could improve the health of athletes
from high school through the professional level.
"It's
going to revolutionize concussion management," says Collins.
"We're on the cutting edge of this injury."
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29
Drew Elste
Age 30 | Founder, Pittsburgh Sports League
Drew Elste
is using flag football to keep young people in Pittsburgh.
Elste, who
works at Keystone Manufacturing, is the founder of the year-old
Pittsburgh Sports League (a PUMP program), which aims to be a one-stop
shop for finding athletic, social and educational activities for
young professionals -- something increasingly important in courting
young people.
"There's
a need and a desire for this," says the Shadyside resident.
The PSL started
last year with a single flag-football league, which Elste and PUMP
organized in one month. During PSL's first year, 1,000 people played
in 12 leagues. There are about 430 people signed up for the fall's
four leagues.
"I think
we'll have 2,000 people this year, easily," says Elste. Flag
football is the most popular league so far. Participants can sign
up as a team or individual, making the PSL a good way to make new
friends and meet people, and at the same time, participate in physical
activity.
Elste has big
plans for the PSL, but not too big. PUMP recently hired a program
manager to handle the PSL's day-to-day activities. Elste is still
involved administratively. He foresees the organization's growing
to 3,000 people per year, or even more.
The PSL is
looking for sponsors for entire leagues as well as for individual
teams. Other plans include branching out into recreational and competitive
leagues, single-sex leagues (everything is co-ed right now), and
nontraditional sports like white-water rafting, hiking and biking.
"We don't
want to grow too big, too fast," he says. "What we do,
we want to do well."
Pittsburgh
Sports League: Fees from $30-$60 per person, $350-$450 per team.
412/338-2133.
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