May 26, 2017 4 min read

There were no caps or gowns nor the playing of “Pomp and Circumstance” for the class in the meeting room at 90 W. Chestnut St. Thursday morning.

But the 25 graduates of the Small Business Development Center of University of Pittsburgh’s “Planning for Profits” program were definitely ready to take the next step in growing their businesses.

For the past six weeks on alternate Thursdays, the group of existing small-business owners had gathered to pursue a variety of topics related to ways of looking at their operations and determining what was working and what needed improvement.

Among them was Bob Henry of Command Systems of Oakmont, whose 40-year-old company has made a living repairing industrial and electronic equipment for the area’s mining industry.

Like many of the others who talked about their classroom experiences Thursday, Henry said the biggest challenge has been finding new customers, given the declines in mining.

He told the other graduates the course taught him “that all problems are solvable, and that you can teach an old dog new tricks.”

“For the past 40 years, our business has been tied to the mining industry, with 95 percent of our revenue tied to that industry,” he said.

For Henry, one of the biggest takeaways from attending the classes, which were taught by SBDC’s Michael Wholihan, was he could learn from other business operators, even if they weren’t working in the same industries, which ranged from cupcake-baking to janitorial supplies.

“I had to ask myself, ‘What do I have in common with (people selling) toilet paper and cupcakes?'” Henry said.

Some of the common ground he discovered was finding new business opportunities now includes use of social media.

“You have to step back and think differently,” he said. “I had to break out of (the traditional) space and find new customers.”

Henry said after his talk the company also does work for the oil and gas industry and for manufacturing companies. He said he has seen business picking up again in oil and gas after the downturn of the past couple of years, and even some rebound in the mining industry.

Another of Thursday’s graduates was Casey Clark, owner of Charleroi’s Off The Wall Arts, an entrepreneur whose site also includes a satellite operation for Washington Winery. Clark owns two buildings that house other business tenants.

On June 2, she’ll hold a grand opening for her latest business venture at 532 McKean Ave., “Perked Up Cafe,” which will be the town’s first coffee shop.

Clark said she attended the classes based on recommendations of others who had taken similar classes from Wholihan.

The biggest idea was reinforced for her, she said, was business owners must constantly grow their endeavors and change them.

“You need to keep it fresh because people like to do new things,” she said.

Ellan Toothman of Waynesburg, who with her daughter runs Chatty Cupcakes, offered similar advice to her classmates. “You need to look at what you do differently,” she said of her business, which includes a unique vending machine experience in the Galleria shopping complex in Mt. Lebanon, in addition to the customized cupcakes she makes to order for customers.

“We put an element of personal touch in every order as much as we can,” she said.

Classes began in March and covered topics such as ways to generate and improve cash flows; identifying distribution challenges for new sales; designing a strategic pitch and setting measurable goals; creating a comprehensive business model; reviewing the company’s website and social media research; and developing strategies to overcome barriers.

The 25 people who graduated Thursday represented the second group of small businesses to take the class in Washington County.

A pilot version of “Planning for Profits,” which is funded by Appalachian Regional Commission, was held in the fall in Charleroi and produced 24 graduates.