Promoting Excellence in Small Business

Two of ten winners of the Chamber’s 2008 Excellence Awards Honoring the Region’s Small Businesses are featured in this issue: Small Business Person of the Year, Gustavo Perea (Adams-Bickel Associates, Inc.); and Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Steve Grandizio (Friendly Mortgage). Be sure to look for additional winners in upcoming issues. Nominations for the 2009 Excellence Awards will be accepted starting in April.

Small Business Person of the Year, Gustavo Perea

As a native-born Cuban child in a family of seven children, Gustavo (Gus) I. Perea saw his parents lose everything and have to relocate to a foreign country. Led by the strength and perseverance of his parents, his family built their new lives in Philadelphia. His belief in the American dream helped him achieve success both personally and professionally.

Perea honed his leadership skills in the U.S. Navy where he received an honorable discharge, and through the Rapport Leadership International program. He joined Adams-Bickel Associates, Inc. (ABA) in 1987 and helped position it as one of the top commercial, industrial, institutional and residential builders in the tri-state area.

From new construction to preventive and restorative maintenance, the full-service firm focused on delivering high-quality projects on-time and on-budget, while proactively addressing safety requirements and developing long-term relationships with clients and partners. Under Perea’s leadership, ABA is one of the few Philadelphia area builders that has taken on Green Building initiatives for its clients. With its LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) training, Adams-Bickel constructs buildings that promote a whole-building approach to new environmentally friendly structures.

Perea’s involvement in local and national business organizations and local municipal commissions underscores his commitment to the Philadelphia area and leadership in the construction industry. He chairs the Government Affairs Coordinating Committee for Associated Builders & Contractors (ABC) National, and has served as the National Free Enterprise Alliance’s chair as well as ABC Southeastern PA president and co-chairman. Perea is also active with a National General Contractor Peer Group, Doylestown Borough Planning Commission, Doylestown Borough Building Code Committee, The Bucks County Historical Society Grounds and Building Committee and Middle Bucks County Institute of Technology Local Advisory Council.

Perea’s legacy includes involvement with the Bucks-Mont Katrina Relief project that resulted in building a new daycare center in Waveland, MS, for Katrina victims. He’s also an advocate for educating Philadelphia area youth, guidance counselors and parents by providing real-life views of careers in the construction field.

Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Steve Grandizio

Home-grown entrepreneur, Steve Grandizio, grew up in Media. He graduated from Wilmington College with a BA in Communications in 1993 and a Master’s in Science-Public Administration in 1998. In between that time, he played professional baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Returning to Philadelphia in 1996, Steve and his brother, Paul “Chip” Donohue (technically step-brothers for 28 years), began investing in real estate in the Roxborough/Manayunk neighborhoods of Philadelphia. Chip, who had already opened a non-profit credit card debt consolidation firm, kept pushing Steve to open a mortgage brokerage company.

After becoming licensed in 2003, Steve launched his new company; one month later the industry peaked. Although not exactly perfect timing, the company has seen continued growth quarter over quarter for gross sales every year, even while the mortgage industry has continued to decline.

With a staff of 13 at offices in Old City Philadelphia and West Palm Beach, Florida, Friendly Mortgage helps its clients incorporate their mortgage into their overall financial strategy to increase their safety, liquidity, rate of return and wealth. Grandizio’s service philosophy combines the concepts that “the clients’ perception is the company’s reality” and that “clients can never be treated too well.” The goal is to make every client feel comfortable through the entire process, with step-by-step explanations, a team-signed trademarked Realtor Pledge, and attending the actual closing.

Steve’s commitment to the Greater Philadelphia region and its residents is evidenced by his work as co-founder and co-chair for Little Smiles of Pennsylvania, a charitable organization for children in local hospitals, hospices and shelters; chair of Covenant House, a national organization providing shelter and assistance to run-away youth; executive committee member of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Light the Night 2007; and founder and chair of ThurMo Real Estate Networking Group.