In this episode, we sit down with Chris Lantinen and Brandon Borgia of Borgia Art Studios to talk about Northwest PA Made—a nine‑month accelerator that is reshaping how artists and makers grow their businesses in our region. We explore how the program blends group classes, one‑on‑one coaching, and service stipends to help established makers optimize websites, pricing, bookkeeping, branding, and legal protection, while connecting them to powerful resources like the Beehive Network, Bridgeway Capital, Trellis Legal, and the Idea Lab at Blasco Library.

Brandon shares how Northwest PA Made helped him turn his passion for art into a thriving business, from SEO and trademarks to partnerships with other local makers. Chris explains the “made local, buy local” mission behind the program and why building networks among creatives, small businesses, and resource partners is key to long‑term success in northwestern Pennsylvania.

In this episode of the Family Business Experience, we sit down with Mike Malley, third‑generation leader of Malley’s Chocolates, a 90‑plus‑year icon in Northeast Ohio. Mike shares the origin story that began in Meadville, PA during the Great Depression, the high‑stress growth years of expanding factories and ice cream parlors, and his transition into the CEO role.

We dive into sibling dynamics, buy‑sell agreements, stock transfers, and the strategic shift from seasonal firefighting to long‑term stewardship of a valuable family asset. Mike also opens up about exploring outside capital and potential exits while protecting legacy, values, and relationships.

If you lead or work in a family‑owned company, this conversation offers real‑world insight on governance, succession, and what it truly means to be the generation that grows the business instead of becoming the cocktail‑party punchline.

This episode features Jordan Fuller of the Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership in a conversation about where multi‑generation family businesses and early‑stage startups actually overlap. Jordan explains how programs like the FIRE Accelerator bring together capital, mentorship, curriculum, and networks, and how established family firms can use those same tools to spin out new product lines, test succession‑related ventures, and think more entrepreneurially without abandoning their core.

The discussion explores practical startup methods such as customer discovery, short time‑boxed experiments, and focused sprints and applies them to legacy companies that want to modernize operations, strengthen customer relationships, and avoid being outpaced by newer competitors. Jordan also describes Erie’s “no wrong door” economic‑development approach, the Diverse Business Scholarship Program, and why partnering with founders, accelerators, and beehive resources is just as relevant to a fourth‑generation manufacturer as to a first‑time entrepreneur.

For family business owners and next‑generation leaders, this episode offers a roadmap for combining the stability of legacy with the energy of a startup, and for telling a business story that highlights not just revenue, but identity, continuity, and commitment to place.

This episode features a conversation with Michelle Izbicki of the Barber National Institute and Heather Evans of Port Erie Plastics about how Supported Employment creates meaningful work for individuals with disabilities while solving real workforce needs for local employers. The discussion unpacks Pennsylvania’s “employment first” commitment and how Barber’s Supported Employment Program turns that vision into day‑to‑day practice, through community‑based assessments, tailored job development, and on‑the‑job coaching.

Michelle explains how job coaches walk alongside participants through interviews, the first 40 hours on the job, and any new tasks that arise later, with a goal of fading support as independence grows. Heather shares how Port Erie Plastics was introduced to the program at a hiring event, hosted on‑site “shadow days,” hired two employees through the program, and saw one progress from part‑time to full‑time and into a leadership role, strengthening culture and proving that “everybody belongs here.”

For Erie‑area family and closely held businesses, the episode highlights Supported Employment as an untapped talent pipeline, a built‑in training partner, and a practical way to align operations with community values.

This episode features a conversation with Kevin DiGilio, founder of KMD Technology Solutions and spin‑off AIBI, on how a highly technical software company unexpectedly grew into a multigenerational family enterprise. Kevin traces the journey from a single project‑management platform built during an internship at LORD Corporation to a secure system now supporting hundreds of complex engineering and manufacturing projects around the world.

The discussion explores how his daughter Courtney became the platform’s lead tester, trainer, and de facto product owner, and how his son Nathan joined during COVID through a programming co‑op, helping prove that powerful AI models can safely run on local hardware inside regulated facilities. Together, they now use structured data systems and air‑gapped AI to clean decades of “messy” manufacturing information, automate documentation, and surface insights engineers never had time to find.

For family businesses and manufacturers alike, the episode illustrates what it looks like when next‑generation talent brings AI, automation, and fresh thinking into an existing enterprise while a founder focuses on mentoring, setting guardrails, and making the company flexible enough for them to take it in new directions.

In this episode, we sit down with James Bly, Managing Director of Family Enterprise Business Services at EY, to talk about what the next 40–50 years will look like for family business heirs. James explains why the post‑World War II era of globalization and efficiency effectively ended early with COVID‑19 and how we’ve entered a new “S‑curve” defined by de‑globalization, geopolitical fragmentation, rapid digital change, and demographic shifts.

We dig into what he calls a NAVI world, nonlinear, accelerated, volatile, and interconnected and why owners can’t simply train the next generation for the business as it exists today. James walks through his “four quadrants” of positioning, 11 core performance factors, and the 10 exponential technologies (from AI and quantum computing to biotech, robotics, and renewables) that will reshape business models in the coming decades.

If you’re thinking about long‑term succession, board and owner governance, or how to give heirs the strategic literacy to steward your enterprise into the next S‑curve, this conversation is a roadmap for where to start.

In this episode, we sit down with Steve and Nate Jones of Ron Jones Hardwood, a multi‑generation hardwood lumber company rooted in northwestern Pennsylvania. Steve shares how his father Ron launched the business in 1983, built a reputation strong enough to put his own name on the door, and gradually transitioned ownership to Steve over many years as the industry, product mix, and markets shifted again and again.

Nate joins to tell the third‑generation story: from childhood trips to the yard, to a formative journey to China at 18 where a customer pulled him aside and sold him on the future of hardwoods, to graduating into COVID, going through lumber‑grading school in Memphis, and being pulled into sales when demand exploded. Along the way, we talk about what it means to grow up watching your dad sell, work side‑by‑side in the office, and still have a grandfather who calls regularly just to ask, “What’s going on in the industry today?”

If you’re in a family business, this conversation is a great window into generational mirroring—how Ron mentored Steve, how Steve now mentors Nate and his brother Isaac, and how each generation is trying to honor the name on the sign without locking the next one into something they don’t love.

When Tom Tredway moved back to Erie to join his family’s plastics company, he walked straight into a crisis: the bank dropped them, 60% of their business had disappeared offshore, and his dad was asking if it was time to shut the doors.

Instead of liquidating, they doubled down on a new niche, stock threaded caps for the packaging industry and spent the next decade grinding through a complete rebuild of Erie Molded Packaging.

In this episode, Tom shares:

• How his dad went from Montreal banking to San Diego sandwich shops to buying distressed plastics equipment in Erie.

• The brutal five‑year stretch where globalization wiped out most of their contract manufacturing work.

• The “Night Flights” beer conversation where father and son chose to risk retirement savings to pursue a new vision.

• How landing Utz Quality Foods became the launchpad for a focused packaging strategy.

• Why simplifying products, joining peer groups, and open‑book management became their levers for survival and growth.

If you’re in a family business facing headwinds, Tom’s story is a masterclass in pivoting, communicating with your team, and rebuilding trust, from the shop floor to the bank.

What if Erie could keep more of its own tax dollars working here at home?

In this episode, host Jacob Jones sits down with Brian Polito, Executive Director of the Erie CRIZ Authority, to unpack how the City Revitalization and Improvement Zone (CRIZ) works, why Erie fought to secure it, and what it means for local and family‑owned businesses.

Brian explains:

• What the CRIZ is and how it captures state and local taxes for reinvestment in Erie

• Where Erie’s CRIZ zones are located and the kinds of projects they can support

• How the program helps close funding gaps on projects that “almost” pencil out

• What business owners need to do (and not do) to participate

• Early projects already moving forward—and what they signal about Erie’s future

If you’re a business owner, developer, or community member who cares about Erie’s next 30 years, this conversation will help you see where the opportunities are and how to get to the table early.

Erie CRIZ Authority

• Address: 100 State Street, Suite 700, Erie, PA 16507

• Phone: (814) 679‑CRIZ (2749)

• Email (general): [email protected]

• Website: https://eriecriz.org

Executive Director – Brian Polito

• Email: [email protected]

• Phone: (814) 679‑2749

This podcast is sponsored by Zac Wild CFP, CEPA financial advisor with Edward Jones. Zac works for business owners who are interested in maximizing their investments in tandem with efficient tax strategies. this includes fully leveraging the benefits of 401k's, SIMPLE IRA, and other more unique tax advantaged accounts. Learn more about Zac by clicking here.

In this episode, host Jacob sits down with Casey Lucas Szumigala, founder and owner of Click Pragmatics, to dive into the messy, emotional, and absolutely necessary communication that keeps family businesses alive. Casey unpacks how families can talk about the hardest topics: death, money, responsibilities, succession, and transitions.

Drawing on real scenarios, Jacob and Casey explore what happens when a family member dies and someone outside the business is suddenly asked to “come run it,” how to plan for succession before a crisis, and how to navigate grief while still keeping the business afloat. They also dig into money conversations (who gets paid what and why), how to address feeling undervalued in a family role, and why clarity around pay structure matters so much in a family context.

The conversation then shifts to communication styles and generations how to speak to different personalities (direct, diplomatic, deliberate, dynamic), why knowing your audience matters, and how to approach pay and responsibility conversations depending on who you’re talking to. How emotional and social intelligence can help keep relationships healthy on and off the clock.

Finally, Jacob and Casey look at multi‑generational family businesses: older and younger family members working side by side, the temptation to stereotype generations, and how to replace “you don’t get it” with curiosity, respect, and shared values. Casey argues that every generation has faced its own hard things—and that leveraging each group’s strengths can create something no single generation could build alone.

About the Guest – Casey Lucas Szumigala

Casey Lucas Szumigala is the founder and owner of Click Pragmatics, a communication consulting practice focused on helping people communicate more clearly, compassionately, and effectively at work and in life. She specializes in social‑emotional intelligence, communication styles, and practical tools for navigating difficult conversations—especially in complex environments like family businesses.

In her work, Casey helps individuals and teams understand their own communication style, recognize others’ styles, and build strategies to better connect across differences in personality, generation, and role.

Her approach is grounded, pragmatic, and deeply human, with a focus on getting through the “ick” of hard conversations so people can move forward together.​

Connect with Casey

• Website: https://www.clickpragmatics.com​

• Email: [email protected]
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/casie-lucas-szumigala-75a98795/

This podcast is sponsored by Zac Wild CFP, CEPA financial advisor with Edward Jones. Zac works for business owners who are interested in maximizing their investments in tandem with efficient tax strategies. this includes fully leveraging the benefits of 401k's, SIMPLE IRA, and other more unique tax advantaged accounts.