SBA Administrator Tours Local Woman-Owned Business

Wendy Staso (left), President and CEO of Huckestein Mechanical Services, Inc., explains the workings of her company's North Side pipe fabrication facility to SBA Administrator Karen Mills. Mills was in Pittsburgh to celebrate National Women-Owned Small Business Month.

SBA Administrator Karen Mills Tours Huckestein Mechanical Services, Inc.

In honor of National Women-Owned Small Business Month, Karen Mills, administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), toured Huckestein Mechanical Services, Inc., a woman-owned small business headquartered in Duquesne, PA, on Thursday, October 11. Mills travels weekly to visit small businesses around the country and chose Huckestein based on its thriving business model and use of SBA-sponsored programs and loans.

Huckestein Mechanical Services is owned by Wendy Staso, who purchased the company more than two years ago, restructuring and redefining the business to place the 60-year-old company on solid financial ground. Staso receives business counseling services from  Seton Hill University’s E-Magnify, an SBA resource partner and women’s business center.  In addition, she is a member of the Greensburg Chapter of the Women President's Organization hosted by E-Magnify.

Huckestein is a certified woman-owned mechanical contractor serving the tri-state region’s HVAC mechanical contracting needs for the commercial, industrial, institutional, and high-end residential markets. The new business model focuses on HVAC service, design-build projects, energy management strategies, and specialized services and diagnostics. As part of this restructuring, Huckestein Mechanical Services recently utilized an SBA-backed 7(a) loan from Enterprise Bank for debt restructuring and permanent working capital, and an SBA CAPLines loan, which is a revolving line of credit that provides short-term working capital.

“Operating capital is everything to a small business,” remarked Staso. "The SBA-backed loans opened up opportunities and enabled our doors to stay open.”

Administrator Mills (in the blue gloves) is shown the ropes at Huckestein as President and CEO Wendy Staso looks on.

In Fiscal Year 2012, SBA approved 444 loans in Western Pennsylvania, supporting more than $122 million to Western Pennsylvania’s small businesses. Since President Obama took office, SBA has supported more than $12.4 billion in lending through more than 35,500 SBA loans to women-owned businesses.