Episode 44, Pittsburgh Technology

This show was taped in January but it seems to be still timely to release the blog now considering gasoline is approaching $4.00 per gallon and one of the guests is developing a technology to make high grade bio diesel from oil bearing plants.
Listed below are the other guests involved in cutting edge technology, assistance or funding of that technology.

Joe Polk is a Senior Technical Specialist with Penn State’s Pennsylvania Technical Assistance Program (PennTAP). He provides technology and technical assistance to organizations and businesses in southwestern Pennsylvania.
PENNTAP Services

• Information Technology Assistance

 e-Business Roadmap, Business Planning, Readiness, Content Generation
 Security Assessment
 Disaster Planning / Recovery
 Requests For Proposal (RFP)
 Network Roadmap / Assessment
 Connectivity / Telecommunications
 Website Assessment
 Software / Hardware Selection
 Knowledge Management
 Email / Collaboration Assessment
 e-Learning Training
 IT and e-Business Policies / Procedures (Liability, Privacy, Security)

• Environmental Assistance
• Food Processing and Handling Assistance
• Forest Products Assistance
• Product Development Assistance
• Occupational Safety and Health Assistance
• Statistical Data and Analysis
• Technical Information Searches
• NASA Technology Transfer Assistance

For information or assistance contact:

Joseph M. Polk, Senior Technical Specialist
400 North Lexington Street, 3rd Floor
Pittsburgh, PA 15208
Phone: 412-352-6836 / Fax: 412-473-2768
E-mail: jpolk@psu.edu
Web: www.penntap.psu.edu

John Burke of Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh

John Burke, is a Sr. Business Specialist for the Business Development Center at the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh from 1992 to Present. As a loan officer, he has underwritten over 150 businesses loans utilizing a variety of public funding sources resulting in business investments of over $100 million. He has also been involved in over 40 Real Estate Development financing projects including key Pittsburgh landmarks and mixed use developments. John also helps to market the URA and articulate the organizational mission through personal contacts, electronic and written outlets. He is the BDC's liaison with the Pittsburgh Technology Council, Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse and other technology related groups. John can be reached at 412.255.6556.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh (URA) is the City of Pittsburgh's primary economic development agency. As a developer of last resort, the URA develops properties which the private sector will not undertake. The goals are to create jobs, increase the city's tax base, and improve the vitality of businesses, neighborhoods, and the City's culture as a whole. The URA's Business Development Center (BDC) helps Pittsburgh businesses leverage the capital necessary for their growth and success. Whether your business is building a new facility to accommodate expansion, seeking working capital to underwrite growth, purchasing or leasing new equipment, or all three, the URA is ready to assist. The BDC offers a variety of ‘gap’ loan financing products and has a network of technical assistance providers to achieve this mission. We will work with most any business and lender to make good deals work.

Funded by the URA and built on the site of the former Jones & Laughlin Hot Strip Mill, the Pittsburgh Technology Center reflects the old and the new in its design. High-tech buildings and generous open spaces represent Pittsburgh's evolution from a town founded on heavy industry to a city on the cutting edge of innovative research and technology. The project's master plan calls for the creation of a campus-like setting combining a riverwalk, tree-covered walkways, and a greensward consisting of a variety of grasses and wildflowers.


Lalit Chordia
Thar Technologies, Inc.

730 William Pitt Way
Pittsburgh, PA 15238
Telephone: (412) 435-0200
Fax: (412) 826-3215
Email: chordia@thartech.com
EDUCATION

Ph.D. Chemical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, 1985
B.S. Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Madra, 1980

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

1994-Present Founder
Thar Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Chennai, India

Super Critical Fluid Technology

Future market of this technology is in the energy areas of Biodiesel, Ethanol Recovery, Solar and Nuclear power and Geothermal Refrigeration. The process creates clean burning biodiesel fuel from oil bearing plants at a cost of about $2.85 a gallon to consumer.
Thar has just received a 2 million dollar grant from the federal government to develop a new biodiesel technology.
a. This technology follows the 3 E’s: Energy, Efficiency and the Environment
b. This technology is very versatile and the feed is multipurpose.
c. This is the beginning of our foray in the Energy area
d. This will produce jobs in our area and increase prosperity
e. a biodiesel factory in 2010.

Jo Ann Forrester is the one of the owner’s of SI Business Associates, business consulting form with over 30 years of consulting and acquisition of over 10 million dollars in funding for their clients with the use of Price It Perfect Cost Control Solution which was dev eloped by Jo Ann Forrester and her partner Jim Martin

Jo Ann R. Forrester: SI Business Associates; www.sibaworld.com, 412-440-6969

Small Business Solutions, LLC
Presents
Price it Perfect!
o Price it Perfect is a cost analysis and cost management program for small business.
o Price it Perfect QUICKLY and ACCURATLEY analyzes business cost structure.
o Price it Perfect eliminates costly mistakes on estimating and bidding projects.
o Price it Perfect is customized for each client It has been installed in 30 locations.
o Price it Perfect currently used as a cost analyzing and estimating tool by :

Cost Analysis of a business is also available. The analysis includes the following:
 Breakeven point
 Hourly, daily and weekly costs by project
 Hourly daily, and weekly costs of employees
 Administrative costs
 Variable costs
 Return on investment
 Equipment costs per hour
 Income and cash flow projections.
 Cash flow analysis