Wendell August Forge President to Keynote Entrepreneur’s Growth Conference

Will Knecht, president of Wendell August Forge, will deliver the keynote address at the 15th annual Entrepreneur’s Growth Conference on Friday, May 10. Presented by the Small Business Development Center (SBDC), the conference will be held from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Union.

Two days after receiving its largest order ever—aluminum tickets to commemorate the final Penguins hockey game at Mellon Arena—Wendell August Forge suffered a devastating fire that destroyed the company’s workshop, office and flagship store in Grove City, Pa.

Knecht said that even though Wendell August Forge has been in business for more than 90 years, the aftermath of the 2010 fire has required the company to function more like a startup.

“It turned from what could have been a very bad situation into something that has really put us on a trajectory for some exciting growth and opportunity,” Knecht explained. “That’s going to be the focus of my discussion. I’ll talk a little about our history and the fire itself, but the balance of the talk is about what happened after the fire and the lesson in it for entrepreneurs.”

Knecht contends that being a successful entrepreneur relies heavily on the way obstacles are confronted.

“As entrepreneurs, we face different challenges every week,” he said. “It’s how we respond to those challenges that gives us the opportunity to take a lemon and truly make it lemonade.”

The SBDC conference will also offer 15 workshops, a business-building networking mixer and a luncheon during which attendees will be seated with experts ranging from technology, marketing and financial professionals to an entrepreneur who appeared on Shark Tank on ABC-TV.

Workshop tracks are geared toward new ventures, established businesses and technology companies. Topics include marketing, public relations, strategic planning, finances and technology.

More information is available by visiting www.duq.edu/sbdc or calling 412.396.1633