A Morgantown strategic planning and consulting operation is forging new business ties to the north.
“We’re excited for the expansion and the opportunity,” said Frank Vitale, a former eldercare administrator and banker who established his Forge firm in 2017.
“Forge is always going to be a Morgantown company,” he said, “but this is a chance for us to encourage even more business growth.”
The company recently opened its Pittsburgh office in Bakery Square, a mixed-use development in East Liberty, a Steel City neighborhood that has reinvented itself in recent years.
Bakery Square is also home to the Pittsburgh offices of the search engine titan Google, Vitale said.
The Software Engineering Institute of Carnegie Mellon University is also housed there, along with Philips Respironics, a sleep and respiratory firm which also has an office in the same complex.
Another neighbor is the Pittsburgh office of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, with which Vitale has a real kinship.
In 1991, at the height of the Cold War, he enlisted in the U.S. Army.
He was 17 when he raised his hand for the oath and he stayed in long enough to later earn a commission as an officer.
Along with the Pittsburgh expansion, Forge also recently earned a certification from the U.S. Small Business Association, Vitale said.
Forge’s designation as an official Service Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business opens the firm to federal contracts — while also giving occupational oomph, the company founder said, to its already established mission of reaching out to entrepreneurs who also wore the uniform.
While Pittsburgh is the 25th-largest commercial market in the country, the city still maintains a small-town vibe, Vitale said, which suits Forge just fine.
“We’re good neighbors in the community,” he said.
“We support the United Way and we sponsor sports teams,” he continued.
That’s why Forge offers strategic planning and related services to a host of nonprofits as well, he said.
It’s about service to country and commerce, he said.
“We just want to help people and companies succeed,” Vitale said.
“That’s our professional motivation and that’s what motivates me, emotionally.”
To learn more, visit www.forgebz.com or its LinkedIn page: Forge Business Solutions LLC.
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