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Six area business leaders join host FUS business students in annual entrepreneur seminar

STEUBENVILLE – The annual “Project Bootstraps” seminar, where potential entrepreneurs learn the successes and failures of those already in business, will be held by the Franciscan University of Steubenville chapter of the Christian Association of Student Entrepreneurs Thursday.

The event, which will begin at 7 p.m. in the Seminar Room of the St. Joseph Center on the university campus, will feature six business owners in a presentation with a question-and-answer format geared toward educating potential new small business owners.

The business owners participating this year include Greg Froehlich of Froehlich’s Classic Corner, Richard Saxon of R.E. Saxon Jeweler, Ed Rice Jr. of Signs Limited, Edward Littlejohn, owner of the Academy of Taw Kwon Do Studios, Jerry Barilla of Frank & Jerry’s Furniture and Appliance Co. and Tricia Maple-Damewood, owner of Sincerely Yogurt and the Inn at Brandywine, as well as president of the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce.

– Barilla was born and raised in Steubenville and is a graduate of Steubenville High School and Kent State University.

He taught eighth grade at Grant Junior High School, and has been married to Toronto native Judy Gibson for 48 years.

He joined his father’s business, Frank & Jerry’s 48 years ago. Frank & Jerry’s is at 143 N. Fourth St.

He is a member of the Triumph of the Cross/Holy Rosary Church, is president of the Historic Fort Steuben/Steubenville Visitors Center and the First Federal Land Office park, is past president of the Steubenville Revitalization Group, a member of the board of the Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County, the Steubenville Civil Service Commission and the Save the Grand Theater group.

– Froehlich’s Classic Corner Restaurant, Lounge and Catering, Fifth and Washington streets, followed the success of Froehlich’s Riverboat Room. Together, the businesses represent 18 years of experience in Steubenville.

Previous to that, Froehlich had more than 20 years’ experience, managing country clubs in Tennessee, Texas and Ohio. Additional ventures include the Eastern Gateway Community College snack and vending area and catering to the college, the Moundsville Country Club, the Weirton All Saints Greek Orthodox Church hall, as well as the planned June re-opening of the Serra Manor Conference Hall as the exclusive caterer.

Froehlich said his claim to fame is the ability and willingness to customize menus and services to suit the customer’s preference.

“We cater with care anywhere,” he said, including off-site to Pittsburgh, Wheeling, Columbus, Harrison, Brooke, Hancock and Washington counties.

Froehlich is working toward completion of a new menu with options for a daily a la carte menu. Froehlich’s Classic Corner includes banquet facilities for various size groups, accommodating 10 to 250 people, including the Museum/Event Hall with numerous musical, comedy and vendor events, as well as showers and other events year-round. The venues are overseen by Froehlich, his wife, Debbie, and his younger sister, Laura.

Froehlich is a graduate of Catholic Central High School and attended Ohio University. He also is a graduate of EGCC. He is a member of the Steubenville Revitalization Group and the Save the Grand committee.

– Littlejohn is a well-known martial arts master and has taught several generations of area residents self-defense and Tae Kwon Do. The Academy of Tae Kwon Do Studios are at 356 Main St., in Wintersville. He has more than 40 years of hands-on experience in martial arts, starting as a student, teacher, competitor and owner. He is a 7th Degree Black Belt in the Korean art of Taw Kwon Do and a 1st Degree Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and multiple other styles.

His motto through the years has been “to show our young people that with hard work, determination and believing in yourself, that you can do it with the ‘Yes I can attitude.'”

– Maple-Damewood opened Sincerely Yogurt in the Hollywood Plaza nearly a year ago. It was the latest addition to a series of businesses she owns and operates, including Bottom Line Marketing, which provides marketing consulting and direct services in all areas of marketing including direct mail, print, residential and business mailing lists, printing, lettershop work, copywriting and editing, customer service and mystery shopper programs.

She also is the owner and manager of The Inn at Brandywine in Toronto, overseeing day-to-day operations of a scenic specialty lodging facility, where her duties include marketing, accounting, guest relations, special events coordination, meal service and maintenance, as well as responsibilities for development and implementation of the business plan since the inception of the inn.

Her chamber duties included previous service as membership director and special events coordinator, including the recruitment and retention of membership, marketing and correspondence, as well as major special events coordination and management, from budgeting to volunteer management.

She holds a bachelor of science degree in business and marketing from the University of Akron.

She and her husband, David, also operated Brandywine Basement Waterproofing for a dozen years beginning in 1990, and Ohio Valley Fitness, which was destroyed in a 2000 fire.

– Rice is a lifelong Ohio Valley native. Rice founded Signs Limited, 356 Technology Way, in 1983, initially as a “hobby” in the basement of his home while he worked full time at Weirton Steel. Rice dedicated most evenings and weekends to sign design and production.

Through word of mouth, the need for signs throughout the local area increased and he was asked to produce more and more signage for local businesses and organizations. The business continued to grow and so did the need for more space and help.

In 2003, the business moved from a home-based “basement” operation to a 1,500-square-foot home studio with additional off-site equipment storage. In 2007, the company acquired property in the Jefferson County Industrial Park and constructed a 7,500 square-foot building, which was completed in July 2009. Signs Limited currently includes a staff of eight talented sign and lighting professionals, comprised of two graphic designers, an Americans with Disabilities Act Braille sign specialist, two sign fabricators, two service and installation technicians and an office clerk.

Signs Limited operates as a regional commercial sign and lot lighting company serving an approximate 50-mile radius of Steubenville including Eastern Ohio, Western Pennsylvania and Northern West Virginia. Additional services include design, manufacture, installation and service of outdoor and interior sign systems.

Rice is a resident of Steubenville with his wife of 47 years, Julie. They have two children, Marianne (John) Clouston of Smithfield and Stephen (Amanda) Rice of Pittsburgh.

– Saxon is a native and resident of Weirton who attended West Virginia University and graduated in 1982 from the Franciscan University of Steubenville.

He began working in the jewelry industry in 1982 with his parents, John and Nancy Saxon.

He attained certification from the Gemological Institute of America.

Saxon is the chairman of the Board of Advisers at the Franciscan University of Steubenville and serves on the board of the Weirton Area Chamber of Commerce.

He and his wife, Noreen, are members of St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Weirton and have three children, Payton, Christian and Suzanne.

He opened the current location of R.E. Saxon Jeweler in the WesBanco Banking Center in Weirton in November 2009.

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