Sam '82 and Linda-Lee Troiani '83 Niedbala ... - Asoundstrategy

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26 Cover Story Looking back on their lean years, Linda-Lee says, “I was never fearful through the process. I had faith in God and in my husband. We believed in the goal. We always saw it as attainable, and that’s how we feel about the and wrote to Lehigh University on his behalf; on the professor’s word, the university accepted Sam without entrance exams. He went on to earn a master’s and doctorate in chemistry from Lehigh; today, he is a professor of practice in the school’s chemistry department. But the trajectory that brought him there begs telling. His story is that of the classic entrepreneur, and it is Linda-Lee’s story as well. Cutting-edge technologies born in a basement campaign at ESU.” An ESU biology major, Linda- Lee went on to become a registered respiratory therapist before switching course and earning a master’s in secondary education from St. Peter’s College. But while she and Sam had their day jobs, their future lay in the basement of their New Jersey home. The couple had teamed up with two acquaintances, one skilled in finance and the other in marketing, to form STC Technologies. The group didn’t know each other well, but their individual skills covered all bases and made them an efficient team. “It was almost like an arranged marriage,” Sam says. His role in the mix was to be the idea man. “Sam is always thinking of what people need that is not yet expressed,” says Linda-Lee. “He’s good at listening to people and really hearing them and responding. It’s his God-given gift, and it has enabled him to be as successful as he’s been with business in particular.” STC began creating and pitching a diversity of products. Among the first was a sunscreen on a towelette. The group hit the road, carrying the product from buyer to buyer, hoping for some interest. Back then, Sam recalls, Kmart—not Wal-Mart—was the “gorilla in the market.” STC’s product made it onto Kmart store shelves in a limited capacity, and when one of the partners ran into the Kmart CEO at a college alumni event, he thanked the man for giving STC a test market. The following Monday Kmart’s buyer called with a directive from the boss to take the product chainwide. “I always say there’s no such thing as luck,” Sam says. “I believe in destiny.” “And God designs it,” adds Linda-Lee. STC eventually licensed that sunscreen product to Schering Plough, which owns Coppertone, and turned to creating prototypes of products that tapped Sam’s background in clinical chemistry and medical diagnostics. The company relocated to Pennsylvania and received a small grant from the Ben Franklin Tech- ESU Alumni Herald nology Partners of Northeast Pennsylvania, a state-funded initiative to help entrepreneurs get their ideas off the ground. The going was tough; all of the partners held other part-time jobs to pay the rent. By that time, Linda-Lee was focused on caring for a newborn who slept only in short spurts and keeping the household running. Sam was out the door at dawn to the Ben Franklin labs and then off to his job at a medical diagnostics company, not returning home until 9 at night. The pace was relentless. “We met the bare minimum for sustenance, but that never bothered me,” recalls Linda-Lee. “It was the time apart that bothered me.” So when the company Sam worked for announced its impending move to England, inviting him to come along with the rest of the research and development team, it was the opportunity the couple needed to step off the treadmill. Sam refused the offer and took a severance package that would buy them some time to regroup. “It was a godsend,” says Linda- Lee. “It was the break we needed.” That severance package and the grant from the Ben Franklin project “bridged us,” says Sam. “We had diapers and macaroni and cheese and we made the mortgage payments.”
Fall 2006 Developing technology of national note - first rapid test for HIV Most important, their fledgling company was growing stronger each day. They developed a cryogenic treatment for warts that Compound W markets today, and they created the diagnostic tests for detecting substance abuse used by countless life insurance companies, law enforcement agencies, and health organizations. Most notably, after merging into the public market in 2000 as OraSure Technologies, Inc., they developed the first rapid test for detecting HIV using saliva—a technology endorsed by President George Bush in his State-of-the- Union address as a way to curtail the spread of AIDS. That merger marked the end of the first phase of the company’s life. Sam agreed to stay on with OraSure as executive vice president and chief scientific officer for three years—he actually stayed for four—but he and Linda-Lee began planning the next phase of their lives together. “I traveled 100,000 miles a year on airplanes for a long, long time, giving speeches at research meetings, spending time with customers,” Sam says. “My philosophy was to go out, shake hands, and look them in the eye, and that required shoe leather.” “We wanted to take advantage of the fruits of our labor and spend time with our high schoolers,” says Linda-Lee. Even with all of that traveling, she notes, Sam was never an absentee father, but he had put his own hobbies on hold all those years. Today, he has the best of all worlds, developing applications for clinical medicine in the research lab at Lehigh and sharing his expertise with students, with time enough to spare so he and his son can surf and kayak year round and he and his daughter can do what she likes best—shopping. Looking back on those lean years, Linda-Lee says, “I was never fearful through the process. I had faith in God and in my husband. We believed in the goal. We always saw it as attainable, and that’s how we feel about the campaign at ESU.” President Dillman’s vision of Center for Research and Economic Development brings them back to ESU When their company went public, the Niedbalas began getting reacquainted with ESU and were wowed by President Robert Dillman’s vision. “He truly has a confidence and an expectation that the students at ESU will succeed and succeed well, and that they will be the leaders of our community in the future,” says Linda-Lee. That vision led to the creation in 1999 of the Center for Research and Economic Development, on whose board Sam serves. The center is focused on entrepreneurial innovation, applied research, and workforce training. The intention, Sam explains, is to work with professors to see what companies could develop out of the university to create jobs and business opportunities. Cover Story 27 The idea has taken off, infused by plans for the new Science and Technology Center. “The new building is encouraging entrepreneurs to work alongside professors to bring new technology to the community,” Sam says. “It’s great for job creation while students get practical real-world experience.” The couple is particularly excited by the interdisciplinary mindset at ESU, which mirrors that of industry today, where scientists work alongside financial, marketing, and management experts. “Gone are the days of silos between disciplines,” Sam says. “Industry is based on teams, and having ESU students be aware of those roles and know how to work between them only increases their value.” Helping ESU to achieve the goals set forth in the campaign dovetails neatly with the Niedbalas’ own master plan. Deeply spiritual, the two see their involvement as part of their own faith walk. “Our conviction is to use our resources for far-reaching goals, not just short-term gratification—although that can be fun too,” says Linda-Lee with a smile. “This effort is important and will set ESU apart and make it competitive with private schools. Why shouldn’t ESU students have the same opportunities and the same caliber of facilities that private schools have? They are part of the majority of our country, and they’re going to be running it some day. They need to have the best.” “Gone are the days of silos between disciplines. Industry is based on teams, and having ESU students be aware of those roles and know how to work between them only increases their value.” - Sam Niedbala ’82
Page 1 and 2: 1 Subject ESU Alumni Herald Alumni
Page 3 and 4: Fall 2006 Table of Contents 1 Offic
Page 5 and 6: Fall 2006 Great Teacher Award: Lois
Page 7 and 8: Fall 2006 Alumni Day At right, Beve
Page 9 and 10: Fall 2006 Alumni Spotlight 7 be,”
Page 11 and 12: Fall 2006 Thirty-five years after a
Page 13 and 14: Fall 2006 DC Fall 2006 The Kennedy
Page 15 and 16: Fall 2006 Homecoming 3 There was no
Page 17 and 18: Fall 2006 1940s Mary A. Henning ’
Page 19 and 20: Fall 2006 “Who’s Doing What”
Page 21 and 22: Fall 2006 Appreciation Award from S
Page 23 and 24: Fall 2006 “Who’s Doing What”
Page 25 and 26: Fall 2006 Today’s Dream, Tomorrow
Page 27: Fall 2006 Cover Story Above, Linda-
Page 31 and 32: Fall 2006 Engagements 29 Nicholas A
Page 33 and 34: Fall 2006 Weddings 3 is employed at
Page 35 and 36: Births Fall 2006 33 Births Robert T
Page 37 and 38: Fall 2006 In Memoriam 35 John Eiler
Page 39 and 40: Fall 2006 Warrior Spotlight ‘We h
Page 41 and 42: Fall 2006 Warrior Spirit 39 Shoudt,
Page 43 and 44: Sample Annuity Rates Single Life Do

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