PITTSBURGH – John D. Evans and Dr. Kenneth R. Melani each pursued different career paths to their success – one in cable television, the other in health-care insurance – but on Wednesday, they both shared the stage as top entrepreneurs.
Despite their different backgrounds, both see the entrepreneurial spirit as something far greater than the sum of their individual business successes.
The two men were honored by Washington & Jefferson College with its Entrepreneur of the Year award during a dinner at the Westin William Penn.
Evans’ idea for a nonprofit television network that would carry gavel-to-gavel coverage of the House of Representatives began more than 30 years ago like a lot of entrepreneurial ideas – on the back of a napkin over lunch with a friend in July 1977.
Today, the 30-year-old network C-SPAN, which Evans created with Brian Lamb, reaches 97 million households, operating on an annual budget of $54 million. In addition to coverage of House proceedings, it now also includes a channel dedicated to Senate debates and another for Congressional hearings and special events.
Evans, who was a cable television executive for Arlington Cable Co. and Lamb, who at the time was the Washington, D.C. representative for Cablevision magazine, were former U.S. Navy officers.
Evans, a University of Michigan graduate, said he “had seen first-hand how the government had lied to Americans to justify the Vietnam War. Brian and I talked about how we could better pick up the microphones of (the House) and send them to the cable system I was building in Washington.”
The business model they eventually settled upon was a nonprofit network that would have “no stars” or technical fireworks, offering instead a camera that focused solely on the House proceedings.
He said the idea couldn’t have worked without “the unswerving support of the cable industry.”
Today, Evans remains on the board of C-SPAN and the National Cable & Telecommunications board of directors, but his entrepreneurial spirit has grown to encompass an ongoing commitment to HIV/AIDS research, protection of the environment, and improving the quality of life through technological innovation, education and the arts.
“All of us will be judged by what good stewards we have been,” he said in explaining the importance of becoming involved in a variety of social issues.
Melani, a 1975 W&J graduate who also received the school’s top entrepreneurial award Wednesday, became president and chief executive officer of Highmark Inc. in 2003, overseeing one of the largest Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in the country, overseeing 19,000 employees who serve more than 23 million people.
Melani, who received his medical degree from Wake Forest University and was an internist for five years, said that when he joined Highmark as corporate medical director in 1989, “I thought I’d be there for about five days” and return to medical practice.
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But he arrived just as Highmark, like other health insurers, was making the transition from a fee-for-services structure to a health maintenance organization, a challenge that made him stay with the company.
He also said that his education in chemistry and biology at W&J was his first entrepreneurial act, since it prepared him for a lifetime of learning.
“Titles come from above, but leaders come from below,” Melani said, explaining that to become an effective leader, a person must not only have an education, but always be willing to learn new things.
He said he drew inspiration recently when he met former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz during a golf outing at Augusta National Golf Club. Holtz spoke about the things a leader needs to succeed: Surrounding oneself with good people; the support of family and friends; the need for a vision and a plan that supports it; and to hold people accountable and not compromise ethics or principles.
Melani, who is also involved with the Holy Family Social Services and the Children’s Charity of Pittsburgh, said the problem with some entrepreneurs is that they are only in business for their own gain and fail to look for ways to improve the greater good.
“To lead is to serve the greater good of mankind,” Melani said.
W&J’s Entrepreneurial Studies Program was founded 23 years ago with financial support from Joseph A. Hardy III, the founder of 84 Lumber Co. and Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, who received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the college in 1984.
Past recipients of the Entrepreneur of the Year Award include John A. Swanson, founder of Ansys Inc.; Frank Sarris, founder of Sarris Candies; and William C. Byham, founder of Development Dimensions International Inc.
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