New category in Tech 50 reflects Pittsburgh’s market changes

Each fall the Pittsburgh Technology Council recognizes the year’s accomplishments of regional technology companies with the Tech 50 awards. Breaking them down to allow them to shine in relation to their peers, a winner is named in each category as the best of the best.

While most categories stay consistent from year to year, the Tech Council occasionally shakes them up – and this is one of those years. The Tech 50 awards’ new Company Culture category recognizes companies that optimize how they attract, onboard and retain talent by being people-focused.  

Jonathan Kersting, the Tech Council’s Vice President of Communications and Media, says the competition for talent is so acute now that “you almost can’t do it without having an awesome culture and keeping everybody engaged.” 

Tech companies of all styles and sizes are eligible for the new award, which went to CannonDesign.

This year’s finalists and award recipients represent Pittsburgh’s continuing emergence in the tech industry with a combination of new and old companies in which tech plays different roles – from being a company’s primary mission to empowering organizations in industries other than pure tech.

A long time coming for some

While we often think of tech companies as being young, some have been around awhile, including Advanced Computer & Network Corporation, a finalist for Solutions Provider – Services.  

The company was started in 1994 by founder Gene Leyzarovich and a few CMU colleagues whom he later bought out. Although nominated previously, Advanced Computer & Network was never named a finalist until this year.

The company’s JetStor data storage product is typically found in large data centers such as cloud internet service providers, universities, media companies and surveillance operators.  

Advanced Computer & Network’s growth of 30% to 40% in recent years has been driven by the increasing need for video storage. Examples include their clients SuperValu, a grocery chain that uses surveillance technology to detect theft, and the U.S. Department of State, which has deployed 100 JetSor devices to…(I’ll let your imagination figure it out).

Operating its engineering and manufacturing from The Design Center on Baum Boulevard,  Advanced Computer & Network is the only remaining manufacturer of storage in the Pittsburgh area, noteworthy in itself.

Leyzarovich, who arrived with his family from Russia with only a hundred dollars in their pockets, is now working on the ninth generation of his product. He expects growth to come from the upturn in storage needed for the surge in artificial intelligence.

Mayvue Solutions named top start-up

What would a list of tech companies be without startups? In Tech 50, a startup is any company that is 5 years old or younger, such as Unio, a five-person outfit concentrating on communications of health information for families with someone in a long-term care facility, and Kloopify, a climate action platform that is helping supply chains incorporate sustainability.

Start-up Category winner, Mayvue Solutions, focuses on management of bridge infrastructures for state departments of transportation. Already in 40 states, Mayvue provides solutions that help inspectors, from managing assets on the bridges, to capturing data about how bridges are deteriorating and how to allocate bridge maintenance budgets. 

According to Rob Schultz, Mayvue’s Director of Operations, the company has grown from 11 to 40 employees in large part because it has concentrated on its company culture. 

“We’re always working to hire only the best; and everybody tries to level each other up,” he says.  

Although Mayvue didn’t win the Company Culture category, it was a finalist that category, in addition to being named the Tech 50 Start-up of the Year. In recent years, Mayvue has also made lists of top performing companies from Inc Magazine and the Fast 100.

A familiar face as CEO of the Year

Long regarded as one of the region’s top founders and operators, David Kane, CEO of Ethical Intruder, was named CEO of the Year. His company won the Tech 50’s Cybersecurity Award last year and has been an active part of the Pittsburgh technology ecosystem since bursting on the scene 13 years ago. Ethical Intruder focuses on helping their clients determine their security vulnerabilities and create processes to guard against breaches.

Pittsburgh Tech Council Names 2023 CIOs of the Year

Full list of 2023 Tech 50 winners and finalists