Mar 20, 2011 By James Pletcher Jr. 6 min read

According to Tony Steratore, a dual career has its challenges and its rewards, as long as you are passionate about it.

“There are three ingredients you have to have to be successful. You have to have a passion for what you are doing, a 100 percent commitment to your passion and a determination to do the work, the hard things that are above and beyond the normal,” Steratore told a college audience.

Steratore, president of Steratore Sanitary Supplies in Eighty-Four and an National Football League official, was the second speaker of the spring 2011 “CEO Conversations” series at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus.

Steratore and his brother Gene founded Steratore Sanitary Supplies in 1988, a full-service distributor of janitorial supplies, chemicals and equipment. In addition to their product line, Steratore Sanitary Supplies assists clients in staying up-to-date about new products and industry trends through on-site training, inventory management and other techniques.

While the brothers both officiate for the NFL, Tony Steratore has been officiating since 1980 for high school, college and national and international professional sports, including the NFL Europe’s World Bowl 1999. In 2000 he became a back judge for the NFL and worked Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville, Fla. The Steratore brothers are following in their father’s footsteps, Gene Steratore Sr., who served as a back judge and official for more than 40 years in the Eastern Collegiate Athletic and Big East conferences.

Describing starting his own family business, Steratore said he and his brother are living the American Dream.

He said they started with $15,000: $5,000 from each brother and $5,000 from their father to open a bare-bones operation that has grown from $300,000 in sales in its first year to nearly $4 million last year. “We have had growth every year that we have been in business,” he said.

“My brother and I didn’t want to work for someone else. We wanted to start our own business. I have enjoyed the process of building this business,” Steratore said.

“We started with next to nothing and built this into a very profitable business that has supported our families,” he said.

“We both had sold sanitary supplies during summers while we were in college. We started our business with the customers we had from those jobs, one truck, (a recycled Slush Puppy vehicle) and we delivered our products and made countless sales calls for the first four or five years. We built up capital to grow,” Steratore said.

“But you have to keep your overhead low,” he explained, in order to compete with larger sanitary supply companies that paid lower prices for product because they bought in volume.

“That’s a challenging part of having a small family run business,” he added.

The scariest part of starting a business, he said, “is raising capital. But the rewards and satisfaction made it more than worthwhile.”

The company now employs 14 people, has six trucks and Steratore relies on his managers so he can spend time in his career with the NFL where his love of football and athletics has paralleled his business life.

“This has been one of the most exciting things I have ever done,” he said. “I have gone from Bailey Park (in Uniontown) to stadiums all over the world.” Steratore has 31 years as an official, the last 11 with the NFL.

“Uniontown is a great sports town to grow up in. It’s always been a large part of my life,” he said.

Steratore began his work in junior high school and junior varsity leagues at schools in the region. “There were times when I’d get off work, get in my car, where I had my shorts and shirt. I’d change clothes in the car while driving to Jefferson-Morgan (School District in Greene County) where I’d referee a game for $15. Was it profitable? No. But I had a passion for it,” that eventually took him to officiating for the NFL.

His advice to young officials today is that if they don’t have a passion for working in junior high and junior varsity, “then things won’t be much different if they get to the NFL.

The same attitude holds for those who want to open their own business, he said.

“Some in the corporate world are interested in how they are going to advance. They must be honest with themselves and ask if they really have a passion for what they are doing.”

A 1976 graduate of Laurel Highlands High School, Steratore went on to California State College (now California University of Pennsylvania) to get a bachelor’s degree in psychology.

When asked if the psych degree was out of character for his dual-careers, Steratore quipped, “It helps very much” when dealing with NFL coaches during a football game.

However, Steratore said his NFL work has its risks as well as its rewards.

He related how after his brother made an unpopular call at a football game; a news crew visited the family business for a comment on the fan reaction. Later, computer hackers crashed Steratore’s business computers and tied his home telephone up for several days in retaliation.

“The NFL has a great security group. As soon as I called them they came out and helped us. They found who did it and shut them down.

Officiating for the NFL is, Steratore said, “like being a cop. We don’t make the rules but we have to enforce them.”

Being an NFL officials however “is a good door opener” with many clients and vendors, he said, and has had very positive effects on his business.

CEO Conversations is an initiative of the late Dr. Emmanuel I. Osagie, chancellor of Penn State Fayette from 2007 to March 2010. The program is designed to give students the opportunity to hear from and talk with key individuals in the local, regional, and national business communities about business, entrepreneurship and leadership. CEO Conversations debuted in fall 2007 with local businessman, philanthropist, and former Fayette County Commissioner Joseph A. Hardy III as the guest speaker. Guest speakers have also included Gov. Tom Corbett; Fayette County Judge Nancy Vernon; Sheetz Inc. Chairman Stephen Sheetz; American Eagle Outfitters CEO James O’Donnell; Dick’s Sporting Goods CEO Edward Stack; Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl; Allegheny Construction Group Owner and President Laura Deklewa; Pittsburgh Penguins CEO Ken Sawyer; former First Lady of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Marjorie Rendell; principal/chairman emeritus of Burt Hill John Kosar; Chairman of Westinghouse Electric Co. Steve Tritch; Philips Healthcare CEO Don Spence; President/CEO of Highmark Inc. Dr. Kenneth R. Melani; President/CEO of Whitney, Bradley & Brown William C. McMullen; President/CEO of MSA William M. Lambert; President/CEO of Heinz North America Scott O’ Hara; President/founder/CEO of ProTech Compliance Curtis Aiken; President of Hefren-Tilloston Kim Tilloston Fleming, CFA; and President/CEO of YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh Eric Mann.