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Roosa Receives Haller Enterprise Institute Award

Posted October 16, 2013   Print
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GREENVILLE, Pa.-- Joe Roosa, president of Roosa Corporation, will receive the 2013 Haller Enterprise Institute Entrepreneur of the Year Award from Thiel College at a dinner ceremony on Wednesday, Oct. 23, at 6:30 p.m. in the Sawhill-Georgian Room of Thiel’s Howard Miller Student Center.

Given annually to a business owner who has demonstrated entrepreneurial leadership, the award, now in its 19th year, will be presented by Thiel President Dr. Troy VanAken and Professor David Miller, executive director of the Haller Enterprise Institute.

Roosa established his regional company specializing in retail center development in 1987. His expertise in shopping center development has led the way for the company’s substantial growth throughout the northeastern United States. Roosa Corporation owns and manages more than 15 properties in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut and Arkansas. The portfolio of properties that the Roosa Corporation has developed includes shopping centers, office buildings, residential properties and apartments.

Prior to owning and operating the Corporation, Roosa worked as a bus driver in New York City and saved enough money to start his first business. His first store, Movie World, which he opened in 1985, ultimately became a nationally ranked chain in 1996, coming in at 25th and employing over 250 people in its 18 locations. In 1995, Joe was named to Business First of Buffalo’s list of “Top Forty Under Forty” Western New York leaders. In 1996, he sold Movie World to competitor Blockbuster.

In 1998, Joe bought undeveloped land and constructed his first commercial shopping center, which approximates 50,750 square feet of occupied space. The Staples Plaza in Meadville, Pa., consists of nationally named tenants, including Staples, Dollar Tree, Verizon Wireless and many others. Since this initial shopping center, Roosa has gone on to acquire and develop properties across the country.

Roosa graduated from Thiel College with a B.A. in business administration and political science. At Thiel, Roosa was a member of the baseball and football teams and Delta Sigma Phi fraternity. He and his wife, Rita, have two grown children, Kyle and Amanda.

The Haller Enterprise Institute, originally named the Thiel College Enterprise Institute when it was organized in 1983, was renamed in 1996 when Pittsburgh residents Dr. Henry E. and Grace Mary Haller provided a $1 million gift to develop entrepreneurial education at Thiel College.

If media would like to attend the event, please RSVP to Jennie Kather, assistant director of public relations, Thiel College, at 724-589-2188 or jkather@thiel.edu by Oct. 18.

Media Contact

Dominick DiRienzo
Assistant Director of Communications and Marketing

 ddirienzo@thiel.edu
 724-589-2188

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