Two alumni  from the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford received the first Entrepreneurial Excellence Award from the Small Business Administration and Pitt-Bradford Students in Free Enterprise.

The award was presented last week as part of activities surrounding Entrepreneurship Week.

            The award went to Pitt-Bradford alumni Donald Kemick and Jeremy Callinan, owners of Protocol 80, a firm specializing in Web design and application development services.

            “Your creativity, innovation and hard work truly embody the importance of celebrating entrepreneurial excellence,” read the certificate presented at a dessert reception Thursday.

            “By providing computer-based consulting services as well as conducting training at the Pitt-Bradford Small Business Institute, you have become a business leader for today’s entrepreneurs in the Bradford area and throughout the region.”

            Protocol 80 has developed Web sites for local entrepreneurs, small businesses and nonprofit agencies as well as larger industries such as Zippo Manufacturing Co. and Bradford Regional Medical Center.

            “The SBA was impressed with how much they’re giving back,” said Diana Maguire, associate project director for the Pitt-Bradford Entrepreneurship Program and SIFE advisor.

            In addition to their work with Protocol 80, Kemick and Callinan teach for-credit business classes and noncredit classes through Outreach Services. They have also donated their time to several university committees.

            “If we ask them for help, they come,” Maguire said.

--30--