Stromiga
14510 Big Basin Way #250
Saratoga, CA 95070
Phone: 408-872-1563
Fax: 408-354-9370
e-mail: Steve@Stromiga.com

Since graduating from Cornell in 1982 (B.S. Civil Engineering '80, Master Engineering '81 and MBA '82), Steve has had three careers and is now inventing his fourth. From 1982 to 1988 he worked in the Air Freight industry, as Vice President Strategic Planning for Burlington Air Express. The best part of that job was designing a hub and spoke system, and buying the cargo airplanes needed to support that system. Much of that original design is still in place including several of the airplanes Steve purchased more than 15 years ago.

In 1988 Steve and his wife, Sheri, started The Benjamin Group Inc., a public relations agency working with high technology companies. Initially the company started in Silicon Valley, but eventually spread to Orange County, San Francisco and Portland, Oregon as well. By the time the firm was sold in July 1999 it employed 115 people. Steve moved out of the company in July 2002 after the purchase agreement was complete. Steve's wife remained with the purchasing company (Weber Shandwick) as the head of their technology practice until Oct. 2003. Since then, Sheri has become a TEC Chair where she consults with entrepreneurs. She meets jointly with her group as a group and also one-on-one to work through common entrepreneurial issues.

In 1992, concurrent with being CFO of Benjamin Group, Steve got into the Customer Loyalty consulting business in partnership with Burke Inc., a Cincinnati-based market research firm. Steve was able to develop and manage significant relationships with key high tech companies like Sun Microsystems and Applied Materials.

Starting in July 2002 Steve decided he wanted to work less and spend more time with his children (Megan 17.5 and Cody 15.5). He's been busy doing the things most dads wish they could do but often don't have time for. In addition to spending time with his kids, Steve is a trustee for Hillbrook School (a k-through-8 school), and helped the school raise $6.0 million to rebuild the campus. Steve loves working to improve education, which is why he has stayed involved with Cornell, his high school and his children's school. He's also a sportaholic and especially enjoys skiing, surfing and ice hockey. In addition to Steve's involvement with Hillbrook and Cornell, he has become an active real estate investor and developer. Working with his 3 bothers and other partners, Steve is involved with more than 500,000 sq. ft. of commercial real estate in Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta, Vancouver, British Columbia and Silicon Valley, California. And Steve has worked on several residential developments in San Francisco, CA. Don't know if real estate will be the next career for Steve, but it's a great place holder until his two kids are off to college.