02/17/2005
Shane Fedeli is CEO of Mid-Atlantic Inspections, Inc., but don't expect to find him sitting behind a desk. Fedeli is just as likely to be out in the field performing property inspections and appraisals for his insurance industry clients -- or taking care of any other task that might need doing.
"I tell people my job is to be a crack-filler. Like the sand between the bricks in a sidewalk, I do the work that no one else is able to do and hold the team together," he says. Happily, Fedeli wouldn't want it any other way. "I don't have the attention span to do the same thing all the time. Having a diversity of activities is important to me."
Fedeli knew he would one day have an enterprise of his own, even before he knew what it would be. The son of an entrepreneur, he had self-employment in his blood. He studied entrepreneurship and innovation in college, and in 1992, after getting into property inspections to help a friend, he started Mid-Atlantic Inspections.
The company began as a sole proprietorship, but Fedeli incorporated in 1996 -- a move that precipitated his most difficult period in business. An extended battle with a partner who had questionable ethics left him $300,000 in debt and weary. But with hard work, diligence and the support of his clients and employees, he was able to nurse the company back to health. Nearly 10 years later, the company is still going strong with close to 40 employees and gross sales of $1 million.
That's not to say Fedeli doesn't have challenges. In fact, it was his complaints about bureaucratic red tape, governmental restrictions, taxes, insurance and a host of other daily struggles that eventually led him to NFIB.
His wife, an employee at the Pennsylvania State House, mentioned that she knew an NFIB lobbyist and suggested Fedeli talk with him. It turned out Fedeli and the lobbyist, Kevin Shivers, were old acquaintances, which facilitated the initial conversation. Fedeli quickly recognized that NFIB not only shared his concerns but actively worked to make things better for small businesses like his, and he joined about a year and a half ago.
Already, Fedeli has become an active NFIB member. He attended the 2004 Small Business Summit in Washington, D.C., met with Treasury Secretary Snow, and participated on NFIB's Political Action Team during the 2004 elections. He is also an active proponent for Small-Business Health Plans (or AHPs) and Health Savings Accounts.
"The prohibitive cost of health insurance and the lack of product diversity for small businesses are the A-number-one issues for me. HSAs and AHPs would be great opportunities in Pennsylvania -- if the legislature would let us do it," he says. Pennsylvania does not present a good climate for small business, with its barrage of taxes and lack of business incentives. "If I were not from Pennsylvania and I didn't have my family here, I would not stay here."
Fedeli doesn't question his role as a business owner, however. "I thoroughly enjoy what I do. I get a great amount of satisfaction from being out in the field working. If I were working for someone else, I would be compartmentalized, but having my own business gives me flexibility."
