Bus Software Giant on Lessons Learned

As an immigrant child, Antonio Civitella learned negotiation at an early age. When he was 13, he would translate what his dad would say to the car dealer when haggling over a car. His father did not speak much English but Tony learned his lesson, "If you don't ask, you'll never get it," he said.

Tony is one of the Capital Region's most impressive business stories. His company, Transfinder, creates software to manage bus routes. It is used by more than 2,000 school districts and municipalities in 47 states. He was interviewed as part of the entrepreneur lunch program for the New York BizLab in Schenectady, a joint adventure with Clarkson University.

Civitella says attracting enough good employees is the biggest challenge he faces. "We are losing people to other places," he said. And "it's not the weather." Half of his software engineers are from China because of the labor shortage here. He said, "It's a risk doing business in China," but he has no choice if he wants to continue grow.

"China loves us," Tony said. But "we are so behind in technology" to them. You could see the difference at local shops in China. People thought it was odd he was trying to use money to pay for things because of the automation there.

None of his original competitors still own their companies. When asked why he survived, he said, "we keep innovating" and "we listen to customers. We keep changing and it is exciting."

Civitella also is involved in his community, giving back. He feels it is a responsibility of leadership. He borrowed a proverb his father likes: "the big rooster sets the tone."

His accomplishments are really something to crow about.