Considered a very accomplished single Black woman by her oldest son, Donna Boyer sees herself as an average person trying to survive during bad economic times. The mother of three recently opened a restaurant in the heart of Homestead as a way to support her family and to feed the people. “If it were up to me I’d give this food away,” she said while preparing take out orders. “But one has to survive.”

READY TO CURB THE APPETITE—Donna Boyer and staff, Natisha Lemons and LaDonica Boyer prepare for a daily crowd of hungry customers.

“Home Cooked” by Donna, located at 243 East 8th Ave., is known in the community for its chicken wings, fish, meatloaf, many side dishes and breakfast. “All my food is home-cooked, fixed to order and made with love.” Boyer said because she feeds a lot of senior citizens there’s no preservatives added to her food.

Located on Wood Street in Wilkinsburg for 15 years, Upbeat Records has been fulfilling the melodic needs of music lovers throughout the region. Withstanding the decline on the block for years and finally outgrowing the small space, proprietor Matt Lemon has relocated his business down the street to 801 Penn Ave.

“Wow, man what a difference.” “Man this looks good,” are the comments of his customers as they enter the new site for the first time. Patrons are amazed at the brightness of the store and the variety of products. In the mist of getting organized and adjusting to the reality that he can do much more, Lemon is excited about the possibilities. “Ideas of activities of what I can do here haven’t even surfaced yet,” he says as thoughts come to him during the interview.

IT’S A FAMILY AFFAIR—Staff and nephew Daniel Hamlin, left, with proprietor Matt Lemon of Upbeat Records shows off the latest release dropped by brother S-Class, just one of many local releases sold in the store.

Former Duquesne Light President Victor Roque has been selected to serve as interim president and CEO of the Hill House Association as a search for outgoing head Evan Frazier continues.

“I’m thrilled to be able to contribute my time and talents over the next few months to the Hill House, a historic and important agency, not just for the Hill District, but for the entire region,” he said. “It’s an honor to be called on to serve in such an important and meaningful way.”

VICTOR ROQUE

Currently president of the utility consulting firm Innovation Power Group, Roque is the Hill House board vice chair and former chair of its finance committee. Roque is also the past board chair of the Urban League of Pittsburgh and former board president of the Winchester Thurston school.

(NNPA)—Business valuation is critical to raising venture capital seed money but it also plays an integral role in planning estate taxes and selling a business. Finding the value of a small business or home-based enterprise is more difficult than calculating the clear value in the number of shares for a public corporation listed on a stock exchange.

When calculating the value of a small business you should take into account elements such as assets, liabilities, profitability, customer base, goodwill, sales revenues and proprietary operations management workflow techniques. Particularly, a small business valuation is predicated on finding an acceptable figure that suits both parties expectation. In the case of estate planning, the vehicle or enterprise structure i.e. TRUST, S-corporations, nonprofits and sole proprietorships will have tax implications that should be considered years in advance of the event.