Company CEO builds upon her father's business
Kim Tosadori is certified to perform almost every job duty in the petroleum sale and distribution industry.
And although she is CEO of Petroleum Technical Services in Prospect, she said she sometimes still has to step to the front lines of the company to do the odd jobs. It's what she has done since she was young when her father, Keith Tosadori, started the company in 1996.
The company specializes in petroleum equipment sales, service and installation.
“I kind of do what I have to do,” she said. “I do run jobs when necessary. It's not always my favorite thing, but I do it.”
Tosadori officially began working at Petroleum Technical Services in 2010 and became the company's CEO in 2017. She is a graduate of Butler Senior High School and Slippery Rock University, with a master's in business from the University of Phoenix.
While she has been around oil and gas workers for decades and has worked at the company for more than 10 years, Tosadori said she still has to break some molds as a female CEO in what she said can be a male-dominated business.
“The diversity has grown and more women are in business, and there are a lot of women in a male-dominated business,” Tosadori said. “I would go on a job site to bid on a job, and I'll be in high heels. They'll be like, 'You're going to be the one?' Then I start talking and they understand because I know what I'm talking about.”
Tosadori said she is part of a local chapter of the Women Presidents' Organization, which is made up of other female administrators of companies and businesses.
She said the other people in the organization offer support and advice, which is helpful when she comes across an issue.
“They're all women who are CEOs, and we get together once a month for troubleshooting or talk about problems,” she said. “I have a network of women that understand the struggles, and that really supports making good decisions.”
Tosadori still resides in Butler County, living with her two children only a few minutes from her office. She said one of the reasons she moved back to Butler to work with her family company was to have more time to raise her children.
“I wanted to change my life,” she said. “I had two babies, so I figured coming to work with my dad would give me that flexibility and availability for my children. I decided to find that balance.”
Since she has been with the company, Tosadori said it has expanded to have more employees, and they just wrote a seven-year plan to take the company from about 20 employees to about 60, and also modernize some of the company's systems.
Petroleum Technical Services operates in the tri-state area, and has local contracts, including with the city of Pittsburgh. Tosadori said the seven-year plan includes expansion even farther from its home base in Butler.
Mark McNaughton is the employee who has worked longest at the company, having been with Petroleum Technical Services since 2000. He has seen changes over his years with the company, and said Tosadori has made positive updates as well.
“It's a little different than when we started,” McNaughton said. “We're doing bigger projects, and I think we're moving in a positive direction.”
For Tosadori, being the CEO of the company also means carrying on her father's work and making sure the employees are taken care of.
She said those have been two of her ongoing goals since she became the CEO.
“It's not just about me, it's about continuing his legacy and what he built,” Tosadori said.
