SBA Western Pennsylvania District Director Kelly Hunt (center) honors DelGrosso Foods Chief Executive Officer Joe DelGrosso (left) with the 70th Anniversary Legacy Award as DelGrosso’s Amusement Park President Carl Crider reacts during a presentation at the park on Thursday. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

TIPTON — For 76 years, the DelGrosso family has been building a legacy that began with homemade pasta sauce and grew into an amusement park, water park and fundraising giant in central Pennsylvania.

In honor of their ongoing success, their growth and their economic impact, the U.S. Small Business Administration honored the DelGrosso Family of Companies as one of its 70th anniversary Legacy businesses.

President of DelGrosso Foods Joe DelGrosso said that he was in tears when he received the call about the award two weeks ago.

“I just thought about the family, my mother and father, which I get pretty emotional (about) sometimes,” DelGrosso said. “It just was amazing because everybody asks that question all the time: ‘What would your mother and dad think?'”

He said that his father, Ferdinand DelGrosso, was a dreamer and would have wondered why they hadn’t bought and moved into the company’s new plant, which opened in May, five years ago. He said Ferdinand was a gambler, but not “by spending and throwing his money away.”

“He gambled on his businesses,” DelGrosso said. “He took a lot of chances, and if it wouldn’t have been for those chances, we wouldn’t be standing here today talking about this legacy business.”

Today, all DelGrosso business sectors are flourishing, the SBA wrote in a press release.

“Their sauces are on grocery shelves in every state and tens of thousands visit their park every summer,” the SBA wrote. “The national recognition marks the SBA’s 70th anniversary as the only federal agency dedicated to supporting small businesses and keeping them competitive.”

SBA Western PA District Director Kelly Hunt said that DelGrosso’s is the one business in Western Pennsylvania that was selected to join 68 others in the country being recognized as a legacy firm.

“Just to give you an idea, some of the businesses being honored include Under Armor, which was a business started by an SBA loan, and Build-a-Bear,” Hunt said.

Director of Marketing and Advertising for DelGrosso’s Amy Mearkle said that the last time the U.S. SBA gave an award to the DelGrossos was in 1999, when they received second runner-up for Small Business Persons of the Year.

“That award presentation included Joe DelGrosso, Jimmy DelGrosso and their mother, Mafalda, and they got to go to the White House to meet President Bill Clinton,” Mearkle said.

Joe DelGrosso said that his wife, son, Tony, and sister also went.

“We won the Pennsylvania award, went to Pittsburgh first and got the award, but then they said, ‘Oh, by the way, we’re putting you in for the national award’ and so that’s when we were sent to D.C.,” DelGrosso said.

During the luncheon, DelGrosso said that someone with the SBA told them that they were invited to the White House to meet the president. At first, only two people were allowed to go, but the White House said that Mafalda could also come.

“We get there and sure enough, as you pull up to the gate, you have to enter into the security area,” DelGrosso said. “There were about 40 people in there because there were different award winners that day.”

Once they were at security, they were all asked for photo IDs. DelGrosso said that his mother was flipping through her pocketbook when he asked her what was wrong.

“She says, ‘I don’t have a photo ID,'” DelGrosso said. “I said, ‘What do you mean?’ Well, she didn’t drive, she never drove. So, she really didn’t have a photo ID.”

He said that she was starting to get very nervous because everyone was waiting on her. Eventually, she pulled a card out of her pocketbook and gave it to DelGrosso.

“I looked at it and I said, ‘Here’s what she has,'” DelGrosso said. “It was a Sam’s Club card that had her picture on it.”

After the SBA explained the situation and offered up the Sam’s Club card, the White House allowed her to enter.

“So, she got to see the president, got pictures taken,” DelGrosso said. “But the funniest thing was that my mother, who was 80 years old at the time and she was also a pretty conservative person … she said, ‘You know, I can see why the girls like that president. He was pretty good looking.'”

When accepting the SBA Legacy Award, DelGrosso’s Park President Carl Crider said that he was fortunate because he gets to run the park.

“I’m fortunate enough because it’s a place where you sell fun and you have fun,” Crider said. “That’s the other side of the coin for this family and my grandfather (Ferdinand) was huge — if there was one thing he loved, it was the park. He would sit down there at the merry-go-round and hand out tickets.”

County and state elected officials were also on hand to congratulate the DelGrosso family. U.S. Rep. John Joyce, R-13th District, said that the family and their companies have impacted hundreds of thousands of lives.

“The legacies that have been created by the DelGrosso family and the commitment to the community will not just affect the generations who are here today, but will continue to affect the generations of tomorrow,” Joyce said.

State Rep. Jim Gregory, R-Hollidaysburg, agreed, saying that he brags about the companies being in his district when he travels.

“I am very grateful to the SBA for making this award possible, that you have chosen a company that is so deserving,” Gregory said.

Blair County Commissioner Bruce Erb said that his father worked on the railroad with Ferdinand and that they had even played baseball together.

Erb said that during the commissioners’ weekly business meeting, they issued a proclamation honoring the family of companies for being awarded the SBA Legacy Award.

“In it, we note the fact that the company is not only still family-owned and -operated but has stayed all the time right here in Blair County providing jobs and adding to the economic well-being and quality of life here,” Erb said.

While state Sen. Judy Ward, R-Blair, was not in attendance, her Constituent Outreach Specialist Michele Ivory presented the DelGrossos with a certificate on behalf of the state Senate recognizing them for their accomplishment.

“This is an amazing acknowledgment,” Chief Sales and Marketing Officer Michael DelGrosso said. “My grandparents would have been very, very honored.”

Mirror Staff Writer Rachel Foor is at 814-946-7458.