Penn State University Park - Entrepreneur Panel

Ben Eltz

DiamondBack Truck Covers

CFO and COO
Ben Eltz is the CFO & COO at a startup that was born at Penn State in 2002.  Ben joined DiamondBack Truck Covers 5 years ago when the company was beginning the transition from garage startup to established company.  In these five years, the company has increased revenues by 300% and profitability by 400%.  DiamondBack has captured 1% of the nationwide truck cover market and has its eyes on doubling that over the next three years. Ben has a Bachelor’s degree from Penn State in Industrial engineering and a Master’s degree in Finance from Indiana University 
 

Hung Ly

Chick-fil-A

Owner/Operator
Hung Ly began his career with Chick-fil-A in 2002, when he opened his first unit in Baltimore, Maryland. In 2007, Ly opened a second unit and in four years has built his business from $3 million to $6.5 million in sales and achieved the company’s Symbol of Success Award in 2007. In 2016, his units will achieve more than $12.5 million in sales. As his units continue to grow, Ly is also committed to growing his unit’s influence in the community. Each month, his team donates food to Johns Hopkins Hospital to serve sick children and their families. Ly’s unit also hosts fun events at the restaurant each month for the community, including Family Night, Story Time, Father/Daughter Date Night, and Superhero Night.

In his nearly 16 years of business, Ly has also developed young business leaders within his team and given more than $25,000 in Chick-fil-A scholarships.

Ly lives in Bel Air, Maryland, with his wife, Cindi, to whom he has been married for 24 years. They have two children, Amanda, 21, who is in her last year at the University of Delaware, and Jordan, 18, who is a first-year student at Salisbury University. Together they enjoy traveling, gardening, and cooking. Ly also enjoys watching Jordan play baseball and Amanda participate in competitive cheerleading, as well as regular date nights with his wife.
 

Steven Wasser

Powell Flutes

Consultant and Former Owner & CEO
Steven Wasser’s professional career has been characterized by creativity and entrepreneurial activity, with extensive experience in strategy, the arts, and education. 

Wasser purchased Verne Q. Powell Flutes in 1986 and, over the next 30 years, re-established the firm as the Stradivarius of the flute world by improving quality and introducing innovative new products.

In 2017 Wasser was appointed full-time Lecturer at SUNY New Paltz where he teaches Entrepreneurship, Strategy, and Leadership to upperclass and MBA students.  Prior to that Wasser taught MBA students Entrepreneurship and Strategy as an adjunct at Hult International Business School.   

Wasser was a member of the board of directors for the Lyric Stage of Boston for eight years, and served as President of the board from 2012-2016.  He has also served on the Berklee School of Music Presidential Advisory Board, on the Board of Overseers for the New England Conservatory, and on the Fallon Health Advisory board. 

In 2017 Steven and Stephanie Wasser donated a substantial collection of paintings and prints by American Jewish artists, working primarily in the 1930’s, to the Palmer Museum of Art at Penn State University.  The focus of the collection is how these artists view their new country of the United States.  Several of the donated items can be seen at the Palmer in its permanent exhibition.    

One of Wasser’s interests is CEO peer groups.  He was a member of a Vistage group for 10 years, then founded a cooperative CEO peer group which ran from 2006-2016.  Wasser, in conjunction with SUNY New Paltz and Upstate Capital, is in the process of establishing a CEO peer group in the Hudson Valley area which he will facilitate. 

Wasser received his MBA from Harvard Business School with Distinction, and obtained his A.B. from the Cornell University School of Arts & Sciences.
 
For more information, visit gew.psu.edu