Something about a list of 100 of Pittsburgh's fastest growing companies in August caught Mike Testa's attention.

His company, Testa Consulting Service Inc., made it onto the Pittsburgh Business Times' list. But so did Acusis and Plan4Demand Solutions Inc., companies whose owners, David Iwinski and Lisa Kustra, respectively, shared a history similar to his.

Anita Dufalla, Post-Gazette
Norwin High School graduates David Iwinski Jr., Lisa Kustra and Mike Testa each are CEOs of their company.
Click photo for larger image.

All were Norwin High School graduates, classes 1978, 1979 and 1980, who grew up in North Huntington. And all of them, even though they took unique paths to get where they are, say their experiences growing up in Westmoreland County are very much a part of who they are.

After-school and summer jobs were standard for the CEOs as they grew up.

Mr. Testa, 44, who lives in Robinson, worked a variety of jobs, including one summer at Kennywood Park, because kids from North Huntington were expected to pitch in.

"A lot of our community was like that," he said.

Mr. Testa and Mr. Iwinksi were members of the Norwin High School marching band, where they were in the percussion section. The band was winning top honors when they belonged, and they say competitiveness was the trait the musicians needed to succeed.

"It was a highly competitive atmosphere, and I really took lessons from that," said Mr. Iwinski, 45.

He was in the gifted program in high school and said the curriculum involved independent study and independent work.

"It was about projects," Mr. Iwinski said, and those lessons carried through not only building his own businesses but also his own house.

He and his wife and two children live in a house he built over a period of four years in North Huntington on part of the property where he grew up. His parents are still there, as are brothers and sisters in their own homes.

"I was a little bit of a rebel in high school," said Ms. Kustra, 46.

Unlike her fellow Norwin alumni, Ms. Kustra didn't get very involved in extracurricular activities in school. She preferred to get out into the community and earn some money.

She worked five days a week after school at Kerber's dairy farm, where her responsibilities included loading milk into trucks and scooping the homemade ice cream in the farm's restaurant/deli area.

Because the school was so big -- 900 students in her graduating class -- there were many kinds of people from many kinds of backgrounds, and almost everyone could find kindred spirits.

"It was a fairly diverse community," she said.

She enjoyed being able to do her own thing and looks back on it now as a positive experience.

"It was extremely valuable," said Ms. Kustra, who lives in Moon.

All three stayed close to home for college, saving adventures for later.

Mr. Testa went to the University of Pittsburgh and earned a degree in information science. His first job as an adult was with Mellon Bank, where he was a software developer.

Nine years ago, he founded Testa Consulting, a company that provides staffing services to other companies in need of specialized workers. He employs 15 people.

Mr. Iwinski graduated from Duquesne University with degrees in literature and music and earned a law degree from Pitt's School of Law. Positions working for Respironics and Daimler-Benz throughout Asia and Europe seasoned him for his leap to chief executive officer and president of his medical transcription company.

Based in Pittsburgh and Bangalore, India, the company employs more than 850 people.

After stints as a hotel clerk, bartender, management recruiter and a messenger, a job she credits with giving her more knowledge of Pittsburgh and its streets and alleys than anyone she knows, Ms. Kustra went to the University of Pittsburgh, where she finished in 3 1/2 years and earned degrees in business and psychology. She was 23 when she graduated.

She founded Plan4Demand when she realized she could set up her own company to advise other firms on how to get the right products at the right place on her own instead of as an employee of another company. Her company employs more than 50 people.

She, too, has a well-used passport, which she uses for frequent worldwide travel.

Since picking up on the Norwin connection this summer, the three executives have talked, mostly by telephone, about their experiences both in and after high school.

Mr. Testa and the others have enjoyed it completely.

"I think it's great," he said.

First Published: December 7, 2006, 5:00 a.m.