One of the most powerful and civic-minded families in western New York has a link to the company that issued one of the largest beef recalls in U.S. history.
Robert Gioia, a Buffalo businessman and philanthropist, is a former chairman of Topps Meat Company, which said Friday that it was going out of business because of a recall of 21.7 million pounds of ground beef that may be contaminated with a potentially fatal strain of E. coli bacteria.
Thirty people in eight states have been sickened, legal action looms, and some wonder why the U.S. Agriculture Department didn’t warn consumers sooner.
Topps is based in Elizabeth, New Jersey, but is owned by Strategic Investments & Holdings, a private equity firm in Buffalo. Gioia is a principal of Strategic Investments, which purchased Topps in 2003.
After the purchase, Gioia served as Topps chairman until late last year when he became president of the John R. Oishei Foundation, one of the most prominent philanthropic institutions in western New York.
The foundation, named after the founder of Trico Products, had more than $267 million in assets at the end of 2005, according to its IRS filings. Trico pioneered the automotive windshield wiper business.
Among many civic leadership roles, Gioia oversaw construction of the $120 million Buffalo-Niagara International Airport and restoration of a landmark Frank Lloyd Wright-built home.
He is also a former trustee of St. Lawrence University and former president of the board of trustees of the Nichols School, a private school in Buffalo. One of Nichols’ most famous alums is basketball player Christian Laettner, the former Duke and NBA star.
While Gioia is a Democrat, his brother, Anthony, is a prominent Republican fundraiser who backs Rudy Giuliani and Freedom’s Watch, the advocacy group that is rallying support for the surge in Iraq.
Anthony, a former U.S. ambassador to Malta, is not a principal of Strategic Investments & Holdings.
As young executives, the brothers worked in the family pasta business, Gioia Macaroni, which was sold to a British company in 1976.
Anthony and another brother, Richard, now operate Gioia Management, which owns controlling interests in Cello-Pack Corp. and Armor-Box Corp. A fourth brother, Horace Jr., is an attorney in Buffalo and a fifth brother, Frederick, works in the food service business. All are active in the community.
Their father, Horace, was a staunch Republican, with one exception. “His rule was, ‘Italian first, then Republican,’” Anthony told the Buffalo News in 2005. “He would have backed a Sicilian Democrat even if Jesus Christ were running against him.”
That same story said Robert briefly considered running for Buffalo mayor in 2004.
Strategic Investments and Holdings began in 1983 as a subsidiary of Goldome, a large savings bank based in Buffalo. It split from Goldome in 1989. Robert Gioia joined the Strategic Investments principals in 1992.
The other principals are Gary Brost, James DelZoppo, John Dunbar Jr., Dennis Martin and David Zebro. Zebro is a major supporter of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, as is the Gioia family.
Goldome eventually was a victim of the S&L crisis. It failed in 1991, costing taxpayers more than $2 billion.
On its Web site, Strategic Investments says it has bought more than 75 companies over the years, investing more than $250 million. Acquired companies, which range from a bagel maker to a boat builder, usually continue to operate under their existing managements.
That was the case with Topps Meat.
“This is tragic for all concerned,” Topps’ chief operating officer Anthony DÃUrso said in a release Friday. “In one week we have gone from the largest U.S. manufacturer of frozen hamburgers to a company that cannot overcome the economic reality of a recall this large.” D’Urso is a member of the family that founded Topps in 1940.
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