WESTERN PA. Couple build stable careers

The technology company operates in a converted office over the stables.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. -- As first dates go, Mary Roach and Tom McKinley can say they had a pretty exciting one.
Heading out to see a band perform, they ended up tracking down a horse attached to a runaway Amish buggy.
After getting married a few years later, they decided to combine their love of horses and knowledge of high technology into one. Now Mary operates Little Neshannock Stables on a horse farm adjacent to Westminster College on Fayette-New Wilmington Road. Tom runs his high-tech firm out of the converted second floor of the barn.
While horses are fed and cared for below, upstairs Tom is writing software and solving technology problems big and small.
"I help companies and businesses with information technology needs. My background is so diverse. I'm really good at solving problems and making things work for people," he said.
Internet service in borough
He was able to put his skills to work for his adopted community of New Wilmington when there were problems getting high-speed Internet service to residents through the borough-owned cable company.
"We had some pretty bumpy roads at the beginning," said Sharon Edmiston, New Wilmington council administrator and treasurer. "Even the people that we had contracted with to provide us the Internet service couldn't solve the problems. Tom is the type if he can't figure something out, it drives him crazy until he knows the answer."
She said McKinley now monitors the system regularly for the borough to ensure there are no problems.
McKinley started his career working for Apple Computers in Silicon Valley, Calif., after graduating from Gannon University in 1982 with an engineering degree.
Work there involved helping to develop the precursor to the Macintosh. He was part of the early effort to mass-produce the computer mouse in the early 1980s and helped set up a fully automated computer plant in Dallas.
McKinley said Apple had asked him to return to Silicon Valley to help with the Macintosh, but he decided to move on to a division of Motorola, Computer X.
"I spent most of my time on airplanes. I was always flying somewhere," he said.
Met future wife
He met Mary when he returned to the area to visit his mother, who was living in Neshannock Township.
The two had known each other at Neshannock High School, but lost track over the years.
Roach-McKinley attended Carnegie-Mellon University and Westminster College, where she received a degree in computer science. She also moved about, working in business, but eventually came back to Lawrence County.
Roach-McKinley had always loved horses, and after the two married they bought Little Neshannock Stables. The house on the property was rented, so the two converted the second floor of the barn into living quarters and offices.
Through the years they have offered a variety of horseback riding courses, including one to Westminster College students that fulfills their physical education requirements, as well as riding lessons for youngsters and disabled people.
They have about 40 horses and nine employees in the stables.
While the McKinleys breed and train horses, they say they are not in it for awards or horse-show ribbons like some others.
"For us it's an opportunity to commune with the animal," Roach-McKinley said. "It puts your focus into the present. It's a sensory action. You've got sight, touch and smell."
cioffi@vindy.com