Uncrowned Community Builders

Sarah Goggins Pittman is a successful Buffalo-based businesswoman. As a former admissions counselor and student recruiter at Bryant and Stratton, she encouraged and guided hundreds of students through an advanced education.

She entered the job placement field after discovering that a number of minority students were unable to obtain jobs. As a manager of a local secretarial service, she brought the number of employees from five to 125. In 1979, the Buffalo born and raised Mrs. Pittman opened her own firm, Sarette Secretarial Services Inc., and then expanded to the Niagara Falls area in 1982. Later, her husband, Winton "Skip" Pittman, joined the firm as vice president of a new division, Sarette Technical Services.

In five years, 500 people had obtained permanent employment through Sarette and the efforts of the Pittmans and their staff of five.

Mrs. Pittman, a graduate of Bennett Park School No. 32 who attended Bryant and Stratton, believes success can be attained by every person through hard work and sticking to one's dreams and ideals. The youngest of eleven children, she learned from her parents that hard work is the path to recognition and that a belief in God is important to one's life.

Her own efforts to help others achieve success have earned her various awards that include: Black Business Women of the Year; Black Achiever's Award; and the Certificate of Merit for Outstanding Achievement and Minority Vendor of the Year presented by organizations such as The Buffalo News, Buffalo Courier-Express, the New York State Assembly, and the Upstate Minority Purchasing Council. Governor Mario Cuomo named her to the New York State Department of Commerce Advisory Council for Minority Women in 1984.

Mrs. Pittman and her husband combine business and civic activities with an active family life. They have two daughters.