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Editor's note: The Upper Ohio Valley's economy continues to transition away from its heavy industrial background to focus more on service-related businesses. The Sunday News-Register sat down with two local business owners who took a risk by leaving their careers to pursue their dreams, and in the meantime set a good example as to how residents can reinvent themselves in the current economic climate.

WHEELING - John Kuzma knows that with Italian cooking, "it's all about the food." That's why he decided last year to put on his chef's hat and purchase the Bella Via Restaurant in Elm Grove.

The hat Kuzma removed to become a chef and small business owner was one of a 30-year steelworker tired of the constant ups and downs of the steel industry.

Kuzma and his wife Patricia live in Follansbee. They purchased the Bella Via after Kuzma quit his job at ArcelorMittal Weirton.

Kuzma said he doesn't want to be negative about his years as a steelworker, because it was 30 years of a well-paying job. In recent years, as the industry became more turbulent, he knew it was "just time to move on."

When he began his career at the former Weirton Steel, the company was the largest employer in West Virginia with more than 14,000 workers. Today, it employs about 700.

Kuzma initially trained to be a chef following high school, but he went to work at Weirton Steel at the insistence of his parents. He worked as a laborer early on, but he eventually became an electrician for the company in 1992.

He finished as a "reelman" prepping steel coils at the tin mill when he decided to leave in 2008.

Kuzma said he has a tremendous amount of respect for the steel mill and the workers, but he decided he just needed to change the course of his life in a time of uncertainty. He still has appreciation for Mark Glyptis, who was president of Weirton's Independent Steelworkers's Union and is now president of United Steelworkers Local 2911.

"Mark Glyptis is one heck of a person - he did a lot for us," Kuzma said.

Kuzma was out of work for a short time in 2006, after 800 jobs were cut at the facility. He said it was about that time he was offered a buyout package from the company.

He turned down that offer, much to the chagrin of Patricia. She said she was "afraid of the uncertainty of things, and how the future would turn out." She said the Kuzmas even discussed the possibility of moving west to pursue a future in a warmer climate.

The Kuzmas said their two sons, John Paul and Nathaniel, even worked for about two years at Weirton Steel before being laid off. They both are now in other occupations.

In 2007, Kuzma said he began to look for other employment options outside of the steel industry. He looked at purchasing a deli in Weirton, but the idea soon fell through. It was not long after he found out the Bella Via Restaurant in Wheeling was up for sale.

He went into negotiations with the owners in January 2008 and finalized the purchase last summer. He said it was hard giving up security, but he finally took the retirement package from Weirton Steel in 2008. He could see things were taking a down turn.

The Kuzmas said they are excited about their future as the Bella Via's owners. They said the former owners of the restaurant, the Zambito family, have been terrific to work with throughout the entire transition process.

Kuzma said he didn't want to change anything about the restaurant, which offers a variety of Italian foods with other menu options. He also enjoys the public recognition he receives as a business owner. "People will recognize me out in public now and will just say things like, 'Hey, you're the Bella Via owner!'" Kuzma said. "That feels good."

Patricia Kuzma, who continues to support her husband at the restaurant and works as a caregiver in Pennsylvania, added, "this is what he wanted to do all his life. ... He got his dream, and I'm very happy for him."