C oppola is a family name that has become a community staple in the rust belt of Western New York. A lumber company, founded in 1958 in Buffalo, New York, initially the family excelled in the building materials industry. By the mid-1960's, after a major fire at the company lumber yard, the older children joined the company to re-build. It resurrected and then grew and as business interests expanded, mainly in stock and commodity trading and speculation, so too did expertise and specialization. The marketable securities portfolio eventually exceeded the asset size of the lumber company, and financial markets and trading inspired an interest from the grandson, James Philip Coppola III, the Managing Partner of Baron Point, who after college embarked on asset management and deal making as his life’s work and passion.