David Kramer

MARS — David Kramer recently joined Mars National Bank as commercial lending officer.

Kramer has 25 years of banking experience and is a graduate of Grove City College with a bachelor's degree in business administration and economics. He volunteers with Habitat for Humanity and has served as president of his local Rotary Club.

Kramer lives with his wife, Heather, and their two children near Pittsburgh.

Home health care firm opens Butler office

MCCANDLESS, Allegheny County — A former Butler County Community College administrator was picked to grow the Passavant Hospital Foundation.William Speidel III was named the foundation's director of development.Speidel served BC3 for 14 years as the executive director of the BC3 Education Foundation and supervised alumni programs, strategic planning, government relations, communications and marketing.He has a bachelor's degree in parks and recreation from Slippery Rock University and a master's degree in business administration from Clarion University. He is in the doctoral program in higher education management at the University of Pittsburgh.At UPMC Passavant, Speidel will be responsible for developing the fundraising program, including annual campaign, major gifts and planned giving.Speidel lives with his wife, Barbe, in Butler Township. The couple has four adult children.

R.P. Musko & Associates will sponsor a "Protect Yourself From Identity Theft," event from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 14 at St. Andrews Church parking lot, 1660 N. Main St.The financial firm hired Shred-It of Pittsburgh to shred up to two boxes of personal documents for free. The size of the boxes are limited to 14 inches high by 12 inches wide by 12 inches deep.At the same time, the St. Vincent DePaul Society Food Bank will pick up food donations.For information, call Musko at 724-282-7230.

BUTLER TWP — Cambridge Home Health Care will open its new office at 1 p.m. Nov. 17 at 1140 N. Main St. Ext.Cambridge, based in Ohio, is moving its Butler County office from Prospect to Butler.

CRANBERRY TWP — Butler businessman Bill Barthlow will soon open 15 BookSmarts Tax and Accounting Services offices on Florida's east coast.BookSmarts, based in Cranberry, was founded 20 years ago and provides seasonal tax services, as well as year-round financial services for individuals and small to mid-sized businesses.Rich Inman, BookSmarts director of Franchise Sales and Marketing, said while Barthlow will spend a great deal of time in Florida, he is maintaining his Butler home.

JEFFERSON TWP — Concordia Lutheran Ministries board of directors elected six people to serve three-year terms and one person to a one-year term on the board.The election took place on Concordia's Jefferson Township campus.The board has 18 members, representing 34 Lutheran Church Missouri Synod congregations across Western Pennsylvania.The members are:• The Rev. David Weeks, who is the minister to the Calvary Lutheran Church in Murrysville, one-year term.• The Rev. Barry Keurulainen, who has served on the Concordia board from 1988 to 2003, and from 2006 to the present, three-year term. He is the senior pastor at St. Luke Lutheran Church in Cabot.• Chaplain Eugene Reddel, who became a Veterans Affairs chaplain in 1967, three-year term.• Kenneth Wallhausen, who has been on Concordia's board for 19 years, three-year term.• Ruth Redenbaugh, who had served a six-year board term ending in 2008 and who is a night nursing supervisor at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, three-year term.• Terry Miller, a nuclear cardiology technologist for 35 years who works for Med Health Services, three-year term.• William Hallock, who is an employment specialist with Goodwill of Southwestern PA and who has been on the board since 2007, three-year term.

The Butler Health System Public Relations and Marketing Departments with their agency partner Fitting Group of Pittsburgh won a regional award for the campaign announcing the opening of the health system's Heart & Vascular Center.The award came from the International Association of Business Communicators at the annual Pittsburgh awards dinner.BHS was one of three hospitals in the region to win an award.

PITTSBURGH — Margaret Irvine Weir, president of NexTier bank, will discuss business leadership and her perspective on work and life as a speaker in the 2009 Leadership Dialogue Series.She will speak at a luncheon Monday at the Rivers Club.This series featured three other regional leaders earlier this year. The audience includes business owners and professionals, as well as people interested in the speaker's specific industry or business.NexTier has corporate offices in Butler and Wexford.

The Butler County Chamber of Commerce is helping to host these events:• Noon Thursday, Butler Country Club in Penn Township, Fall Member-Guest Luncheon and Orientation. Free.• 8 a.m. Nov. 18, Butler County Community College, Professional Skills Series, Successful Public Speaking. Cost $75.• 8 a.m. Nov. 24, at The Atrium on Route 422, Preparing Small Business Workplaces for Pandemic Flu. Free.• 5 p.m. Dec. 4, the Succop Conservancy, Penn Township, Celebration of the Season holiday gathering. Reservations required.For information or to register, call 724-283-2222.

<B>Kelsey Cushey,</B> a physical therapist, joined Butler Rehabilitation Centers, to work in all four facilities in Butler, Kittanning, Clarion and White Oak.———<B>Jennifer Huber</B> was hired as the full-time housing counselor in the resident initiatives department of the Butler County Housing Authority, providing guidance in homeownership, credit/budgeting, foreclosure prevention and homeless counseling.———Paperless technologies, a new division of Ford Business Machines, appointed <B>Joseph Devine</B> vice president of business development; <B>J.R. Herrington</B> as director of document management services, and <B>William Catalina</B> as director of information technology. It has an office in Wexford.