These people represent four of the fi ve members that have provided continual support to the Community Development Corporation of Butler County since it was created in 1959. They are, from left, Vernon L. Wise Jr., chairman of the Eagle Printing Co.; Tammy Schuey, chairman of the board of the Butler County Chamber of Commerce; Ed Shields of Ed Shields Realtor; and Butler Mayor Maggie Stock. David Lloyd, a longtime Butler businessman and the chamber board president during the CDC's formation, is the fifth member honored.

PENN TWP — The Community Development Corporation of Butler County on Friday morning celebrated its strong foundation and the positive outlook its members have worked together to create in the past 50-plus years.

The CDC recognized five members that have provided continual support since its creation in 1959:

• The Butler County Chamber of Commerce, out of which the CDC formed;

• David Lloyd, a longtime Butler businessman and the chamber board president during the CDC's formation;

• Ed Shields of Ed Shields Realtor;

• the city of Butler; and

• the Butler Eagle.

“All of you here today support economic development, and we thank you,” Ken Raybuck, the CDC's executive director, said to the 200 or so at the annual meeting at the Butler Country Club.

“Those are the five that have been with us consistently, which is so rare in today's world, to have that consistent support year after year, financial and otherwise.”

Battling finances

Raybuck said 2012 was a successful year of transition as the CDC focused on its finances.

To maintain its staff and meet bank obligations, the CDC was faced with some tough decisions, he said.

That included downsizing by selling its headquarters in Pullman Center Business Park in Butler to the Housing and Redevelopment Authority of the County of Butler. The move to the nearby Pullman Commons Building helped financially by cutting its office space in half.

Raybuck also said many of the leases in the Pullman Commerce Center Building, of which the CDC is the majority owner, expired. While the CDC renegotiated most of the leases, some tenants also downsized, leaving the CDC with 13,000 square feet of unoccupied office space.

However, he said the UAW Local 3303 that serves the employees of AK Steel in Butler Township recently leased 10,000 square feet of that space.

New jobs expected

Raybuck said one of the CDC's biggest successes came in October when it sold its 15,000-square-foot warehouse building on Delwood Road in Butler Township for $1.3 million.

The investors, father and son Mike and Kent Hartley, are the principles for HOTLINEGLASS USA, which occupies half of the building and should create about 12 new jobs by June.

HOTLINEGLASS USA is a partnership between HOTLINEGLASS GmbH of Germany and Standard Bent Glass in East Butler. It makes heated interlayers for military windows, automotive windshields and rear windows, and rail, bus and aerospace glazing.

The Hartleys are leasing the other half of the building to Kelly Generator & Equipment of PA & WV, which is headquartered in Owings, Md. Raybuck said the business expanded here to serve the shale gas industry and will create about eight new jobs.

The CDC also entered into three other agreements that are to close this year.One is the sale of the 30,000-square-foot warehouse at Pullman Center Business Park Expansion in Butler and Butler Townships. That facility will house a heating and air conditioning wholesale business.The other two agreements in the works are for vacant lots at Victory Road Business Park in Clinton Township. A heating and air conditioning manufacturer from Allegheny County plans to build a new facility on one of those lots and then relocate.“In 2013, we want to complete these deals, bring manufacturing and other jobs to Butler County, help the CDC maintain its financial security to move ahead,” Raybuck said, adding the full redevelopment of the Pullman site is a major priority.“We need your help to find the highest and best use of the Pullman site, because once it's sold and developed, I believe it's going to be the CDC's greatest legacy to rebuild on the history of one of the largest factories in the world,” he said of the former Pullman Standard plant that closed in the early 1980s.Tim Morgus, an accountant at Maher Duessel's Butler office, reported on the CDC's audit for 2012.Its assets are $13.5 million, which includes $7.4 million in land it hopes to sell. The organization's total liability is $8.4 million, which includes net assets of $5.1 million. He said that number appears large because of the lots the CDC has held while fighting its way back from hardships created by the economy.Teamwork toutedAlso, former Pittsburgh Steelers running back, four-time Super Bowl winner and Vietnam War veteran Rocky Bleier spoke, drawing on his experiences to highlight the importance of teamwork and leadership in building strong foundations.“Talented people raise the standards for the rest of us and make us better teammates, better coworkers, better coaches, better owners,” he said.“It really takes leadership to find the talents that we have, to bring them together,” he added, explaining successful organizations — like the Pittsburgh Steelers and the CDC — are held together by commitment and trust.A Wisconsin native who has called Western Pennsylvania home for more than 40 years, Bleier highlighted his ties to Butler County, which started before the Steelers drafted him out of the University of Notre Dame in 1968.His college roommate and teammate and later a teammate with the Steelers was Butler High School graduate Terry Hanratty.U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-3rd, of Butler also was a teammate of Bleier's at Notre Dame. Upon joining the Steelers, Bleier bought his first car — a yellow Chevrolet Corvette — from Kelly's father, George Kelly, at the family dealership in Butler.

Here are officers and board members of the Community Development Corporation of Butler County.<B>OFFICERS</B>President: Jerry Andree, Cranberry Township managerFirst vice president and treasurer: Josh Fye, Farmers National Bank of EmlentonSecond vice president: Jack Cohen, Butler County Tourism and Convention BureauSecretary: William McCarrier, individual memberPast President: Jeff Elser, FirstEnergyAssistant secretary: Ken Raybuck, Community Development Corporation of Butler County<B>BOARD OF DIRECTORS, TERMS END 2016</B>Jack Cohen, Butler County Tourism and Convention BureauScott Docherty, CID AssociatesJosh Fye, Farmers National BankJoe Gray, Gray ConsultingLee Ligo, Ligo ArchitectsCheryl Norton, Slippery Rock UniversityJanice Pakozdi-Luffy, Bear MetallurgicalBecky Shaw, Penn United TechnologiesNadine Tripodi, Butler TechnologiesVernon “Chip” Wise III, Butler Eagle<B>TERMS END 2015</B>Jay Bianchin, Wells Fargo BankChuck Boory, Boory's Business MachinesJerry Daltorio, individual memberJeff Elser, FirstEnergyBill Marsh, Farmers National BankNick Neupauer, Butler County Community CollegeChris Panian, Central Electric CooperativeDale Pinkerton, Butler County CommissionerDan Santoro, Delta Development GroupDennis Zeitler, MSA<B>TERMS END 2014</B>Don Amadee, Municipal Authority of Buffalo TownshipJerry Andree, Cranberry TownshipMike Cully, United Plate GlassKen DeFurio, Butler Health SystemJohn McCarrier, individual memberWilliam McCarrier, individual memberJoe Taylor, ArmstrongBob Thomas, Butler County United Labor CouncilAndrew Wachter, Peoples TWPMargaret Irvine Weir, NexTier Bank<B> LEADERSHIP BUTLER COUNTY MEMBER</B>John Garing Jr., Calumet Penreco<B> EMERITUS DIRECTORS</B>William DarneyDavid LloydMalcolm Strachan<B>RECIPROCAL MEMBER</B>Stan Kosciuszko, Butler County Chamber of Commerce

Butler County Community Development Corporation Executive Director Ken Raybuck speaks at the group's annual meeting Friday at Butler Country Club. The CDC was created in 1959.