Chamber not immune to sweeping changes
It would be difficult to just focus on the last 50 years of our history, since the Butler County Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1896. In the years since, the chamber has been a stabilizing and innovative force in the business and community development of Butler County.
Our physical location has changed four times — three times at locations on Main Street, with one brief stint in Pullman Office Park.
The chamber elected its first female board leader, Dr. Carole Bitter, in 1984 and has had eight board chairwomen since then.
A significant operational decision in 1968 was to hire and train, via the Institute for Organizational and Nonprofit Management, a professional to administer the chamber.
This resulted in eight chief executive officers at the helm of the Butler County Chamber of Commerce over the past 50 years.
Stan Kosciuszko has been in chamber of commerce management since 1987 and president of the Butler County chamber since 2002.
Our organization always realized the importance of a strong county seat and was actively involved in the Diamond Park renovation, the construction of the parking deck on McKean Street and the Centre City parking garage.
We have never been a chamber to shy away from legislative action, and during the past 50 years our committees and board of directors have made numerous trips to Washington and Harrisburg. Meeting our elected officials on their turf has always created a positive relationship for our chamber with government entities.
In 1980, a group of businesses realized that nonprofit agencies in our area were not receiving adequate funding due to the closing of major industries here. They therefore formed the Butler Area Merchants' Association and the “BAMA” Auction, hosted and coordinated by Armstrong, which continued to provide — for the next 25 years — a means for agencies to fill gaps in funding through a community event.
Recently, our chamber has participated in numerous meetings and discussions, all geared toward cooperative efforts for the advancement of Butler County.
Our chamber members know that we are consistently asked for our opinion on numerous community and business matters — not only as the largest and most influential business advocacy organization, but just as importantly for what we have accomplished and the successful initiatives we have founded.
As community advocates we fought hard for tourism funding and in 2002, with the passage of the “bed tax,” Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau was born as an entity independent from the chamber.
The reality is that our organization has been the birthplace of numerous initiatives.
The face of our work force has also changed, and many business people involved are younger, and more prone to innovative ideas and programs.
Long gone are the days of cigar-smoking directors sitting behind closed doors in conference rooms making decisions.
As our chamber president and chair of board of directors, we recognize and are impressed with the number of participants in our Leadership Butler County program and, as alumni, remain involved in these efforts. We have strengthened their mission and have trained many professionals to become engaged and involved in our community from a wide variety of concerns.Ten years ago our board of directors had the foresight to initiate our Butler County Young Professionals program. At each of these task force gatherings, we see many of them speaking up representing organizations and business concerns.Eleven years ago we worked along with the City of Butler to establish a Butler Downtown Main Street program, which has in this short time become a focal point of community development. Their subcommittee members are now respected as the voice of our main street corridor and numerous organizations want to join in their successes.In 2009 our chamber was forward-thinking enough to, along with the Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau, contract and complete a countywide unified plan.It may have gathered a light coating of dust, but our brave champion — Butler County Community College along with the Community Development Corporation of Butler County — picked up the gauntlet and convened a new study and cooperative. And in 2015 the Butler County Growth Collaborative, One Voice — One Goal was unveiled.From one perspective, you can say that our work is just beginning. From a factual perspective, you can be assured that our work is continuing to progress toward success.We have earned the respect of all the key players in this game. We have the support of the Butler County Board of Commissioners.The Butler County Chamber of Commerce has remained a common thread in all of these initiatives. We will continue to remain involved in these efforts while remaining true to our mission of promoting our membership and Butler County.We will continue to partner not only with the above mentioned organizations, but with regional chambers of commerce and networking organizations to provide the best service and programming opportunities to our community.Our newest affiliate, the Butler County Youth Leadership Program, is working with all of the area school districts in partnership with Butler County Community College and Slippery Rock University.Overseen by Leadership Butler County alumni and regional professional partners, this program will provide high school juniors exposure to issues, resources and opportunities for service in the Butler County area.It educates them on the concept of community leadership and skills required of an effective community leader. It also ensures that graduates become enlightened, proud and contributing members of the community.As you read through this Progress edition, I am sure you will be proud of the numerous cooperative events and activities that you participate in and that your employees benefit from. Please never lose sight of the larger perspective, as our county organizations lead you into the future of collaboration ... One Voice ... One Goal for Butler County.Karen Brackett, an executive with NexTier Bank, is chairwoman of the Butler County Chamber of Commerce board of directors. Stan Kosciuszko is the chamber president.
