NexTier Bank’s $20,000 gift to the Butler County Community College Education Foundation will benefit BC3 programs that enable high school students to earn transferable college credits and pupils as young as fifth-graders to learn about economic concepts.

NexTier’s donation, through the Pennsylvania Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program, will assist BC3’s High School Programming, such as College Within the High School and the Stock Market Game administered by the BC3 Center for Economic Education.

NexTier has contributed to BC3 through Pennsylvania EITC gifts each year since 2013, said Ruth Purcell, executive director of the BC3 Education Foundation. NexTier Bank supported BC3’s capital campaign in 1999 when it was known as Citizens National Bank, and the college’s capital campaign in 2013, Purcell added.

“They’ve supported just every major initiative that we have had,” Purcell said. “NexTier is definitely a community bank. Because they are so community-oriented, they know how community-oriented we are. And I think that has made a difference and kept their support.”

NexTier Bank, said BC3 President Nick Neupauer, is “very community-minded and certainly understands our role not only in Butler, but also in being a regional institution. One of the longest-running partnerships that we have had with a community bank is with NexTier. This is just the latest in a long line of gifts from NexTier, and we are certainly appreciative.”

As a community bank, NexTier’s relationship with BC3 is “something that we highly value,” said Maria Amoruso, NexTier Bank’s senior vice president and chief marketing officer. “We’re proud to support an organization that brings in local students and students from outside the area, and helps them to prepare for the next phase of their life.”