New trustee named to BC3 board
Robi Lombardo has been appointed to complete the term of Nancy H. Staible on Butler County Community College’s 16-member board of trustees.
Butler County Commissioners Leslie Osche, Kimberly Geyer and Kevin Boozel appointed the Cranberry Township resident to fill Staible’s term which expires in June 2023.
Lombardo fosters relationships with leaders in five Western Pennsylvania counties, remains unflappable officiating high school basketball games, advises nonprofit organizations as a volunteer, and will help to guide BC3 as its newest trustee, officials said.
As a regional external affairs consultant with FirstEnergy-West Penn Power/Penn Power for 22 years, Lombardo is the liaison between the electric utility and 146 municipalities, 19 state or federal legislators, 18 school districts, three colleges or universities, county commissioners and all nonprofit organizations in Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler and Clarion counties.
Lombardo, Osche said, “is the voice of calm in crisis and, as the face of FirstEnergy in the region, is always responsive to and supportive of community needs and opportunities. Now he brings vision to the BC3 board of trustees in helping to meet workforce needs of the future.”
Geyer called Lombardo “one of the most enthusiastic and community-oriented people you would ever want to know. The energy and positive can-do attitude that resonates from Robi is tenfold and contagious.”
“A natural problem-solver,” Boozel said. “He may think of things that the leadership team at BC3 hadn’t thought of. And I wouldn’t be surprised by that at all.”
As a volunteer, Lombardo assists the Community Development Corp. of Butler County, the United Ways of Butler County and of Beaver County, the Butler County Chamber of Commerce, the Butler County Community Organizations Active in Disaster and the Beaver County Inclusion, Diversity and Awareness Council.
“I am superimpressed with Robi,” said BC3 President Nick Neupauer, who has served with Lombardo on boards for the Community Development Corp. of Butler County and the Butler County Chamber of Commerce.
“He is all about team. He is all about loyalty. I’m excited for his loyalty, forward-thinking and becoming part of our terrific board of trustees.”
“I like to be the guy in the board room who will take on the biggest challenge,” Lombardo said, “or throw some ideas out there that may not be what somebody else is typically thinking.”
Lombardo, a New Castle native who has lived in Cranberry Township the past 21 years with his wife, Carla, and his daughter, Alexa, a junior at Seneca Valley High School, said, “That’s the way I look at boards I sit on. I’m not status quo. I think it is exciting to bring new ideas and move the board forward.”
Lombardo said he had known Neupauer from his work as external affairs consultant and serving on boards with him.
The community college’s board of trustees is a policymaking body that provides direction and guidance to the college’s president and administration.
The primary functions of the board include establishing basic policy, appointing the president, and financial control of the institution.
Lombardo said he will be introduced to the board at its next meeting Oct. 21 and then undergo orientation Nov. 6 on the BC3 campus.
