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Institute for Organization Management, the professional development program of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, is pleased to announce that Chad Amond, President & CEO of the Westmoreland County Chamber of Commerce, has graduated from the program and has received the recognition of IOM. Awarded to all graduates of the Institute program, the IOM Graduate Recognition signifies the individual’s completion of 96 hours of course instruction in nonprofit management. In addition, participants can earn credit hours toward the Certified Chamber Executive (CCE) or Certified Association Executive (CAE) certifications. Nearly 1,000 individuals attend Institute annually.
“Institute graduates are recognized across the country as leaders in their industries and organizations,” said Raymond P. Towle, IOM, CAE, the U.S. Chamber Foundation’s vice president of Institute for Organization Management. “These individuals have the knowledge, skills, and dedication necessary to achieve professional and organizational success in the dynamic association and chamber industries.” Since its commencement in 1921, the Institute program has been educating tens of thousands of association, chamber, and other nonprofit leaders on how to build stronger organizations, better serve their members and become strong business advocates. Institute’s curriculum consists of four weeklong sessions at five different university locations throughout the country. Through a combination of required courses and electives in areas such as leadership, advocacy, marketing, finance, and membership, Institute participants are able to enhance their own organizational management skills and add new fuel to their organizations, making them run more efficiently and effectively. Institute for Organization Management is the professional development program of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. It is the premier nonprofit professional development program for association and chamber professionals, fostering individual growth through interactive learning and networking opportunities. Thank you for being a member of the Westmoreland County Chamber of Commerce! We appreciate your membership and hope that we can provide you with the utmost value for your investment. We invite you to take our Membership Survey so that we know how to better serve you as we strive to successfully fulfill our mission of "Building Business. Connecting Communities. Empowering Everyone." The survey deadline is Friday, September 1.
Please click the link below and spend a few minutes telling us what you like, what you don't like and what you value most about your Chamber membership. With your help, the Chamber hopes to continue moving forward in the right direction for our members while becoming an even stronger organization each and every year. Click here to take the survey! The Westmoreland County Chamber of Commerce is proud to honor excellence in local business at the 2017 Awards Luncheon & Annual Business Meeting in October. The Annual Business Meeting is held each fall to recognize the organization’s leadership, highlight past year achievements, and review the goals for the upcoming year. In addition to the brief business meeting, an awards ceremony will be held to recognize and honor the 2017 award recipients.
This year’s award recipients include: The Markosky Engineering Group, Inc. - Business of the Year; Dr. Gennaro Piraino, Jr., Superintendent of Franklin Regional School District - Chamber Member of the Year; ACHIEVA/The Arc of Westmoreland – Not-for-Profit of the Year; and Kim Kramer, President of Legacy Wealth Solutions – ATHENA® Award. Nominations, submitted by fellow members, were collected during the months of May, June and July. A 10-member panel of judges independently read each nomination summary and rated each candidate. Scores were calculated to determine the award recipient in each category. Recipients will be honored in a special awards ceremony during the luncheon event that includes a video presentation; and each recipient will receive a handsome engraved plaque of Westmoreland County. “As in the past, the Chamber was thrilled with the caliber of nominees this year. These nominees are the types of outstanding individuals, businesses, and organizations that embody the Chamber and make Westmoreland County a great place to live and work,” said Chad Amond, president of the Chamber. “The recipients as well as the nominees are all winners, as is Westmoreland County for having them as a part of our community.” Other nominees included Century Support Services, Christofano Associates, Jeannette Specialty Glass, Levin Furniture, MSA—The Safety Company, and Parker Hannifin for Business of the Year; Kathleen Comini, Key Bank, Dan Galbraith, Solutionist, and Amy Miller, Heartland Payment Systems for Chamber Member of the Year; Bushy Run Battlefield Heritage Society, Council on Substance Abuse in Youth, Greensburg YMCA, St. Anne Home, Threshold, Inc., United Way of Southwestern PA, and The Westmoreland Museum of American Art for Not-for-Profit of the Year; and Joy Klohonatz, Christine Mohler-King, Jennifer Ricciardelli, Janet Sardon, and Janice Smarto for ATHENA® Award. The 2017 Annual Business Meeting & Chamber Awards Luncheon will be held on Thursday, October 12 at 11:30 a.m. at the Ramada Hotel & Conference Center in Greensburg. The event includes a plated lunch, brief business meeting and awards ceremony. The event is sponsored by First Commonwealth Bank, Graham Insurance Group, S&T Bank, Classic Hits 107.1 WHJB, Comcast Business Class, Skene 19 Films, Smail Auto Group, Trib Total Media, Carlow University, Fotorecord Print Center, Laura Edgerly Designs and PNC Bank. Confirm attendance by registering online at: www.westmorelandchamber.com or contact the Westmoreland County Chamber of Commerce at 724-834-2900. Jeannette, PA | Working with Saint Francis University in Loretto, PA, local software developer CME Integrations, a division of CME Websites, launched a national database of occupational regulations to be used by researchers, policy makers, and the public in understanding the impact of occupational licensing.
A launch party, held in the JFK Student Center at SFU, was attended by VIPs including Dr. Dick Carpenter, the Director of Strategic Research at the Institute for Justice and Dr. Morris Kleiner, whose work has been featured on CNN and who has been an adviser to the National Economic Council and the U.S. Council of Economic Advisers. The new website, www.CSORSFU.com, is a project of the Center for the Study of Occupational Regulations at Saint Francis University, Shields School of Business. It is the brainchild of Edward J. Timmons, Ph.D., the Director of CSOR and was funded by a grant from the Koch Foundation. The website will be used to keep abreast of news, events, and legislation in occupational regulations. More importantly, visitors will be able to select specific occupations and states to learn licensing regulations, educational requirements, application fees, and more related to their field of interest. To start, the site has been uploaded with information on Healthcare Practitioners and Healthcare Support Occupations. Occupational information affecting Veterans comes next, and then the site will continue to grow as researchers and Student Fellows devote themselves to organizing and adding job regulations on a national scale. CME Integrations was chosen for the project because CME’s software engineers demonstrated innovative thinking in both feature development and user-interface design. It was important to CSOR to get not only the public-facing website right, but the back-end database controls as well, as researchers at Saint Francis University will continually add and update information to keep the site relevant. CME Integrations is a division of CME Websites, both located in Jeannette, PA. Founded in 1999 and having launched over 500 web projects both locally and internationally, CME now employs some 16 designers, developers, writers, and software engineers and is continuing to grow at a rapid pace. The Westmoreland County Forum for Workforce Development is currently seeking applicants for the position of Director. Click here for job summary and desired qualifications!
Leadership Westmoreland is pleased to announce its third cohort of participants since the program’s re-launch in 2015. “We are excited to keep the momentum going as we prepare for our next program year. We look forward to welcoming the new cohort, with its diversity and commitment to Leadership Westmoreland. It promises to be another great year to Learn, Grow and Lead,” explained program facilitator Grace Markum.
The 9-month program featuring over 40 guest presenters from all over Westmoreland County will kick off in September when the cohort comes together for an overnight retreat. The Class of 2017-2018 includes: • Erin Angellone, Westmoreland Casemanagement and Supports • Eric Boyd, Elliott Group • Beth Bradley, Elliott Group • Jack Butler, ACHIEVA/The Arc of Westmoreland • Christopher Daniels, Chevron USA • Sarah Dewald, Watt Fuel Cell • Erika Doyle, Private Industry Council of Westmoreland/ Fayette • Linda Harkcom, Stage Right • Susan Kinney, Westmoreland Casemanagement and Supports • Robert Kniss, Williams Company • Rachel Kurdziel, Ligonier Valley School District • Mark Lawrence, PNC Bank • Vanessa Mangery, Senior Independence of Southwestern PA • Jessica Marazza, The SecondHalf Coach • Carol Palcic, Adelphoi • Adam Quatrini, Quatrini Rafferty, P.C. • Rebecca Quatrini, UPMC East • Jessica Parsons, Saint Vincent College • Louis Surace, Westmoreland County Community College • Louise Wilhelm, Westmoreland County Food Bank As our wonderful summer reaches its midpoint, our preeminent county has welcomed back the black and gold faithful to support the Pittsburgh Steelers and their return to St. Vincent College for another grueling training camp. As we watch, enjoy, and offer hope of good things to come, the players plan, learn, execute, and repeat ad nauseum. The constant attention to detail in Latrobe – we hope – will pave the way to success in Minneapolis come February 4, 2018.
Football great Herschel Walker always underscored the need to hone his natural talent and once said, “My God given talent is my ability to stick with training longer than anybody else.” After all, hard work and perseverance is “talent” we can all perform every day – and this attitude no doubt caused Walker to be coveted by many other NFL teams. But, what does this have to do with our beloved Latrobe? Well, Walker’s talent placed him as the centerpiece of the 1989 blockbuster 18 player/pick trade by Dallas to Minnesota, which paved the way for the Cowboys’ great teams of the 1990s. Dallas had entertained but rejected a competing offer from Cleveland. The very next year, Dallas traded the 1990 first round pick (#21) acquired from Minnesota in the Walker trade and its third round pick for the Pittsburgh Steelers first round (pick #17), and Dallas used this pick to select a player that later became the NFL’s all-time leading rusher - Emmitt Smith. Smith’s stock fell in the draft because some thought he was too small and too slow. This brings in my story of training and perseverance. Many of you are aware of my problem of being a lifelong Buffalo Bills fan -even after 4 consecutive Super Bowl defeats (SBXXVII and XXVIII at the hands of Emmitt Smith) and a playoff drought now rivalling the all-time worst. Although my mind tells me our best season is the offseason, my heart tells me that each year is “the year.” I have remained loyal in my dedication and consistent in my off-season dedication to my hometown team. Still, as fans we prepare for the success in our role as fan. We buy new hats, shirts, and other paraphernalia. We scour the newsfeeds. We plan tailgates. We sit in our lucky seats. The list goes on. We simply get ready. Just like NFL teams use training camps to get better, our businesses have the same need to plan, learn, execute, and repeat. Our repetition makes us better. We also need to think whether our teams need some added training (in house or formal) to get even better. I am sure there is another Chamber member that can help improve your team’s IT, sales, or customer service skillsets. Your team will appreciate it. In the meantime, I’ll always wonder what would have been had Cleveland acquired Walker and if the Steelers did not trade down with Dallas. - Jim Creenan, Chairman of the Board |
AuthorThe latest news from the Westmoreland County Chamber of Commerce Archives
March 2023
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