Beaver County Chamber of Commerce President Jack Manning’s June 2019 Message
Beaver County Chamber Message: Leadership Beaver County!
At the Beaver County Chamber of Commerce, we like to think of ourselves as the leading business development organization in the Beaver Valley. You all are the ultimate judge of that assertion but we do represent the largest and most diverse collection of business and community leadership you will find in Beaver County. Our outstanding Chamber Board of Directors, combined with our partner organization, The Beaver County Partnership for Community and Economic Development, are all an ingrained part of the fabric of Beaver County life.
To help ensure we are continuing to nurture and mentor future leaders for our region, the Chamber initiated our “Leadership Beaver County” program. Leadership Beaver County is designed for existing and emerging leaders within Beaver County. Our goal is to educate them on the most important opportunities, challenges, and issues within the county in order to cultivate diverse and well-rounded leaders to carry our community forward.
Our program is designed to help those accepted into the cohort to understand themselves better and ultimately how to become better leaders in their community and place of work. The nine-month program started in September of 2018 and we are pleased to recognize the first graduates of Leadership Beaver County on May 30, 2019.
The Class of 2018-2019 includes: Ann Andrews (B.F. Jones Library); Matthew Barrage (NOVA Chemicals); Kirsten Bestor (WesBanco); Dr. Peter Birchler (Chiropractic Health Center); Kolton Codner (CCBC); Christine Cosky (B-Well Nation); Nick DiPietro (Peoples Gas); Lisa Lathom (eXp Realty); Glenn Natali (CCBC); Shon Owens (Franklin Center); Bethany Williams (City of Beaver Falls); Eric Woelfel (PA Cyber).
Leadership is not easily defined nor always adequately acknowledged. Google “leadership” (we did) and 5,080,000,000,000 results show up in less than a second. It is among the most written about and misunderstood subjects in the American lexicon. What we do know is that leaders come in all shapes, sizes, colors and backgrounds. There are business leaders, community leaders, environmental leaders, political leaders, faith leaders, education leaders, and every other aspect of life.
Leaders are not necessarily born, unless you are part of the royal family, or a result of being given a title. More often than not leaders emerge in organizations and communities from an event, sense of duty, or being thrust into a new situation that requires someone to step up and make a difference. The spark of inspiration that motivates someone can come from almost anywhere. We know that tragedy and failure are often excellent learning experiences for a leader. An error in judgment and making a mistake in life doesn’t have to end in failure if you learn from it and take steps to make amends.
Leadership is granted to people who have earned the respect of their peers and followers by learning about themselves first, being selfless in their pursuit of something better and caring about others. Empathy and compassion are often mentioned among the positive traits of good leaders. They are also risk takers who are not afraid to fail and will always try. We are reminded of the quote from Edward Everett Hale who said, “I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.”
Our graduates are now better prepared to understand this and accept the challenges that are ahead of them. We congratulate them on their outstanding achievement and wish them the best of luck in all their endeavors. The Chamber also congratulates another outstanding leader in her own field, our Director of Event Planning and Programs, Emily Konecheck.
Emily designed, facilitated and lead the cohort through every phase of the nine-month program. Her acceptance of the challenge and performance throughout the process was truly exemplary. She is another emerging leader in Beaver County that we are very proud to have on our Chamber Team.
This important community update is brought to you by Beaver Falls Municipal Authority, 1st Consultants, Strassburger, McKenna, Gutnick & Gefsky, Ambridge Regional Chamber of Commerce, Skerlec Contracting, and NovaCare!
