Check out what we’ve done through the years!
YEAR IN REVIEW NARRATVIE- 2025
JANUARY
01/06/2025- Melody was contacted by Russell Mills of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. His role is to meet with business leaders across this region to discuss economic conditions, employment, wages, and prices. Russell then reports back to their bank President, who sits on the Federal Open Market Committee, which is the group that sets the federal funds rate. Russell requested a meeting with Melody on January 16th to discuss what the Greene County Chamber is seeing in the regional economy and possible ways to collaborate in the future.
01/06/2025- Melody was contacted by Jim Johnston, the corporate relations manager at City Missions. He held with a meeting with her on January 10th at 1:30 to learn more about our Chamber.
01/07/2025- Andrea Hunt, an undergraduate research assistant with the Center for Economic and Community Development at Penn State reached out to Melody. They are interested in conducting a survey to support business employees in recovery through a workplace initiative. One method of helping get the survey into our area is to circulate it through email, which is how the Greene County Chamber of Commerce will be getting it out into the business community, our eBlasts and eNewsletter.
01/09/2025- Melody had a meeting with Chuck Trump of First Federal today regarding preparations for her meeting on January 16th with the federal reserve. They discussed the economic climate of banking within our community and trends that banks are seeing. Melody then had a meeting at Mickey’s Men’s Store to discuss local economic conditions such as employment, wages, and prices to gain as much knowledge for the upcoming meeting as possible.
01/13/2025 – Melody attended a press conference and assisted with the ribbon cutting for the new “The Way” community center. The event showcased two large funding awards through the Neighborhood Assistance Program and Camera Bartolotta’s efforts at the state level. The funds will be used to finish out the inside of the building which was fully renovated and added onto through a local capital fund-raising campaign.
01/15/2025 – Melody and Sarah hosted the annual Parade Safety and Wrap Up Meeting to review the 2024 event and make plans for the 2025 event. Attending were representatives from the Waynesburg Borough Office and Street Department as well as the chief of police from the Boro, a representative from the Pa State Police and representatives from the Veteran’s Parade planning group. Safety changes were discussed for 2025 which will be worked on and organized for implementation this year.
01/16/2025- Russell Mills of the Cleveland Federal Reserve met with Melody at the Chamber office. It was an informative meeting with a handout presentation and discussion regarding our area’s economic climate trends. Our office will be participating in a survey later this spring that will be used to gauge business market trends in several states that are served by this office of the Federal Reserve Bank.
01/20/2025- The Executive Director was invited to sit on the selection committee for the new Pittsburgh Walk of Fame which will be installed in the Strip District of Pittsburgh recognizing individuals who have made a lasting impact on the entire region. The selection committee will be made up of 200 individuals who are familiar with the culture and heritage of the area, which is made up of 10 southwestern Pennsylvania counties.
01/21/2025- Melody was formally invited to attend the swearing-in ceremony for Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity. The ceremony is going to be held in Harrisburg, so she declined the invitation due to scheduling and travel distance.
01/23/2025- Muriel Johnson-Nuttall, the Executive Director at the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce emailed Melody an introduction to Alyssa Pennington, of WVU Medicine-Uniontown Hospital. The hospital is currently working to send out a survey for their Community Health Needs Assessment, and since they service people in Greene County, they are seeking a good source of distribution for their survey. This is where a working partnership with Fayette’s Chamber comes in handy, because it opens the door for us to have another relationship opening. Melody agreed that the Greene County Chamber will send out the survey, but it is not clear as to when that will happen yet. More details will follow.
01/27/2025- Robert Carl, of the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce reached out to Melody regarding the coalition for Child Care Advocacy. This was an initiative that the Greene County Chamber signed up for in 2024 that is almost across the finish line. Robert was touching base regarding the expansion of support for the movement nearing the completion of the 2025-26 State Budget, and how more people have signed up. He also sent over for a link to a podcast that talks in-depth about the movement and encouraged that people reach out to their state legislators, senators, and representatives and about how this would be positively impactful for our providers, parents, employers, and children from across the state.
01/27/2025 – Melody participated in a conference call with a representative of PENNIE, the Pennsylvania Marketplace for health insurance and a representative from Governor’s Shapiro’s office regarding the unequitable increase in the cost of marketplace insurance for residents of Greene County, some seeing their monthly premium increase by 50% up to 120% per month. The call ended with the instructions to obtain letters from residents who were affected by these increases describing their financial hardship because of the increases.
01/29/2025- All Chamber staff members took a training seminar on growth zone. The presentation was titled “Maximizing the ROI.” ROI stands for Return On Investment. Topics covered included what ROI really means for your online community, how to keep your members engaged and satisfied, ways to turn your community into a monetized platform, and tips for driving long-term growth. Following the seminar, staff talked about all these points, discussed online platforms, and affective member surveys.
FEBRUARY
02/03/2025- President Lisa Neil of Southwest Training Services contacted Melody regarding a survey for the Southwest Corner Workforce Development Board to consider for their Local Area Plan for 2025-2029. This survey will help their board connect job seekers with meaningful employment opportunities, support businesses in finding and developing talented workers, invest in training programs that lead to family-sustaining careers, and align education and workforce development with industry needs. Melody completed the survey, and asked Lisa if she wished for it to be included in our eNewsletter and Lisa requested it be placed in there.
02/05/2025- Today a press release from the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce confirmed that the Childcare work force coalition that the Greene County Chamber of Commerce supported was added into the budget. Sixty local chambers and economic development organizations presented state Governor Shapiro with this matter to be funded in the 2025-26 state budget. With fifty-five million to allocate towards childcare for teachers, 3,000 unfilled childcare jobs will no longer be vacant and the teachers who have left the education sector due to lack of childcare can now return to work.
02/05/2025 – Melody recorded an Inside the Issues with Doug Wilson for broadcast on WANB regarding the chamber’s scholarship programing and membership benefits. This will be aired twice over the next month at no cost to us.
02/06/2025 – Melody participated in a Zoom call regarding the sale of US Steel to Nippon Steel, a Japanese headquartered company and the attempt of the Southwest Regional Commission and 9 chambers of commerce’s and several other regional economic development organizations. The sale was blocked by former president Biden and an Americus Brief is being prepared by Pittsburgh law firm, Steptoe and Johnson with a final filing date of 02/10/2025. This project required quite a few hours of research, emails, phone calls lasting through the weekend and into the final hours of 02/10/2025. Our chamber was a signor on the brief supporting the sale that would retain 3,000 jobs in the region.
02/13/2025- Jeff McCracken attended the annual scholarship information seminar hosted by the Community Foundation of Greene County and the Greene County Health & Wellness Foundation. He spoke on behalf of the Chamber regarding the Education Scholarship in Melody’s place, with there being sickness in her home she did not think it was in the best interest to be out in public. Jeff willingly agreed to speak on the Chamber’s behalf, as he was on the agenda that night already about another scholarship. The application process, deadlines, and requirements were the topics he reviewed with those in attendance.
02/18/2025 – Melody received a phone call from a local physician who works for 7 locations of WVU Medicine reading x-ray films from her home base in Ruff Creek. She had been served by an internet company out of Morgantown who filed for bankruptcy two years ago. Since that time, she has been attempting to work with Windstream, who continues to provide promises that never materialize. Melody reached out to Senator Bartolotta’s office for contacts at Windstream and has begun an attempt to resolve the situation. Through our intervention, this matter has been resolved successfully much to the appreciation of the physician who is now able to successfully work from home as needed.
02/20/2025- The Greene County Chamber of Commerce sent an endorsement letter to Rachel Pettiford at the Pittsburgh Job Corps. This letter, addressed to the President, highlights the importance of the Job Corps does, and the impact their presence has on workforce, skills, and training in job markets across the nation.
02/25/2025 – Melody rode along with the Chief of Police for Waynesburg Borough through the new proposed parade line up route which is designed to provide less disruption to traffic during the hours leading up to the parade. The ultimate goal is to provide as safe of a space that is possible to avoid the dangers of detouring traffic and the congestion of units arriving to line-up.
02/26/2025 – Melody met with a representative from DQE Communications who currently has high speed fiber cable running through Greene County along the I-79 corridor. The company that was originally a part of Duqesene Light, has recently been sold and they are looking to expand services to more business customers along the route. They further want to expand off of the main line to provide service to more business customers. ** At this meeting the issue for the physician in Ruff Creek was reviewed and it was determined their cable is less than 100 yards from the home office. They were provided with contact information for the physician and will work to connect her as soon as possible.
02/26/25- The Greene County Chamber of Commerce staff sat for a training webinar during their lunch break today. The webinar was through Growthzone. The topic was “How to Increase Member Engagement with Easy-to-Plan & Cost-Effective Online Member Meetups That Build Community. Following the meeting, they held a discussion amongst themselves of the positives, negatives, time necessary, and involvement needed to host events like these.
MARCH
03/03/2025- Melody signed a letter of support to the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) for the Tri-County Workforce Investment Board for the importance of continuing to fulfill their mission. This program helps individuals recovering from substance abuse disorder return to the workforce through recovery friendly workplace training. The ARC is the organization that funds these projects, and it would alleviate the stress in our region of the employer needs regarding the workforce.
03/05/2025 – Received word that the high-speed internet service offered through DQE will be connected to the physician’s home office through an expedited request for service in the next two weeks. Our office was able to bring closure to that problem for the physician.
3/10/2025 – Melody Completed an interview with the Greene County Messenger on the chamber’s accomplishments in 2024 and goals for 2025 for their upcoming Progress Edition.
3/11/2025 – Met with Lawrence Metts and George Alexis with DQE Communications who currently has high speed fiber running through Greene County from Washington to Morgantown. This meeting was located at the Waynesburg Moose Lodge. Also in attendance was Commissioners Edgreen and McClure, Jeff Marshall County Clerk and Rich Policz Director of Emergency Management. The discussion centered on the expansion of the existing footprint served by the current line which are primarily financial institutions, higher education and some government locations such as the county jail and the 911 Center. The expansion would be available to business customers at this point in time.
03/11/2025- Melody and Sarah attended tourism’s annual meeting held at Valley View. Sarah received a certificate of recognition for being nominated for the Outstanding Staff Award.
03/13/2025- Melody and Kristy volunteered for the Financial Reality Fair that Frick FCU hosted at Jefferson Morgan that taught high school Juniors and Seniors about the real-world experience of budgeting their earnings to provide basic necessities first and foremost. The event was organized by member Frick Tri-County Credit Union.
03/18/2025- Melody met with representative of the Baily Agency to look at a new insurance benefit for our members.
03/19/2025- All three staff members and Loren from World Kinect represented our office at the Great Gathering, hosted by the Pittsburgh Business Exchange at the Hilton Garden Inn. At least one new member joined from the evening’s event.
03/25/2025- All three office staff met with Nate Regotti to discuss a possible merger with the Greene County Industrial Development Corporation.
03/27/2025- Melody received an invitation in the mail today from PennDOT to attend a meeting to be held on 05/14/2025. The meeting was about the Route 21 improvement plan. Due to prior obligations, staff had to decline attending.
APRIL
04/07/2025- Our office launched the first BOTS survey in conjunction with the Federal Reserve of Cleveland.
04/09/2025- Our office hosted a ribbon cutting for the Shannopin Club for the CTC’s updates.
04/10/2025- Ethan Nicholas from the Pittsburgh Business Exchange reached out to Melody by email today. He sent a last invitation for her to attend a brunch at 10:30 on April 11th in Wexford with PA Treasurer Stacy Garrity. Melody had to decline the invitation due to our office hosting the Women In Business Breakfast earlier that morning, she would not be to Wexford on time to attend.
04/14/25 The staff attended the Grand Opening celebration and ribbon cutting for First Federal’s new branch in Fairchance, PA.
04/15/2025- Melody was to attend the Perkins meeting at the GCCTC. She has to cancel due to being sick. This was the first one in a long time that she could not attend and Sarah was not able to attend in her place.
04/17/2025- Brent of Panhandle Cleaning & Restoration stopped in to have a meeting with Sarah and Mandi. He wanted to learn more about their membership opportunities as well as present to the staff what Panhandle does in-depth so that they could have an understanding to pass along to membership.
4/24/2025 – Melody received a nice thank you card from Ariel Baily who she assisted in getting internet to her home through DCE Communications. She is a radiologist who works for several hospitals in the region and needs to be able to read large files (x-rays) from home to do her job as she is home based due to the location of the hospitals. She had been with a direct provider out of Morgantown for a number of years and they recently went bankrupt. She has been begging Windstream to help, however they kept putting her off as to when the broadband cable would be brought in front of her house. They provided a date several times which came and went with no activity. DCE has high speed-fiber cable in front of her house already but it is for business customers only. After speaking with the representative from DCE, they agreed to connect her and got her up and back to reading x-rays. She (and her mother) have repeatedly said thanks for our role in this.
04/28/2025- Chris Smithley from Waynesburg University personally dropped a letter off at the Chamber office asking for a possible sponsorship or basket donation for their annual golf outing. Staff compiled a basket of items in the office not used in previous raffles to assemble a basket for them.
04/29/25 – Melody was invited to attend an Open House for members of the community for the new MidAtlantic Resiliency Link which will be coming through our corner of the state linking Maryland with West Virginia.
04/30/2025- Melody sent a letter of support for the preservation and rehabilitation of Hanna Hall to Senator John Fetterman. The hall was built in 1851 and has not yet been considered for funding through the National Park Service’s Historic Preservation Fund Program. The building is already listed on the National Register of Historic Places, so this funding would help with preservation and enhance the educational environment for future Waynesburg University students.
MAY
05/08/2025- Sarah spent a few hours at the PA CareerLink of Greene County this morning. She took 15 prospective packages to their job fair and spoke with the businesses that had booths.
05/14/2025- Sarah and Mandi held a ribbon cutting for the newly- taken over farmers market held uptown in the county parking lot. Our office took it over in an effort to continue the event so that the local businesses/artisans would not be lost in the community.
05/16/2025- Melody corresponded with the Observer-Reporter about the Greene County Magazine and complaints that our office has been receiving in regard to subscribers not getting a copy with their paper. This led to a phone call with Carole DeAngelo and Trista Thurston in which Sarah and Melody explained how many cannot find these publications, and the list of stores that Trista had sent to our office that should carry them actually does not, because our office called or spoke to over half of them in person. It was stated that they would get to the bottom of the issue, and in the meantime, they would have additional copies dropped off at the Chamber office for individuals to pick up or for the Chamber to get into the community.
05/16/2025- Melody presented a citation for 60 years of existing today. They had an event that she was not able to attend, but wanted to be sure their office knew we recognize their time-honored work and achievement.
05/19/2025- The Business Outlook and Trends Survey (BOTS) that the Chamber participated in closed today. The Federal Reserve of Cleveland received eight responses to the survey. The office was thanked for their efforts in helping them obtain critical information of our region.
05/20/2025- Our office held a ribbon cutting for our new neighbors at Conti Law.
05/22/2025- Melody attended the Southwest Pennsylvania Commission “Commute Info Program” meeting at the County Commissioners office.
05/27/2025- Melody received an email invitation from President at Penn West California, Jon Anderson, to attend a luncheon on Thursday, June 26th where they planned to share updates and insights with local community leaders about his first year in office and opportunities across our region. Due to scheduling conflicts, Melody respectfully declined.
05/28/2025- Melody received an email invitation from Vanessa Getz of Salvo Strategies. The invitation is for a meeting in Pittsburgh occurring tomorrow with the U.S. Steel President & CEO and the Vice Chairman of Nippon Steel. Due to the lack of notice, she had to regretfully decline.
05/30/2025 – Held the annual golf outing at Carmichaels Golf Course. 9 teams participated and just over $7,000 was raised for operating expenses.
JUNE
06/02/25- Melody received an email from the Schuykill Chamber of Commerce. Another draft was published for the efforts towards the PA budget for recruitment and retainment of childcare for educators. A new press release and sign-on letter was sent to the 72 participating Chambers to let them know how things were going in Harrisburg.
06/3/25 – Melody and Sarah attended a meeting at Waynesburg University by invitation from Dave Calvario of the Community Foundation, and Stacey Brodak, VP Institutional Advancement and University Relations at Waynesburg University to meet with representatives from the Heinz Foundation. It was from 9 am-1 pm . This meeting was a start to setting a new strategy of developments across the region for funding opportunities. Their foundation is in a learning phase as to where their assets can go in Southwestern PA and they are looking to expand their philanthropic efforts into Greene County. Youth workforce and higher education pathways were discussed as well as ongoing economic development within the county. Many organizations assembled to go over current projects, programs, and opportunities. It was a productive round-table discussion that led to a scheduled meeting which will be held via-zoom and will be focused on workforce landscape.
06/4/25- Melody received a thank you email from Rob Stephany as a follow-up for the Heinz endowment meeting that she and Sarah attended the prior day. Another meeting this time via zoom was scheduled for June 11th at 11 a.m. Melody thanked Rob for the invitation but declined as another meeting was previously scheduled for that day.
6/10/25- Received a thank you from Blueprints for our raffle item donation to their Annual Clay Shoot.
6/11/25- Melody attended a bootcamp for federal incentives for clean energy economic development. The meeting discussed updates with this initiative and how it affects our region.
06/19/25 – Received a very nice thank you letter from U.S. Steel thanking us for standing with other Chamber of Commerce in support of the sale to Nippon which enabled the continuance of over 3,000 jobs in the region.
06/27/25- Melody received an email from William Stough, a baseball coach at Waynesburg University. They are having an upcoming golf outing and wanted to see if the Chamber could donate a basket. Due to the amount of collaboration the University partakes in with our office, staff assembled a basket with odds and ends already in-house to donate.
06/27/2025- Melody received an email from Jack Burth of Toastmasters, the presenter for our lunch and learn that occurred on 06/26/25. Jack wanted to thank the Chamber for having come down to teach on public speaking. As a joke when asked to speak, Jack requested one penny since he has never been paid to do such a lecture. Staff decided to donate $0.41 (a quarter, dime, nickel, and penny) and framed it and titled it “Jack’s first paid public speaking job.” He highly enjoyed it, and reached out to let the office know how much he appreciated the opportunity.
06/13/25 – Melody attended a follow-up meeting at the request of the commissioners with the SPC on the topic of the transportation meeting previously discussed above.
JULY
07/10/2025- Our office hosted the ribbon cutting celebrating the new location of Mountain State Pressure Services Inc.
07/15/2025- Melody and Sarah delivered directories to members within the county area. Prospective members packets were delivered throughout the route as well.
07/16/2025- Sarah delivered directories down town and to the West. Prospective members packets were delivered throughout the route as well.
07/19/2025- Melody hosted the ribbon cutting of the new Saturday “Market Place,” our new event that held it’s first at the Greene County Fairgrounds.
07/21/25- Melody and Sarah attended a meeting at Waynesburg Universities Alston Farm. The Professor of Environmental Sciences at WU, Dr. Janet Paladino, facilitated the discussion amongst various community members. Numerous topics from strategic planning to development of curriculum were covered to see how the donation of the farm could be incorporated into what the university currently offers and plans to offer.
07/28/25- The Chamber of Commerce was invited to attend a ribbon cutting for the new UPMC Urgent Care Opening in Greene Plaza on 07/30.
07/30/25- Melody attended the ribbon cutting for the new UPMC Urgent Care location at Greene Plaza.
AUGUST
08/04/25- Jeff Porter of the University of Pittsburgh reached out to Melody by email. They are having a three day career fair each day separately focused on Engineering, Computing, Info, & Analytics, and Arts, Sciences, Government & Nonprofits. Jeff wanted Chamber members to know of this opportunity available. Melody agreed to have the event publicized in hopes to help with the employment hardship members are currently facing.
08/05/25- Melody received a thank you email today from Nancy Polinsky Johnson, the Executive Director of the Pittsburgh Walk of Fame. She was part of the selection committee for this year’s honorees, and Nancy invited her to the public ceremony in this email as well that will occur on October 20th at 10:30 a.m. She and Kristy originally wanted to attend but were not able to due to the event being the week of our annual Banquet. The honorees selected by this panel include: George Benson, Nellie Bly, Andrew Carnegie, Rachel Carson, Roberto Clemente, Michael Keaton, Fred Rogers, Jonas Salk, Andy Warhol, and August Wilson.
08/19/25- All office staff met with Joe Mahoney from the Ellen O’Brien Gaiser Center. He wanted to discuss more about what they do and exciting expansions coming up. He also wanted to learn more about their member benefits.
08/21/25- Melody had a conference call with Karen Welton from the department of Labor to discuss education and outreach opportunities for our member businesses to approach the issue of compliance.
08/25/25- Melody and Sarah surprised Albie Rinehart as a 2025 DSA at Waynesburg University today.
08/26/25- Melody and Sarah hosted the Crisis Pregnancy Center of Greene County’s relocation ribbon cutting.
08/27/25- Melody and Jeff McCracken surprised 4 Seasons as the 2025 MLA award recipient today.
08/28/25- Melody and Sarah surprised Renee Jones as a 2025 DSA recipient at the Chamber office today.
SEPTEMBER
09/02/2025- Melody surprised Kathy Bortz with the 2026 PDSA for her husband, Dick Bortz.
09/02/2025- All three staff members met with their fall intern from Waynesburg University, Alex for the first time to discuss some of the expectations and schedule.
09/02/2025- Melody surprised Wayne Hart as a 2025 DSA recipient today.
09/03/2025- Melody and Sarah met with Jeanine Henry of Waynesburg Prosperous and Beautiful to discuss the c3 and how to start the transition process to take it over.
09/16/2025- First Federal of Greene County reached out to Melody about doing a tv interview for a commercial for “All Access with Andy Garcia.” She as well as various others within the community will compile this commercial that is expected to reach approximately 60 million households across numerous Public Television Stations.
09/16/2025- Melody and Sarah attended a meeting with the Fayette and Mon Valley Chambers to discuss a joint opportunity regarding the National Civics Bee Competition, founded by the Civic Trust of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. This competition focuses on students abilities to: gain knowledge about American democracy, practice engaging respectfully and constructively, and build trust in others and institutions. As they compete for prizes, students strengthen their civics, writing, and public speaking skills, and form friendships with other young leaders along the way. A student from this region is competing at the National Competition.
09/16/2025- Melody and Mandi received letters in the mail today from the Pennsylvania Foundation for Free Enterprise Education. Each letter separately stating thanks to our Chamber in the support of their efforts for this year. The letter also included an impact report that 1,890 students were able to experience the PFEW week and that 11,000 were educated about financial markets. Included was a lovely 2025 Commendation certificate.
09/19/25- Melody met with Bethany Tanner of Embroid’em to discuss the possibility of starting a Leadership Greene in 2026.
09/22/25- Melody had a meeting with President Doug Lee of Waynesburg University to discuss the possibility of moving our Christmas Parade line-up onto campus.
09/23/25- Melody and Sarah delivered donations to the PA CareerLink for Pittsburgh Dress for Success that were gathered at the WIBL.
09/25/25- Melody attended the Southwest Corner Workforce Development Breakfast Roundtable at the Greene County Country Club.
09/25/25- Melody, Sarah, and the executive committee had a meeting with the Farmer’s Market Manager at the Chamber office. Some discussion reviewed occurrences this year as well as plans and potential expansion for next year.
09/30/25- Melody and Sarah had a phone interview with Christopher Whitlatch, a research consultant for the Community Foundation of Greene County. Some topics that were discussed were opportunities, challenges, population, retention, and attraction for the county. The phone call lasted just short of an hour and was very productive.
OCTOBER
10/01/2025- Melody and Sarah recorded and Inside the Issues with Doug Wilson of WANB radio. The topic covered was our Annual Downtown Christmas Parade, it’s history, and some upcoming changes.
10/01/2025- Melody and Sarah drove the parks to get a map layout for the parade parking at the University and also met with Professor Richard Krause of Waynesburg University to discuss the recording of the Christmas Parade.
10/02/2025- Melody and Sarah attended the weekly county commissioner’s meeting to receive the proclamation for October being Chamber of Commerce month.
10/08/2025-All staff attended the Fayette Chamber’s 100-year celebration at the Grayson House in Uniontown. They were invited to it when they attended the joint meeting on 09/16, and were honored to accept and witness this milestone anniversary.
10/09/2025- Melody and Sarah hosted Sha Sha’s Creations Ribbon Cutting.
10/10/25- Melody and Sarah facilitated the Legislative Breakfast at the Hampton Inn Waynesburg. In attendance were officials from the offices of the PA Chamber of Business and Industry, Congressman Guy Reschenthaller’s office, State Senttor Bartolotta’s Office, Representative Bud Cook’s office, and all three Greene County Commissioners.
10/17/25- Melody met with the Chief of Security at Waynesburg University to discuss the Annual Downtown Christmas Parade.
10/21/25- All three office staff attended Embroid’ems open house to show support of one of our members.
10/23/25- All staff and volunteering board members hosted our Annual Membership Banquet at Valley View Farms. Five DSA’s and one MLA were honored and the event attendance sold out.
10/31/25- Melody and Sarah hosted an anniversary and Christmas kick-off ribbon cutting at Mystery Finds.
NOVEMBER
11/03/25- Melody was invited to attend UPMC Greene’s new Emergency Room Canopy Ribbon cutting. Due to prior engagements, Melody declined to attend.
11/05/2025- Lisa Neil, President of Southwest Training Services, reached out to Melody about updating their Business and Education Resource Directory. Our office filled this out, to keep updated information that Southwest provides to school districts to connect with local resources, employers and post-secondary training providers. This further enables creation, connection, engagement, and building for those in our community.
11/06/2025- Melody and Sarah hosted a ribbon cutting for DILLIGAF Brewing, the first brewery to exist in Greene County in over 100 years.
11/06/2025- Melody attended the Community Foundation of Greene County’s annual Mix and Mingle. She was able to make it for the end, coming straight from the DILLIGAF ribbon cutting.
11/10/2025- Melody presented a plaque to OSPTA of Waynesburg for the milestone anniversary. They were not able to attend the banquet.
11/11/2025- Melody presented a plaque to Greene County Historical Society for the milestone anniversary. They could not attend the banquet.
11/12/25- Melody, Sarah, and Kristy had the final planning meeting at the Borough office for the parade.
11/20/25- Mandi attended the Observer Reporter’s Best of the Best Gala representing the Chamber, where our office was nominated into the top three category for Best Chamber.
DECEMBER
12/01/2025- PACP sent out their monthly news article, of which highlighted annual conference. To date, the Greene County Chamber of Commerce (mentioned in the article) and the Indiana County Chamber of Commerce were the only two chambers to be PACP Accredited. At conference, Columbia Montour Chamber of Commerce was added to this esteemed ranking.
12/06/25- Our office hosted the 87th Annual Downtown Waynesburg Christmas Parade. With a new line-up, many participants still gave staff much positive feedback.
12/09/25- All office staff attended a meeting with Kerissa Kuis of Waynesburg University at the new business incubator. It’s located in the newly restored Syllvus building on High Street. Part of the tour ended with a survey about observed trends and community patterns.
12/09/25- All office staff attended a lunch meeting with Linda Metz, the Assistant for the Carmichaels Borough. Member benefits, events, collaboration, and sponsorship were just a few of the many topics covered.
12/09/25- Melody had a zoom meeting with Mike Bowers of the LCCP program. This is a benefit of our chamber member small businesses that automatically qualify for a complementary membership of the PA chamber.
12/09/25- Melody had a meeting with Scott Hackenburg to finalize publication details for the 2026 Spring Farm & Garden show that is to be held at the fairgrounds.
12/10/25- Melody and Sarah attended the public farewell celebration for board member of our office and Executive Director of the Eva K. Bowlby Library, Kathy McClure.
YEAR IN REVIEW NARRATIVE- 2024
JANUARY
01/02/24 – Melody is once again partnering with PFEW for their membership mailing regarding their Stock Market Game and their Speaker Series. Karen Musante from the Foundation for Free Enterprise Education (FFEE) and Melody sent a joint letter to business in hopes for local businesses to not only sponsor students but possibly step up as an educational team for the program that they offer. Opportunities such as this are crucial with the workforce today, because it gives us hope that the lack on employment in the future will be long forgotten.
01/5/24 – Participated as a Partnering Chamber in the Pittsburgh Business Exchange’s Annual Winter Kick Off at Seven Springs which is a regional networking event. This is our 6th year as a partner for this event.
01/22/24- Pam Williamson from My Benefit Advisor received our 2024 MBA association and our MBA Association Membership information. This is a yearly request from them in which we send a list of contact information of our staff, board members, and dues paid members for the year.
01/18/24- Jeff Porter of the University of Pittsburgh reached out to Melody via email. The University is holding a Spring Career and Internship Fair for their students. Their studies have shown that 50 percent of college students who graduate from local schools leave the region after graduation, so the hope of this event is to show them how many opportunities are available in our area. Jeff invited the Greene County Chamber of Commerce to share the details with our members to promote regional residency.
01/23/24- Tiffany Fulmer Ott of the PACP emailed Melody the information regarding scholarships to attend conference. Melody applied for these to further enable staff training and development.
01/22/24- Amy from the Pittsburgh Business Exchange sent Melody a thank you in the mail today. She thanked our Chamber for being a partner at the Winter Kickoff Event.
01/23/24- Melody and Sarah met with Benjamin Brown and Caleb Stephenson of Community Bank at Brady’s Roadhouse for a lunch meeting to discuss Communities package buy-in for sponsorship as well as their advertising interests for 2024.
01/23/2024 Amy Clever of the Pittsburgh Business Exchange reached out to Melody regarding their excitement to once again partner with us for the Great Gathering, which will take place on Wednesday March 20th, 2024. This year marks the 10th anniversary for the event, and will host a mega mixer consisting of 1,000 business owners and other professionals from all over Southwestern Pennsylvania. The Greene County Chamber of Commerce is proud to be one of the nearly 30 organizations to partner to create this successful event.
01/24/24- Melody served on the Greene County United Way’s Allocations Committee to meet and discuss their 2023 Community Impact Grant recipients for the final report. The meeting took place for approximately an hour and a half through Zoom. Those in attendance with her were Bridget Vilenica and Sheila Stewart. The topic was how the awarded money was used, challenges and successes of the program to evaluate and amend for this coming year.
01/29/24- Melody had a meeting today with Elise Benke, an account executive of the Washington Wild Things. Elise reached out to Melody regarding wanting to get more involved with our Chamber and Greene County residents.
01/31/24 – Melody counseled Scotty’s Pizza on applying for the ERTC tax credit through phone calls and text messages during the evening hours from home.
FEBRUARY
02/01/24 – Melody was an invited guest and attended the ribbon cutting and reception for the new office of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce who recently moved into the CNX building in Southpointe. She spoke with retired State Representative Pam Snyder, Nate Regotti, April Ciacia, JoAnn Naser and Alex Halper from the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry. The event was well attended.
02/02/24- Melody and Sarah attended a webinar by Sarah Sladek titled “Mastering Membership Strategy for Lasting Engagement and Growth.” It lasted for an hour in which they covered strategic insights, navigating trends, and case studies. The goal of attending is to continue to enhance the Chamber’s engagement and growth through new methods of membership planning.
02/08/2024- Melody received a phone call today from Mark Hofmann of the Herald Standard. He is wanting to do a Progress edition on our Chamber and Tourism. He is looking for events that we’ve organized or sponsored as well as membership numbers, how many new members have joined and how many ribbon cuttings we’ve done in the last year. Melody gladly spoke with him regarding all these things and the article is set to be out at the end of the month.
02/15/2024- Melody went to the EQT Rec Center for the Community Foundation of Greene County’s Scholarship Information Seminar. She spoke of the Chamber’s scholarships. This event was open to all Greene County students and parents particularly with a graduating student focus to learn about local scholarships.
02/16/24- Melody and Sarah attended a ribbon cutting at Waynesburg University for their new eHive, which is a campus-wide innovation hub. There was an entirely larger facility built that now includes a state-of-the-art makerspace and woodshop. The purpose of the eHIVE is to immerse students whether it’s their major related or not, to have the opportunity to built entrepreneurial experiences.
02/20/2024- Melody had a meeting today with Craig Pritts of My Benefit Advisor. Over the past couple of years our Chamber of Commerce has received great benefits from the energy side of the company but the insurance side has not been too active. Melody clearly stated this as a concern and Craig is going to try everything in his power to have more of a presence here.
MARCH
03/01/2024- Melody went for a visit and had a meeting with the owners of L&K Café in Carmichaels. They joined the Carmichaels area Chamber of Commerce and were upset when they weren’t presented with a ribbon cutting, not realizing that we are separate from Carmichaels. Melody gifted them a year of free membership here and a ribbon cutting to work through the issues of misrepresentation due to lack of knowledge of the difference between our organization and Carmichaels.
03/07/2024- Melody had a meeting with MaChal and Sheila this morning for breakfast. They went to Asher’s At The Airport and discussed current situations that have arisen regarding membership and the day-to-day of being a non-profit. Melody making it a regular occurrence to have these meetings with the President and Vice President of the Board so that they know what’s happening and can brainstorm possible solutions.
03/13/2024- Melody attended the Tourism Partnership Annual Meeting with Danielle Shrader at the Greene County Fairgrounds. Danielle has volunteered for our Christmas Parade for numerous years and helped Sarah run the parade last year in Melody’s absence. Our parade was nominated in the category of event of the year.
03/27/2024- Melody spoke at length today with Stacey Brodak at Waynesburg University. Melody filed a letter of support for the University regarding the needs in Southwestern PA for understanding agricultural development. She also was sure to give Stacey contact information for local small and large farms as well as the fairs (Jacktown and Greene County), and the Greene County Farm Bureau.
03/28/2024- Melody and Sarah attended a meeting at Humble Carpet with the owner, Johnny Humble. Humble Carpet is celebrating their 50th anniversary this year and they want to hold a large event. They asked the Chamber to host a ribbon cutting on the new showroom. The event has been scheduled for Friday, June 14th.
APRIL
04/01/2024- Melody was part of a panel session titled: “Nonprofits: Developing Fundamental Resources.” It took place at the Hampton Inn and was an event in conjunction with Greene County United Way’s Inspire Greene Training. Others on the panel with her were Ellen Rossi from EQT Foundation, Dave Floyd from Waynesburg University, Heidi Jamison for Iron Senergy, and Adrienne Tharp from Waynesburg University.
04/08/2024- Melody received an email from Aaron Riggleman of the PA Chamber. Washington Health System is going to be merging with UPMC and it is going to be of great benefit to Washington County. Aaron sent her the article and asked if note be made that she supports the merger. Melody’s response was that whatever it takes for Greene County to retain a local hospital and emergency department is what is best. The merger is set to occur in 2025.
04/16/2024- Results of attendance from the Great Gathering were sent out. The Greene County Chamber of Commerce was the third highest in attendance, with 7% of those in attendance registering through our Chamber.
04/17/2024- Melody and Mandi travelled to Fayette County to join the Pittsburgh Business Exchange, Fayette County Chamber of Commerce, and Fay-Penn Economic Development Council for their April Business Networking Reception.
04/18/2024- Melody and Sarah attended an Insights speaker series regarding non-profit strategies: attracting and keeping funders. The seminar took place in Washington, was approximately an hour long, and consisted of words from Steph Masters, Wendy Burtner, Megan Frenz, and Christy Bean Rowing.
04/18/2024- At 3 pm Melody attended an informational meeting with Blueprints. She received an invite from Jeff Fondelier about a zoom meeting. The meeting talked of Blueprints pilot transportation service that will be coming to Greene County in May. The service is called RAMP (Rural Access Mobility Platform). This meeting will cover the ins and outs of the program in the event our office would get requests for information so that we can point them in the correct direction.
04/25/2024- Melody sent a letter to Congressman Reschenthaler regarding the support of Waynesburg University’s funding for a Pathways Center. A center such as this would leave a positive long-term impact on the community through the ability for the students to achieve their academic and personal goals.
04/26/2024- Melody received a letter from Mark Krupa, the director at the GCCTC. He asked her to attend their joint Local Advisory and Perkins Planning Meeting. Melody has been a part of this process for many years, and graciously accepted the invitation to be a part of this process again this year.
04/29/2024- Melody received an email from Ami Gatts of Washington-Greene County Job training. She requested a letter of recommendation for Jessica Finch of RG Johnson to serve on the Southwest Corner Workforce Development Board. Melody signed the letter and returned her completed task to Ami promptly.
04/30/2024- The Chamber promoted an event through Penn West University, Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education; that it taking place on June 5th. The topic is about the State System and their procurement office.
MAY
05/03/2024- Melody and Sarah attended an employer appreciation breakfast hosted by the Greene County Career and Technology Center. It took place from 12-2:30. Melody was one of the speakers at the event and spoke of the importance of the CTC’s Co-op program and how it is benefitting our community long term with work placement and lifelong lessons.
05/07/2024- Melody and Mandi had a scheduled phone call with Brian & Bridget of Waynesburg Milling Co. They called regarding referral of action because the company Facebook account was hacked and no member of administration on the account could access it any longer.
05/07/2024- The monthly membership benefit from My Benefit Advisor was sent out to all members via email. The topic of the benefit this month was Reimagining the Employee Benefit Experience: Employing Artificial Intelligence During Planning & Implementation.
05/07/2024- Melody received an invitation from Amy Clever of the Pittsburgh Business Exchange to an event called meet the Presidents, taking place on May 15th 2024. It’s an event PBEX hosts where 500+ Pennsylvania business leaders, government officials, and other personalities meet over Hors d’oeuvres and libations on the rooftop at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. Melody regrettably declined the invitation due to previous plans already being scheduled.
05/08/2024- Melody and Sarah attended an employer appreciation breakfast hosted by PA CareerLink at the Hampton Inn. The Keynote speaker of the event was Karen Welton, who touched on topics such as fair labor standards, youth employment, family and medical leave, and the pump for nursing mothers act.
05/14/2024- Aaron Riggleman of the PA Chamber reached out to Melody about signing a coalition letter. For many years now, the Greene County Chamber of Commerce has signed this letter that urges the Governor and General Assembly to eliminate Pennsylvania’s penalty on start up businesses. Our Chamber was one of many from across the state that support this initiative. The possibility of improving that states treatment of net operating losses could positively impact entrepreneurship within the state and lead to a continually thriving economy.
05/14/2024- Melody was requested by the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission to fill out a survey. The topic was regarding transportation in our area, and how people use it. She filed the survey as requested. They also asked that we help get the survey out into our community, so it was put into the eBlast & eNewsletter.
05/20/2024- Melody and Sarah attended a lunch meeting with Kristen Debolt & Athena Bowman of the Waynesburg Borough. They discussed current construction, things currently going on, and caught up. This was a great session of networking.
05/21/2024- Melody attended the Perkins meeting today at the GCCTC. Essentially upstanding members of the community are asked to serve on this committee. They meet and review current education at the GCCTC, as well as talk about budget, expansion, tests scores, new programs and more.
05/21/2024- Melody signed the letter of support for Child Care Advocacy. The overview is that the child care sector maintain their workforce. This would have a positive economic impact. There is currently a historic teacher shortage and this letter will be sent to the general assembly with possible solutions.
JUNE
06/25/2024- All Chamber staff traveled to Canonsburg Cake Company to have a meeting with all the staff from Peters Township Chamber of Commerce. The two chambers talked of struggles they are currently facing, bounced new ideas off each other, and started to outline a joint event for 2025.
06/27/2024- Melody was invited to attend a zoom call today by the County of Greene that was coordinated by the US EPA IWG Rapid Response Team. The team represents 11 counties in the region and today’s call focused on Greene County. Melody was one of several speakers informing those on the call (39 individuals) of the challenges that she sees for our area. The task forces goal is for no community to be left behind during the energy transition by focusing on economic development, water, iInfrastructure, housing, capacity, workforce, and broad band.
JULY
07/15/2024- Melody submitted letters to the Greene County Commissioners regarding re-appointment to Terry Wiltrout and Jeff Marshall to the Southwest Corner Workforce Development Board. Nominations to this board will help with the continued expansion of our economy is heavily dependent on the growth and training of our workforce, and this board gives us the ability to take full advantage of new workforce development opportunities.
07/18/2024- The membership directories were delivered today. Melody and Sarah packaged all of them to either mail or delivery. 192 of them will be delivered and 150 will be sent out in the mail. The cost per directory to send by mail was $2.31, the total bill being $346.50, the total mileage driven was 73.5, with mileage pay currently being $0.67, mileage pay total for delivering 192 is $49.25. The total cost to sent all 192 that were delivered by mail would have been $443.52. In total, the Chamber saved $394.27 by choosing to hand deliver directories.
07/22/2024- Nathan Williams, the communications director at Blueprints reached out to Melody with 4 flyers. Blueprints is currently conducting a Community Needs Assessment (Survey) to gage community needs and give an outlet for their voices to be heard. This will help Blueprints with their planning, decisions, and efforts in the community. The Chamber is helping them by spreading the word of this survey through our eBlasts and eNewsletters.
07/22/2024- Robbie Matesic, the Southwest Regional Representative of U.S. Senator Bob Casey contacted Melody today. Senator Casey & Governor Shapiro’s teams are interested in hosting a Small and Diverse Business Resources event that would detail assistance for government contracting. Robbie wanted Melody to know that she will possibly be a point of contact for this be get businesses in our area involved.
AUGUST
08/26/2024- Melody and Sarah attended a meeting hosted by Senator Camera Bartolotta. The meeting took place at RGB Coffee and was regarding the Neighborhood Assistance Program (NAP). It’s a state program that nonprofit organizations can apply for in which the local businesses that fund the non-profit projects can receive anywhere from 65-95% of their donation back in state refund. The seminar consisted of the details of the ins and outs of the program and how it works as well as successful examples. Greene County has only had one application in the past 10 years and the state wants our county to be educated on this topic and be involved to help with the expansion of social service and community development projects.
08/29/2024- Melody and Sarah accepted the invitation to attend a press conference held at the GCCTC on this day at 1:30. The invitation to attend was extended by Senator Camera Bartolotta and was regarding the passing of the School for Solar initiative, Act 68! The program extends funds to learning institutions in the state to fund solar energy projects. The funding was obtained by the state and is federal funding. Speakers at this event were the PA Building Trades Council, the PA School Board Association, West Greene Superintendent Brian Jackson, and GCCTC Director Mark Krupa.
08/29/2024- Melody was invited to attend PennWest California’s Community Leaders Luncheon. It is to take place on September 26th, 2023 at PennWest California from 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. The speaker is Jon Anderson- President of PennWest University. The point of the luncheon is to discuss updates and insights from his first 90 days in office and discuss opportunities for PennWest in the Mon Valley and across the region. Melody was thankful for the invitation but had to decline due to having another event previously scheduled for that same day and time.
SEPTEMBER
09/16/2024- Melody and Mandi each received hand signed letters containing multiple signatures of thanks from the Foundation for Free Enterprise Education. The letter contained an impact report for 2024 in which accomplishments and milestones were reviewed. Over 16,000 students lives were touched by the Foundation for Free Enterprise Education, in which 1,853 of those students were in attendance at Pennsylvania Free Enterprise Week. Included behind the report was a 2024 Commendation letter from their Board of Directors.
OCTOBER
10/08/2024- Scott Lee, the Vice President of marketing & development at the Foundation for Free Enterprise Education reached out to Melody this morning about being in Waynesburg today. He had some time between two meetings and wanted to ensure staff would be in the office for him to stop and catch up on Chamber events. All 3 staff members had a short meeting with him.
10/10/2024- Melody and Sarah attended a mix and mingle hosted by the Community Foundation of Greene County. The event was hosted at the Hampton Inn, Waynesburg from 4-6 p.m.
10/15/2024- Melody and Sarah attended a networking luncheon of the Greene County Non-Profit Partnership (GCNPP) hosted at Waynesburg University by Waynesburg University. GNPP President MaChal Forbes and made a few announcements and then introduced speaker from Waynesburg University Adrienne Tharp. Adrienne spoke of the Universities motto and how student requirements, clubs, and organizations could benefit the local non-profits. Notes were taken as to how the Chamber can utilize students seeking community service throughout various times of the year.
10/18/2024- Melody attended a meeting with the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission for the PA Rural Population Revitalization Commission’s Listening & Learning Session. The meeting was hosted at the Denny House and was aimed on engaging area stakeholders to discuss key issues affecting rural communities in the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission region and to propose policy suggestions.
10/19/2024- Melody had a meeting today at with Jordan Grady of the Butler County Chamber of Commerce. The meeting was regarding the dues revenue that the Butler Chamber obtains from their energy partnership with Green Climate Energy Consulting. They do not partner with My Benefit Advisors, and they wanted to shed some light on their experience and how their efforts are rewarding them.
10/23/2024- Melody virtually attended the CCSC Annual Meeting from 2:30-4 p.m. She couldn’t attend in person since the Chamber hosted their monthly luncheon today so online presence is better than not representing at all.
10/24/2024- Melody and Sarah attended a meeting of the Greene County Commissioners in which they were presented with a proclamation for October being Pennsylvania’s Chamber of Commerce month.
NOVEMBER
11/14/2024- The Annual Greene County Chamber of Commerce meeting and membership Banquet took place at Valley View Farms. The venue was sold out with a record of 160 in attendance of the event.
11/19/2024- Jesse Streeter from the PA State Treasury came to the Chamber office for the day and the Chamber hosted the Greene County Unclaimed Property day once again. Prior to leaving, Jesse stated that he will be in touch at the beginning of the year to schedule dates for the event to take place again next year.
11/21/2024- The Chamber staff attended the Observer Reporter’s Best of the Best Gala at the Hilton Garden Inn of Southpointe. After being in the top three, the Greene County Chamber of Commerce won the Best of the Best for 2024.
DECEMBER
12/07/2024- After many meetings and hours of planning, the Greene County Chamber of Commerce hosted the 86th Annual Downtown Waynesburg Christmas Parade. Between participants and spectators, the event was well attended.
12/09/2024- With the last full week of the year in the office, the staff hosted the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Revitalization Project ribbon cutting for the completion of their project. Those in attendance gathered in front of the Greene County courthouse to showcase all the improvements that have been made within our community for those traveling through.
YEAR IN REVIEW NARRATIVE – 2023
JANUARY
1/4/2023 Recorded “Inside the Issues” at WANB with Doug Wilson on Becoming a Chamber Member and what benefits you can expect.
1/5/2023 Pittsburgh Business Exchange Winter Kick Off at 7 Springs – Partnering Chamber with 25 other chambers. (Supporting document)
1/9/2023 Hosted Rotary Club Board of Directors Meeting in the office
1/11/2023 Visited Farley’s Hotel Café with the staff to prepare for his upcoming ribbon cutting. Delivered new welcome packet and membership plaque in person.
1/12/2023 Met with representatives from Blessed Valley Lodging on starting their new business.
1/13/2023 Ribbon Cutting: Cut to the Chase
1/13/2023 Met with John Greenwood from First Energy/West Penn Power to receive check for $4200 in 2022 sponsorships and discuss the 2023 sponsorship package.
1/17/2023 All staff participated in Chamber Master training (half day) through PACP
1/23/2023 Hosted a Parade Safety Meeting attended by Sheriff, Borough Police Chief, Emergency Management, County Commissioner, Veterans Parade committee members, EQT/Chamber board member and others, to discuss 2022 parade route and suggestions for improvement. (Supporting document.)
1/23/2023 Mailed remaining 62 recruiting brochures to prospective Chamber members. In the process of updating the recruiting brochures to reflect changes.
1/25/2023 Phone meeting with Mary Petrush from TRIPIL – new to position and needed to understand their chamber member benefits.
1/27/2023 Took the online Notary renewal education course and filed all the state paperwork to renew.
FEBRUARY
2/1/2023 Requested 25 copies of Dennis Unkovic, Esq., booklet “Doing Business in Pennsylvania – What You Need to Know” at no charge.
2/1/2023 Sent Chamber of Commerce Scholarship and Rotary Club Scholarship applications to all superintendents, principals, and guidance counselors at all school districts plus Open Door Christian School and GCCTC as well as press releases.
2/1/2023 Took information on starting a business in Greene County to Your Cookie Rookie for a family member wishing to start a business.
2/6/2023 Hosted Rotary Club Board of Directors Meeting in office
2/6/2023 Met with Shoe Sensation representative to discuss new location, activities, opening and staffing.
2/6/2023 Met with PaCEO about presenting at an upcoming Lunch & Learn and will meet with Mel, Sheila, and Jen Nix for educational purposes on consulting with businesses.
2/7/2023 Greene County Farm Bureau Women’s Leadership Committee meeting to establish direction and goals.
2/9/2023 Registered as Official Promotional Partner for the Great Energy Gathering IX to be held March 15. We will attend and have a table and Melody attends the VIP session.
2/9/2023 Met with Carol DeAngelo and two other Observer-Reporter representatives about the lack of press coverage in Greene County and discussed ways to improve the situation. Board member and former O-R employee, Bridget Vilenica, also attended.
2/9/2023 Spoke with “Agus” from Bali Brothers, which operates a food truck/trailer business and would like to establish a presence in Greene County. Mel provided information relative to their inquiry as well as directing them to Richard Cleveland at GCDP.
2/9/2023 Accepted the offer of a free commercial copier with supplies and made arrangements for transport.
2/9/2023 Was interviewed by Bailee Yokum of Waynesburg University’s Yellow Jacket publication regarding the Chamber and Rotary Scholarships.
2/9/2023 Booked a Ribbon Cutting with State Representative Bud Cook for his new Greene County office.
2/10/2023 Completed Economic Census. (Supporting documents.)
2/10/2023 Scheduled next year’s – 2024 Golf Outing Date with Rohanna’s Golf Course
2/15/2023 Conference call with Governor Shapiro’s Regional Director and Board President Casey Durdines about what our challenges are as a county and how the Governor’s office plans to assist.
2/16/2023 Community Foundation of Greene County & Greene County Memorial Hospital Foundation “College & Technical School Scholarship Information Program” – Melody will be a speaker for both Chamber and Rotary scholarships. (Supporting documents.)
2/17/2023 Ribbon Cutting: Farley’s Hotel Café.
2/18/2023 Donated basket raffle item to Flenniken Library Mardi Gras celebration. (See supporting documents.)
2/21/2023 All staff participated in Chamber Master training (half day) through PACP.
2/24/2023 Ribbon Cutting: Dickey’s Bar-B-Que
2/27/2023 Audit Team Committee Meeting to review and draft 2022 Audit Report
2/28/2023 Spoke to and emailed our insurance agent at Baily Insurance regarding the specific insurance coverage limits being asked for by Waynesburg Borough. Also spoke with Blake Birchmeier from Pollock law firm regarding the indemnification agreement that the Borough is requesting that we sign and the legalities of it.
2/28/2023 Spoke with Liliane Portman, Graduate Assistant for the Entrepreneurial Leadership Program at Waynesburg University about some of her students wishing to attend chamber functions before the end of the school year Provided her information regarding what we have on the calendar.
MARCH
3/3/2023 Ribbon Cutting: Rep. Bud Cook’s Greene County office.
3/6/2023 Greene County United Way Allocations Panel Kick-Off Meeting
3/6/2023 Corresponded with Cindy Alexander of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette about Farley’s Hotel Café ribbon cutting and stressed the importance of ALL ribbon cuttings, not just a single business.
3/6/2023 Spoke with Waynesburg Borough Solicitor Chris Simms about the Indemnification Agreement that the Borough is requesting we sign and discuss that the insurance limits are not obtainable as outlined. Further pointed out that the limits far exceed the required limits asked for by PennDOT.
3/7/2023 Conference call with SBDC and Kathleen Conlogue from the STEM Coding Lab, Inc. who is looking to expand their reach into underserved and under-resourced communities for students from K-8. Followed up with an email outlining my ideas on who to connect her with and how to get their message out. Zach Patton from the University of Pitt SBDC set the call up to connect me to her as a future point of contact and source of information for the county. CNX has an interest in providing the funding for this program to be brought to Greene County. (See supporting documents.)
3/8/2023 Notary work for the Greene County Historical Society Museum, Jeff McCracken, and Ketchem Construction
3/9/2023 Spoke to Lori-Paletta Davis – attorney for the Veteran’s Parade Committee and Blake Birchmeier regarding the recent phone call with Waynesburg Borough Solicitor Chris Simms.
3/10/2023 Greene County Living delivered today featuring a two-page column from the chamber and several articles about the new businesses that we recently cut the ribbon for featuring our photos and mentioning the chamber in the article.
3/12/2023 Attended the soft opening of Asher’s at the Airport with the Director of the Peter’s Township Chamber of Commerce, Brian Schill. Discussed chamber operations with him, gave him a driving tour of Waynesburg. Discussed ribbon cutting and new business with Missy and Scott.
3/14/2023 Ribbon Cutting: Asher’s at the Airport
3/14/2023 Spoke to Riley Baily – Flying Instructor from West Virginia, who our office has been speaking with every six months since the Airport Restaurant closed due to the fire in the building, letting him know that the new restaurant is opening, and he can begin to put the trip to Waynesburg back on his training flight schedule. He was appreciative of our services keeping him up to date on the rebuilding of the restaurant.
3/14/2023 Interview with Rebecca Vaughn of the Waynesburg University Yellow Jacket newspaper about all the ribbon cuttings that we have been hosting 9 by the end of April.
3/15/2023 Melody served on the Greene County United Way Allocations Panel for Education. Interviews with 7 local non-profits applying for grant funding to assist with their programming. (8:30am to noon)
3/15/2023 Confirmed with Liliane Portman, Graduate Assistant for the Entrepreneurial Leadership Program at Waynesburg University the number of students attending the upcoming Business Connection Luncheon and someone from the program will be speaking briefly.
3/15/2023 Great Gathering IX, networking mixer for 1,000 business owners and other professionals/organizations from SW PA. Hosted by the Pittsburgh Business Exchange. (See supporting documents.)
3/16/2023 Ribbon Cutting: Prompt Quality Painting & Design Studio
3/21/2023 All staff participated in Chamber Master training (half day) through PACP
3/21/2023 Applied for full registration scholarship(s) for staff to attend the 2023 PACP Convention in Bedford PA this fall.
3/23/2023 Zoom call with Erin Jensen, Manager of Build Back Better Training and Market Access for Entrepreneurs (TMACE). This program will provide technical assistance to historically disadvantaged small businesses and facilitate introductions to robotics firms.
3/23/2023 Extended call with Verizon Tech Support in an attempt to get all 4 phones (office phone, Melody phone, Mandi phone, Janice phone) to sync across calls, voicemails, and text messages through the One Talk app.
3/24/2023 Meeting with O-R staff at Hill Top Packs to discuss our new partnership in seeking coverage for Greene County. Planned a Coffee and Commerce where organizations can come and speak to them about getting their information published. They offered us a reoccurring column in the Greene County Living Magazine.
3/25/2023 Spoke with Betsy McClure about the possibility of hosting a Tourism Summit for Greene County as was recently done in Washington and Fayette Counties
3/27/2023 Spoke with Gina Barchiesi Elliot of D4 Safety Consulting regarding the possibility of bringing CPR and AED training to Waynesburg. She wanted the Chamber to partner with presenting the classes. I guided her to Dave Jones at the Greene County Memorial Foundation as their mission is exactly this and they would have the funding to cover the classes. ** 4/3/23 Heard back from her and Dave is 100% on board to fund and host at the EQT REC Center!
3/27/2023 Inspire Greene Networking Kick-Off Event. Melody serves on the Steering Committee.
3/30/2023 Sent the Christmas and Veteran Parade applications to PennDOT by Priority Mail.
APRIL
* Several weeks in March and April – Worked with Bali Brothers Kitchen from Washington County to find a location for them to set up a permanent Asian Fusion Food Truck in Greene County. Drove around Waynesburg, researched property owners, spoke to Rich Cleveland at Greene County Planning and Development, spoke to Kathy & John McNay, and secured a yes on one of their properties, spoke to Franklin Township on the documents needed to establish the business. Relayed all this information to Bali Brothers through many text messages and phone calls. Working to secure them as a new member and host a ribbon cutting for them in May at their new site.
4/10/2023 Spoke with Bud Cook after a Rotary Meeting on the upcoming “Blessing of the Bailers” taking place in Harrisburg on May 3rd with the Rev. Donald Wilson officiating.
4/11/2023 Discussion with the new Executive Director of the Greene County Industrial Development Corporation, Sheila Stewart, on how we can work together to improve the business environment in Greene County moving forward.
4/13/2023 Hosted the Pennsylvania CEO who spoke on employee ownership options. This information is invaluable in keeping our locally owned businesses in our area when retirement looms.
4/13/2023 – Added our name to the list of chambers across the state encouraging the continuance of two business friendly tax initiatives HB 345 and SB 346. Improving the NOL (Net Operating Loss) rate and maintaining the CNIT (Corporate Net Income Tax) rate reduction phasedown
4/13/2023 Added our name to the list of chambers across the state encouraging the Governor to work towards improving and streamlining the state’s permitting processes for new and expanding businesses.
4/14/2023 Phone interview with John Sacco a free-lance writer doing an article for the upcoming Observer Reporters Progress Edition. We had a front page (1/3 of the page) article because of the interview.
4/15/2023 Full two-page column written by Melody with photos appeared in the Greene County Living Magazine and we were mentioned in the editor’s column in the front. All the local businesses showcased in the magazine are chamber members.
4/17/2023 Spoke to Rollie Baily, a flight instructor about our communications over the last few years regarding the Airport Restaurant and the status of a restaurant opening back up at the airport. He frequently made trips with students for meals and instruction. He brought a large group of planes in on April 8th, and they all enjoyed the new restaurant. He sent information and photos that we will release as an article to the local media about this extended communication between our office and his group.
4/18/2023 Phone interview with Seth Evans, a reporter for the Waynesburg University Yellow Jacket, about the partnership with the University of Pittsburgh Small Business Development Center
4/19/2023 Received a call from Jeff Fondelier of Blueprints who is searching for a space to relocate the Central Kitchen for the Meals on Wheels program to. Discussed their needs at length and spent time brainstorming with the staff on possible location ideas. Settled on Pizza Hut as my first choice and visited the Assessment office to find out who owns the property. Visited Franklin Township Supervisors to gain more information. Passed this along to Jeff along with a list of 16 other property ideas with contact information.
4/19/2023 Applied for and received our 2023 Small Games of Chance License
4/19/2023 Met with representatives from the Central Greene Scholarship Trust about the partnership between them and the chamber to host their annual Trivia Contest which raises money for their scholarships. Agreed to join them after running it past the Executive Committee. We will work tighter for the upcoming event in October and split proceeds 75/25% in their favor. They have 8 years of experience while we have 2. Signed a contract with them which can be renewed next year if we all are in favor of continuing the partnership.
4/27/2023 Melody attended information session on the Institute for Organization Management program, sponsored by the PACP.
4/28/2023 Hosted a ribbon cutting for Shoe Sensation in Greene Plaza
4/28/2023 Emailed encouragement to State Representative Bud Cook to vote No on HB #930 which would increase the cost of workers compensation insurance for businesses across the state.
4/28/2023 Director and staff met with Brian Schill, Director of the Peters Township Chamber of Commerce to discuss our challenges, successes, and ideas for the future. We would like to develop a way to work together on a project of some sort.
4/28/2023 Melody attended the open house for “The Way” community center and spoke to Jonathan Johnson about the availability of the venue for the chamber to possibly use it for meetings and trainings when it is finished.
MAY
5/1/2023 Melody participated as a panelist for the Inspire Greene session: Developing Nonprofit Resources: nurturing Time, Talents & Treasure. Her topics were fund-raising and events for non-profits.
5/4/23 Prepared a report of women owned businesses with names and number of employees for Jennifer Adamson for a project she is working on. Pulled data from our membership as that is all we have access to.
5/5/2023 Melody and Sarah attended “Come and Learn – Creating a Greater Impact: Unique Solutions for Nonprofits” session hosted by Greene County Non-Profit Partnership
5/11/2023 Melody attended the Greene County Career & Technology Center’s Annual Employer Appreciation Breakfast at the CTC. PaCEO was the keynote speaker, and their presentation carried our branding, and we received a nod from the Ex. Director of PaCEO for helping to make businesses aware of their existence and what they can do to help facilitate the transition from individual ownership to employee ownership.
5/11/2023 Hosted a virtual Lunch and Learn with Pa.gov on New Hire Reporting. Had attendees from several counties in Pa.
5/12/2023 Conference call with Steve Meredith of Pursuit to learn about their lending opportunities for small and medium sized businesses when conventional lending is not an option to better serve our members. Sheila Stewart from GCIDC and Jenn Ross of First Federal joined in on the call. Steve has worked with our office for several years as our representative for the SPC.
5/16-26/2023 Worked to respond to two phone calls seeking verification of a local business – Blacksville Oil & Gas/Petroleum that was listed at 41 East High Street. After an investigation through phone calls, on-line research and a phone call to the post office. It was determined that the address listed on the businesses documents which were filed in 1965 is in fact not an address on High Street. Further red flags regarding the situation were identified. We sought the assistant of Athena Bowman at Waynesburg Borough, the Waynesburg Post Office and Eric Cowden of State Senator Bartolotta’s Office. We kept these offices in addition to the County Commissioners office, State Representative Bud Cook’s office, GCIDC and the office of Planning and Development/GCIDA aware of that was transpiring with the research. Our office will direct any other inquiries about the legitimacy of this business to the state’s attorney general’s office in Harrisburg.
5/17/2023 Melody attending the Employer Appreciation Breakfast at the Hampton Inn, sponsored by the PA CareerLink Greene County Business service Team. 40 information packets were created by the CareerLink to be distributed to the businesses in attendance. Our chamber recruiting brochure was included. Melody was also one of the event speakers discussing the chamber, our activities and our concern over workforce issues and the declining population base
5/23/2023 Melody attended and participated in the Perkins Grant Local Advisory Council Committee breakfast at the Greene County Career & Technology Center. The focus of the annual meeting of this committee is to aid the CTC in seeking and developing new training programs that will benefit the community and the business community.
5/18/2023 Melody signed the initiative bill for the Pennsylvania General Assembly to review in regards to Chamber Childcare in which legislators across our state are looking into the lack of accessible and affordable childcare.
JUNE
6/1/2023 Melody attended the Waynesburg Central High School Senior Awards Ceremony to presented the 32nd Annual Educational Fund Scholarship to Kaci Tedrow in front of her peers, family and friends.
6/5/2023 Melody closed out the file through Congressman Reschenthaller’s office regarding the United States postal service. This has been an ongoing back and forth conversation that has taken place over the past year and is now finally completed.
6/13/2023 Melody was asked by Commissioner Betsy McClure to attend the race occurring at High Point Raceway on June 17th, 2023. The director of MX Sports wanted officials in the county to be present for the opening ceremonies to show the partnership within the county and this company. Due to a scheduling conflict and honorably following through on the 17th with her pre-scheduled event, Melody can’t attend the race. It’s documented here though she is not attending because this is the first time an invitation such as this one to an event like this one has been extended to the Chamber.
6/14/2023 Melody received an email from Shane Link, who is an employee at Business View. It is a company that publishes magazines and is planning to do an edition featuring Greene County. They asked the Chamber to participate by purchasing space for an article. Due to the price of even the smallest space, the board voted no to participating in this. Melody did state that though the Chamber cannot purchase an article, if there is any assistance needed to promote the finished piece that the Chamber would be more than happy to help partner in that way.
6/19/2023 Melody had a phone interview with Cindy Alexander from the Pittsburgh Reporter in which she was asked not only about the 2023 Educational Scholarship recipient, Kaci Tedrow, but was also asked about the history of the scholarship. This was a great opportunity to spread the knowledge of this scholarship further to those in our area.
6/20/2023 Melody was asked by Sheila Stewart from the Greene County Industrial Development Inc. to attend a discussion with other local business owners within the community to talk about the county’s current economic environment. Melody accepted and will be attending the event. She also assisted Sheila in brainstorming other local small to medium businesses to reach out to.
6/27/23 Melody participated in a Small Business Roundtable discussion (see above) with three small business members that was coordinated by the Greene County Industrial Development Corporation
JULY
7/11/23 Melody sent a letter out to Brandon Carson, the Executive Director at PA Broadband Development Authority. The letter was regarding the expansion of better quality/opportunity for internet throughout our rural area and how lack there-of effects some of our member businesses.
7/12/23 Melody had a meeting this morning with John Greenwood of First Energy regarding their 2023 Parade Sponsorship.
7/12/23 Melody received a package today from the Pittsburgh Business Exchange containing a thank you letter and a bottle of wine for her continued partnership and participation regarding the Great Gathering.
7/12/23 Melody had a phone conversation today with the Regional Sales Manager of Kinetic Business about them becoming an active member of the Chamber again. This newfound membership, though once active and now not, would open a lot of new doors not only for the chamber but also it’s members to their services.
7/24/23 Melody was approached by Jeff Kotula, the President of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce regarding a collaboration sponsorship. The sponsorship he was seeking was for $1,500 that would go towards the Western Pennsylvania Legislative Reception. We do not have sufficient funds set aside to sponsor something of that magnitude so she reached out and thanked him but respectfully declined.
7/31/2023 Melody received an email from Trenna Passalacqua, the VP of Human Resources at Blueprints. She reached out to ask for advice regarding workforce issues and addressing their current employment challenges. After discussion back and forth regarding how the pandemic changed the scope for employee outlooks, promoting their organization on platforms such as Career Link, Glass Door, LinkedIn, Express Employment, and social media were recommended to start. From there, Melody stated that the Chamber could included these openings on our eblasts. Job pay was discussed following the eblasts, and then a referral incentive was also thrown into the mix as a idea. Trenna’s response to this was that they have tried almost all the things Melody suggested, but they still aren’t receiving the results they need. Due to Blueprints being a human service agency, the ultimate struggle is employees wanting to 100% work from home when it’s not feasible. Trenna then stated that Blueprints will be sure to take advantage of the Chamber’s membership opportunities to advertise employment openings.
AUGUST
8/03/2023 Melody received a letter in the mail today from the GCASR (Greene County Association of School Retirees) thanking the Chamber for their raffle basket donation towards their third annual golf outing. The entirety of the proceeds from their golf outing go towards their scholarship/ed-support programs.
8/07/2023 Melody attended the ribbon cutting ceremony and grand re-opening of Centerville Clinics, “Carmichaels Clinic.” The event was held at 10 a.m. at their physical location.
8/08/2023 Melody was asked to attend a meeting at the Allegheny Conference, in which a three-year agenda and priorities of the Greater Pittsburgh’s Chamber of Commerce would be discussed. Due to a previously scheduled event on the date, she had to let them know that she regrettably would not be able to attend.
8/08/2023 Melody received an invitation from Stacey Brodak to attend a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Veteran and Military Affiliated Center. The event will be on August 10th, 2023 at 9:30 a.m. She may or may not be there due to obligations and possible complications that may arise at the fair.
8/11/2023 Melody was approached by Jeff Fondelier from Blueprints regarding sponsorship for their golf outing. The Chamber agreed to donate a raffle basket, and Jeff was most thankful and appreciative! Their outing will take place in September.
8/17/2023 The Chamber directories were delivered to our members today. Right around 100 of them were sent out by mail and around 240 of them were hand delivered. The cost to send them out postal was $2.31 per directory, so delivering the estimated 240 saved us an estimated $555.
8/18/2023 Melody facilitated an introduction of possible funding sources for two of our member businesses, Anytime Fitness and Budget Charters. The funding will be used to remodel and upgrade these members’ technology and equipment to help them better serve their customers. Pursuit Lending reached out to the owners of both companies regarding different options that they have available for them. Opportunities like this one give our members the possibility to continue their work and expand in the process.
8/21/2023 Melody signed up to join the coalition involving the 529 to transition it from a school savings plan to a workforce savings plan. This bill would purpose that in the need of licenses or certifications post a “college degree” you would have the ability to pay with “furthering your career” by paying for said licenses or certificates would now be covered in cost through the 529, when in the past they haven’t been. The hope is that this will help us built a stronger workforce long-term.
8/23/2023 Melody completed the survey for the Alleghany Conference since she won’t be in attendance. The survey was designed to give feedback regarding growth within the region.
8/24/2023 Melody attended a VIP meeting as well as a public session with the CEO of EQT, Toby Z. Rice. This meeting was held at the EQT Rec Center and topics of current industrial initiatives and time for questions/conversation were provided as well.
8/30/2023 The Chamber was notified that they made top 5 in the Chamber category for the best of the best.
SEPTEMBER
9/01/2023 Melody received an email from Stephanie Stewart of Baily Insurance. The email contained information regarding periodic lunch and learns post their Global Leadership Summit. Baily’s is getting ready to host called “Are You Really Listening,” aimed towards sharpening listening skills. It will take place on October 10th, 2023 from 12-1 p.m. and is free to attend. Melody signed up to attend and asked Stephanie if they would like for the Chamber to promote it in our weekly eBlasts. We are still waiting for a response from David to advertise it for them.
9/11/2023 Melody received a thank you email today from Pamela Williamson of My Benefit Advisor. She sent a thank you to Melody for making sure the PNI Dividend Information, World Kinect Energy Services ad, and the MBA How to Choose the Right Insurer for your Benefits Plans article were all put into the weekly eBlast. She stated that “We appreciate your partnership!”
9/15/2023 Melody received an email today from Becky Karluk, the guidance counselor at Central Greene School District. She has a senior student wanting to become a florist. She wanted to know if the Chamber happened to have a member who would offer a great experience. Melody recommended The Perfect Arrangement here in Waynesburg. She also recommended The Ivy Green in Washington and Serendipity Blooms in Canonsburg in the event that The Perfect Arrangement might not be able to do this. Becky said that she would start with Pam and thanked Melody for the information.
9/15/2023 Foundation For Free Enterprise Education sent the Chamber a 2023 Commendation. A copy of the certificate is included in the supporting docs.
9/18/2023 Melody received an email from Steve Meredith of pursuit lending today. It was in regard to a conversation they had via email on 8.18 for funding two of our business members. Steve had reached out to Aisha of Anytime Fitness on that date and had not heard back from her until today. They spoke of the renovations she is needing to make, and Steve sent her a loan application. If not for Melody making the referral, which Steve was sure to mention to Aisha, Aisha may have not been able to make the renovations required to keep her doors open. Steve stated that he would keep Melody updated regarding if it turns into a closed loan for Pursuit Lending.
9/25/2023 Cherish from Domestic Violence services of Southwestern PA reached out to Melody regarding domestic violence awareness month, which is in October. They wanted to know if they could bring awareness signs to our office to be displayed in the grass out front for us to show support regarding this organization. She also asked if she could leave extra signs and bows in the office for anyone who wanted to stop by a take. Cherish dropped them off yesterday for the start of the month.
9/25/2023 Melody received a phone call from John Saffold, the Executive Director of the Zebulon Chamber of Commerce in Zebulon North Carolina. They reside in a small town just like ours, with a growing population, they are approximately 25 mins out of Raleigh NC. The reason he reached out was because Raleigh faced a tragedy last year at the annual Christmas parade in which a young girl’s life was taken by a vehicle during their parade. The accident occurred during the parade when a vehicle that was in the parade lost its brakes and hit members of a dance troop who were marching in front of it. Two weeks later, John held his parade in Zebulon and was wondering how things were going to change. This year state legislation has been introduced to tighten the reins on the ability to participate in a parade of any kind. It will require parade organizers to obtain a copy of the state inspection, insurance and driver’s license of an individual over the age of 21 who will be operating the vehicle in the parade. The inspection must have taken place within 7 days prior to the parade and volunteers must check all three documents again on the day of the parade before the vehicle and driver can participate. It has passed in one branch of the legislature and is awaiting a vote in the other. So this may become a reality for all of North Carolina by the end of the year. When John googled reverse parade Chamber of Commerce, the Greene County Chamber of Commerce came up in the first 3 articles. He was seeking some information from Melody regarding how they work and what works best and what doesn’t work at all. She had a very nice conversation with him and they found common ground in being a small chamber director. It is an honor to be able to share how we rallied against the state shutdown orders and orchestrated a “reverse” parade. Hopefully the information shared today will allow his chamber to continue to hold their parade in a safe manner and meet the requirements of the new state legislation.
9/29/2023 There were two recent energy scams going on with member electric bills that were brought to light when Melody put both members into contact with Loren Martello of World Kinect Energy. The Greene County United Way’s electric bill sky-rocketed for almost $500 a month for two consecutive months. Loren discovered that American Power and Gas, a scam electric supplier was charging them 2.5 more than normal and without consent. The same instance occurred with Frosty Spring Farms and from the same exact company.
OCTOBER
10/01/2023 The chamber proudly facilitated a collaboration with Shoe Sensation, the Foundation for Health and Wellness, and Washington Health System Greene for a donation from Shoe Sensation that will be held in lieu of October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
10/05/2023 Sarah attended the Greene County Commissioners meeting today with the President of the Chamber board of directors, MaChal Forbes, of Greene County United Way. State wide, October is recognized as Local Chamber of Commerce Month. Commissioners Mike Belding, Betsy McClure, and Blair Zimmerman presented the Greene County Chamber of Commerce with a local Chamber proclamation to recognize and celebrate this month. Included with the Commissioner’s proclamation was also one from Governor Shapiro. A copy of each is included in supporting documentation.
10/12/2023 The Chamber hosted a ribbon cutting at Stahl’s Hottronix in Carmichaels to celebrate the unveiling of their second building opening on-site. Stahl’s, being a world leading industry of their trade, had tours throughout the day and a large amount of attendance from those working within their corporation in other part of the world.
10/17/2023 The Chamber hosted a ribbon cutting at the Springhill Township Community Center for Kinetic by Windstream. The Greene County Commissioner Mike Belding and Betsy Rohanna-McClure spoke of this being the second of three large broadband investments that have been brought into the county to improve the accessibility to internet in rural areas.
10/23/2023 Sarah attended a meeting with Commissioner McClure and Jesse Streeter from the PA state treasury. She took notes regarding unclaimed property and member business that have some unclaimed property. Mr. Streeter wanted to see about scheduling a Greene County Unclaimed Property day and use that Chamber conference room to invite members in to see if they have some. The Chamber and Commissioner McClure both agreed to promote this event after a day is set.
NOVEMBER
11/1/2023 Mandi created Randy the Hammerhead Shark for the Rotary Riders, for the school project that Rotary Club is trying to establish.
11/03/2023 Melody communicated with Jesse Streeter regarding the first ever Greene County Unclaimed Property Day. Today they established that it will take place on December 7th, 2023 and will take place in the conference room here at the Chamber office. The Chamber will simply be hosting so that he has a space to facilitate this day.
11/10/2023 Melody attended and spoke at Downtown Dialogue held at Waynesburg University. The topic was on the Current State of Insurance-what you need to know! One of the speakers from Baily Agency happened to be our very own board member Darton McIntire.
11/13/2023 Melody reached out to Amy Clever of the Pittsburgh Business Exchange regarding the Chamber agreeing to participate again in January 2024. She received a letter by mail 11/7 regarding last years event and what to expect for the year to comes.
11/13-15/2023 All staff attend PACP conference in Bedford, PA ** Had to cancel these reservations due to banquet being moved to the 15th.
11/07/2023 Melody was invited by Scott Harshman of Port of Pittsburgh Commission to attend a tour of Heartland Fabrication and to learn the process of building a new barge along the Monongahela River in Brownsville. Sadly, she has to decline attending due to the Greene County Unclaimed Property Day occurring at the Chamber office that day.
11/11/2023 Melody was personally reached out to by Kat Weiser from the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce with an invitation to their Annual Pittsburgh Reception. She stated thanks for our partnership with them and that they look forward to hosting us. Due to prior commitments, Melody had to decline and Kat (Katlyn) told Melody that if anyone from a board member to regular member would like to represent/attend in her place, they are welcome to.
11/15/2023 Melody and Mandi attended the best of the best gala. The Chamber made the top five and moved on to the top three.
DECEMBER
12/5/2023 Director participated in a survey titled “The State Of PA Business” through the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry
12/07/2023 Jesse Streeter from the State Treasurer’s Office was at the Chamber at 10 o’clock for the First Greene County Unclaimed Property Day. There was a steady flow of people coming into the office to see if they had anything missed. From member businesses to individuals, Jesse was quite busy the entire day giving people money.
12/19/2023 Met with Ed Chess, Board Member of the Carmichaels Area Chamber of Commerce to discuss how our two organizations can serve the Carmichaels business community. Our Board member, Darton McIntire, was present and coordinated this meeting between representatives from both chambers.
I am text block. Click edit button to change this text. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
I am text block. Click edit button to change this text. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
Logo
2019 Year in Review
Served a membership of 350 members. Welcomed 35 new members.
Facebook Followers: 2,078
Ribbon Cuttings: 13
Hosted 38 events
Pittsburgh Business Times 25 Largest Chambers at number 18 – 14 years in a row on the list
Presented the 29th Annual Chamber Scholarship and the 2nd Dr. Nancy Davis Scholarships
2019 High Points
Worked with Small Business Administration to provide training for our members.
Supported the Foundation for Free Enterprise Education’s Pennsylvania Business Adventure Week for high school students.
Staff members are active in the community through the Waynesburg Rotary Club, Greene County United Way Allocations Committee, the Waynesburg Lions Club, the Greene County Veterans Council and the Greene County Farm Bureau Women’s Committee.
Organized and coordinated the 78th Annual Downtown Waynesburg Christmas Parade as our largest community service project.
Presented the 35th Annual Golf Outing, 15th Administrative Professionals Day Luncheon, 3rd Annual Women in Business Breakfast, 6th Annual Motor Madness Benefit Car Show, 32nd Annual Membership Banquet and 12th Annual Halloween Spooktacular.
Published a 88 page full-color Community/Business Resource Guide and Member Directory
Published monthly newsletters and weekly eBlasts
2018 Year in Review
Served a membership of 365 members. Welcomed 21 new members.
Facebook Followers: 1,692
Ribbon Cuttings: 6
Hosted 15 events with 791 guests
Pittsburgh Business Times 25 Largest Chambers – 13 years in a row
Graduation Cap clip art – Presented the 28th Annual Chamber Scholarship and the 1st Dr. Nancy Davis Scholarships
2018 High Lights
Photo/PACP Logo: Became the first and only Pennsylvania Association of Chamber Professionals Accredited Chamber.
Coordinated the “Rural Roundtable” with the U.S. Small Business Administration and U.S.D.A.
Worked with the Small Business Development Center on the “Problem Solvers” series to aid small businesses overcome operational challenges.
Supported the Foundation for Free Enterprise Education’s Pennsylvania Business Adventure Week for high school students.
Director served on the Greene County Comprehensive Plan Committee
Staff members are active in the community through the Waynesburg Rotary Club, Greene County United Way Allocations Committee, Waynesburg Lions Club and the Greene County Veteran’s Council
Organized and coordinated the 77th Annual Downtown Waynesburg Christmas Parade as our largest community service project.
Presented the 34th Annual Golf Outing, 14th Administrative Professionals Day Luncheon, 2nd Annual Women in Business Breakfast, 5th Annual Motor Madness Benefit Car Show, 31st Annual Membership Banquet and 11th Annual Halloween Spooktacular.
Published a 88 page full-color Community/Business Resource Guide and Member Directory
Published monthly newsletters and weekly eBlasts