Collaborative group emphasizes employees County could be economic powerhouse
CRANBERRY TWP — A Tuesday morning leadership breakfast hosted by the Butler County Chamber of Commerce and Butler County Growth Collaborative (BCGC) suggests Butler County can become an economic powerhouse — if it invests in local employees.
BCGC began as the Butler County Unified Plan more than 10 years ago and evolved to its present form following discussions about the most effective model for Butler County businesses and residents.
The collaborative started an empowerment initiative designed specifically to lessen local workforce shortages by helping people who are “employment challenged,” such as recovering addicts.
The leadership breakfast, held at the Regional Learning Alliance, included elected officials and leaders in business and education and featured keynote speaker Craig Poole. Originally from the Pittsburgh and Cranberry Township areas, Poole is general manager and president of DoubleTree by Hilton in Reading.
Opened in 2015, the hotel has been recognized by Hilton as the top DoubleTree in the chain worldwide. Poole said he follows a simple rule when it comes to hiring people.
“We're going to work with (only) people who are happy,” Poole said. “You got to hire locally ... You got to hire in the heart of the community.”
Some of his workers have prior criminal convictions, were homeless or are disabled. Some are people who walk in off the street.
“Love people where they're at,” Poole said of his meeting people where they are in their life instead of where he expects them to be in his.
Poole had been working in hospitality in Pittsburgh before deciding to shift his focus to Reading, which had high poverty and crime rates. He specializes in turning around local economies.
“I focused on broken properties and broken people,” Poole said. “Our mission was: 'How do we create a neighborhood?'”
Poole said cities struggling economically and demographically occasionally just “give up.”
“Butler gave up years ago,” Poole said. “(Now) you're in a Renaissance.”
Mark Gordon, Butler County's chief of economic development and planning, identified seven interdependent areas in which the county needs to focus for sustainable growth: education and employment, environment and agriculture, health care, infrastructure, transportation, housing and hospitality.
“These objectives cannot be done in isolation,” Gordon said.
The county has taken several steps to develop each of these areas, according to Gordon. In the area of hospitality, he recognized the county's success in securing the 2024 Can-Am Police-Fire Games.
The event is a multisport, Olympic-style event featuring competitions such as cross-country races, cycling, ultimate Frisbee, ice hockey, power lifting and archery.“Sometimes, we trip over opportunities to get to the next one,” said Kevin Boozel, county commissioner.County commissioners are responsible for connecting people and businesses and opportunities in the county, Boozel said. The commissioners said it's important that Butler County appeals to young residents, such as millennials and the boomerang generation.“We have opportunities in Butler,” Boozel said. “You don't have to leave.”Poole said attracting successful business is a matter of caring more about employees than bottom lines. Money will flow where people are treated with kindness and respect.“You've got to be radical,” Poole said. “You've got to be remarkable.”Poole said part of developing a thriving economic atmosphere is making sure employees are financially literate. Gordon said it's also important for employees to have “emotional intelligence.”“It's not just being able to have a degree,” Gordon said. “It's being able to work in an environment and function.”
Commissioner Kim Geyer said infrastructure is another important part of successful economic function and building a better workforce.“It makes life happen,” Geyer said. “Everything is supported by infrastructure.”BCGC's empowerment initiative has three expected outcomes.First, it should help employment-challenged people learn emotional intelligence. Second, it should help employers recruit and retain skilled employees. And third, social service agencies will be able to improve client outcomes, in terms of recovery and self-sufficiency.“You change the environment, you change the behaviors,” Poole said. “You change the behaviors, you become more successful.”
Commissioner Leslie Osche said Poole's approach to economic success aligns with the commissioners' vision for Butler County.The commissioners hope to eventually engage an employment development specialist to help match companies with employees.The long-term goal, according to Osche, is to build a stable, healthy county that captures “the heart of Craig Poole.”“(It's that) we're really creating an empowered community,” Osche said after the presentation. “We're just really excited.”
