Stars shine during chamber’s annual awards dinner
SLIPPERY ROCK TWP — For those recognized at this year’s Butler County Chamber of Commerce Celebrate Business Dinner, the evening is less about a trophy than about having their work noticed by the community they serve.
The chamber honored two individuals and one business during its annual dinner, Wednesday, Sept. 9, as hundreds of other chamber members and community leaders packed Slippery Rock University's Robert M. Smith Student Center, celebrating those that make the Butler County business community tick.
The three awards given out during the event were the Stan Kosciuszko Leadership Excellence Award, Glenn T. Miller Chamber Champion Award and the William A. Morgan Jr. Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
Part of the event also served as a graduation ceremony for the chamber’s 2026 Leadership Butler County class, the leadership development program the chamber organizes every year.
Butler County Chamber of Commerce president Jordan Grady outlined the progress the chamber has made over the past year, introducing innovative ways to encourage entrepreneurship and make Butler County stronger for the next generation.
“What I am most proud of is we are willing to try things,” Grady said. “We are willing to look at what we do and say we are starting to stagnate. I am terrified of stagnation. This year we launched new programs and some have worked, such as the Butler County Emerging Entrepreneurs Shark Tank Competition.
“Some day, somebody else will be in this exact room for this exact event. What they are able to accomplish will depend in part on what we leave behind. That is a legacy worth building.”
The first award given out during the event was the Stan Kosciuszko Leadership Excellence Award, which was presented to Mark Buchek of Armco Credit Union, who also serves as the board chair for Leadership Butler County.
Buchek has also served with the chamber for more than 10 years in various roles, including board chair, while also being the leader of the chamber’s Friday Morning Coffee Club networking event.
“Whether you realize it or not, every encounter leaves a trace of something,” Buchek said. “Those encounters contribute and support the process of how we develop as leaders in what we do everyday.”
Eric Cunningham, owner of Green Cabbage Inc. in Cranberry Township, a procurement intelligence and spend analytics company, took home the William A. Morgan Jr. Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
Cunningham participated in the chamber’s inaugural Butler County Emerging Entrepreneurs Shark Tank Competition in April as one of the six “sharks” that judged aspiring entrepreneurs looking for funding to kick start their businesses.
“This business and any business is not just one person. It’s a team,” Cunningham said.
Lastly, Armco Credit Union was the winner of the Glenn T. Miller Chamber Champion Award, formally known as the David L. Lloyd Chamber Champion Award.
The award honors Miller, who died earlier this year, the third-generation funeral director at Thompson-Miller Funeral Home who helped establish Butler County Community College’s Alumni Association with 28 years as a BC3 trustee.
“The chamber has chosen to recognize Armco as a community champion, and while we are extremely grateful for that recognition, I believe our community itself is the true champion,” Armco Credit Union CEO Jim Hrabosky said. “This region was built by steel workers, nurses, small businesses, manufacturers and volunteers, along with countless others who show up and make Butler County a better place to live and work.”
This year's Leadership Butler County class graduated 25 individuals across many different industries and organizations around Butler County.
The program, which just completed its 33rd year, involves a commitment from both the participants in the class and their employers, which helps give those in the class exposure to many different sectors and industries across Butler County through monthly tours of county businesses.
Each Leadership Butler County class is defined by its class project, and this year, the group decided to focus on a project aimed to benefit the Butler County Humane Society by funding and building a new outdoor agility course where dogs at the shelter can get exercise.
Jacqueline Kunkel, the 2026 Leadership Butler County operations committee chairwoman, said she had two major takeaways from the program.
“Leadership is uncomfortable,” Kunkel said. “The bottom line of that discomfort is you have to make decisions. I don’t think any of us felt truly ready, but we knew what we needed to do and we executed. The final takeaway is teamwork. We must operate as a collective together. It’s not me and I. It’s us and we. Leadership is never successful with a single person.”
