Butler County Chamber honors one of its own at annual luncheon
FRANKLIN TWP — Maybe one of the only reasons to tell a lie is when you are preparing a surprise for someone special.
That was the case over the past several months as the Butler County Chamber of Commerce honored one if its own on April 24 when Jennifer Monaco, office manager with the chamber, was recognized as Employee of the Year for her efforts in helping guide the organization for over 30 years.
She was honored during the chamber’s annual employee appreciation luncheon at the Atrium in Prospect.
“I’m just in a fog right now,” Monaco said. “I had no clue. When they called my name, I was looking for the family and the person from one table I thought was going to win.”
Before she knew it, she was being whisked away onto the stage in front of friends and family, some of which traveled seven hours one way to see her be honored for her dedication to the chamber.
Monaco’s sisters, Alyssa Trivilino and Philomena Wasko described her as a “perfectionist” in everything she does.
“She is so obsessive sometimes about getting things right,” Trivilino said. “She just wants everything to be perfect.”
Monaco’s sons, Frank and Chris Monaco echoed the same comments from her sisters.
“She is a firm believer of family first and she is a perpetual perfectionist. If you could see the cookie trays she makes for Christmas you would know,” Chris said with a laugh.
Jennifer has her finger on the pulse of just about everything the chamber does and she often is the voice of the organization, answering phone calls, setting up events and connecting with the community.
“I enjoy the people at the chamber and the people in the community,” Jennifer said. “I made a lot of friendships over the years.”
Stan Kosciuszko, former chamber president, said he thought Jennifer’s greatest accomplishment during her time with the chamber was in 2002 when he just took over as president.
“When the chamber was transitioning from one president to me, the chamber was worse than bankrupt,” Kosciuszko said. “It was in debt around a quarter of a million dollars. Because of Jennifer's diligence, managing the office, glossing over members and giving consistency to the organization, the chamber the next year was able to pay off all debt.”
Kosciuszko said when the chamber paid off its debt, people gave him all the credit, but he didn’t do it alone.
“Jennifer was the one manning the phones and it was just the two of us,” Kosciuszko said. “I used to tell my board, if we don’t have money for payroll, Jennifer gets paid before I do because she is the voice of the chamber. We went through some tough times together.”
Jordan Grady, current chamber president, presented a wooden mantel clock to Monaco, which is part of the award each year.
Grady said keeping the true identity of this years winner was one of the hardest things he has had to do because Jennifer usually is the one who handles most of the logistical items for events such as this one.
In order to keep the secret from Jennifer, Grady and others had to tell her the winner was someone else who had applied for the award, while also giving her less responsibilities surrounding the event.
“The biggest thing was learning how much she does with the events,” Grady said. “I got super paranoid and I didn't want her to figure it out. I hadn't done stuff on the back end of an event since I was a one-man band.
“I love being the one that breaks good news to people. It was eating me alive.”
Jennifer is officially retiring at the end of this year, and Grady feels it is going to be a challenge to replace her when that time comes.
“She pretty much has given her entire life to the chamber and in turn she has given her entire life to Butler County,” Grady said. “You don't have workers like her anymore who are willing to extend themselves. She is part-time. Unless she is babysitting her grandchildren she is willing to come in whenever needed. Replacing her will be hard, even if it's with a full time employee.”
