The Community Development Corporation of Butler County held its annual meeting Friday in Cranberry Township. In the front, from left, are commissioners Kevin Boozel and Leslie Osche and Joe Saeler. In the second row, from left, are Bob Bowell, Tom Generro and Scott Docherty. In the third row, from left, Nadine Tripodi, Josh Fey, Mike Denny, Ron Vodenichar. In the fourth row, Jach Cohen, left, and Ed Mauk. In the fifth row, form left, Neal Jackson, Joe Taylor and John McCarrier. In the sixth, from left, Chris Panian, Nick Neupauer and Mark Gordon. In the top row, from left, Robi Lombardo, left, and Jordan Grady. Seb Foltz/Butler Eagle

CRANBERRY TWP — Collaboration once again was the name of the game at Community Development Corporation of Butler County’s annual meeting Friday morning.

The meeting, hosted at the Regional Learning Alliance in Cranberry Woods, brought together the CDC’s membership to discuss the growth and development efforts seen throughout Butler County.

The CDC’s last annual meeting was in March 2019, according to Jordan Grady, executive director of the Butler County Chamber of Commerce. Much has changed since then, Grady said — the COVID-19 pandemic the biggest change of all — but the importance of working to advance the county’s economic growth remains.

“Unfortunately the past few years have derailed a lot of things,” Grady said. “Our goals that we announced (at the 2019 meeting) ... certainly got impacted, but we continue to move forward and we really stress the theme of collaboration that was announced in 2019.”

Rusty Rhodes, senior vice president with Huntington Bank, opened up the meeting by discussing the growth seen in the county.

“Just drive through Butler County and you see the growth and you just feel like there’s this awakening that is occurring within our region,” Rhodes said.

Rhodes drew attention to what he called “behind-the-scenes” work, performed by business owners and the CDC alike aimed toward improving the quality of a business environment in the county.

While collaboration was not a formal theme of the meeting, each speaker brought up the importance of county businesses continuing to work together to improve the local economy and continue the growth seen in Butler County.

These efforts, said Mark Gordon, the county’s chief of economic development, take many forms, including collaboration with Butler County Community College and a new effort to improve community employment and development.

The event’s keynote speaker, Slippery Rock University athletics director Roberta Page, also brought up the importance of collaboration. Laying out the four “c-words” on which she asks Slippery Rock student athletes to focus — classroom, competition, community and commitment — Page encouraged attendees to take those words to heart, too.

Butler County commissioners also made an appearance at the meeting, each speaking on the importance of the CDC’s work. Commissioner Chairwoman Leslie Osche expanded on Page’s focus on community and commitment, applying those words to the business community.

“The commitment piece is what I’m really going to focus on here, and that is because your commitment to the CDC and the chamber of commerce and basically to the county’s institutions are what is most important,” Osche said. “... We are resilient in this county for that reason: Because we remain committed to longtime, long-established institutions.”

Following the meeting, Commissioner Kevin Boozel expanded on Page’s remarks.

“We look around this room and, as Dr. Page has said, we compete but we also collaborate,” Boozel said. “I think (the CDC meeting) is about shared success.”