MV Regional Chamber recognizes four members
Chris Buckley
Debbie Keefer, president of the Mon Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce, speaks during the chamber’s annual awards night Thursday in the Anthony Lombardi Conference Center on the campus of Monongahela Valley Hospital.
Award winners at the Mon Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce awards night were, from left, Bart Raitano Sr., president of IPSCO, George Ashcraft, president of Ashcraft Records and Management, Linda Stennett, president of of the John K. Tener Library board, and Washington County District Attorney Gene Vittone.
Chris Buckley
Interstate Paper Supply Co. had been operating for just eight years when it joined the chamber of commerce in Charleroi in 1958.
On Thursday, the Mon Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce awarded IPSCO, based in Roscoe, its Outstanding Business Development Award. This award recognizes a chamber member who has successfully expanded its product lines and/or facilities and has shown significant growth and employment. This award also recognizes leadership and the entrepreneurial spirit of the principals of the organization.
Other awards handed out at the event, held in the Anthony Lombardi Conference Center on the campus of Monongahela Valley Hospital, were:
n Ashcraft Records Management and Storage in Monongahela, Excellence in Business Award. This award recognizes a member business that continually and consistently provides its customers with outstanding products and/or services. Demonstrated longevity is an important aspect that the Chamber of Commerce wishes to recognize, and considers businesses operating for 20 years or more.
n J.K. Tener Library, Charleroi, Regional Service Award. This award recognizes local organizations and institutions that contribute to the quality of life in the Mid Mon Valley. Human services, educational, recreational, cultural, charitable, and economic development entities are among those considered for this award.
n Washington County District Attorney Gene Vittone, Shining Star Award. This award recognizes an individual who displays outstanding personal and professional attributes. This award goes to a chamber member who shows a commitment to his or her vocation, helps to advance the mission of the Mon Valley Regional Chamber, and promotes the Mid Mon Valley community at large.
IPSCO was formed in 1950 by Bartolomeo “Bart” Raitano, who was a paper broker in New York City before he moved to Pennsylvania after marrying his wife, Angeline, a Daisytown native.
IPSCO is “a success story woven in three generations of Raitanos,” Mon Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Debbie Keefer said.
Bart Raitano Sr., president of IPSCO, said his father “was only 5-foot-4, but he was a giant in real life.”
Raitano said his father taught him the importance of education, common sense and taking a shot in life — and surrounding yourself with smart people.
“He taught us a work ethic that continues today,” Raitano said.
Ashcraft Records Management and Storage was founded by Harry and Clarence Ashcraft in 1913. It is a fourth-generation, family-owned and operated company and is a full service facility in the surrounding area providing proper storage, retention and disposition of records. It is managed by Nora Ashcraft Muccino, who accepted the award.
Muccino said her grandfather, Harry, moved in 1892 from Ohio to Pennsylvania on property now owned by Kennywood. When the amusement park expanded, the Ashcrafts moved to Monongahela, where the business has operated for 103 years.
First horse-drawn and by the late 1920s using trucks, the company hauled concrete used to build Mineral Beach, Rainbow Gardens and Monongahela High School as well as the Cumberland Dam and the western section of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
George Ashcraft joined his father in the business by 1938 and took it over in 1961. As the company under his father’s leadership moved in steel to build the Monongahela Bridge, George Ashcraft oversaw removal of deck steel in the late 1980s when a new bridge was built in the city.
Muccino said she works with exceptional people, including her father and brother Alan and her son Daniel.
“I’d like to thank the chamber for giving me a platform to recognize an amazing man who accomplished so much in his life,” an emotional Muccino said.
The Public Library Association was formed in 1941. It was the precursor for the John K. Tener Library.
Library board President Linda Stennett said a library “is not a luxury, it’s a necessity.”
“You should not want to live in a community that does not have a library,” Stennett said.
Stennett said the library is the center of the community.
“Where else can you find Snoopy and Shakespeare in books, on CD, DVD, print, eBooks, in newspapers or on computer?” Stennett said.
Stennett recognized library director Toni Zbyl as a person who cares about the community and gets involved. She said Zbyl remembers patrons’ reading preferences and even has books delivered to those shut in during the middle of winter.
“We continue to light that lamp of wonder,” Stennett said.
Vittone said his experience as a paramedic prepared him for the hardest days as district justice, where he often comes in contact with people having the worst days of their lives. But through his family, his faith and a strong and dedicated staff in the DA’s office, Vittone said he believes he is able to make a difference.
He credited Washington County Common Pleas Judge Mike Lucas with teaching him the job of district attorney when Vittone was first elected in 2012. Lucas was a veteran assistant district attorney at the time.
Vittone fought back his emotions as he thanked his “best friend” — his wife, and called his parents, Mary Ann and Gene, his role models.
“If a shining star is meant to guide you, you certainly did that for me,” Vittone said of his father.