Municipal News

Last Updated on Thursday, 29 December 2016 20:17

At-Large Directors Join Eight Community Nominees, Begin Service January 1st

For the first time in its 28-year history, the Mon Valley Initiative (MVI) has elected five at-large members to its board of directors. The outside directors join eight representatives nominated by the 10 community development corporations, or CDCs, that participate in the MVI coalition.

Homestead-based MVI, a non-profit corporation serving Allegheny, Washington and Westmoreland counties, is engaged in a strategic planning process designed to make the organization more effective, said Laura R. Zinski, chief executive officer. “Adding the five outside directors is one outgrowth of that planning process,” she noted.

The eight directors nominated by the CDCs are Dale J. Bizub (Turtle Creek Development Corp.); Jeb Feldman (Braddock Economic Development Corp.); Alix Garlitz (Greater Charleroi Community Development Corp.); John Harhai (Monessen Community Development Corp.); Mary Carol Kennedy (East Pittsburgh Economic Development Corp.); Barbara LaFace (Downtown West Newton, Inc.); Veryl Lawson (Swissvale Economic Development Corp.) and Bill Pfoff (Rankin Community Development Corp.)

The five at-large directors are Sharon Alberts, Barata Bey, Jane Flaherty, Joseph P. Flynn Jr., and Richard Wallace. Alberts and Bey are past members of the Homestead-area Economic Revitalization Corp.; Alberts and Flaherty also have served on MVI’s Community Investment Fund Committee. Flynn is a current member of MVI’s CIF committee, while Wallace is a past member of the CIF committee and a current member of MVI’s Governance Committee.

All directors were elected unanimously by the MVI board and begin serving January 1.

MVI officers for 2017 will include Dale J. Bizub (chair), Mary Carol Kennedy (vice chair), Alix Garlitz (secretary) and Barb LaFace (treasurer).

The Mon Valley Initiative (MVI) is a non-profit, tax-exempt grassroots coalition of 10 Community Development Corporations (CDCs) that represent 12 municipalities in the Monongahela Valley, all working together to revitalize the economy and restore the economic vitality of the Mon Valley. MVI’s four program areas are Housing and Real Estate Development, Workforce and Business Development, Housing Counseling and Community Outreach.