At the December 2021 Board of Directors meeting of the Altoona Blair County Development (ABCD) Corp., the Nominating Committee chaired by Jim Crawford presented its recommendations for new board members and installation of the executive committee.
ABCD Corp. is pleased to welcome Adam Ward, Senior Director of Customer Service & Marketing for Ward Transport & Logistics Corp. and John Horell who is the new chair of the Greater Altoona Economic Development Corp. We cannot complete the vision and mission of the organization without the leadership, insight and support of the Board of Directors and supporting committees.
In addition to welcoming new members, ABCD Corp. would also like to express its heartfelt thanks to the years of service and dedication to the members leaving the board; Bill Hoyne, Beverly Green and Paul Querry.
ABCD Corp. continues to “Think Big” for the First Frontier Blair County and our surrounding region and we are looking forward to a great 2022. Below is the full list of officers and board members:
Executive Committee:
– Ron McConnell, Chair – Operation Our Town
– Ann Benzel, 1st Vice Chair – Benzels Bretzel Bakery
– Mark Ritchey, 2nd Vice Chair – Curry Rail Services
– Lori Bechtel-Wherry, Immediate Past Chair – Penn State Altoona
– Mike Settimio, Secretary – S&T Bank
– Troy Campbell, Treasurer – Altoona First Savings Bank
– Phil Freeman, Secretary/Asst. Treasurer – Reliance Bank
– Dan Hoover, Asst. Sec./Treasurer – Roaring Spring Blank Book
– Joe Sheetz, Asst. Sec./Treasurer – Sheetz, Inc.
Board Members:
– Sigrid Andrew – James E. Van Zandt VA Medical Center
– Robert Bilger – Kish Bank
– Kris Baronner – M&T Bank
– Andrea Cohen – Blair Companies
– James Crawford – Agriculture
– Bruno DeGol, Jr – DeGol Organization
– Michael DelGrosso – DelGrosso Foods
– Bruce Erb – Blair County Commissioner
– Bryan Fisher – First Commonwealth Bank
– Jan Fisher – UPMC Altoona
– Nick Gates – First National Bank
– John Horell – GAEDC Chair
– Brian Irwin – Irwin Financial
– Matt Pacifico – City of Altoona
– Eric Palmer – Greater Altoona Career & Tech Center
– Charles Prijatelj – Altoona Area School District
– John Russell – InspectionGo
– George Sidney – McLanahan Corp.
– Clark Stapelfeld – New Pig Corp.
– Adam Ward – Ward Transport & Logistics
– Eric Wolf – Amtran
Advisory Members:
– Nicole Hemminger – Blair County Administrator
– Joe Hurd – Blair County Chamber
– Mark Ickes – Explore Altoona
– Rex Metz – Metz Sales, Inc.
– Omar Strohm – City Manager, City of Altoona
Legal Counsel:
– J. Benjamin Yeager, Esq. – Yeager & Eberhardt Attorneys at Law
