February 2024

OLEAN, N.Y., February 7, 2024 – The Cattaraugus Region Community Foundation board recently elected Shelley Jack and Brent Driscoll to its board of directors and named its slate of Foundation officers for 2024.

Jack is the owner of Shebe Marketing, a marketing consultancy agency focused on helping women-led businesses with their branding and marketing strategy.

Jack has more than 25 years of experience in the marketing field, aiding clients in the manufacturing industry, higher education, healthcare and consumer brands.  

Jack will serve on the Foundation’s marketing and donor development committee.

The board of directors also elected Brent Driscoll to a three-year term.

Driscoll, a retired CFO of Cutco Corporation, will sit on the CRCF finance committee. Driscoll also serves on the board of Olean Business Development and the Cattaraugus County Industrial Development Agency.

The combined expertise of Jack and Driscoll will complement the existing board members’ strengths, enhancing CRCF’s mission to “grow good” in the community.

Dennis Pezzimenti, Audra Stevens, Jim Stitt Jr., and Sandi Brundage, all currently serving board members, were re-elected for a three-year term starting on January 1, 2024.

The PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship has been selected as a Host Community for the Economic Recovery Corps (ERC), an opportunity made possible by the Economic Development Administration.

The PA Wilds Center’s project, “Advancing Rural PA’s Outdoor Recreation Sector,” seeks to accelerate job creation and increase connectivity, awareness, participation, community engagement, and capacity for outdoor recreation and entrepreneurship in communities of rural PA.

As a Host Community, the PA Wilds Center went through a competitive process to be matched with an ERC Fellow who will be placed with the nonprofit for a 30-month period to implement the project beginning in early 2024. Each project across the U.S. receives a dedicated fellow (fully funded for the 30 months from the ERC program) who serves as a field catalyst to enhance, strengthen, and coordinate relationships and local efforts alongside the host community. 

The ERC Fellowship program aims to build capacity in economically distressed areas across the U.S. while cultivating the next generation of economic development leaders. The ERC Fellowship was launched in 2023 through a $30 million cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA). It is led by the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) and supported by 6 other national economic development organizations.

The Bradford Area Public Library has exciting news to share with the community. Thanks to a United Way of McKean County grant, the library has launched a new website. “We were striving for a site design that reflected the energy of our patrons, our diverse programs, and the variety of services we offer our community,” reflected Janelle Nolan, BAPL’s Marketing Coordinator. Rebecca Feightner, BAPL’s Executive Director, expressed gratitude to the United Way and the highly motivated team from Firespring, a web design company that specializes in working with small nonprofit organizations.

The new website is designed to be user-friendly and easy to navigate, providing information on library programs, events, and resources to the community. “We wanted to make it as convenient as possible for our patrons to use the library’s online resources. With the new website, they can do everything from the comfort of their own homes,” stated Feightner.

An exciting feature of the website will enable individuals to register themselves for upcoming programs whenever program registrations are necessary. Parties can register two people at a time and will be able to see how many remaining spots are available for a particular event. “This is a beneficial tool, since some programs fill up quickly when monthly emails are sent to subscribers,” Nolan pointed out.

Maintaining healthy cholesterol levels is a great way to keep your heart healthy and can lower your chances of getting heart disease or having a stroke. When it comes to cholesterol – good or bad, high or low – deciphering which is which and what to do about it can be a challenge. To gain a better understanding, you need to understand what cholesterol is, how it affects the heart and body, and why it’s important to work with your provider to ensure your cholesterol is in check.

What is Cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a naturally occurring waxy substance within our blood. It helps the body build new cells, insulate nerves, and produce hormones. Normally, the liver makes all the cholesterol the body needs. But cholesterol also enters the body from food, such as animal-based foods like milk, eggs, and meat. Too much cholesterol in the body is a risk factor for heart disease.

High cholesterol is a condition in which you have too many lipids (fats) in your blood. It’s also called hyperlipidemia or hypercholesterolemia. Your body needs just the right amount of lipids to function. When there is too much cholesterol in your blood, it builds up in the walls of your arteries forming plaque or fatty deposits, causing a process called atherosclerosis, a form of heart disease. This plaque might not cause any problems for years, but over time, the plaque silently gets bigger and bigger within your arteries. As this occurs, the arteries become narrowed and blood flow to the heart muscle is slowed down or blocked which can lead to chest pain or a heart attack.

Cholesterol Levels

Woodhicks loved themselves some flannel so shake off those winter blues with black and red plaid and come celebrate National Flannel Day with us.  This program offers indoor fun for the whole family with stories, foam axe throwing, woodhick games, and a lumberjack craft.  Lite refreshment and beverages will be available for purchase during program.

HARRISBURG – Rep. Clint Owlett (R-Tioga/Bradford) offered the following response to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s $48.34 billion state budget proposal outlined before a joint session of the General Assembly today. The plan represents an increase of $3.7 billion, or 8.4%, over the current fiscal year’s spending.

“The first question I ask myself when presented with any legislative proposal, and certainly one as impactful as the annual state budget, is ‘does this set us up for success?’

“The quick answer is ‘no.’

“The governor has peppered his proposal with some feel-good ideas that may sound appealing on the surface, but is it wise to grow state government at a time when people are still dealing with the impacts of inflation? Is it smart to use our ‘savings account’ to pay for what will be recurring expenses in the years to come? Is it responsible to live beyond our means, knowing that we are going to have to raise taxes to keep up?

“Again, the answer is ‘no.’”

Owlett acknowledged the challenge of fully assessing the governor’s budget proposal when it is so lacking in detail. For example, Shapiro proposed a new “higher education blueprint” that would potentially make further changes to the operations of Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education universities, such as Commonwealth University – Mansfield, and the state’s community colleges.

“Aside from combining the funding for these two systems under one line item in the Department of Education’s budget, the governor really didn’t provide any further information,” Owlett said. “Mansfield is among several state universities that very recently completed a consolidation, and we certainly need details as to what this change in the budget looks like. As always, I will advocate for the students, the university and the community.”

Tuesday’s budget address by the governor is just the first step in the state’s annual state budget process. The House Appropriations Committee, on which Owlett serves, will conduct a series of hearings starting the week of Feb. 19 to delve into the details of the budget. A final spending plan for the 2024-25 fiscal year is due by June 30.

Watch Rep. Owlett’s comments on the budget address