B&T Contractors Inc., community leader Dan Minich, superintendent of Bradford schools Katharine Pude and the Bradford Landmark Society will be honored April 25 at the Bradford Area Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Meeting and Awards Presentation.
B&T Contractors was selected by the BACC Board of Directors as the 2019 Exemplary Business Award recipient.
B&T is a family-owned business that has been in operation since 1987. The Teribery family company started with two people cleaning and has grown to more than 225 employees, currently the 16th largest employer in McKean County. B&T Contractors provides facility maintenance services for commercial, industrial and educational facilities throughout western and central Pennsylvania and New York; its primary services include janitorial services and concrete coatings.
“As a family-owned company which has seen incredible growth and success throughout their just over three decades in business, the Teribery family and all of the employees of B&T Contractors have certainly earned this honor,” said BACC executive director Kara Kennedy.
The 2019 Community & Spirit Award will be presented to Minich. The Community & Spirit Award is given to an individual or organization that has made a significant, positive impact in the Bradford area through volunteer, civic, religious, cultural and/or business activities.
Minich is a Bradford native and attended the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, earning a degree in business with a minor in marketing in 2007. In 2015 he earned his MBA from St. Bonaventure University.
He held positions at the Bradford Family YMCA as membership director and branch manager of PNC before joining Ameriprise Financial Services in 2015 as a financial planner. He is a founding member and president of Network of the Spirit Ministries which provides sober living for those in need of structure and support following treatment for addiction. In 2017 the Surr’enity House opened for men, followed in 2018 with the opening of the Gratitude House for women.
His board commitments include the YMCA Branch Advisory and Association, Bradford Public Library and the Guidance Center. He is also a 2014 graduate of Leadership McKean and served as Campaign Chair for the 2017, 2018 and 2019 YMCA Annual Campaigns.
“Dan’s genuine concern and caring for others, and his passion for helping those in need, are unmistakable,” Kennedy said. “He exemplifies the qualities this award is intended to recognize, and we are happy to be honoring him this year for his impactful work throughout the community.”
Pude, superintendent of the Bradford Area School District, has been selected as the 2019 recipient of the Directors’ Award, designed to be chosen by the BACC Board of Directors and awarded to an individual or organization who has earned special recognition.
A native of Kane, Pude moved to Bradford when she was offered her first teaching position and has called Bradford home ever since. Prior to her appointment as superintendent in 2011, she held numerous positions within the district. She also served as a special education teacher for 12 years at Beacon Light’s Alternative Education Program.
She received her bachelor’s degree from Edinboro University in elementary/special education. After teaching for a number of years, she received her master’s from the University of Pittsburgh in curriculum and assessment. She then received her K-12 principal certification through St. Bonaventure as well as her letter of eligibility to serve as superintendent.
Pude sits on a number of boards: Salvation Army, CASA of McKean County, University of Pittsburgh Advisory Board, Bradford Area School District Foundation Board, Futures Rehabilitation Board, Bradford Area Creative and Performing Arts, and the McKean County Collaborative Board and was a past member of the Bradford Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.
The nomination for Pude noted, se is the “cornerstone of our school district and she is invaluable to our community. Her fingerprint is on the success of our students that move on for larger than life dreams and opportunities, and also on the students that remain right here in Bradford and work toward making this town an even better place.”
BACC’s 2019 Legacy Award will be presented to the Landmark Society. This award
was first presented in 2016, and honors a business, organization, or individual that has a longstanding tradition of making extraordinary contributions to the local community.
The Landmark Society celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. It is also Sally Costik’s 25th year as curator of the Society, which was founded in May 1969 by a group of concerned Bradford residents who believed that the history of the early oil country heritage in the Tuna Valley was being forgotten.
The Society soon expanded its vision and the search began for a building to use as headquarters and a museum to hold all those soon to be donated items.
Virginia Loveland Miles offered a solution. She was the granddaughter of Gus Herbig, one of Bradford’s early businessmen, who ran a bakery at 45 E. Corydon St. The building, built in 1876, is the oldest commercial building in downtown Bradford. She donated the building to the Landmark Society, and in 1970, the Bakery became their official headquarters.
Jane Stack was the first curator and was instrumental in collecting, preserving, identifying, and displaying the growing collection of Bradford history.
Those early years were busy ones, as the society raised funds to supports its activities and goals, including the creation of a Firemen’s Museum. Other fundraising activities followed, including antique shows, house tours, sales of yellow dogs, baked food sales, lecture series, books, the Crook Farm Country Fair, special music events, and more recently, the Creative Women Workshop. The Herbig Bakery now serves as the research center of the Historical Society, with nearly 17,000 photographs, genealogical materials, maps, blueprints, documents, books, etc. and is always looking for new “old” items to add to the collection. After fifty years, the Society remains a vital part of Bradford.
“The Bradford Landmark Society is a wonderful resource for our community – both through preserving local history and also keeping it in the forefront of people’s minds via events, newsletters, social media, and more,” stated Kennedy. “We look forward to honoring the Society’s board and staff as they celebrate this year’s milestone 50th anniversary.”
The 2019 BACC Annual Meeting and Awards Presentation will be held at the Pennhills Club. The social hour starts at 6 p.m. followed by the awards presentation at 7 p.m.
All BACC members, their employees, and their guests, are invited to attend. For tickets and sponsorship information, contact the Bradford Area Chamber of Commerce at 368-7115.
