U.S. Senator Bob Casey met with a panel of 7 leaders from Venango County via a teleconference at Clarion University-Venango Campus yesterday. The panel participants were Sam Wagner, of CareerLink; Dr. Chris Reber, executive dean of Clarion University-Venango Campus; Emily Gill, of the Venango Area Chamber’s FLEX group (Future Leaders; and Entrepreneurs Exchange); Jim Martin, of Northwest Savings Bank; Sonja Hawkins, Oil City mayor; Jan Beichner, Venango County commissioner; and Rod Griffin, CEO of Specialty Fabrication and Powder Coating. Randy Seitz, president of Oil Region Alliance, moderated the discussion which focused on economic development.

The forum gave Casey the opportunity to hear about many of the challenges our area faces but also provided a glimpse of some of the programs that are working. To read more details about yesterday’s video-conference visit these local media links:

The Derrick
The Titusville Herald
The Venango County Daily News