(Butler, PA) Vicki Hinterberger, president and general manager of Butler Radio Network, and members of her staff assisted on a recent December morning with delivering stockings to area cancer facilities as part of the Hang Tough Stocking program.
Butler Radio Network is among Hang Tough Stocking program collaborators that helped in stuffing more than 2,000 stockings and serving as a collection site for items donated by area schools, churches, businesses and organizations and to be delivered to cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy or radiation therapy.
The Hang Tough Stocking program is one of the volunteer projects that involve Hinterberger, and her employees, nearly every month.
“We try to be very involved in the community,” Hinterberger said. “That stems from my overall philosophy that, if as an individual you are well enough, and able, you should step forward and make a difference in the community where you live.”
BC3 president: Hinterberger “so incredibly active”
Hinterberger will make a difference as Butler County Community College’s newest trustee, said BC3 President Dr. Nick Neupauer, and the Butler County commissioners who appointed Hinterberger to the volunteer post-Dec. 4.
“We value our role as the community’s college,” Neupauer said. “This appointment by the Butler County commissioners certainly speaks to that role. Vicki has been so incredibly active in various service capacities as well as in volunteering. This experience – as well as her general business acumen – will be a great benefit to our already strong board of trustees.”
Hinterberger will complete the term of Bruce Mazzoni, a Cranberry Township supervisor who in December resigned after 10 years on the 16-member board. Hinterberger, of Butler, will fulfill the remainder of Mazzoni’s term, which ends June 30, 2021.
Vicki Hinterberger is shown in a studio at Butler Radio Network in Butler on Friday, Dec. 6, 2019. The president and general manager of Butler Radio Network has been appointed as a Butler County Community College trustee.
“BC3 will benefit from a highly motivated woman who has taken on more community projects than most and to my knowledge, has yet to be defeated,” said Kevin Boozel, a Butler County commissioner, BC3 graduate and BC3 distinguished alumnus.
“I believe she will place her heart, her professionalism and her drive to help others succeed, to work for BC3 straight away. She has never been one to sit on the sidelines and wait to be told what to do, but would love to help you get to where you didn’t even know existed.”
Commissioner: Hinterberger “a powerhouse”
Hinterberger is a member of the board of directors of the YMCA and YWCA in Butler, of the board of trustees of the Butler Health System Foundation, and serves with the executive leadership team of the March of Dimes. She is also former chair of an American Heart Association campaign, and of the Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau, and assisted with the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life.
She has also served in her capacity at Butler Radio Network since 1996.
“A powerhouse,” Leslie Osche, chair of the Butler County commissioners, said in describing Hinterberger.
“Her business acumen and leadership skills have helped not only the radio station thrive in a challenging media environment, but other community organizations in which she served as a volunteer leader,” Osche said. “In many of these roles she had to make difficult decisions and or lead a board through strategic redirection and turnaround.”
Hinterberger’s expertise will benefit BC3 in at least two pathways within the college’s 2017-2022 strategic plan, Osche said, citing objectives that call for building relationships to advance economic development and quality of life, and for optimizing the use of financial resources and improving infrastructure and operations.
“She will provide insight into community needs, challenges and opportunities,” Osche said. “Frankly I don’t know anyone who can generate and make use of resources like she does, from the most basic level to the most advanced levels.”
Board chair: “A passion to connect with community”
Kim Geyer, a Butler County commissioner, BC3 graduate and BC3 distinguished alumna, said Hinterberger’s media background can also inspire students in BC3 @ Cranberry’s digital audio and video production program.
“Vicki’s vast experience at Butler Radio Network,” said Geyer, also a BC3 trustee, “will enable us as an institution to ensure we are providing our students with the skills necessary for this career field to be highly skilled and quality workers for immediate employment.”
BC3’s board of trustees is a policymaking body that provides direction and guidance to the college’s president and administration. The primary functions of the board include establishing basic policy, appointing the president and financial control of the institution.
Joseph Kubit, chair of BC3’s board of trustees, praises Hinterberger as being highly respected in the Butler business community.
“Among the many attributes that make her a great addition to our board is her passion to truly know and connect with the community that she serves,” said Kubit, a BC3 graduate and BC3 distinguished alumnus. “We are grateful to our commissioners for choosing Vicki to be a part of our team.”
BC3 “thinks outside the box,” Hinterberger says
Hinterberger said she is joining a team at BC3 that “has more vision than the average community college. As an outsider I have been observing, and I see how BC3 thinks outside the box. Just because no one has ever done it before, that doesn’t slow them down.”
That innovation, she said, includes BC3’s collaboration with senior institutions to provide bachelor’s degree-completion programs on BC3’s main campus, and creating the additional locations of BC3 @ Brockway in Brockway, Jefferson County, in 2013 and of BC3 @ Armstrong near Ford City, Armstrong County, in 2015.
“Who would think that Butler County Community College would have the audacity to do that outreach and serve underserved counties?” she said.
Hinterberger said that outreach characterizes BC3, and Butler Radio Network, officially and unofficially through volunteer efforts.
“It’s inherent when you care,” Hinterberger said. “It becomes a natural progression. The leadership at the college is very similar to what our goals are. We’re here and we want to improve the quality of life of those around us.”
Among BC3 efforts in 2019 were its employees volunteering 128 hours at the Light of Life Community Outreach, a West North Street lunch kitchen that serves up to 50 meals Tuesdays through Saturdays, as part of the United Way of Butler County’s Week of Caring – and at Men Who Cook, Butler Radio Network’s annual February fundraiser for the St. Vincent de Paul Society food bank in which Neupauer participated as recently as 2019.
“Nick has volunteered at our event,” Hinterberger said. “I think the parallels are very obvious and evident.”
Hinterberger, who holds a bachelor of science degree in business administration from The Pennsylvania State University, will join on BC3’s board of trustees Geyer; Kubit, attorney, Montgomery, Crissman, Montgomery, Kubit; Glenn T. Miller, funeral director, Thompson-Miller Funeral Home; Scott A. McDowell, chief financial officer, Blair Strip Steel; and Kenneth DeFurio, president and chief executive officer, Butler Health System.
She also joins William A. DiCuccio, M.D., retired medical director, Sunnyview Nursing Home; Gordon L. Marburger, dairy farmer; Brian K. McCafferty, owner, Kenmac Rentals and Sales; Gail A. Paserba, president, International Quality Consultants Inc.; and Jennifer R. Pullar, attorney, Pullar Legal.
BC3’s board also includes Dr. Bruce Russell, former BC3 interim vice president for academic affairs, and dean emeritus, Slippery Rock University; Carmine A. Scotece, director of development and agency relationships, Alliance for Nonprofit Resources; Nancy H. Staible, retired physician’s assistant; and Joseph Taylor, vice president and general manager, Armstrong Groups of Companies; and Nadine Tripodi, owner and CEO of Butler Technologies.
I think this is wonderful. MS. Hinterburger’s dedication to helping others is very inspirational. I’m a recent graduate of BC3 as a nontraditional student(61years old) and her story has allowed me to think that maybe I could also volunteer my time to helping our community. Congratulations! Thank you for your service.