Dr. Nick Neupauer To Receive Inaugural Leadership Excellence Award

Dr. Nick Neupauer, an Ellwood City native and the longest-serving chief executive officer in the 57-year history of Butler County Community College, will receive on Wednesday an inaugural leadership award named after a longtime Lawrence County resident.

Leadership Butler County on September 7th will present BC3’s president with its first Stan Kosciuszko Leadership Excellence Award during a Celebrate Business Dinner at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania.

Kosciuszko is a 1969 graduate of New Castle Senior High School and has lived in Neshannock Township since 1988. He served 20 years as president of the Butler County Chamber of Commerce and increased membership from about 200 in 2002 to about 800 before his retirement in 2022.

The Stan Kosciuszko Leadership Excellence Award is presented to a graduate of Leadership Butler County who has shown outstanding leadership. Participants in the nine-month program represent private, public and nonprofit organizations and learn about local issues and topics.

He and Neupauer became acquainted when Neupauer participated in Leadership Butler County while serving as BC3’s vice president for academic affairs, Kosciuszko said.

“We kind of bonded because he was from Ellwood City, and we had some mutual contacts,” Kosciuszko said. “During the different sessions of leadership, we became friends.”

Neupauer was a member of the Class of 2006 of Leadership Butler County, administered by the Butler County Chamber of Commerce, and was appointed as BC3’s eighth president in 2007. He has twice served on the Butler County Chamber of Commerce board, from 2008 to 2012 and from 2021 to present; and was board chair in 2011.

BC3 president educates “diverse audiences”

Dr. Nick Neupauer, the longest-serving chief executive officer in the 57-year history of Butler County Community College.

Neupauer is among more than 300 alumni of Leadership Butler County and his selection to receive the inaugural leadership excellence award was, Kosciuszko said, “a unanimous decision.”

“He is able to convey his ideas and his thoughts very well as a leader because he is an educator,” Kosciuszko said of Neupauer. “He is able to educate diverse audiences on things that are important, not only to him, but for the betterment of the general population.”

Upon his retirement, the Butler County Chamber of Commerce sought to create an award in his honor, said Kosciuszko, who began the Butler County Young Professionals program in 2005 and the Butler County Youth Leadership program in 2016.

As the chamber’s president, “Stan was all about the greater good,” Neupauer said. “He was all about the community, the county, and utilizing his role as leader of the chamber not only for the benefit of its members, but also to make the county a better place.

“On a professional level, I admired that about Stan. And on a personal level, what an incredible supporter. Always there for me. Always there with advice. He very much backed me and supported the college, so that makes getting this award that much more special.”

“BC3’s footprint” in region

Stan Kosciuszko is the former president of the Butler County Chamber of Commerce and is a longtime resident of Neshannock Township, Lawrence County. The first Stan Kosciuszko Leadership Excellence Award will be presented to Dr. Nick Neupauer

Jordan Grady succeeded Kosciuszko at the Butler County Chamber of Commerce and is program administrator for Leadership Butler County.

“When you look at BC3’s footprint, there’s no doubt that if Nick Neupauer was not in the position he’s in,” Grady said, “the region would look vastly different.”

BC3 under Neupauer in 2008 created BC3 @ Lawrence Crossing in New Castle to serve under-represented counties in Pennsylvania with higher education; and in 2011 completed a 16,000-square-foot expansion of BC3 @ LindenPointe in Hermitage.

The college was recognized in 2018 with an Economic Development Impact Award from the Lawrence County Regional Chamber of Commerce and Lawrence County Economic Development Corp. for BC3’s additional location in New Castle; and in 2011 with a Phoenix Award for Growth in a Large Industry from the Shenango Valley Chamber of Commerce for BC3’s additional location in Hermitage.

BC3 this year launched a practical nursing program, resumed with the Community College of Beaver County a Riv-Ell Entrepreneurship program in Ellwood City for high school students and began construction projects in Armstrong County and on BC3’s main campus in Butler Township.

“He is always on”

Neupauer is a member of the board, and of the executive committee, of the Community Development Corp. of Butler County. He also serves on the advisory board of the Butler County Growth Collaborative, whose new initiative will provide training to residents who face barriers to employment and will create a countywide culture of empowerment.

Neupauer in 2019 received the Jean B. Purvis Community Cornerstone Award, presented to an individual who has contributed significantly to the health and well-being of the community. Also in 2019, the college was recognized with a Collaborator of the Year Award from Butler County Human Services.

“He is always on and always ready to do what is necessary to not only lead the college, but to be a leader and a big voice in the community,” Grady said.

BC3 has been selected as the No. 1 community college in Pennsylvania eight times since 2015, most recently by Niche.com for 2023. The college in 2022 was also named a Military Friendly School for a seventh time by Viqtory, a service-disabled, veteran-owned small business in Moon Township that assesses educational institutions nationwide.

Neupauer’s 15-year presidency at a single institution exceeds that of any current chief executive officer among Pennsylvania’s community colleges, its State System of Higher Education universities and its state-related institutions.

Neupauer graduated in 1985 from Lincoln High School in Ellwood City. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Penn State University, a master’s degree from Clarion University of Pennsylvania and a doctorate from West Virginia University.

Neupauer and his wife, Tamatha, live in Butler County. Their daughters, Paige Tudor and Meredith Neupauer, attended BC3.