Today, Monday, July 17, 2017, the Keystone Contractors Association launched the KCA Leadership Series. This ongoing dialogue features established and respected leaders. There are many ways to hone one’s leadership skills – you could find a mentor or join a peer group or take a course – but another way is to hear a leader in action. By listening to a leader, one could improve their leadership skills by listening to the passion, resolve and wisdom.
The KCA audience heard it all from its inaugural speaker Congressman Lou Barletta, and we even heard a little baseball too.
(Caption: Congressman Barletta with hometown friend and KCA Board Member David Miorelli)
The event kicked off with a special introduction of today’s keynote speaker delivered by State Senator Mike Regan. Right away the audience knew they were in for something special by having a highly respected leader in Senator Regan introducing Congressman Barletta.
When on the stage, the Congressman did not disappoint. The journey he took everyone on was a remarkable one that we all enjoyed learning about. From his days growing up in Hazelton to playing baseball in the Cincinnati Reds farm system to starting his own pavement marking company (with only $29 in his pocket), it truly is a good success story. After years of running his own business, he found himself disagreeing with elected officials so he decided to do something about it and he ran for an elected position.
After successfully leading the city of Hazelton as its mayor, he wanted to have a bigger voice and ran for congress. He jokingly stated that the third time was a charm and he won the congress seat on the third try. But joking aside, the audience could tell that he was determined, even when things don’t go as planned he stayed the course.
When discussing his role as a U.S. Congressman, you could feel the passion in the room that he has for his country. He touched on a wide variety of issues like Public-Private Partnerships for transportation and building projects; infrastructure funding; wasteful government spending; workforce development strategies; and opioid addiction. He stayed until every question was answered.
When the KCA set out to create this KCA Leadership Series, we wanted to feature speakers that could entertain a room full of construction professionals for an hour or so. But what we got today was so much more – we got a leader who inspired the room full of construction professionals. Maybe it’s good he couldn’t hit a curveball since he’s doing such a great job in Congress.
Today, Congressman Barletta set the standard of what the central PA construction industry expects for future speakers in the KCA Leadership Series. Stay tuned to see who we get next….
To view pictures from today visit: https://jonobrien.smugmug.com/KCA-Leadership-Series-o-Congress/
Building Pennsylvania 