BRADFORD, Pa. – Traditionally, an eighth wedding anniversary brings gifts of bronze or sometimes pottery, but American Refining Group Inc.’s Prafulla Patil and his wife Ulkarani had something far better in mind by which to remember theirs: Becoming American citizens.
ARG Research and Development Engineer II Prafulla Patil and his wife Ulkarani attended the naturalization ceremony in Mumford, N.Y., at the Genesee Country Village and Museum on the most patriotic of days, July 4, taking the Oath of Allegiance and achieving official United States citizenship.
Prafulla and Ulkarani were among 41 people presented with citizenship by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in Mumford this Independence Day as Judge Frank Geraci Jr. presided over the ceremony and administered the oath.
Individuals from 26 different countries with multicultural backgrounds participated in the event. Nationwide, more than 14,000 people would achieve the same goal between June 28 and July 10, 2018.
“It’s been a long and challenging journey for our family, but it finally ended with this sweet dream,” Prafulla said. “As legal U.S. citizens we are feeling great, excited and hopeful. This status, which brings with it life, liberty, opportunities and happiness, is truly our dream come true.
“The process started as an F1 student visa/H1B work permit/Green Card holder and ended with citizenship,” he continued. “Both of us are honored and looking forward to making positive contributions to our community.”
Patil marked another anniversary earlier this year, clocking 5 years of service with ARG on April 8. He advanced to R&D engineer II on Oct. 1, 2016.
ARG President and Chief Operating Officer Jeannine Schoenecker said, “We congratulate Prafulla and his family for their achievement and we wish them continued happiness and success as American citizens.”
For more information about ARG, visit www.amref.com or follow its pages on Facebook and LinkedIn.
BRADFORD, Pa. – American Refining Group Inc. (ARG) announced John Zarroli has been named senior solutions specialist.
Zarroli’s role is the key research and development (R&D) interface with ARG’s sales and marketing team, and its customers. As senior R&D solutions specialist, Zarroli anticipates, identifies and solves a wide array of challenges, often requiring innovation in planning, executing and analyzing data in creative ways.
A Maryland resident, Zarroli will share time between his home office, the Bradford refinery and traveling to visit customers seeking Specialty Refining Solutions.
“Our customers’ easy access to our in-house technical expertise has long been one of the things that separates us from the competition,” ARG Vice President – Sales and Marketing John Malone said. “ARG’s investment in John as a specialist dedicated to offering solutions bolsters our company’s can-do attitude toward solving whatever product or application challenges our customers might face.”
Zarroli comes to ARG from ABITEC Corp. of Columbus, Ohio, where he most recently served as business development manager for industrial specialties. An STLE-certified lubrication specialist (CLS), he brings 35 years of lubricants and specialties experience on production and technical teams. He graduated from Penn State University with a bachelor’s degree in industrial and management systems engineering.
Zarroli serves on the ARG Quality Steering Team and is the lead technical resource for its Product Management Team. His in-depth participation with ARG’s Sales, Marketing and R&D teams will allow for a better understanding of customer needs in developing products to meet them.
ARG President and Chief Operating Officer Jon Giberson said, “Our R&D professionals are highly educated, highly experienced industry professionals. John’s addition to this group can only intensify the synergy between R&D and our Sales team, which is a big win for us as well as our customers.”
For more information about ARG, visit www.amref.com or follow the refinery on Facebook and LinkedIn.
BRADFORD, Pa. – North America’s longest continuously operating refinery can hold on to its title.
On March 19, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf declared all non-life-sustaining businesses must close until further notice amid the global COVID-19 pandemic.
As a critical contributor to the nation, American Refining Group (ARG) is exempt from this mandate and remains in operation.
ARG President and Chief Operating Officer Jon Giberson said, “Products derived from petroleum quite literally make the world go around. Gasoline, diesel fuel and lubricants keep things moving and our specialty products are used in products all around us, that we all use every day.”
From fuels used in electric power plants, backup-power generators for hospitals and nursing homes, emergency vehicles and commercial transportation (truck and rail) distributing food, to specialty products used in manufacturing medical supplies. These are just a few examples. The Bradford refinery makes hundreds of products and is the largest supplier of zinc-free railroad engine oil east of the Mississippi River.
“We are doing everything we can to keep our employees safe, following CDC recommendations and establishing new policies as the situation evolves,” Giberson said.
He explained that ARG has implemented visitor and contractor screening, eliminated all company travel indefinitely and set up employees who can perform their job tasks remotely to work from home beginning Monday.
To date, ARG has not experienced any operational impacts from COVID-19, whether shipping, receiving or staffing.
“We don’t have a complicated global supply chain; the majority of our supplies come from within 500 miles of our plant,” Giberson said. “We really rely on the hard-working crude-oil producers in Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio.”
Further, ARG’s 181-acre campus comprises the entire refining process, from receiving crude oil to shipping out finished, packaged products.
“It all happens right here in Bradford,” Giberson said. “Staying healthy and working – keeping the refinery running – is the greatest contribution we can make to our community.”
For more information about ARG, visit www.amref.com or follow the refinery on Facebook and LinkedIn.
BRADFORD, Pa. – American Refining Group Inc. (ARG) announced this week Gisela Miller has been named director of sales.
“Gisela is an accomplished executive with decades of industry experience,” ARG Vice President – Sales and Marketing John Malone said. “We are thrilled to add such a skilled professional to our team.”
Miller began her career with D-A Lubricant Co. in 1984 as chief financial officer and director of logistics and warehousing. In 2009, she earned promotion to president of D-A Lubricant Co., the role in which she served until 2018. She holds both a bachelor’s degree and Master of Business Administration from the University of Indianapolis.
Miller joined ARG in early 2019 as a consultant in support of ARG’s sales team. She was named interim director of sales in July and was selected recently to fill the role permanently.
As ARG’s director of sales, Miller is responsible for the overall productivity of its refinery products sales team. She will handle major accounts across multiple market segments as well as managing and directing the regional salesforce in achieving sales and profit goals.
ARG President and Chief Operating Officer Jon Giberson said, “Gisela is a great fit for ARG, having spent her entire career in our industry, but she also shares ARG’s values of service and giving back to our communities.”
Based in Indianapolis, Miller is a member and past president of St. Gabriel the Archangel Parish Council, member of Starfish Initiatives Board of Directors (mentoring program for underprivileged high school students) and a Loaned Executive for her local United Way fundraising campaigns.
For more information about ARG, visit www.amref.com or follow the refinery on Facebook and LinkedIn.
BRADFORD, Pa. – American Refining Group Inc. (ARG) announced recently a successor has been named for one of its refinery’s most critical roles.
As current ARG Operations Director Mike Speaker intends to retire in early 2020, he has begun to transition the role and responsibilities to Jeff Brewer, a chemical engineering professional with more than 30 years of industry experience.
Brewer comes to ARG from a Delek US refinery in Arkansas, where he oversaw process engineering, process controls, planning and economics and laboratory teams. At Delek, he was responsible for developing process engineers through training and unit assignments, facilitating operational issues and solutions, coordinating planning and operations and developing projects to improve refinery margin via yield optimization.
ARG’s operations director has a core leadership role in the development and execution of the refinery’s operations systems, processes and procedures, and providing oversight and direction to our operations team of approximately 100 members. The operations director ensures systems and processes are in place to drive safety, environmental and quality operational performance and compliance with all applicable rules and regulations. The role requires collaboration across all other departments at ARG (crude supply, logistics, customer service, human resources, sales, purchasing, research and development, quality, finance, maintenance, reliability, engineering and technology) to ensure the refinery’s overall safe, reliable and quality operation.
ARG Senior Vice President – Operations Robin Augustine said, “Mike has served the Bradford refinery extremely well throughout his career and should be very proud of the footprints he leaves in its operations today.
“His retirement has been on our minds for some time, as we knew that replacing Mike would be a tough task requiring the right mix of process expertise, business acumen and leadership skills,” Augustine said. “We are pleased to welcome such a seasoned industry executive in Jeff Brewer to our ARG team. Having Jeff on board ahead of Mike’s retirement and Mike’s commitment to a smooth transition will be a tremendous benefit to our refinery.”
Speaker began his career at the Bradford refinery June 3, 1985, as an extra shiftbreaker at the dewaxing and deresining (D&D) unit, which is now ARG’s R.O.S.E. Unit. He worked his way through the ranks there during the next four years, advancing to first assistant operator in June 1987 before transferring to the MEK Unit in March 1989. He learned that unit’s operation as he moved up from shiftbreaker to assistant operator in 1992.
After ARG bought the refinery, Speaker moved to process supervisor overseeing the MEK Unit and Boiler House. In April 2007, he advanced to operations superintendent, the role in which he served until his promotion to operations director March 1, 2018.
“The contributions Mike has made and the knowledge he has amassed during his 34-plus years of service here are invaluable,” Augustine said. “We congratulate Mike for his achievements and reaching this next chapter in life. We wish him and his wife Julie all the best in retirement.”
For more information about ARG, visit www.amref.com or follow the refinery on Facebook and LinkedIn.
BRADFORD, Pa. – American Refining Group Inc. (ARG) has partnered with DRIVEN Racing Oil to bring its uniquely suited base oils back to the motorsports scene.
For decades, racers and enthusiasts have depended on the high-performance lubricants produced by ARG’s Bradford refinery using the Pennsylvania-grade crude oil first discovered there. This light, sweet, paraffinic crude oil produces some of the finest high-performance motor oils sought by the motorsports industry for their unparalleled protection and performance.
DRIVEN’s new GP-1 High-Performance Synthetic Blend compounds ARG’s Pennsylvania-grade base oil with select synthetic components and advanced additive technology. The high-zinc formula is specifically engineered and tested to deliver increased horsepower with more than 30 percent better wear protection, compared to the competition.
GP-1’s unique properties provide maximum engine protection with excellent film strength perfectly suited for competition, classic or import vehicles. The semi-synthetic GP-1 is half the cost of a full synthetic, yet produces 15 percent thicker oil films (better protection) due to its use of the unique pressure viscosity coefficient of Pennsylvania-grade crude oil.
ARG Vice President – Sales and Marketing John Malone said, “We are pleased to announce this partnership and are excited for another opportunity to bring our Pennsylvania-grade-based oils back to professional motorsports.”
For more information about ARG, visit www.amref.com or follow the refinery on Facebook and LinkedIn.
BRADFORD, Pa. – American Refining Group Inc. (ARG) announced Friday that longtime industry executive Jon Giberson will succeed Jeannine Schoenecker as the refinery’s president and chief operating officer.
Harry Halloran Jr., chairman of the ARG Board of Directors and chief executive officer, said, “Success demands the often difficult task of looking for the opportunity – for the positives – in every situation, regardless of its circumstances.
“We have kept this idea firmly in mind since Jeannine shared with us in October her need to resign, after her husband Brett’s life-altering diagnosis with ALS. It was this thought we held close as we undertook the charge of identifying the right person to succeed Jeannine.”
Halloran continued, “We are pleased to announce, after months of thoughtful discussion, conversation and evaluation, that Jon will succeed Jeannine at the helm of ARG and its Bradford refinery.”
Giberson comes to ARG from Sonneborn Inc., where he most recently served as vice president/general manager – Americas, running the company’s North American business. He led a team of 180 employees, overseeing the manufacturing, commercialization and technological development of its specialty petroleum products business.
Giberson started at Sonneborn in 2005 as its vice president – purchasing and logistics. In 2013, he took on additional responsibility for the company’s information technology projects and systems, worldwide. He was named commercial vice president – North America in 2015, a role in which he was further responsible for the company’s sales and marketing, leading development of strategies and tactics for new products and processes, increasing margins and building customer relationships.
While the bulk of his three-plus decades in the industry was with Sonneborn, he also spent time with Honeywell, AlliedSignal, Astor Corp. and Petrowax in Smethport. He worked several years at this refinery, from 1986 to 1993 under Witco, as process/environmental engineer, then manager of total quality management and statistical process control before his promotion to director of technical sales and marketing systems. He began his professional career as development engineer with Mobil Oil Corp. in Canandaigua, N.Y.
Giberson resides in Portville, N.Y., with his wife Amy. He earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Rochester, and went on to complete a Master of Business Administration in marketing and finance from St. Bonaventure. He completed executive education at Harvard University Graduate School of Business and the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.
He has represented Honeywell and Sonneborn with industry associations such as the Independent Lubricant Manufacturers Association (ILMA) and the American Petroleum Institute (API). He is a past president and member of the Portville Central School Board of Education, past president, board member and coach with the Enchanted Mountains Soccer Club; past vice president and board member with the Southern Tier Travel Soccer League; and former member of the Bethel Lutheran Church Council.
Halloran said, “Effective Monday, Feb. 18, Jon will assume the role of president and chief operating officer and Jeannine will remain for several weeks into March as transition officer.
“We want to reiterate our gratitude for Jeannine’s commitment to a smooth transition and appreciation for her work as a core member of the committee tasked with identifying her successor.”
Schoenecker has agreed to stay on as Pitt-Bradford’s Advisory Board chair and in several other vital community posts. She will be appointed to ARG’s board and will help with special projects when possible, indefinitely.
Giberson said, “Having spent so much of my life in this area, I fully understand how important Jeannine has been and ARG is to this community. I am humbled to have been chosen for this critical position and will maintain her momentum.
“The legacy of leadership and positive progress in safety, reliability, operational excellence and product quality that Jeannine leaves us with is one I receive with great care.”
Schoenecker said, “My confidence in all of you, and now Jon, to carry out our plans for the future is stronger than ever. This certainty allows me to know without a doubt that this decision was the right thing for Brett and our family, and for ARG, our community and partners.
“I said this in October, but it certainly bears repeating: I thank each and every amazing, hard-working ARG employee and the Halloran family for their support of my career throughout these many years.”
For more information about ARG, visit www.amref.com or follow the refinery on Facebook and LinkedIn.
BRADFORD, Pa. – American Refining Group Inc. (ARG) announced Monday that its President and Chief Operating Officer Jeannine T. Schoenecker will resign in early 2019.
“Two weeks ago, my husband Brett and I learned of his diagnosis with ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease,” Ms. Schoenecker said. “While everyone is different, upon diagnosis an individual can typically expect 1 to 2 years of high functionality.”
The Schoeneckers celebrated 22 years of marriage in September.
“ARG has been an amazing extended family for me for the past 20 years. ARG has supported me and together we have accomplished some amazing things. I now must focus my time on my immediate family. Brett has to be my top priority,” Ms. Schoenecker continued. “Brett and I will make this journey together, starting with doing many of the things we have always hoped and planned to do together.”
Ms. Schoenecker will continue in her role until the end of March unless a successor can be identified sooner. Having the full support of ARG’s Board of Directors as well as owner Harry Halloran Jr. and his four sons, she will be a core member of the committee tasked with searching for her replacement.
Harry Halloran said, “Jeannine’s departure after 33 years will be a significant loss to us all. ARG is an extended family; we fully understand and support Jeannine’s need to step away and make the most of her time with Brett.
“Jeannine and I, and the Halloran Family, have always been highly aligned about the right way to conduct business,” Halloran said. “Her successor will be carefully selected and will most certainly share these principles and ARG’s values and vision. We are grateful to Jeannine for her extended notice and commitment for a smooth transition.”
Ms. Schoenecker will transition her responsibilities with the many local organizations she is involved with to other leaders at ARG who will maintain the commitment and passion for our community that she has demonstrated.
Ms. Schoenecker will be named to the ARG Board of Directors and will work on special projects for the refinery when possible.
“This has been the hardest decision of my life,” Schoenecker said. “It has come with many tears because I have such deep personal connections with the Halloran family, this company, our employees and the Bradford area.”
Ms. Schoenecker, a certified public accountant, joined ARG as Assistant Controller in 1985. Later that year, she assumed the position of controller and in 1991 earned promotion to vice president of accounting. In this role, she was instrumental in ARG’s purchase of the Bradford refinery in 1997.
Ms. Schoenecker advanced to chief financial officer in 2008. She succeeded Harvey Golubock as president and chief operating officer in 2011, when she and Brett established residence in Bradford.
“There is a sadness that I will not be able to personally finish what we began when I became president in 2011,” she said. “The ARG employees are an amazing, capable group of hard-working people and I have every confidence in them all and their ability to carry out what we have started, what we have planned for the future. I thank each and every ARG employee, and the Halloran family, for their support of my career these many years.”
Kitzie Pingie and Tom Rook look over an automated external defibrillator (AED) at American Refining Group Inc. Pingie credits the device with saving Rook’s life earlier this year.
BRADFORD, Pa. – On a Monday morning in August ARG’s plant radio crackled to life, sounding the call, “Man down.”
But let’s go back to the beginning …
***
Tom Rook is the kind of guy who gets up and goes to work. Simple as that. In 35 years, he has been out sick three times – those on consecutive days and due to, knowing Tom, what must have been the worst stomach virus in history.
So Aug. 14, despite feeling unusually lightheaded, when he grabbed his coffee and jumped in the car for his commute from Kane to Bradford, he did so without the slightest inkling the decision would, quite literally, save his life.
***
Tom arrived a short time later at his job as senior specialist with ARG’s quality lab knowing only that he just didn’t feel like his usual self. Preparations for the day included some discussion with fellow lab technician John Landes and their supervisor Chris Manning. The conversation finished, they dispersed to set about their work.
“I don’t know what made me turn around,” Manning said.
“But I turned around, and saw Tom just fall … and hit his head off of a drawer handle. I went over to him and got down there with him,” Manning recalled. “He was breathing, but he was just gasping for air and his body was tense. I was trying to just talk to him … keep him with us.”
Manning’s next move set in motion the brief but intense chain of events that would accomplish exactly that.
***
Anyone who has played golf knows how frustrating that particular game can be. But the weather was fine – in the mid-70s and dry – for Tom to enjoy a Sunday round with his son, Jeff, at Kane Country Club just hours before this story would begin to unfold.
Not playing as well as he’d hoped and distracted, perhaps, by the prospect of starting another workweek, Jeff was feeling that irritation familiar to virtually anyone who has ever played golf. A naturally upbeat and optimistic person even then, Tom took the opportunity to impart some fatherly wisdom.
“I just told him not to worry about it,” Tom remembered. “I said, ‘Every day is good no matter what you’re doing. Every day is a good day.”
***
“I immediately grabbed the radio and called that we had a man down in the lab,” Manning continued. “Within seconds our Emergency Response Team was there.”
From one end to the other, ARG’s refinery spans literal miles. Safety professional Kitzie Pingie spends almost no time at a desk, being deployed throughout the day to any and all points within the facility. So the odds of her being right next door to the lab in an office were, it’s safe to say, rather slim. Yet, that’s exactly where she was when the call came through.
***
ARG Emergency Response Specialist Matt Rettger, who came to ARG with more than 25 years of experience in the field (the bulk of which were spent as a paramedic with the Bradford City Fire Department), was thankfully also nearby and arrived quickly to assess the situation. Pingie, a certified EMT and American Heart Association-certified instructor of CPR, AED and First Aid, was already there and performing chest compressions.
Manning described it as, “Chaotic and scary. Very scary. I was just hoping and praying that he was going to be OK.”
It was a scene where a head wound that would require five staples to be closed was very much a secondary concern.
***
Not long before Tom started working at the quality lab in August 2008, ARG added a couple of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) to its arsenal of safety equipment. While the company has always been safety-conscious due to the potential dangers inherent to an oil refinery, ARG has doubled down in recent years with an even more concerted effort to improve facility and employee safety. Among many other investments, the company purchased (at an initial overall cost of approximately $2,000 each) additional defibrillators to bring the total number of AEDs on site to nine. Plans are in place to purchase at least two more in 2018. According to the American Red Cross, it would be ideal if all Americans were within four minutes of an AED and someone trained to use it.
***
Rettger concluded, “I don’t like the way this looks. Get the AED on him.” ERT members at the scene proceeded to cut away Tom’s shirt while Pingie retrieved and prepared the AED for use. Having powered it on, she placed the device’s electrodes on Tom’s chest and allowed it to evaluate his heartbeat; in this case, the lack thereof as Pingie had already established that he had no pulse. The device advised defibrillation – the electrical shock that stops cardiac arrhythmia – and Pingie pressed the button.
***
Less than one minute later and fewer than 90 seconds after Manning had called for help, Tom woke up. It was just inside of only three minutes before the Bradford City Fire Department had arrived.
“Tom was in cardiac arrest, meaning his heart was not functioning at a capacity to sustain life,” Rettger explained. “We went from that state, to him being able to stand up under his own power less than five minutes later to get on the ambulance cot. It’s unheard of.
“I’ve seen it before when things like this happen; the patient will go back into cardiac arrest … and he didn’t. In all my years in this field, I’ve never seen anything like it.”
***
Tom, at 52, had never before experienced heart problems. Testing after the incident revealed Tom’s heart had no buildup or blockages of any kind. His doctors are still not entirely sure what caused the arrhythmia, but stated they could tell him with certainty that if he had not been at work and the ERT not responded as it did, the morning would have reached a much different conclusion.
“They told me that if my coworkers hadn’t reacted the way they did, I definitely would not be here. If I had been at home, my wife (Julie) would’ve found me dead in the kitchen.”
Manning added, “I was so impressed with our ERT, how quickly they responded and how well they were able to deploy their training. There were guys up in man-lifts welding out in the refinery who were down, in a truck and at the lab in what seemed like seconds. It was pretty amazing.”
***
He soon underwent surgery for an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), which can attempt to correct the rhythm of Tom’s heartbeat and, if necessary, deliver a correcting electrical impulse. He admitted that while it feels strange, it is somewhat comforting to have that protection in place.
“The doctor told me I have no restrictions – just don’t be lifting any refrigerators.”
As soon as he was able, Tom paid a visit to ARG.
***
“What do you say to someone who saves your life? Besides, ‘Thank you’?” My goodness … you can’t repay that,” he said.
So while he was not sure how he “would ever repay everybody,” some heartfelt Christmas gifts seemed like a nice start. Tom’s humble offerings were received with appreciation and the unanimous sentiment that simply having Tom back at work was what everybody valued most of all.
“Hearing his voice was the greatest gift I could have been given,” Manning said, “to hear him say he was coming home.”
“Kitzie was a little uncomfortable with my thank-yous,” Tom said. “She said the AED is what saved my life and she was just trying to help. I said, ‘Kitzie. That’s what makes you special.’”
***
Tom pointed out that in cases of cardiac arrest, the survival rate is less than 5 percent because people aren’t where they can get help.
“It was a miracle. Somebody was watching out for me that day,” he said, adding rhetorically, “Not seeing my sons (Jeff and Jamie) graduate from college?
“It changes your whole outlook on life. Everything slows down for you, you don’t really worry about stuff so much anymore. It just puts everything in perspective … and not just for me, but for my family and everybody,” he continued. “Kitzie doesn’t know them, but she has a whole big family who loves her.”
BRADFORD, Pa. – American Refining Group Inc. (ARG) presented the recently established McKean County Community Foundation (MCCF) with a charitable gift of $1,000 this holiday season.
Every year during the Christmas season instead of purchasing thousands of traditional, paper greeting cards, ARG shares an e-card and donates the money saved to a local non-profit.
ARG donates thousands of dollars annually, but this seasonal contribution is extra special, according to ARG President and Chief Operating Officer Jeannine Schoenecker.
“We appreciate how nice it is to receive holiday tidings in the mail; everyone loves that,” Schoenecker said of traditional cards, “but we also value the impact that the contributions we make instead can have on the organizations critical to our community’s wellbeing.
“We enjoy these Christmastime donations more than a typical contribution because they are generally unsolicited and so unexpected by the recipient,” Schoenecker continued. “It’s become a festive tradition and a nice reminder of the reason for this season.”
Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of McKean County benefited in 2016.
ARG donates thousands of dollars throughout the year, and thousands more are contributed by its employee-donation-matching program to other local non-profit organizations and relief efforts. With a philanthropic spirit that is cultivated corporately and encouraged in its employees, ARG focuses its charitable giving on education, economic development, human services and health care.
Schoenecker said the foundation was chosen to receive the donation in 2017 because several individuals within ARG were instrumental in its establishment, none more than MCCF board chairman (and recently retired ARG Vice President – External Affairs) Bob Esch.
Like the Elk County Community Foundation, the MCCF is an affiliate of the 501 (c) 3 Community Foundation of North Central Pennsylvania.
“We were thrilled to see the MCCF finally, officially established this year,” Schoenecker explained. “ARG has long shared the belief that McKean County needed and deserved a community foundation, so we are happy to make this contribution toward its long-term success.”
Community foundations are unique, grant-making public charities that are dedicated to improving the lives of people in a defined geographic area. A community-led approach, they create locally controlled assets by bringing together the financial resources of individuals, families and businesses to strengthen rural areas like McKean County. These assets build a community’s ability to shape a better future and promote the well-being of everyone who lives there.
Esch said, “We are thankful for ARG’s continued support of and commitment to the foundation’s success.”
For more information about ARG, visit www.amref.com. For more information about the community foundation, e-mail mccf@zitomedia.net, call 844-238-2289 or follow them on Facebook.
American Refining Group Inc.’s Jeannine Schoenecker (right) presents a check for $1,000 to McKean County Community Foundation (MCCF) Board Chairman Bob Esch. Every year instead of purchasing thousands of traditional, paper holiday cards, ARG shares a digital card and donates the money saved to a local non-profit organization. Established earlier this year, the MCCF was chosen as ARG’s 2017 recipient. Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of McKean County benefited in 2016. For more information about the community foundation, e-mail mccf@zitomedia.net, call 844-238-2289 or follow them on Facebook.