Last month Senator Matt Smith announced he would be leaving the PA State Senate. He departs Harrisburg to take over as head of the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce. Will his experience with the state legislature help in his new job? He joins us for another in our series of exit interviews.
Smith indicates what he will miss most as a Pennsylvania State Legislator, specifically mentioning the relationships he has built with his colleagues and staff members:
"The work that my staff has done for me over the last eight and a half years has enabled me to achieve the legislative success that I have been able to have in a bipartisan way. Really those relationships are always what’s tough when you move from one chapter of your life to the next chapter." -Matt Smith
Also, the Community Leadership Course for Veterans has won an award for utilizing the skills of Pittsburgh veterans to better the city. Elaine Labalme covers National Parks.
CLCV (starts at 22:14)
The Community Leadership Course for Veterans (CLCV) utilizes the skills and experience of post 9/11 veterans for improving the Pittsburgh region. Last year the Leadership Pittsburgh Inc. graduated the inaugural class of CLCV. The CLCV has garnered national attention and is being honored with an award. We’ll discover what’s next for the group with Aradhna Oliphant President & CEO of Leadership Pittsburgh Inc. and Benjamin Stahl is a graduate of the inaugural cohort of the Community Leadership Course for Veterans. He is currently working for the Veterans Leadership Program of Western PA as Accreditation and Compliance Manager.
National Parks (starts at 37:32)
Now that summer’s here one of the best places to go and explore the great outdoors is a national park. There are so many to explore throughout the United States, time doesn’t permit us to cover all of them. However, today we’ll get an overview of parks with travel contributor Elaine Labalme.
More Essential Pittsburgh segments can be found here.