The History of Leadership Westmoreland

Latrobe Area Leadership

In 1987 the Latrobe Area Chamber of Commerce and the Latrobe Area Development Council teamed up to establish a community long-range development plan. One of the objectives of this plan was to cultivate new leaders for the community. With generous support from The McFeely-Rogers Foundation, the Timken Foundation and the McKenna Foundation, Latrobe Area Leadership was founded.

Modeled after similar community leadership programs in other areas around the country, Latrobe Area Leadership introduced its first class of candidates in 1989-1990 to the inner workings of the community, including the fields of education, business and industry, health and human services, the media, local government, and more.

The Latrobe Area Leadership Program assured that Eastern Westmoreland County communities and organizations would have ongoing, interested, and prepared leadership to address future challenges.

One of the first of its kind in Western Pennsylvania, it has become a model and inspiration for other programs. Latrobe Area Leadership was a “guiding light” in helping the Central Westmoreland Chamber of Commerce develop its program, Impact Westmoreland.

Impact Westmoreland Leadership Program

The Central Westmoreland Community for many years recommended that the Central Westmoreland Chamber of Commerce develop a leadership training program to ensure that the community could maintain and expand the number of community members who are qualified and committed to leading the community well into the twenty-first century.

With that goal in mind, volunteer leaders of the Chamber and community guided the process by including a leadership training program in the Chamber’s Long Range Plan implemented in 1995.

A key group of community leaders then developed and implemented the program, which began its first year in September 1996. Impact Westmoreland Leadership Program, as it was known, completed two successful program years.

Join Forces to Create Leadership Westmoreland

Leadership Westmoreland VII

Latrobe Area Leadership and Impact Westmoreland Leadership entered into program merger discussions in the fall of 1997. As a step in that direction, they held a joint government session in January 1998 to bring greater networking opportunities to the classes and to more effectively use county resources. 

The success of the joint session was instrumental in the final merger decision. LEADERSHIP WESTMORELAND, the new joint program, was developed to offer Westmoreland County the “best of the best”, drawing on the strengths and experiences gained by both programs.

In 2003, the Laurel Highlands Chamber and the Norwin Chamber joined with the Latrobe Area Chamber and Westmoreland Chamber to jointly sponsor the annual LEADERSHIP WESTMORELAND program classes. Beginning with the class of 2005, the Ligonier Valley Chamber joins as a sponsoring Chamber.

Leadership Westmoreland Class VI