Oct 23, 2018 3 min read

CANONSBURG – It was a natural fit for Stacey Brodak when she left the natural gas industry, where she had worked for a decade helping to spur corporate volunteerism, to start a new role spearheading service projects at Waynesburg University.

Over the past year, she has worked as Waynesburg’s vice president of institutional advancement and university relations to create a partnership that would pair the school’s mission of service with corporations looking for ways to help the community.

That project was unveiled Tuesday as the university launched its new Center for Corporate Social Responsibility, which will be based at its Southpointe branch, with the help of a $250,000 grant from Chevron.

“Service and learning are in our DNA,” Brodak said of the university.

She found that out about Waynesburg while working for Noble Energy, which helped to sponsor the annual service project performed by freshmen as they built garden boxes at Corner Cupboard Food Bank in Greene County. While interviewing for her current position, she and Waynesburg University President Douglas Lee talked about that project and ways the school could continue to partner with local companies.

“We have a lot of companies doing a lot of great things,” Brodak thought at the time. “Can we coordinate that?”

A roundtable discussion was held Tuesday morning between the university, Chevron and seven other companies – 84 Lumber, Community Bank, Consol Energy, EQT, First Federal of Greene County, Range Resources and Steptoe & Johnson – that have joined the initiative. Another meeting will take place in February to move forward with plans for the center.

Brodak, who is leading the center, said it will work to build a network, facilitate best practices, promote volunteerism and coordinate ideas between the corporations. It will also offer leadership lectures and other speaker discussions that partner faculty with industry professionals.

Eventually, Brodak said, they are going to work to find ways students can become involved in projects or use the center as a recruiting tool to help recent graduates find jobs.

“Our students are hungry to transform the world, not just learn in the classroom,” Brodak said.

Trip Oliver, vice president of policy, government and public affairs at Chevron, said the center falls in line with the company’s Appalachian Partnership Initiative it launched in 2014. He said they are “building dialogue” to develop a statewide workforce.

“This is really the next step in what we view as the generational partnership we have in this region,” Oliver said. “I know we’re going to do great things. I know we’re going to partner with a lot of great companies in the region.”

Lee pointed to other initiatives in Greene County with Chevron, such as the STEAM Camp held on campus and the fabrication lab that opened in April at Intermediate Unit 1 near Waynesburg. He said the new center will help the “growing network” of corporations that want to work together.

“We are very excited to announce this first-of-its-kind partnership in our region with Chevron and are appreciative of their generous support,” Lee said.