Meet Our Board
Sarah A. Burns
President, Ellwood Group, Inc.
Sarah has been a Quality Engineer with the Ellwood City Forge Group since early 2019. Sarah attended Robert Morris University in Moon Township, PA, where she received both her undergraduate and graduate degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Management. She has been on the Board of Visitors for the Robert Morris University School of Engineering, Math and Science since 2015 and was a member of the Leadership Lawrence County Class of 2019-2020. Sarah has been a resident of Elwood City since 2016, where she lives with her husband, Daniel and their three dogs.
Kristin Swab
Past President, McElwain Motor Car Company
A lifetime resident of the Ellwood area, Kristin is currently employed as the Controller at McElwain Motors. Kristin has a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Geneva College. She also has 15 years’ experience in Internal Audit in the Banking Industry. Kristin is an active member of Concord United Methodist Church and enjoys spending time volunteering in the community. This is why Kristin is very excited for the opportunity to become more involved in the Ellwood Community.
Shawn C. Leopardi
1st Vice President, CORE 3 GROUP
Shawn C. Leopardi is president of CORE 3 GROUP — a marketing/branding agency he established in 2009. Leopardi served the corporate world in creative direction and business development roles for over 20 years — working primarily for Michael Baker Corporation (Pittsburgh) and ABC Imaging (Washington DC). Leopardi holds a master’s degree from Geneva College. “I’ve had the good fortune to work with a host of clients from our region to South Florida to the Midwest to New York City. Based on my marketing and strategic business planning background, I believe I can bring value to the chamber.”
Stephanie Muntean
2nd Vice President, Coldwell Banker Real Estate
Stephanie is a lifelong resident of Ellwood City, and has been in business here as a Realtor for 34 years. Stephanie strives to bring new homeowners and new businesses to our community, and she loves our town, and is devoted to making it a great community. Stephanie is on Multi-Million Dollar Producer, Voted 5 Star Professional Agent by Pittsburgh Magazine in 2015, 2016, 2017,2018, and 2019. She was voted Fan Favorite Realtor in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 2018, and Top Team of the Cranberry Office in 2016.
Karen Trozzo
Treasurer, Trozzo Tax & Accounting Services
Karen Trozzo established her own business, Trozzo Tax & Accounting Services in 1989, providing both personal and business income tax returns, payroll, and accounting services. She has also had the honor of being elected in her community as the Tax Collector since 1993. Her home office is located on Mercer Road in North Sewickley Township, where she resides with her husband John. They have three children, all residing in North Sewickley Township. Karen is a Robert Morris College graduate, earning a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business and a minor in Accounting. In addition to being a member of the Chamber of Commerce, she has served as a member and officer of the PA State Tax Collectors Association (Vice President) and Beaver County Tax Collectors Association (President).
David DeCaria
DeCaria's on Fifth
David DeCaria is a lifelong resident of Ellwood City married to Donna and father of daughter Kathryn and son Damien who is married to Kelly. They have four children. He is the owner and Artistic Director of DeCaria’s on 5th Hairstyling Salon located in Ellwood City. As the current past president of the Ellwood City Area Chamber of Commerce, David is the creator of the Pride In Ellwood (P.I.E.) initiative. He is also acting chairperson of the annual 5th Grade Walking Tour and 6th Grade Ewing-park-a-palooza. The goal of these events is to give our young people a sense of history, ownership and pride in their community. He has served as a member of the steering committee for The Towne Center Associates program through the borough in 2012/2013 for the development of the downtown marketplace. A councilman for the past two years he has furthered the Towne Center revitalization and development project. He is an active member of the Holy Redeemer Catholic church and serves there as a Eucharist minister, Lector and as a pianist and organist in the music ministry. As part of the community effort at Christ Church he also serves as the organist for The Boar’s Head Festival.
Art Clinger
Wesbanco
Art Clinger is the Banking Center Manager at the Ellwood City Branch of WesBanco Bank. Art has worked in the Financial Services industry for 15 years, serving both consumer and business customers in all stages of their growth and development. Art earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management from Clarion University. Art resides in North Sewickley Township with his wife and two daughters.
Janet Falotico
Visit Lawrence County
Janet Falotico is the Executive Director at Visit Lawrence County. She has served as a Director of the Board with the Ellwood City Area Chamber of Commerce since 2006. She is active on the Chef’s Wine & Ale Event and Marketing Committees, and has served on committees for the Golf Outing. Prior to becoming a Board member, Janet has helped to promote Ellwood City through her job at Visit Lawrence County. She has served as a board member of the Lawrence County Economic Development Corporation, New Castle Playhouse and New Visions of Lawrence County. Her current and/or past community groups include: Women Connect of Lawrence County, Chairman of the Entertainment Committee for the New Castle Downtown Business Association, Chairman of the Fireworks Festival in New Castle, Pittsburgh Regional Champion, Product Development Committee for Pittsburgh and Its Countryside, Committee for Oktoberfest at Camp Kon-O-Kwee and New Castle Playhouse Grievance Committee.
“I am truly excited for the direction of the Ellwood City Area Chamber of Commerce and the city itself. I am devoted to its success and promoting this wonderful community!
Jacquie Zona
Jacquie’s Ultimate Sports Training JUST
Seth Prentice
Armstrong
Seth has worked for Armstrong for 10 years with the past 2.5 years out of the Zelienople office as the Community Marketing Manager. His role is vital in connecting the local office to the community thru many initiatives including: product and services, company programs such as Breaking Bread & Healing Heroes, promoting non-profits and organizations to help spread their message. Seth recently completed Leadership Butler County program as Class Chair and the class partnered with Glade Run Adventures in Zelienople. They fundraised over $30,000.00 to replace the footing surfaces in both of Glade Run horse arenas to ensure their Autistic programs for children & adults can continue for the next 20-25 years. Seth is an active Rotarian for the Rich-Mar Club and currently is serving as the International Chair for the club. He also serves on the Young Professional Committee, known as HYPE, for the Pittsburgh North Regional Chamber. Seth’s past experience on Board of Directors includes: Penn State Fayette Alumni Society (President 2013-2016), Council on Substance Abuse in Youth for Westmoreland Drug & Alcohol (Media Chair 2015-2018), Wesley Health Clinic Board of Directors 2016-2017, Scottdale Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors (2015-2017), Mount Pleasant Business District Authority Board Member (2017) Seth recently hosted Armstrong’s 50th Anniversary of Operation in Ellwood City in August. He worked with the Ellwood City Chamber to make this a huge success! He also hosts a weekly podcast called “Armstrong In The Loop Podcast” featuring interesting people, places and events. Ellwood City Chamber was featured on the August 12th episode to promote upcoming events & membership!
William R. Scott
Hefren-Tillotson
Ricie Scott was born and raised in Ellwood City, and is currently living in Ewing Park. He graduated from Lincoln High School in 2015, went on to Butler County Community College in 2017, and then Clarion University in 2019. Currently, he is working as a Financial Advisor for Chamber member, Hefren-Tillotson, where they provide comprehensive financial planning for individuals and families. Ricie is looking to serve a bigger role in the Chamber and community. He believes as a younger member of the Chamber, that he can help provide new ideas and help with future events.
Melissa Johns
Blooming Beauty Boutique
My name is Melissa Johns, I am married with a 16 year old son.
I have a small business in Cranberry Twp pa, Blooming Beauty Boutique, which is a nail and facial spa.
I grew up in Ellwood City and still currently live there.
As a small business owner I know how important it is to help promote and grow other businesses in the area.
I’m passionate about what I do and would love to share that with other businesses.
Gene Dimeo
Dimeo Law Group
Gene has been a lifelong resident of Ellwood City, currently residing in North Sewickley Township and graduated from Lincoln High School in 1985. He received a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Westminster College and a Juris Doctorate Degree from Western Michigan University/Thomas M. Cooley School of Law. Gene has been a practicing attorney for over 27 years. His law firm, Dimeo Law Group PLLC is a general law practice which encompasses several counties in Western PA. He has served as legal counsel for the Ellwood City School District administration and is currently the Solicitor to the Ellwood City Zoning Hearing Board. Mr. Dimeo is a member of the PA Bar Association along with the bar associations for Lawrence and Allegheny counties. He is a member of the Ellwood City Wolves Club and an active parishioner and volunteer of Holy Redeemer Parish. He has been married to his wife, Jackie for 29 years and they have two sons Christian and Cameron.
Rhiannon Schnell
The Borough of Ellwood City
Hello! My name is Rhiannon Schnell. I am 43 and married with 2 furbabies. I work for the Borough of Ellwood City as the Secretary to Public Works and Code Enforcement. I previously worked for McElwain Motors for 12 years.
I enjoy fundraising for various causes and love being involved in anything fun! Some of my causes include Walk MS, Chemo Comfort for Cancer Patients and Toys for Tots.
Ellwood is my hometown and where my husband’s business resides. This community is extremely important to me and I am full of hometown pride! I would love to be involved in bringing our town together for many more years of memories and smiles!
Steve Persing
CardChamp
Steve Persing was born and raised in the Venango County area. He graduated from Cranberry High School and then went on to Pitt Greensburg where he graduated with a degree in business management. While at Pitt, Steve played 4 years of college basketball and was selected in 2012 as a member of the 50 Finest of Pittsburgh raising money for Cystic Fibrosis. Steve is currently employed by CardChamp and has been with the company for 11 years which keeps him involved in Ellwood City, In his spare time, he enjoys playing softball, refinishing furniture and spending time with family and friends.
Mark Miller
The Northeast Candle Co.
Mark was raised on College Hill, in Beaver Falls, now lives in North Sewickley and is the president and founder of The Northeast Candle Co. and a part-time educator at Riverside High School. Graduated from Beaver Falls High School and attended LaRoche College (now LaRoche University) with degrees in Psychology and Business Administration and minored in education. He worked in management and sales for 7 years before returning to LaRoche receiving his Pennsylvania Teacher Certification. Seven years ago, he was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease that required strong immunotherapy treatments. After beating the odds against him, he decided to knock out a “bucket list”, taking classes at Duke and Stanford Universities in mathematics (something he always wanted to do) that eventually landed him at The University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business studying Business Analytics, then on to training at Università Bocconi in Milan, Italy in Luxury Brand Management. He created The Northeast Candle Co. to not only give quality, affordable luxury products to our area, but also to create a positive place to work and shop for the hard-working people of our area. He believes quality luxury-based products served in a traditional personalized shop the setting is something people want and something our hometown deserves as a result of their hard work and loyalty to one another.
Mark and his partner Amelia Bailey launched The Northeast Candle Co. by opening their first retail location on Fifth Street in Ellwood City in August 2021. They believe in “community first”. By creating affordable, quality natural products coupled with community minded servitude as their company cornerstone they believe The Northeast Candle Co. will be an asset to the Ellwood Community and are looking forward to a long and prosperous future in Ellwood City.
The Northeast Candle Co. is proud to offer premium soy candles and goat’s milk skin products. Their soy is an eco-friendly, clean burning, renewable and biodegradable wax. The candles have just three ingredients, soy wax, a unique “coreless” cotton wicks that contains no tin or zinc unlike many of their competitors do. The NEC Co. uses premium fragrances and they are phthalate free, non-toxic and dye free by implementing their own “Certified Clean Fragrance Program”. There is no artificial coloring added or synthetic oils. Their fragrances are mixed in house or by one of their highly trained alchemist partners. Candles, wax melts, and goats milk body products are manufactured by artisans in small batches that are poured and labeled by hand at their studio facility in beautiful Ellwood City, Pennsylvania. The suppliers The Northeast Candle Co use are American based manufactures, many of which are small business and American farm owned.