About Us: Press Room
CONTACT:
Shannon O’Connell, Communications Coordinator
Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission
412-391-5590 ext. 334; email: soconnell@spcregion.org
SPC Elects New Regional Leadership
Rodney Ruddock, Steve Craig and Pam Snyder
Elected Chair, Vice-Chair and Secretary-Treasurer
[ Download the PDF version of this press release here. ]
Pittsburgh—The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC) has elected Indiana County Commissioner Rodney Ruddock as its new Chair, Lawrence County Commissioner Steve Craig as its Vice-Chair, and Greene County Commissioner Pam Snyder as Secretary-Treasurer. All three took office Monday at the annual meeting of the Commission. “Commissioners Ruddock, Craig and Snyder are committed to regionalism and dedicated to public service,” said Jim Hassinger, SPC Executive Director. “With these qualities and the leadership they have each shown in their respective counties, I believe that they will truly be champions for the people of Southwestern Pennsylvania.”
As SPC Chair and Vice-Chair, Commissioners Ruddock and Craig, along with Commissioner Snyder, Secretary-Treasurer, will play integral roles in coordinating economic development and transportation infrastructure investment decisions in Southwestern Pennsylvania.
As the new Chairman of SPC, Commissioner Ruddock brings considerable experience as a regional leader. A retired Army major general and former principal of Indiana Area Senior High School, Rod Ruddock currently serves on and chairs the Indiana County Board of Commissioners. He is a lifelong resident of Indiana, Pennsylvania. He has completed 35 years in public education and 37 years in military service, retiring as a Major General in the United States Army Reserve with numerous military awards and medals, including the Bronze Star and Distinguished Service Medal.
Commissioner Ruddock graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1965 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics and Safety Education. He holds a Masters Degree in Counseling Education from Indiana University and a Secondary Administrative Certificate from Duquesne University. He is a 1996 recipient of the IUP Distinguished Alumni Award, and received the IUP President’s Medal of Distinction in 2005. A three-sport high school athlete and four-year letterman, Commissioner Ruddock was an NAIA All American in baseball at IUP and was inducted into the Indiana County Sports Hall of Fame in 2002 and the IUP Sports Hall of Fame in 2005.
Commissioner Ruddock’s professional organizations include the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania (CCAP), chairman of the CCAP Community and Economic Advisory Committee, and he serves as board member of the Research Institute at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He is also an advisory board member to the Salvation Army and to the Indiana Regional Hospital Authority, a member of the League of Women Voters, the Indiana Arts Council, the Alliance for Business and Educational Leadership, Indiana County Community Action County Program and a life member of NAACP. Commissioner Ruddock serves on the Board of Fellows for the University of Pittsburgh’s Institute of Politics, currently co-chairs the Educational Committee and is member of the Marcellus Roundtable.
Commissioner Ruddock resides in Indiana with his wife Ellen. They are both members of Grace United Methodist Church of Indiana, Pa. Their family includes son, Dana, wife Michele and granddaughter, Reagan and grandson Owen; and son, Darin, Alexa, granddaughter Andrea and grandson Daniel.
Lawrence County Commissioner Steve Craig has been elected as SPC’s Vice-Chair. Commissioner Craig is currently serving his third term on the Lawrence County Board of Commissioners and also has the distinction of serving as the Vice Chairman of the Northwest Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission. He is also one of the founding members of the Oh Penn Interstate Region, the nation’s first two-state workforce development collaborative. Commissioner Craig is a graduate of John Carroll University and received his Masters of Urban and Regional Planning Degree from The George Washington University. He is married to Faith and has two children: Maddie and Sam.
Commissioner Pam Snyder has been elected as SPC’s Secretary-Treasurer. Pam Snyder is serving her third consecutive four-year term as a Greene County Commissioner and is again their Chairman. Commissioner Snyder is also second vice president of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania and a member of the Port of Pittsburgh Commission, the Community Advisory Board for Southwest Regional Medical Center in Waynesburg, the Greene County Local Emergency Planning Committee, the University of Pittsburgh’s Institute of Politics Economic Development Committee and the American Cancer Society’s Volunteer Leadership Council. In November 2008, the Pennsylvania Federation of Democratic Women honored Commissioner Snyder with an Outstanding Elected Democratic Woman award. She was among 14 women selected from across the state to receive the honor.
A graduate of Jefferson-Morgan High School, Commissioner Snyder received in March 2008 an honorary Bachelor of Arts from Waynesburg University, and in May 2008, she attended the County Leadership Training Institute at New York University’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. Born and raised in Dry Tavern, Commissioner Snyder and her husband, Jack, live on a small family farm in Jefferson, and are active members of St. Marcellus Catholic Church in Clarksville, where Snyder serves as a lector and Eucharistic minister.
About the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission
The Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC) is the region's forum for collaboration, planning and public decision-making. As the designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for the ten-county region including the City of Pittsburgh and the counties of Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Washington, and Westmoreland, SPC is responsible for planning and prioritizing the use of all state and federal transportation funds allocated to the region. As the Local Development District (LDD) and Economic Development District for Southwestern Pennsylvania (as designated by the U.S. Appalachian Regional Commission and the U.S. Department of Commerce), SPC establishes regional economic development priorities and provides a wide range of public services to the region.
# # #
[ top ]
