Strength In Numbers: SPC Commissioners Make the Trip to Harrisburg 

By Mason Fish
SPC
6/26/2026

Earlier this month, SPC Commissioners spent multiple days in the state capital meeting face-to-face with state policymakers, agency secretaries, and legislative leaders. The trip has become an annual event for the Commission, but for the counties and communities represented in the room, the lasting impact is anything but routine. 

For many residents, a “trip to the state capital” may sound like a procedural formality. However, this is where smaller counties get a seat at the same table as major metropolitan areas, where local priorities get raised directly with the people who control funding, and where the relationships that move projects forward get a foundation. 

Emphasis on a Bigger Voice 

This year’s trip was widely regarded as a productive one by SPC officers. Commissioners were split into two groups, allowing the delegation to meet with significantly more legislators than a single combined group could have managed in the same two days. 

“We had more of a reach this time,” explained SPC Chairman Vince Vicites, noting that splitting into two teams meant the delegation didn’t miss anybody within the leadership. Chairman Vicites also serves as a Fayette County Commissioner in addition to his SPC duties. 

For smaller counties especially, the value of the trip lies in numbers. Representing one of SPC’s smaller, more rural counties, Indiana County Commissioner Bonni Dunlap noted that going alone would carry far less weight than showing up as part of a unified delegation.  

“The effort to do that would not be as beneficial as working collaboratively, to put it all together, to say, hey, look, pay attention to us in Southwest Pennsylvania,” said Commissioner Dunlap, who also serves as SPC Secretary-Treasurer. 

The trip also included a joint presentation with the Allegheny Conference, giving each of SPC’s 10 counties a chance to showcase their own economic wins, needs, and future goals in front of legislative staff and agency secretaries. For commissioners representing smaller counties, this format makes a real difference. The sense of unified identity comes up repeatedly when commissioners describe the trip. Showing up as a single, ten-county delegation rather than individual counties sends a message to the legislators, business leaders, and anyone else in the room.  

“I think it shows unity,” Chairman Vicites said, adding that the region is ultimately competing for attention against Philadelphia and other urban centers. A coordinated SPC delegation, in other words, gives Southwestern Pennsylvania a stronger, more unified voice than any single county could have on its own. 

Small Counties with Opportunity 

When it comes to why this collective voice matters, it is especially important for counties that may otherwise struggle to be heard. SPC Vice-Chair Betsy McClure, representing Greene County, another one of the region’s smaller and more rural areas, described how the trip has become a critical opportunity to keep her county’s needs in front of state leaders. Public transportation has been of a particular focus. Out of SPC’s 10 counties, Greene is currently the only one without a fixed-route public bus or train system. 

Commissioner McClure noted that she got the opportunity to speak directly with PennDOT officials about her concerns during this year’s trip, while pointing out SPC’s planning team as a major reason why the county has been able to move forward on transportation solutions, crediting the team’s recommendation of a co-mingled ride model that combines existing shared ride service with new on-demand trips. 

Greene is also pursuing safety improvements to State Route 21, a narrow, poorly lit corridor shared with Fayette, a neighboring county, that has seen a high number of fatal crashes. Both counties’ commissioners attended the Harrisburg trip together, to which Commissioner McClure noted, sends its own message:  

“We’re all here in support of these two counties to improve this.” 

The trip also touched on economic development opportunities tied to the Robena site, a 1,400-acre former coal mine that the commissioner described as a strong candidate for future power generation investment given the county’s historical role in regional energy production. 

Beyond formal meetings, commissioners pointed to the informal happenings, hallway conversations, and impromptu office visits as some of the trip’s most valuable moments. Commissioner Dunlap recalled being personally recognized by a PennDOT official while leaving the building, who singled out hertheir county’s presentation from earlier in the day.  

Moving Forward 

All in all, the commissioners seemed to come to a consensus that the annual trip has steadily built greater recognition for SPC over the years. For an organization whose work and planning strategy can sound abstract from the outside, trips like this make the value a lot more concrete when they provide legislators with a clearer picture of what’s happening on the ground across Southwestern PA. 

“I think these trips to Harrisburg have raised our profile to the point where the legislators all know the leaders,” Chairman Vicites said, “and a lot of the legislators know what we are and what we stand for.” 

With another trip already on the calendar to Washington D.C. in September, SPC commissioners will once again be out to show why a unified voice is one of the most valuable tools a region can have.