By Sean P. Ray | Managing Editor

NORTH SHORE — May 23 saw the latest iteration of the annual Northside North Shore Chamber of Commerce luncheon, this year taking place at Acrisure Stadium. However, the usual celebration took on a bittersweet tone this year, as Chamber Executive Director Gina Grone offered her farewells from the organization.

Grone, who became the chamber’s leader in May 2018, will be leaving at the end of June. Since joining the leadership team, Grone has been an important part of the chamber’s expansion, going from a little under 100 members when she joined to just shy of 400 currently. She also guided the business organization through the difficult years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I’m 80% excited and 20% terrified,” Grone joked to the audience about leaving her position.

She does not have a new position quite yet. Grone told The Chronicle she is in discussion with a couple of opportunities. In the meantime, she is helping out the chamber in the search for a new executive director.

As for why she’s leaving, Grone said she felt like the chamber was in an “excellent place to enter into its next chapter, and so am I.”

Looking back, she said her proudest accomplishment as executive director was remaining approachable and personable even while her organization was rapidly growing. She also thanked the board, saying she couldn’t have done all that she had been able to do without their help.

The board also thanked Grone in turn, with Chamber Co-chair Scott Pipitone delivering some remarks.

“Over the past six years, she’s grown our membership, our staff … but most importantly, the reputation” of the chamber, he said.

Pipitone praised Grone’s intelligence, dedication and tenacious entrepreneurial attitude in delivering the chamber to “new heights.”

The Northside Chronicle readers may also recognize Grone as the writer for the monthly Chamber Update column which appears in every issue. The Chronicle hopes to continue the column with the new chamber director once one is chosen.

Luncheon discussion

In addition to the farewells, the luncheon had featured speakers discussing the theme of “innovations in workforce development.”

The panel at the 2024 Northside North Shore Chamber of Commerce Luncheon were, from right to left, Robert Cherry, CEO of Partner4Work; Mark Lay, managing partner at A1 Resources; Alexis Bovalino, HR director for Burgatory and Short’s X; and Vic Bovalino, president-operating partner at Surefire Management Group. Photo by Sean P. Ray

Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato spoke briefly about some of her administration’s priorities to promote workforce development. In particular, she discussed the importance of retaining young people to stay in the county and join the local workforce.

“We need to set these young people up for success with mentorship and technical skills so they can get the jobs of today and for tomorrow,” she said.

She also stressed the importance of removing barriers to joining the workforce. One way she said such barriers could be removed is by providing workers more access to childcare for their kids.

After Innamorato, there was a panel discussion moderated by Partner4Work CEO Robert Cherry, and made up of panelists Alexis Bovalino, human resource director for Burgatory and Shorty’s X; Vic Bovalino, president and operating partner with Surefire Management group, which founded Burgatory and Shorty’s X; and Mark Lay, managing partner with A-1 Disaster Resources, which provides on-demand resources, services and logistics during natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes and floods.

The three panelists discussed their experiences in their respective positions and offered pieces of wisdom regarding workforce development and taking care of employees.

“I personally, when I got into the industry, started to realize that in order to build a good foundation you not only have to take care of guests, you better take care of your people,” Vic said.

Vic cautioned against the encroachment of artificial intelligence in the service industry, saying it was “dangerous for a lot of reasons” by taking away the personal interaction that usually comes with the restaurant experience.

Alexis, meanwhile, spoke often about the experience of going through COVID-19 at Burgatory and Shorty’s X, and how the restaurants tried to take care of and retain employees during the pandemic. Examples included providing meal kits to employees to help with feeding their families, to promising to pay back managers who potentially had to take pay cuts during the pandemic, though the eateries managed to avoid having to implement those cuts. Lay, meanwhile, touched on the importance of providing opportunities for people to advance, as well as offering jobs and taking care of people in worse financial situations.

“The reality is if we don’t take care of those on the lower end of the economic. we who benefit on the upper end, we won’t be able to,” he said. “Our economy has become such a two-tiered economy with the haves and the have-nots, and we have to do our best to bring up the middle class.”