History

Leadership Lycoming is a program designed to cultivate, develop and nurture leadership resources in Lycoming County and surrounding areas. The program was established by the Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce President Peter Loedding in 1988. 

A special task force, working in collaboration with the Chamber’s Board of Directors, recommended the program’s development after considerable research on the concept began in early 1986. E. Van Anderson – a former Chamber chairman, vice president of Stauffer Communications, and owner of Grit Publishing Company at the time — chaired this committee.

At the time of its creation, Leadership Lycoming followed a model that had been successfully used in over 200 leadership programs across the country. In 1988, 11 leadership programs operated in Pennsylvania, including the Philadelphia program, which remains the oldest successful effort nationwide as it dated back to 1959.

Anderson said the program’s objective was to “identify, assemble, and motivate the community’s most promising young leaders to learn more about the challenges facing their community and to make their own investment to improve the overall quality of life for all.”

During the program’s formation, Anderson explained that Leadership Lycoming was designed to be a ten-month learning experience for applicants chosen by a selection committee, which would begin with a two-day orientation retreat in September 1987. Participants were to attend eight day-long seminars once a month, focusing on critical issues such as economic development, education, the environment, government, boardmanship, the media, human services, and quality of life. Community leaders from each of the fields studied were to serve as course presenters.

Leadership Lycoming was designed to be an annual program with approximately twenty-five participants selected for each class and nominations submitted from all community sectors. Participants were to be chosen by the selection committee based on nominee’s written applications, using clearly defined standards. At the time of Leadership Lycoming’s creation in the 1980s, tuition for the entire program was clocked at $600. 

“Achieving a balance in this group is important for the development of a clear understanding of the total community which must be served,” Anderson said.

The original team designed Leadership Lycoming to operate under the sponsorship of the Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce, and a board of trustees was given responsibility for guiding the program – taking on the role of the original steering committee. 

Local business consultant Robert J. Makos, who had been actively involved in the initial phases of the project, was also named as the Leadership Lycoming Executive Director. The Executive Director worked directly with the Leadership Lycoming board to develop and administer all aspects of the program.