Greensburg nonprofit hosts workplace diversity conference to boost Westmoreland businesses, create welcoming community

Carlotta Paige wants people to feel welcome in Westmoreland County.

Paige of Unity grew up in Greensburg. Apart from a 20-year stint in New York, she has lived in Westmoreland County her entire life.

When Paige heard complaints from Westmoreland residents and business owners about population decline, she took action. She worked with board members of the Westmoreland Diversity Coalition — a nonprofit she founded in 2016 — to organize a three-day workplace diversity conference for the county.

The conference — scheduled for May 8 to 10 at Live Casino Pittsburgh in Hempfield — will feature a variety of speakers and workshops focused on the role diversity plays in business success.

“I really wanted to help the county in a sense because everyone’s complaining about losing population and jobs and the economy,” Paige said. “If you need people, you need everybody. They sort of rejected diversity as an element of trying to rebuild. And also, I thought that (the conference) was something substantive that we could do that would help.”

According to U.S. Census data, Westmoreland County’s population decreased by more than 10,000 people between 2010 and 2020. The median age of residents in 2020 was 47, about three years older than the previous decade and seven years older than the 2020 state average.

About 91% of the Westmoreland County population in 2020 was white, according to Census data.

With the help of community stakeholders, Paige surveyed more than 1,200 Westmoreland residents and authored some research of her own on the topic. The results are compiled in a 2015 report titled “Confronting the Challenge of Diversity in Westmoreland County.”

While concluding a presentation of the results at Seton Hill University, Paige posed a question to the 200 students in the audience: “‘How many of you are going to stay in Westmoreland County?’”

“Nobody raised their hand,” Paige said. “It was quite surprising.”

The coalition hosted a series of panel discussions throughout the county in 2018 to open dialogue with students about building inclusive and welcoming communities.

Paige asked students why they did not want to stay in Westmoreland after graduation. Across the board, there were two common replies.

“One, is they didn’t think there was much to do. Two, they did not feel welcome,” she said.

The workplace diversity conference, Paige said, is meant to combat this feeling and encourage businesses to do their part in making the county a welcoming place for all people.

Topics such as generational divide, peer-to-peer accountability, AI in the workplace, strategic excellence and building a strong workplace culture will be discussed, Paige said.

“I thought this was a way to give companies and organizations tools that would help them recruit, retain,” Paige said. “And if you can recruit and retain, you can sustain — economically sustain — your business.”

Live Casino General Manager Sean Sullivan, a board member for the coalition, supported the conference from the get-go, he said.

“We don’t want people to drive to Pittsburgh for a job,” he said. “We want them to find a job in Westmoreland County.”

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board requires casinos in the state to submit a diversity plan each year to ensure the gambling industry is representative of the population, Sullivan said.

“We like the idea of being a diverse organization and being welcoming both ‘behind the house’ with our leadership and team members, but also in front of the house,” he said.

Mozelle Daniels, the Gaming Control Board’s director of diversity, will speak at the conference, Sullivan said.

Paige is most excited for the conference’s keynote speaker, Melanie Miller — a national strategist with expertise in engagement and inclusion.

“She will be exceptional,” Paige said. “She’s just very good at this.”

Other speakers include Laurie Barnett Levine, CEO of Mental Health America of Southwestern PA; Lyzona Marshall, assistant professor of business at Seton Hill; Jeffrey Abramowitz, director of employee and volunteer engagement for the Westmoreland Food Bank; and Ryan Wynett, exhibit manager for the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

Paige hopes the conference is a learning experience for all who attend.

“I’m hoping that people … learn from some of these workshops — that they will pick up information that they didn’t know and wouldn’t consider because they weren’t aware of it,” she said.