This is from the South Hills Record. John has really done a lot for our old stomping grounds and the bike trail connection to Washington, D.C. sounds great. I wonder if the Levitski Brothers still own those "shabby Route 51" places the article discusses? /s/Jack
Businessman John Slater awarded
by William West
Staff Writer
March 20, 2008
John Slater deals with death on a regular basis.
Caskets, flowers and sobbing people fill his workplace every week. But Slater -- a man who has made funerals his livelihood -- spends many of his free hours helping to breathe life into the communities of Baldwin, Brentwood and Whitehall.
For his work, the South Hills Record editorial board named the Brentwood business owner Citizen of the Year for 2008.
Aside from owning the funeral home on Brownsville Road that bears his name, Slater, 54, also serves as chairperson of the non-profit organization Economic Development South and as president of the Brentwood Business Owners Association.
His involvement with the organizations makes him the face of commercial revitalization for the area. Slater embraces the leadership positions, but dislikes the spotlight that comes with them.
Standing at the doorway of his funeral home on Monday, waiting to have his picture taken, Slater appeared apprehensive. He wasn't insecure, just wary of the celebrity treatment.
"There is no 'comfortable' when there's picture taking," Slater said.
Fame, even on a local level, is not something he wanted. Slater always envisioned his efforts as one part of a much bigger whole.
"A rising tide lifts all boats," Slater said. "When people begin to fix their properties, it positively affects all other owners in the area."
Slater first developed an interest in the commercial viability of the area during the early 1990s when he joined the Brentwood, Baldwin, Whitehall Chamber of Commerce. He ascended to the presidency in 1997 and held the position until 1999.
Just before Slater became president, former Chamber of Commerce President Mac McIlrath encouraged him to check out the Brentwood Economic Task Force, which was trying to get a grocery store in what is now Brentwood Towne Square. Slater attended a task force meeting and became hooked, thus beginning his more than decade-long push to revitalize the area.
"I blame Mac McIlrath for this," Slater said.
But Slater's connection to the area stretches back farther -- even past the 1890s. His family first moved to the area in the 1850s, residing in the Pittsburgh community of Knoxville. Later generations moved to Mt. Washington and Carrick. Slater's family changed residences, but always remained in the South Hills. Slater considers himself "very fortunate" to walk the same land his father, grandfather and great grandfather once walked.
At least one of Slater's childhood memories influences him to this day. He recalls riding his bike around the South Hills as a child; now he hopes to establish a bike path connecting Pittsburgh to the trail in Jefferson Hills, which leads to Washington, D.C.
The bike trail makes up one-half of Slater's most recent initiative for the area. Having helped establish Brentwood Towne Square in 2002, Slater turned EDS's attention to Route 51. He proposed a bike trail as early as 2002, but the idea never came to fruition. In the past months, Urban Design Ventures, a community planning firm hired by EDS to study the area, again suggested a bike path be made through the South Hills.
Slater's current plans also include a complete renovation of the properties along 51, as well as revitalization of more than 15 shopping centers in the Brentwood, Baldwin and Whitehall areas.
There have been obstacles along the way. Allegheny County declined to get involved with dilapidated properties along Route 51. Property owners refused to maintain their buildings and land. All the while, Slater maintained hope.
McIlrath, owner of McIlrath Insurance Agency in Whitehall and a friend of Slater's for 26 years, said he would have quit if faced with the challenges Slater addressed in the past several years.
"John is like a pillar of the business community," McIlrath said.
"He has impressed me by looking beyond the negatives," said Dr. Alex Lese, founder of the BBOA.
Nick Sirianni, a member of the Board of Directors for the BBW Chamber of Commerce, helped Slater get over his initial discouragements in 2002. He encouraged the EDS chairman to expand his initiatives beyond Brentwood, Baldwin and Whitehall.
"It almost gave John a breath of fresh air," Sirianni said.
Slater of course credits these three men, along with countless other business organization members, elected officials and public employees, for the improvements made to the area.
But Sirianni, expressing the sentiment of most people who have worked with Slater, thinks differently. He first met Slater nearly 30 years ago during a family member's funeral; from just a brief encounter, Sirianni said he knew Slater was someone special.
"As we left the funeral home, I felt good," Sirianni said. "I knew John would take care of everything."
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