Lisa Keck has been the Elm Street Manager for the City of Bradford’s Office of Economic and Community Development for almost 12 years. The first and only Elm Street Manager for Bradford, she has led two consecutive designated Elm Street projects entitled Project Pride and the current Second Ward Neighborhood Partnership Program (NPP). Lisa is also a current member of PA Downtown Center’s Board of Directors.
Having earned two Bachelor of Arts degrees—one in Communications and the other in Public Relations from the University of Pittsburgh—Lisa later went on to obtain a Master’s Degree in Strategic Leadership from St. Bonaventure University.
The creation of the Property Maintenance Department is one of Bradford’s greatest achievements under her management. Lisa is extremely proud of this community tool that was developed through the Neighborhood Partnership Program (NPP) funding. This department was charged with the monumental task of addressing housing conditions ignored for over 25 years. Throughout her tenure there, the number one complaint of residents has been the deplorable condition of the housing stock. The Property Maintenance Department addresses that concern which would not have been established through typical city channels. The ‘partners’ of the Neighborhood Partnership Program provided the seed money for GIS based technology and the revisions that were made to the City’s Ordinances. The transparent and fully accountable department is a transformative achievement that truly addresses the housing challenges for the neighborhood residents.
“I truly feel that my greatest accomplishment in my professional career is attaining success in overcoming the Sisyphean task of building capacity and increasing engagement with my residents. Bricks and mortar projects have a finite lifespan, but truly accomplishing sustainable socio-economic improvements for my residents is what transforms lives.”
With the sometimes uncomfortable territory that comes with the role of community manager, the mark of an excellent manager is the grace with which it is handled. In working with the first Elm Street Neighborhood known as Project Pride, Lisa had to confront a fraternity house that was a chronic problem for the neighborhood residents. The tipping point came when she noticed a stockpile of city street signs on the premises. Confronting the house with Bradford’s Chief of Police, a (still intoxicated) fraternity member challenged them, claiming to work closely with the Elm Street Manager to improve the property and participate in activities. The Chief glanced over at Lisa, asking “have you ever met this guy before?” Lisa replied firmly, “absolutely not!” The Chief proceeded to direct the fraternity members outside to load all of the stolen street signs into the Department of Public Works truck. Immediately following this exchange, Lisa was contacted by the fraternity president—and ever since, the Elm Street program has had a supply of fraternity volunteers, as well as a standing member on the Sustainable Organization Committee!
Through her work, the City of Bradford was awarded a Townie Award in 2015 by PA Downtown Center. The City also received a National Night Out award in 2009. A major and successful event included the collection of 40,000 pounds of obsolete electronic items that were recycled from the community. These Elm Street neighborhoods have a long standing track record with the facade program that is typically fully subscribed. Through HOME funding, the City of Bradford offers a housing rehabilitation program to assist income-qualified homeowners.
The City of Bradford is fortunate to have both an Elm and Main Street program through the Office of Economic & Community Development and Downtown Bradford Revitalization Corporation to collaboratively administer programs that benefit the entire community. They share a Safe, Clean, and Green Committee that has held successful cleanup events for 12 years. The city’s Second Ward Elm Street Neighborhood has manifested almost six and a half million dollars ($6,467,000) of related investments in the community. This includes a myriad of associated programs as NPP, NPP II, Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME, Keystone Communities, SWN, KC II, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), ACT 137, PA Housing Affordability Fund (PHARE), and Private investment dollars.
Lisa is the very proud mother of three fabulous daughters. She loves to spend time with them and feels that she ‘couldn’t exist without them in her life.’ She also enjoys spending time with all of her adopted fur babies.