MANSFIELD — North Central State College honored three community members for their vision and contributions to north central Ohio on Thursday night.
Hall of Excellence inductees for 2023 included Deanna West-Torrence — founder and executive director of the North End Community Improvement Collaborative, Terry Conard — executive director of The Friendly House, and Mark Masters, president and CEO of Mechanics Bank.
The Hall of Excellence started as the Entrepreneurial Hall of Fame in 2003, but expanded to include more community members beginning in 2016. To date, 60 north central Ohio community members have been inducted.
Grant Milliron, 2004 Entrepreneurial Hall of Fame inductee and president of the Milliron Foundation, was the keynote speaker at Thursday’s induction ceremony. He discussed his own business ventures and trusting calculated risks.
“Richland County is appropriately named rich land,” Milliron said. “There’s so much here when you look at what God has given us to enjoy, but we have a second landscape and that landscape is friendly people and leaders such as our inductees.”
Conard thanked his nominators and employees and volunteers for contributing to the mission of The Friendly House of providing care and belonging for neighborhood kids.
“I really didn’t call it work,” he said. “I love what I do and I continue to love what I do.”
Conard also thanked his wife, Cheryl, and his children and brothers.
“Last but not least, I’d like to thank the entire community of Richland County,” he said. “Financially, you have helped so many children in this community through Friendly House.
“No child will ever be denied access to any programs in Friendly House because they don’t have the ability to pay, and that’s because of donors like you.”
Masters credited God and support from mentors and staff for his success.
“I feel totally unworthy,” he said. “If I can be in this position today, anyone could be. Bloom where you’re planted, do the best you can and good things will happen.”
Masters also thanked his family members and wife, Janine.
“This recognition tonight is as much about her as it is about me,” Masters said.
West-Torrence said her varied professional endeavors have allowed her to view north Mansfield from different lenses. Living in the same house her grandparents lived in, she said she has also seen the neighborhood change across multiple generations.
“My family’s been here for over 100 years and I appreciate the opportunity that this has given me,” West-Torrence said. “From the time I was a little girl, people have encouraged me, people have supported me, people have cheered me on and believed in my crazy ideas.
“I’m a very fortunate person and I’ve really tried to dedicate my life to doing that same thing for other people because not everyone received as much kindness and generosity (as) I have.”
West-Torrence thanked her grandparents and family members for serving north Mansfield before she did, and thanked the community for supporting her visions for NECIC.
The 2023 Hall of Excellence inductees’ bios are printed below, and can be viewed at the James W. Kehoe Center in Shelby.
Terry Conard
Terry Conard grew up in the neighborhood around The Friendly House and frequented it from an early age with his friends. In his teens, he was asked to help out by working in various capacities within Friendly House and at the Happy Hollow and Hidden Hollow Camps, rising to camp director at an early age.
Conard continued working over the years, learning more about the operations of The Friendly House from Bernie and Thelda Dillon, who helped prepare Terry to lead Friendly House through these challenging times.
His love for The Friendly House is evident whenever he talks about the needs of our community and the positive, safe, empowering service Friendly House provides to young people in Mansfield and beyond.
Conard knows that The Friendly House provides life-changing opportunities for children. He is a shining example of those transformational opportunities.
Mark Masters
Mark Masters was raised on a farm in Lucas. He learned about hard work by working the land with his family. He gained a strong foundation of faith from his childhood, and carries those values with him each day as the leader of Mechanics Bank.
Mark has mentored employees and continues to lead by example, living the Mechanics Way in all that he does — serving customers, employees and community leaders with respect, insight, compassion and integrity. He sincerely wants to see every employee grow and reach their full potential.
Similarly, he expects every employee to do all they can to serve, lead and connect each customer to satisfy their individual needs.
He works tirelessly to support our community, serving on numerous boards and supporting countless initiatives. His leadership style has been described as thoughtful and measured, which then allows Mark to provide meaningful insight, often from a unique perspective.
One of his nominators summed up Mark’s impact with these words, “The North Central Ohio Community is a better place because Mark Masters chooses to make it so.”
Deanna West-Torrence
As CEO of the North End Community Improvement Collaborative, Deanna West-Torrence has found her calling — making the community in which she grew up a gathering place for many, a nurturing place for all, and a place with a vibrant, positive future.
Today, her work couples her breadth of experience with her love for our community. She strives each day to find collaborative solutions to meet the needs of the residents of North Mansfield.
She accomplishes this by learning constantly, living authentically, acting courageously and advocating fiercely for her constituents.
Her experience includes serving on Mansfield City Council and the Mansfield City Schools Board of Education. She has also served on dozens of boards and champions causes for children, students and adults of all ages. Currently, her vision is to bring a new community center to the north end of Mansfield.
That center will be the next accomplishment in a career filled with success, not for herself, but for those she has chosen to serve.
Her nomination includes the following statement, “Deanna loves people and she has found ways to reach community members that are at risk or in need, with the goal of helping them to grow and thrive. She is a community hero who has dedicated her life to making a difference.”
The NCSC Foundation thanks the 2023 Hall of Excellence sponsors and supporters including Anita Health System, Brian Schmidt, Miss Ohio Outstanding Teen Cassandra Kurek, Miss Ohio Elizabetta Niese, Chelley Kemper, Glenn McClelland, Maura Siegenthaler and the NCSC Foundation Community Engagement Committee.
Donors Rick and Carol Taylor provided the wine Thursday evening from Cypress Hill Winery.
To nominate a community member for the NCSC Hall of Excellence, go online and download the nomination form.
