‘Everybody has a story in them’
McMURRAY – Brian Schill has never met a stranger.
“I am genuinely interested in people,” said Schill, 53, executive director of Peters Township Chamber of Commerce. “Everybody has a story in them.”
If everyone has a story in them, then Schill, who runs a chamber with more than 400 members, has a book in him. A big book.
Schill, a native of Clarion County, worked on a farm, was a jet fighter mechanic, flown refueling planes from Pittsburgh to Egypt, worked for a U.S. congressman and survived cancer.
“I have been blessed with contacts,” he said.
And that is how Schill, who lives in Upper St. Clair with his wife, Linda, came to be the chamber’s top executive. He heard about the job through contacts, and contacted his contacts about the job. He replaced longtime director Carol Foley, who died in 2012, in October of that same year.
“I replaced a legend,” said Schill of his predecessor.
In addition to his military background, Schill has an undergraduate degree in computer and information systems from Clarion University, as well as a graduate degree in geography and regional planning from California University of Pennsylvania.
When he graduated from high school in 1980, Schill said he did not have a set career path in mind. His mother, he said, thought he would end up going to Clarion, which he eventually did. Then one day, before the university’s new term started, he received a post card from the U.S. Air Force that said, “Aim High.”
At the time he received that fateful piece of mail, Schill said he had one brother in the U.S. Navy and another brother in the Air Force.
“My father was a World War II veteran,” he said. “I was thinking about the military. What a great experience that turned out to be.”
During his eight years in the Air Force, Schill worked on F-16 jet fighters as a mechanic and got to travel the world. Following his discharge, he earned his degree from Clarion and took a job with Mellon Bank. He decorated his office with posters of F-16s.
It was through those posters that he met a fellow Mellon employee who was an officer and a pilot in the Air National Guard. Schill said he always toyed with becoming a pilot, and through talking with his new friend, took the plunge and joined the Air National Guard.
“I had the choice of sitting in a cubicle or flying airplanes,” he said.
Schill went on to earn his pilot’s license and quickly found himself on active duty.
“That was February 1991,” he said. “I had just gotten my training done and was sent to the Gulf War.”
His first assignment was flying a KC-135 refueling airplane – a 707 – from Pittsburgh to Cairo, Egypt, a flight that takes more than 11 hours to complete.
Schill stayed in the Air National Guard for eight years, opting to leave in 2006. He retired as a lieutenant colonel with 20 years of service.
Through his contacts and his time with the Rotary Club of Upper St. Clair-Bethel Park, Schill found himself on the staff of U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy.
“He had heard I retired,” Schill said “I met him at the Eat ‘n Park at South Hills Village and he offered me a job. I told him I was not into politics. He said, ‘You leave the politics to me in Washington and take care of my constituents.’ So, I did.”
Schill worked for Murphy for seven months. He and his wife briefly relocated to the Charleston, S.C., area, but returned because his daughter, Brianna, now 21, wanted to return to Upper St. Clair High School.
Schill then took a job with a packaging company, but several months later started to feel ill, like something was not right. In January 2009, he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, stage 4.
“I had a stem cell transplant,” said Schill. “I was lucky because unlike leukemia patients, I got to use my own stem cells.”
It took a year to recover from the transplant, and when he was well enough to return to work, Schill said he was told the company was sold and his job was eliminated.
“I could have been a career shrink,” laughed Schill, when asked about his career path.
Greg Gold, chairman of the chamber board, said the chamber has not missed a step with Schill at the helm.
“Having Brian serving as the executive director of the Peters Township Chamber of Commerce for the past three years has been a very positive experience for our organization,” Gold said. “Brian’s leadership and engagement have been instrumental in our growth. Since coming on board as our executive director, Brian has increased our membership numbers, added additional services for our members, significantly increased our schedule of member events and helped us to be even more involved with the Peters Township community.”
Since becoming the chamber’s go-to guy, Schill said he is busy trying to grow membership and to get out and talk to business owners about their needs and what they want from their local chamber of commerce.
“Since I have been here, I have spent a lot of time on infrastructure of the chamber, like its website,” he said. “Everything is still evolving and I’ve gotta go baby steps. Still, I live in a great community and work in another great community.”