Shawn Prohaska, Delta Omicron/Gettysburg 1989, has been nominated as one of the Top 10 Associate Members by the Building Industry Association of Northeastern Pennsylvania (BIA). Prohaska was also featured in an article on the Pennsylvania Builders Association (PBA) website as a result of his nomination.
Prohaska, President of Invisible Fence of Northeast Pennsylvania, has been a member of the Building Industry Association of Northeastern Pennsylvania for more than 20 years, and has served the organization in various capacities. He first served as a local officer, worked his way into the secretary position, and then served two years as the organization’s president. He has also chaired the Membership, Website and Pig Roast committees. Prohaska’s involvement in these leadership positions, as well as other functions of the organization, has made him instrumental in the shaping of the association.
“I became initially became involved in the BIA because of the benefits – specifically discounted booth space at the home show. I was also looking to promote my Invisible Fence of NEPA business as well as my second business, No-Burn of NEPA, a fire retardant application business,” said Prohaska.
Prohaska is also involved in Project Breathe, a pet oxygen mask donation program that provides pet oxygen mask kits to first responders.
“Project Breathe was developed through the corporate offices of Invisible Fence as a way for local dealers to give back to the community that our clients live in. We are able to purchase the oxygen mask kits at a substantial discount through bulk buying and donate the kits to local fire and ambulance companies that contact us about the program,” said Prohaska.
Prohaska has given out many of the oxygen masks to local fire departments, but one of his more rewarding experiences was extending a helping hand to12-year-old Jakub Mims.
“Jakub was selling homemade lollypops and had an online donation site where he hoped to raise enough money to buy 20 of the pet oxygen mask kits. With the help of Invisible Fence of Northeast Pennsylvania and Project Breathe, Jakub was able to purchase 50 oxygen mask kits to donate to five counties in northern Pennsylvania,” said Prohaska.
So how has Prohaska’s involvement in Theta Chi helped him in his career and in his involvement with BIA?
“The leadership skills that I learned being an officer at my chapter and attending the regional and national meetings, and the skills I learned being a Regional Counselor for several years, have helped me deal with the people I have met over the years as a business owner. This includes employees, clients and business colleagues,” said Prohaska. “These skills helped me rise through the officer ranks on the local level to become President of the BIA for a two-year term, and to help keep our organization running through a rough patch of employee turnover,” he said.