Larry Larese recognized the value of the former school building in Export when its use was discontinued by the Franklin Regional School District.
“My sister was part of the last class to graduate from there in the early 1960s,” said Larese, 76, of Murrysville. “I know how much that building meant.”
Balancing Westmoreland County’s development with the preservation of its history and rural character is something Larese spent more than four decades striving toward in his career. That work was recognized by Export officials, who gave Larese the annual 2024 B. Earnest Long Selfless Servant Award this month.
As both a county planner and director for the county’s industrial development corporation, Larese oversaw the expansion of the county’s industrial parks to 20 today. He helped bring municipal water service to residents in the Salina, Truxall and Fitz Henry areas, was instrumental in the formation of the Westmoreland Land Trust and served two terms on the Turtle Creek Watershed Association’s board of directors, working to clean local streams polluted by abandoned mine drainage.
He also helped Export officials acquire the former borough school and renovate it into the senior center.
“The projects Larry helped us with in this town are endless,” said Export solicitor Wes Long, whose father is the award’s namesake. “With his help, we got (federal) money for projects this borough could never have otherwise done.”
Larese said he was honored to receive the award, and credited his upbringing in Export with helping inspire his outlook on conservation and development.
“I knew what it was like to come from a hardworking family and to have a family sustaining job,” he said. “That was really motivating, especially (in the 1980s) when the county unemployment rate was about 16% and we set out developing our industrial parks.”
It is not the first time Larese’s work has garnered attention. He was presented in 2016 with the Westmoreland Conservation District’s J. Roy Houston Conservation Partnership Award.
