A Lititz architect was among the young professionals singled out by the Central Penn Business Journal in 2015 for leadership in business and in the community.
Peter Kerekgyarto, a registered architect and partner in the Lititz firm Beers + Hoffman, was selected as one of CPBJ’s 2015 Forty Under 40 award recipients. The announcement came in early September 2015.
What the award recognizes
The Forty Under 40 program honors professionals in central Pennsylvania under the age of 40 who show a commitment to business growth, professional excellence and community service. In 2015, the program marked its 20th anniversary.
Kerekgyarto’s selection reflected both his work at Beers + Hoffman and a long list of civic roles across Lancaster County.
A long list of community roles
At the time of the award, Kerekgyarto served on:
- The United Way of Lancaster County Board of Directors
- The Education Committee of the Lancaster County Coalition for Smart Growth
- The Lancaster Chamber of Commerce Transportation Advisory Group
He was also an associate member of the Commercial and Industrial Real Estate Council and a member of the Rotary Club of Lancaster County.
That mix of roles touches several of the issues that matter most to a growing county: how land is used, how people get around and how local nonprofits are supported. For an architect, those questions are part of daily work, from how a building fits its block to how a site connects to roads and sidewalks.
About Beers + Hoffman
Beers + Hoffman Architects is based in Lititz and works on commercial, institutional and community projects in the region. Being named a partner while still under 40 is itself a sign of the trust a firm places in an architect’s leadership.
Recognition like Forty Under 40 often helps small, locally rooted firms stand out in a regional market where larger offices from Harrisburg, Lancaster and beyond compete for the same work.
The awards evening
Honorees were celebrated at an evening reception and awards program on Oct. 12, 2015, at the Hilton Harrisburg, running from 6 to 9 p.m.
After the event, Kerekgyarto and the other recipients were featured in a special publication distributed with the Oct. 16, 2015 edition of the Central Penn Business Journal. The list of winners was also scheduled to appear in the journal’s 2016 Book of Lists.
The 2015 program was presented by Members 1st Federal Credit Union, with additional sponsorship from Highmark Blue Shield, Infiniti of Mechanicsburg, The Hill Society at the Hilton Harrisburg and Classic Dry Cleaners & Laundromats.
Why it matters locally
Lititz has a strong base of professional and design firms for a borough its size, and recognition for one of its young partners reflects well on the local business community. Awards like this also tend to highlight a quieter side of local leadership: the board meetings, committee work and volunteer hours that rarely make headlines but shape how a county grows.
For Kerekgyarto, the honor placed him alongside dozens of other rising leaders from across central Pennsylvania who had been recognized over the program’s first two decades.
Details about the program and the full list of 2015 honorees were available through the Central Penn Business Journal’s events office at the time of the announcement.
Young leaders in a growing county
Lancaster County added residents and businesses steadily through the 2010s, and groups such as the Coalition for Smart Growth and the Chamber’s transportation advisers spent much of that decade working on how to absorb that growth without losing farmland or small-town character. Professionals who serve on those committees bring technical knowledge to volunteer work that shapes policy. For an architect, that means helping neighbors and officials picture how a new building, road or school will look and function long before construction begins.
This story was originally published on LititzDailyNews.com in September 2015 and has been updated for our archive.