17290_Authority_February_2024

municipalauthorities.org | 37 Jennifer Caron, Esq., Eckert Seamans Jennifer Caron is life-long resident of southcentral Pennsylvania and is a graduate of Cedar Cliff High School, Dickinson College, summa cum laude, and the Penn State Dickinson School of Law. Jennifer remained in the southcentral Pennsylvania area to raise her family, grow her legal practice as a municipal finance attorney at Eckert Seamans in Harrisburg, and has recently been elected to serve a four-year term as a Commissioner for the Lower Allen Township Board of Commissioners, a first-class township located in Cumberland County. Most recently, she was elected by fellow Board of Commissioners to serve as the first female Vice President of the Board in Lower Allen Township. In addition to her local political involvement, Jennifer concentrates her legal practice in the area of public and municipal finance and represents municipal authorities and local governments, counties, school districts, health care facilities, and higher educational facilities throughout the Commonwealth. She is a board member of the Pennsylvania Association of Bond Lawyers, Co-treasurer for the PA Chapter of Women in Public Fi- nance and Secretary/Treasurer of the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Commissioners. Her local government and leadership experience assists her in representing municipal authorities in various finance transactions, including bond issues, bank loan borrowings, municipal leases, PENNVEST loans and USDA loans, which she has had the pleasure of doing for over 16 years. As a mother raising two young children, she greatly appreciates the value our communities have in the lives of our chil- dren. She recognizes the municipalities and municipal authorities that she represents are at the heart of the community in that they serve the public by providing operations which are essential to our daily existence, i.e., water, sewer, trans- portation. She strives to instill in her daughter and son the importance of being involved in the local community and find- ing ways to give back to the municipal entities and community organizations that continuously serve and benefit current and future generations. As a woman in the industry, what advice can you give? As a woman in the municipal industry, one token of advice I would impart at this stage of my career is to devote time to building relationships by supporting and collaborating with other women. I have found it to be enjoyable and motiving to surround myself with intelligent and driven women. Having a network of women colleagues also serves as a key to open doors for one another in the industry, allowing us to expand and promote our valuable perspectives in the organizations and communities we serve. S Pamela Penatzer, LB Water How did I get here? My path into the industry was a bit bumpy, at least if you were to ask my parents, although I contend that I knew exactly what I was doing the entire time (haha). I was studying engineering at Drexel University on an athletic scholarship. My freshmen year I read The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand and decided on a whim that I wanted to work in construction. Drexel has a co- op program which incorporates a rotation of career immersion and course work every six months starting your sophomore year. I accepted a co-op with a contractor in Western PA who specialized in water and wastewater storage, station, and small treatment plant construction. At the end of my first co-op, I was offered a full-time position as a project manager and I dropped out of school, much to my parents’ chagrin. At 19 I moved across the state, to take a position for which I was completely unqualified, to pursue a career that I knew nothing about. I spent most of my time in the field learning about our municipal infrastructure through the experience of the crews that were putting the pieces together. At the final walkthrough of my first project, I climbed the water tower with my foreman, unwilling to admit how terrified I was. As we watched the sun set on our jobsite, he said, “now when all of these people turn on their faucets, they will have safe drinking water because of the work that we do.” As silly as that may sound, that was the day that I fell in love with the municipal side of construction. The intrigue of ‘building’ is what brought me here, but the realization of the impact that this work has on our nation is what will forever keep me. When the ownership of the company that I worked for decided to retire, I made a switch into a Sales role at LB Water, a PA-based, employee-owned distributor of products and technologies supporting our industry. Over time I completed my bachelor’s degree and will be graduating with my master’s degree at Penn State this Spring. I have been with LB Water for over 12 years now and love the full