Although Anna McClain’s new job has come with a “giant learning curve,” she said she loves it.
In February, McClain became the events manager for SummerSounds, a Greensburg nonprofit that has hosted an annual concert series in Greensburg for the past 23 years. The role is a new position for the iconic community organization, added as part of a merger between SummerSounds and the Greensburg Community Development Corp. in March.
“When I started, people said it’s a big undertaking, but it’s important,” McClain said.
For more than two decades, the concert series has been largely run by volunteers. Although McClain has a background in nonprofit work and volunteered throughout college, overseeing volunteers is a new task to adapt to as the 2024 concert series kicks off Friday night at St. Clair Park.
Gene James, co-founder and board member of SummerSounds, said despite the hefty amount of responsibility on McClain’s plate, her helpfulness during the adjustment period after the merger makes him optimistic — both this summer and in the future.
“I recognize this would’ve been an insurmountable challenge without Anna,” he said. “There’s not a book on how to run SummerSounds. I’ve learned over 25 years. It’s evolved, and I’ve made mistakes.”
SummerSounds has come a long way over the past two decades, James said. What started with three people now has national repute.
James considers SummerSounds to be one of the top attractions Greensburg has to offer. Last summer, the concert series attracted 41,000 visitors and garnered an economic impact of more than $1.1 million, according to the 2023 Survey of SummerSounds Economic and Eatery Impact.
The funding for the event comes through sponsorships, grants and donations. At least a quarter of donations come from the money attendees put in ceramic piggy banks volunteers bring around the concert — known as “pass the pig.”
“We’ve created an institution for which Greensburg is best known,” James said. “A lot of people say they only come to Greensburg for SummerSounds.”
In drawing in such large crowds, James said, the concert series is a way of promoting the economic and social development of Greensburg.
According to James, the merger between SummerSounds and the GCDC was based on a shared vision for promoting growth in Greensburg — a goal James said has been at the heart of SummerSounds since its inception.
“Very early on, the programming was designed to attract middle-class families,” James said. “We were no longer a town of coal miners and steel workers.”
James said all these years later, art and entertainment events like SummerSounds still play an influential role in attracting new people to Greensburg. In its marketing, James said, SummerSounds focuses its mailing lists on higher-income households along the Route 22 corridor that James sees as “the future of Greensburg.”
“We want to attract those people to Greensburg because it’s a lovely town,” he said.
Although SummerSounds has a focus on attracting high earners to the area through concerts, James said, having the concerts accessible to the local community remains a core value.
“We’ve always wanted it to be free,” he said. “We wanted underserved people to have access to it.”
The first concert of the summer Friday will feature Elton Rohn, an Elton John-inspired act. Last year, about 10,000 concert-goers attended the Elton Rohn concert at St. Clair Park.
