Joy Vincent-Killian, of State College, wears many hats.
Some of those hats include manager, ambassador, involved community member and mentor. And don’t forget about party girl.
Yes, Vincent-Killian is well known as the “party girl” for specializing in social events, large community galas, holiday parties and weddings for the past 13 years as the catering sales manager at The Nittany Lion Inn and The Penn Stater. In fact, Vincent-Killian said she stays in touch with many brides for years after their weddings and even makes them Penn State baby blankets when the time comes.
She also books all off-premise catering for Beaver Stadium and Pegula Ice Arena, and said she enjoys working for the Penn State banquet team during hockey games at Pegula’s club level, where the Penn Stater Hotel’s gourmet buffet is a favorite with club seat holders.
While wearing her ambassador hat, Vincent-Killian connects with Penn State, State College Borough and budding businesses that are entrepreneurial ventures through New Leaf Initiative, InnoBlue and Happy Valley LaunchBox through the Chamber of Business and Industry of Centre County.
“These young companies are good for our local economy,” she said, “and I appreciate having the firsthand opportunity to introduce them to The Nittany Lion Inn and The Penn Stater’s catering services, which are already used by many businesses.”
Vincent-Killian received the CBICC’s 2016 Ambassador of the Year Award, as an outstanding supporter and volunteer. She has been enjoying her involvement as an ambassador with CBICC since 2011, welcoming members at events at the registration desk, “famously” wearing an orange safety vest for Business After Hours event parking and recruiting members to join, she said.
Her supervisor, Norm Brown, said he and the rest of the team are proud of Vincent-Killian and her award as Ambassador of the Year.
“As our catering sales manager, she embraces the responsibility to be active and involved in the community,” Brown said. “We are very fortunate that Joy takes the time to be an important member of CBICC and to represent Penn State Hospitality.”
Vincent-Killian, who has been a member of CBICC for 12 years, said she enjoys being an ambassador because, in that role, she meets people in every type of business in the county.
“Because there are more than 1,000 member businesses in the CBICC, I am always meeting new business owners and I enjoy introducing them to our hotel catering services,” she said.
As an involved community member, she is engaged in various nonprofit organizations. She said she is also active in the Jewish community and enjoys politics. According to Vincent-Killian, she volunteers in multiple events for Tikkun Olam (“repair of the world”) and serves as mistress of ceremonies for Discovery Space’s annual Night to Discover Gala, because she is “passionate about all things science.”
Vincent-Killian also is a member of the Soroptimist International of Centre County. Soroptimist, she explained, means “best for women,” and Vincent-Killian volunteers at the organization’s PSU snack stands for volleyball and track meets and assists with the annual lasagna dinner fundraiser, which raises money for groups such as the Centre County Women’s Resource Center, Park Forest Nursery and State College Area Food Bank. Her family also hosts Global Connections “Passport on a Plate” dinners and large parties so friends and neighbors can connect to the diverse and friendly State College community.
In putting on her “mentor” hat, Vincent-Killian has been named a 2018 Penn State University diversity and inclusion mentor, which, she said, is an honor. She currently is mentoring new Penn State employee Saritha Kuchipudi, who is from England. In her role as mentor,
Vincent-Killian has the opportunity to connect her mentee to new contacts and friends through the abundance of nonprofit and professional offerings in the State College area.
With all of the hats she wears, the most important to Vincent-Killian is the one that says “family.” Her family made Happy Valley its home nearly 20 years ago, after relocating from Fresno, Calif., after she and her husband received their degrees from California State University Fresno. She is married to Richard Killian, director of research accounting at Penn State and is mother to Elliott Killian, an entrepreneur.
Family is and always has been central to Vincent-Killian’s life, and she said she is most proud to have provided care and brief hospice for her mother, Kay Reid, in 2014 and her father-in-law, Elmo Killian, last fall.
She said of those experiences, “Caring for a loved one at the end of life is a sacred blessing. Providing dignity and ensuring comfort is an honor.”
