A blind date gave Sue Putt-Prescott the excuse she needed to get out of the city rat-race and back to her roots. Sue, a Broad Top Township native and 1982 graduate of Tussey Mountain High School, had earned an Associate’s degree from California University of Pennsylvania in graphics arts technology and then spent the next 15 years in the graphics arts industry in Pittsburgh. She was encouraged in her career by her high school journalism teacher, Dave Garnes, who helped her land a job at the Broad Top Bulletin while still in high school and gave her information about graphic design and scholarships available in the field. “I loved design, but can’t draw, so graphics arts technology seemed like a good fit,” she said. While she was in the field she watched the industry change from typesetters and hand paste-up to desktop publishing. To keep up in the field, she took extensive software classes in programs such as Photoshop and QuarkXpress - often returning to her workplace to train other employees. It was while working as a production manager for one of the top 25 design firms in the country that she came home to visit her parents and on a lark went on a blind date arranged by her cousin. Her cousin’s match-making skills were on target, and Sue soon married UPMC Pharmacist Wayne Prescott.

“My husband says he had to pull me kicking and screaming from Pittsburgh, but now would have to drag me kicking and screaming back to the city,” Sue said, laughing. “I knew I was ready to get out of the fast-pace of the city and away from the traffic, but I feared that I’d have a difficult time finding a job in my field.” It took eight months, but by March 2000 she landed a position at New Enterprise Stone & Lime Co., Inc. as a technical writer in the company’s Information Technology department. She uses the skills she learned in college and on the job - combining writing and design skills in a wide variety of projects ranging from writing user manuals for the company’s custom-designed software to producing the company’s web site to producing marketing pieces and the Enterpriser - NES&L’s newsletter.

She said she enjoys that variety. “Every day is different. I’m producing materials for a wide audience. One day I may write a technical manual explaining to a plant operator on how to use the software in the batch plants; another day I’ll be producing a newspaper advertisement. You have to understand your audience and tailor your work to communicate most effectively.”

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