Rich Moeller, 52, of Sharon, likes a good challenge. By taking on the Shenango Valley YMCA in Hermitage, he hopes to make the fitness and activity center a leader of good health in the community.

"I'm driven by challenges and things of that nature," said Moeller, the recently appointed chief executive officer of the Y. "I like the area. It's a fast-growing, exciting area. But the YMCA has been the same for 45 years and there's a tremendous need in the valley for it to grow and expand."

The 33-year veteran employee of the YMCA took over the reigns in September, and with help from the YMCA's board of directors, has established a five-year plan to bring the local Y out of its center and into the community.

"We need to be about more than this building and property," he said. "We're blessed with 16 acres, but there's no reason why we can't have youth programs such as T-ball and soccer programs in places such as Farrell, Sharon and Reynolds."

Calling the Y's fitness center "the best-kept secret in town," Moeller has three steps to implement the five-year plan: quadrupling the size of the building, adding a competitive/recreation pool and offering a summer day camp on the property.

"Obviously image enhancement is one of our biggest issues. We've kept what we do under a basket," he said. "You don't buy a kit on improvement. What we're doing is more programming and quality programming. We need to expand youth basketball. We're offering more classes, such as baton, cheerleading, karate, and emphasizing youth fitness."

He would also like to see family locker rooms for parents with opposite-gender children, a bigger fitness center and a smaller pool for seniors, pre-schoolers and water therapy.

Moeller, who has helped establish or expand YMCAs across the nation in such places as New York City, Indianapolis, Kansas City and Sioux City, Iowa, gives a lot of credit to the current YMCA board. "They've taken some risks which we've never done before," he said. "It's the first time they've had someone with this much experience in this (CEO) position. This past December, the board laid out objectives and time lines. Our vision is for 2007-2008. Our goal is to get from today to there in the next five years."

Another goal is to establish partnerships with the community and businesses. "We want to be of service to everybody in the county and even parts of Lawrence, Crawford and Trumbull counties," he said. "My experience has been, over the years, that only positive things come out of collaboration."

As for bringing in more funding to implement these changes, Moeller believes that by bringing in more quality programming, the finances will come. And he has rolled up his sleeves and, along with the board, is ready to take on this challenge.

"No one blueprint will work in every community," Moeller said. "But people want good service in every community. The opportunity here is outstanding, and the community is great. When you have both of these ingredients, we can meet our goals."

For more information about the YMCA, call (724) 981-6950.