At Berks County Intermediate Unit, collaboration between employees is essential to the mission of enriching the learning experiences of Berks County’s 70,000 students.

“Working with multiple programs, there’s this value that comes that we actually help the whole child,” said Kamie Rothenberger, an educational coach for Head Start, a free preschool program BCIU offers.

Rothenberger, who has been at BCIU since 2014, believes the support her co-workers give each other keeps the community thriving.

“We catch each other in those moments where you’re thinking like, ‘This is a really tough day. I don’t know if I can do this right now,’ ” Rothenberger said. “It’s in that moment that you look to your co-worker and they’re like, ‘You got this.’ ”

It was this supportive spirit that helped BCIU to be named to The Morning Call’s Top Workplaces survey this year for the first time, placing ninth among large companies with 500 or more employees.

With more than 40 locations, BCIU served more than 37,000 early childhood and school-age students during the 2024-25 school year. BCIU aims to give neurotypical and neurodivergent children a sturdy educational foundation, though its impact stretches further as educators work with public and private schools in the county. The intermediate unit has more than 200 individual programs and services, from free preschool for low-income families and early intervention for learners with developmental delays to career readiness programs that prepare older students for life after school.

BCIU staff bring a passion for educating that underscores everything they do, according to Executive Director Jill Hackman.

“As a service agency, we’re here to serve and support, and you just don’t turn that on and off, right?” Hackman said. “These people are committed all the time to this whole mission of service.”

The learning does not end when the students leave. Professional development opportunities are abundant at BCIU. Two years ago, the company developed an Emerging Leaders program, which included classes and gave employees peer mentors.

“We felt we needed something internally for our staff to continue to grow, because look at the leaders we have, and how do we tap into that and learn from one another?” Hackman said, adding that she still regularly interacts with her first peer partner.

More than 100 staff members have attended the program.

“Sometimes it means more to me to hear this information from colleagues than sitting in a college classroom from a professor that I’m never going to interact with, who doesn’t know what I do on a daily basis,” said Cheri Heebner, a lead teacher for the early intervention program, who was a part of the first round of leadership training.

Amy Slovick, a lead speech therapist in the early intervention program, said that she often looks for people in the company who are doing a great job, so she can share that growth with their colleagues. Recent staff-led training has included delegating data collection and writing education plans for students with disabilities. Using different technology platforms has also been a consistent topic.

“When the staff train internally, there’s that passion that is presented, which gives the staff the drive to take that information, to go back and apply it to their daily work life,” Heebner said.

BCIU offers a comprehensive benefits package, including tuition reimbursement opportunities.

“As leaders, we are really focused in on being intentional about supporting our staff members and their professional growth, but just as importantly, the overall well-being,” Hackman said.

She said being able to connect people and resources helps give educators the tools they need to address complex educational challenges.

For some employees, the impact of BCIU and its staff is personal. Rothenberger learned to use communication assistive technology for her daughter from Slovik and her team.

“With me having the experience as a parent, I’ve now taken that, and I tell my teachers how to use it, how to integrate it and in a way that it’s seamless for them,” Rothenberger said.

Heebner — who was supported by BCIU in raising her daughter with special needs and son — said that her 25 years at BCIU have been full of “compassion, growth, extreme support, both professionally, but also personally.”

“With raising a child of special needs, the support that I received, I don’t know if I would receive it anywhere else,” Heebner said. “I have never left. I won’t leave. I’m here till I retire.”

Isabella Gaglione is a freelance writer.

Berks County Intermediate Unit

Founded: 1971

Ownership: Nonprofit

Sector: Education

Lehigh Valley employees: 664

Website: BCIU.org