A Week In Business

Manager Attends Convention

OCEAN CITY – Lance Whitlock, manager of Ocean City Gold’s Gym, attended the 2007 Gold’s Gym International Convention this week, which is being held at Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, Nev.

According to Chris Cope, owner of Ocean City Gold’s Gym, the convention is a major event in the fitness center industry. It is the one time each year when the entire Gold’s Gym family gathers to celebrate achievements and share experiences.

Convention events began with a welcome reception at the House of Blues. Rick Pitino, basketball coach of Louisville University, was the keynote speaker. Daily events included a vendor trade show, marketing and communications forum, and informational seminars ranging in topics from marketing, customer service, management, personal training and nutrition. The grand finale is an awards banquet on the final evening.

Award Finalist

OCEAN CITY – Cheryl Layfield, a certified registered nurse practitioner at the Townsend Medical Center in Ocean City, is a finalist for the Delaware Nurses Association’s Nurse Excellence in Practice Award in the category of Advance Practice.

In addition to caring for patients at the Townsend Medical Center and Atlantic ImmediCare during the summer months, Layfield serves as a nurse practitioner with the Indian River (Del.) School District.

She is a long-time resident of the shore.

Layfield was recognized during an award ceremony held at the Modern Maturity Center in Dover, Del., on July 17. Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner was in attendance to congratulate the winners and nominees.

Townsend Medical Center is part of the Atlantic General Health System network of physicians and health care providers, which serves individuals in Ocean City, Ocean Pines, Berlin, Snow Hill and Pocomoke as well as Ocean View and Fenwick, Del.

Company Addition

BERLIN – Shamrock Realty Group recently welcomed Karen Kriege to its office in the Gray’s Corner Professional Center.

As a five-year resident of Ocean Pines, Kriege knows the Ocean Pines, Ocean City and the surrounding communities. Kriege devotes a large portion of her resources assisting customers in finding property, whether it be a second home, investment property, primary residence or future or immediate retirement property.

In other company news, Shamrock Realty Group named Julie Sadler as top producer for the month of June for top sales and top listings. Sadler joined Shamrock Realty in October 2006 and has consistently been a top performer.

Top Producer Announced

BERLIN – Atlantic/Smith, Cropper & Deeley Insurance Brokers has announced Clifford "Kip" Martin as the top producer for the month of June.

Martin specializes in life and health insurance and has been with the agency since 2003. He has a Bachelor of Science in Education and is an active member of the Surfrider Foundation.

Nikki Stricker and Rick Martelo, both account executives, also received special recognition for their June production.

Company Honors Leaders

BETHANY BEACH – Seacoast Realty, a Carl M. Freeman Company, recently announced the firm’s top producers for the month of June.

“June was a great month for sales for our Seacoast agents," said Celeste B. Valliant, Vice-President and Broker of the firm. "It all comes down to fundamentals – hard-working, knowledgeable sales associates."

Top listing volume awards for individual agents by office in June were Sandy Greene, Bethany Beach; Ellen McCreary, Ocean View; Marc Grimes, Bear Trap; Rich Riddle, Marketplace; Steve Alexander, Edgewater/Sea Colony; and Robert Kauffman, Clarksville.

Marc Grimes of the Bear Trap office received top honors for No. 1 listing volume for the month of June.

Top sales volume awards for individual agents by office are Josh Morimoto, Bethany Beach; Ellen McCreary, Ocean View; RJ Kauffman, Clarksville; Karla Morgan, Bayside; and Bob Maxwell and Gloria Merz-Steele, Edgewater/Sea Colony.

Merz-Steele and Maxwell received top honors for No. 1 in Sales Volume for the month of June.

The top listing volume team Award went to Team Dayna Feher, comprised of Jeff Wolfenbarger and Sean Erwin at the Bethany Beach office.

The top sales volume team award went to Team Anne Powell and Jennifer Hughes at the Bayside Fenwick office.

New Hire At Company

BETHANY BEACH – Carl M. Freeman Companies has announced that Tricia Mangum has been appointed as a Leasing Representative for the Commercial Real Estate division.

Mangum’s responsibilities will include the retail leasing of more than 1.1 million square feet of commercial real estate in the mid-Atlantic market including Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, DC and Delaware.

Mangum brings 12 years of professional experience in the commercial retail real estate industry and was most recently a leasing and property manager for Nellis Corporation. As a leasing representative, she will work with Director of Leasing Roger Gerst to develop the leasing strategies and oversee the merchant mix of the commercial and mixed-use space in the Freeman Companies portfolio.

Mangum earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree in retailing from Syracuse University. She is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers and Women in Retail and Real Estate.

CBRB Top Producers

BETHANY BEACH – Rick Allamong, branch vice president of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage’s Bethany Beach offices, has announced the top producers for June.

For the Sunrise Court office, Cindy Spieczny was the top individual listing associate and Barbara Carlson was the top individual sales associate. For the Ocean View Parkway office, Brian Jacobs was the top individual listing associate. For the Salt Pond office, Jeremy Smith was the top individual listing associate, and Joanne Young was the top individual sales associate.

Sales Volume Awards

BETHANY BEACH – ResortQuest Real Estate recently announced that Associate Broker Bill Hand recorded the company’s highest sales volume and Sales Associate Despina Kaneles posted the company’s highest sales volume for June.

In May, Hand recorded the company’s highest listing volume and highest sales volume.

PHI Appointment

SALISBURY — Pepco Holdings, Inc. (PHI) has appointed Debbi Jarvis as Vice President, Communications, with responsibility for all external and internal communications for the utility holding company and its three operating utilities.

Jarvis, a former anchor/reporter for NBC4 in Washington, joined PHI in 2004 as manager of media relations. She has been PHI’s face and voice of radio and TV commercials for Pepco, Delmarva Power and Atlantic City Electric, which together serve about 1.9 million customers in four states and the District of Columbia.

Jarvis reports to William Torgerson, PHI Vice Chairman and General Counsel.

"Debbi’s a very talented communicator with strong leadership skills and communications acumen that has served the company well," Torgerson said. "Her vision will play a vital role in our future development and growth."

Before joining PHI, Jarvis had 20 years of experience in TV and radio news and advertising. She co-anchored the weekend morning news at NBC4 from 1994 until 2003 and also worked as a general assignment reporter during a more than nine-year career with the station. Previously, she co-anchored the weekday morning newscasts for the CBS affiliate in Cleveland.

PHI, headquartered in Washington, D.C., is an energy delivery company serving about 1.9 million customers in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey and Virginia. Delmarva Power is a subsidiary of PHI. 

Contract Takes Advantage Of New Technology

SALISBURY – The Traffic Group, Inc. has been awarded another contract to undertake an Origin and Destination Study using their Automated License Plate Recognition (ALPR) hardware and software.

In contrast to the manual process typically used to conduct Origin and Destination Studies, The Traffic Group, Inc. uses a digital technology. This method, unlike the manual process allows for the recording of license plates, day or night, at any speed and can be configured to record multiple lanes, concurrently.

Over the last two years, The Traffic Group, Inc. has undertaken 10 such studies using cameras to record and document license plates as they pass a designated area.

The Traffic Group’s hardware and software is portable, and in the past has captured over 250,000 license plates in a single 24-hour period using multiple cameras and processors.

This is the same technology used for the City of London, England Congestion Management Program, which is now being considered in New York City. In London, daily traffic was reduced by 20 percent and emissions cut by 15 percent, resulting in increased revenues for transit services.