A Week in Business

A Week in Business
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Snyder Repeats Achievement

OCEAN CITY – Joy Snyder of Prudential Carruthers Realtors® has repeated the previous year’s achievement of being granted the highest level of service achievement in the real estate industry, Quality Service Certified ®Platinum. The award is in recognition of earning 100-percent client service satisfaction in 2008 as measured by Leading Research Corporation (LRC).

A Quality Service Certified (QSC) award status is the only recognition in the real estate industry based on independently validated customer satisfaction survey results. After the conclusion of real estate transactions, clients of QSC agents receive a survey, asking them to rate the agent on various aspects of the service process. The surveys are administered and the results are received and complied by LRC.

Client feedback from the surveys becomes part of the agent’s credentials. An overall satisfaction rating is displayed on a consumer website (www.QualityService.org) where sellers and buyers have the ability to select a real estate professional based upon each agent’s validated record of service satisfaction.

“Nothing is more important to a prospective client in selecting a professional than the service results achieved with past clients”, said Larry D. Romito, President and CEO of QSC. “Consumers have greater confidence in service reliability, results and satisfaction with a Quality Service Certified real estate professional because they know that the agent’s service has been validated by an independent third party. A 100 percent service satisfaction record like Joy Snyder has achieved is just awesome.”

Initiative Awards Scholarships

BERLIN – In keeping with its commitment to community involvement and education, Grow Berlin Green recently awarded scholarships to four local teachers to attend the Maryland Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education (MAEOE) conference in Ocean City. 

Jeanene Gwin and Victor Hall of Berlin Intermediate School, Pat Johnson of Stephen Decatur Middle School and Jessica Patterson of Stephen Decatur High School were the recipients of the special Grow Berlin Green scholarships.

Managed by a coalition of Assateague Coastal Trust, Lower Shore Land Trust and Maryland Coastal Bays Program, the Grow Berlin Green campaign was created to establish Berlin as a model community for participatory environmental protection, conservation and smart growth policy and practice,

“Partnerships with Berlin area schools to develop and implement school-based conservation initiatives will be a central component of our campaign,” said Grow Berlin Green’s Program Director Steve Farr. “These scholarships will help the teachers participate in an event where they will be able to explore the possibilities for such partnerships with their peers and experts in the field of environmental education.”

MAEOE has hosted statewide environmental education conferences for over 23 years and is the largest state environmental education conference. The recent conference was held Feb. 27-March 1.

OC Golf Course Upgrades

OCEAN CITY – Golfers at Ocean City’s Eagle’s Landing Golf Course can now enjoy ProStar GPS, the most advanced system offered by ProLink Solutions, the leader in golf course GPS systems.

With GPS-equipped carts, golfers can now experience benefits such as enhanced hole mapping with distances to all course features, green views with hole placement, computerized scorekeeping and pro tips on how to play the course. Golfers can also order food right from their cart at two separate locations on the course. They can report lost or found clubs and get emergency help at anytime.

“Not only does the ProStar system give golfers great information on how to play our course, it does some things they may not notice at first,” said Bob Croll, PGA Professional. “Since installing the system we have seen the time it takes to play 18 holes decrease by almost 20 minutes.”

Façade Funds Available

OCEAN CITY – The Ocean City Development Corporation (OCDC), a nonprofit organization charged with revitalizing downtown Ocean City, has been awarded new façade funds from the Maryland Department of Housing & Community Development (DHCD) for exterior improvements and is accepting applications from downtown property owners.

These grant funds are targeted for buildings within the designated community legacy area that are south of 15th Street between the Boardwalk (Boardwalk fronts are excluded) and the Bay as well as properties along the west side of Philadelphia Avenue and both sides of St. Louis Avenue south of 17th Street. Commercial and residential buildings are eligible. Buildings with a mix of uses (such as first floor retail and upper floor residential), seasonal employee housing, and single-family houses are eligible.

The OCDC Façade Improvement Program can provide a grant up to one third of the costs of exterior renovation. The maximum grant amount available to an applicant is $5,000. Such improvements may include new exterior siding, painting, windows, doors, signage, and other exterior improvements. Lighting, fencing, and landscaping are also eligible. Roofing improvements are not eligible.

To date, 57 downtown buildings have been renovated under the OCDC façade program and seven building renovations are underway. The OCDC anticipates at least 20 buildings to be renovated with these new funds. These façade funds are expected to be expended quickly.