A Week In Business – August 26, 2016

Contractor Selected

SALISBURY – Gillis Gilkerson announced this week it has been hired to build Park Place Plaza, a multi-use development at 12720 Ocean Gateway in West Ocean City.

Park Place Plaza, which is located along Route 50 in West Ocean City, is expected to be completed next spring. Rendering by Fisher Architecture

Park Place Plaza, which is located along Route 50 in West Ocean City, is expected to be completed next spring. Rendering by Fisher Architecture

The 19,930-square-foot development includes both retail and restaurant space and 12,000 square feet in an additional building for professional office space.

“We look forward to contributing to a client’s vision and seeing it through to completion,” said Dwight Miller, president of Gillis Gilkerson. “The opportunities this development will bring to both visitors and residents will benefit the community, economy and local experience.”

Park Place Plaza developer Todd Ferrante said, “The offices in Building B will offer a peaceful and serene space. Tenants won’t even realize they are on Route 50. There is a pond and forestry along with convenient access to the highway that makes it the perfect location for local businesses.”

Site work is underway at the site. The flagship Park Place Jewelers will be located in the space along with seven other tenants. Gillis Gilkerson’s team will start the construction phase that will include stone work, siding, metal seam roofing and landscaping.

“Palmer and Dwight personally came to see me to talk about the development,” said Ferrante. “I am very comfortable working with Dwight and know that Gillis Gilkerson has a reputation for getting things done and getting them done on time.”

According to Gillis Gilkerson Project Manager Mike Truitt and Superintendent David Shaffer, the project is scheduled for completion in the spring of 2017.

Two Associates Hired

Frankie Knight

Frankie Knight

SALISBURYCoastal Hospice has welcomed two new Provider Relations Associates as members of their outreach team.

Provider Relations Associates go out into the four Lower Shore counties that Coastal Hospice serves to provide physicians and health care facilities with the proper tools to give them a full understanding of hospice and the services the non-profit provides.

Caroline Hutchinson

Caroline Hutchinson

Frankie Knight grew up in Ocean City and attended Wor-Wic Community College and Towson University. She has volunteered for the National Alliance of Mental Illness, Susan G. Komen and CASA. After a cancer diagnosis, she started a women’s peer support group at Towson. Knight is dedicated to working in the non-profit world.

Caroline Hutchison grew up in Salisbury and attended Bridgewater College in Virginia. Previously, she interned at Coastal Hospice in Provider Relations during the fall and spring of 2014/2015. Hutchison’s goal is to extend a helping hand to her neighbors and have a positive impact on her community.

Summit Attended

BETHANY EACH, Del. — Shannon Colburn, general manager of Bluecoast Seafood Grill in Bethany Beach, was a delegate at last month’s 6th Annual Nexus Global Youth Summit on Innovative Philosophy and Social Entrepreneurship.

Shannon Colburn

Shannon Colburn

Nexus works with young investors, social entrepreneurs and other stakeholders to nurture new leaders interested in finding solutions for global issues. Colburn, who was 19 when she joined SoDel Concepts, which owns Bluecoast along with eight other restaurants, traveled with SoDel Concept’s founder, Matt Haley, on philanthropic missions to Nepal and Nicaragua.

“Shannon is an amazing person with such a giving nature,” said Scott Kammerer, president of SoDel Concepts, which also owns Plate Catering, the food truck Big Thunder Roadside Kitchen and hospitality management and catering divisions. “After the death of Matt Haley in 2014, Shannon continued to maintain many of the relationships he established around the world, particularly in India, where she goes frequently.”

Colburn said that she particularly enjoyed the sessions “Big Ideas for a Better World” and “Chart Your Own Course.”

“People all over the world who told us how they overcame tremendous obstacles and helped others,” she said.

All the Nexus delegates were invited to the United Nations for a full-day program on advancing sustainable development goals.

“We’re so proud that someone on our team was selected to attend this very special conference,” Kammerer said. “Shannon’s many travels have given her a broad perspective on the human condition. Along with her compassion, they make her an adept manager and a unique person.”

Grant Awarded

SALISBURY – The Coastal Association of REALTORS® (CAR), in partnership with Salisbury Neighborhood Housing Services (SNHS), was awarded a $3,600 grant from the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) Housing Opportunity Program to support activities that create and expand affordable housing opportunities.

The grant will be used to offer a Community-Wide Homebuyers Education Seminar at no cost to dozens of local residents on Saturday, Oct. 8, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Rivers Edge Apartments & Studio for the Arts in Salisbury.

The Homebuyers Education Seminar is an eight-hour class required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in order for first-time homebuyers to receive a mortgage through specified loan programs. The class is offered regularly by SNHS, which is a part of the NeighborWorks America network. The course fee is normally $100 per family. This fee will be waived for the first 25 families who register for the Oct. 8 course through SNHS. This course is available to all residents from Somerset, Wicomico, and Worcester counties.

“REALTORS® build communities and work hard to make housing affordable to all who are willing and able to become homeowners,” said CAR President Linda Moran. “This grant will help many local families achieve their dream of owning a home and also serves to further our association’s mission to promote and encourage affordable homeownership for hardworking Lower Eastern Shore residents.”

SNHS Executive Director Cheryl Meadows added, “We are so thrilled to take our mission ‘on the road’ and bring our resources and trained professionals to the community on a broader scale. This opportunity is our mission in action and we cannot wait.”

Retirement Announced

SALISBURY — PRMC President/CEO Dr. Peggy Naleppa has announced that Karen Poisker, a Somerset County native, will retire in January of 2017, capping 42 years of patient care that saw her overachieve and excel in a number of roles from the bedside to the boardroom.

Karen Poisker

Karen Poisker

“Karen has always led with poise, confidence, constancy of purpose, and is a continuous role model of Peninsula Regional Medical Center values,” said Naleppa. “She’s a 30-year chief nursing executive who is exemplary in her many professional roles including mentor, facilitator and counselor. Much of our success and the respect earned by our hospital is a direct result of Karen’s dedication and devotion to patients, family, physicians, volunteers, staff and all who have come to know and love her the past 42 years.”

Poisker’s career began as a staff nurse in the Special Care and Intensive Care Units at Peninsula Regional in 1975. She trained many of Peninsula Regional’s current nurses as an instructor at the Peninsula Regional School of Nursing in 1978 and as Emergency Department Supervisor/Instructor and Critical Care In-Service Instructor. She was Assistant Director of Nursing/Staff Coordinator from 1983 to 1984, and then became Associate Director of Nursing for Staff Coordination. In 1985 she was named Assistant Vice President for Nursing, and then served as Vice President for Nursing at Peninsula Regional from 1987 to 1992.

She was Vice President for Patient Care Services/Chief Nursing Officer for 20 years, from 1992 to 2012, was named the hospital’s Vice President for Continuum Services in 2012 and will retire as its Vice President of Population Health, a position she has held since its creation in 2014. Dr. Kathryn Fiddler, Executive Director of Population Health at PRMC, will assume leadership of the Population Health division upon Poisker’s retirement.

Even as she was educating others at the Medical Center and encouraging nurses who pursued certifications and degrees, Poisker was leading by example. She holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Wilmington College; Master of Science and Bachelor of Science degrees in Nursing from the University of Maryland School of Nursing in Baltimore; and a diploma from the Peninsula Regional School of Nursing. She is a member of Sigma Theta Tau, the Maryland Organization of Nurse Executives, the American Organization of Nurse Executives, and the American College of Health Care Executives. In 2003, Poisker was honored with the Maryland Hospital Association’s Nurse Executive of the Year award.

SVN/Miller Commercial Real Estate Senior Advisor Wesley Cox recently received the Outstanding Commercial Realtor Award at the Coastal Association of Realtors (CAR) 2016 Annual Awards Ceremony at the Ocean Pines Yacht Club. The award is presented to a successful Realtor who is active in the association and also the community.

Biz FA current member of the CAR Board of Directors, Cox, who is pictured with CAR Immediate Past president Vicki Harmon, has served the association extensively on various committees and task forces, while also completing the MAR Leadership Academy in 2014 and receiving the MAR Community Service Award in 2015. Cox is also very active in his community.

“It is very special to me to be recognized as the Outstanding Commercial Realtor of the Year,” stated Wesley. “Giving back to the business and the community that I live and work in is of the utmost importance in my life, and I’ve been fortunate to be able to tie that into my career in commercial real estate. It’s also been a pleasure to be involved with the Coastal Association of Realtors for all these years and to help guide the future of the association.”

Company Recognized

SALISBURY – The Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Healthiest Maryland Businesses initiative has presented Perdue Farms a Gold Wellness at Work Award for achievements in improving associates’ health through the company’s innovative Health Improvement Program (HIP). Van Mitchell, secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, presented the award at the recent annual Maryland Workplace Health and Wellness Symposium at the BWI Marriott in Linthicum Heights.
“We are thrilled to receive recognition for our efforts and commitment to providing ongoing wellness programs to our associates,” said Dawn Carey, director of Perdue’s health and wellness programs. “The true success of this accomplishment is the associates, their engagement, motivation and unwavering commitment to make behavior modifications and take actionable steps to improve their health and well-being. By helping to make the associates aware of their health profile, we can support them in making positive changes in their lives that will not only affect them, but their families and the communities in which they live.”

Perdue’s Health Improvement Program (HIP), established in 2008, encourages associates to participate in a voluntary health screening and healthy activities by working with the company’s on-site health care professionals. HIP is a preventative program designed to improve associates’ health and wellness by focusing on manageable health risks, including smoking, weight, diabetes, and blood pressure.