A Week In Business – May 5, 2017

Local Broker Honored

ANNAPOLIS – Grace Masten, broker of Sea Grace at North Beach REALTORS® in Ocean City and a member of the Coastal Association of REALTORS® (CAR) Board of Directors, was among 21 graduates from the Maryland Association of REALTORS® (MAR) 17th Annual Leadership Academy honored at ceremonies held recently in Annapolis.

The MAR Leadership Academy was formed by REALTORS® who understand the important role they play in their community and the need to enhance the leadership skills, knowledge, and competencies of fellow REALTORS® interested in making a difference in their personal lives and in their communities.

CAR, one of 16 local REALTOR® associations in Maryland, is a strong advocate and recognizes the importance of this program to its future.

Biz-A-150x150.jpg

National Association of REALTORS® Region 10 Vice President Leslie Rouda Smith, Local REALTOR® Grace Masten and Maryland Association of REALTORS® President Shelly Murray are pictured at the 17th Annual Leadership Academy. Submitted Photo

“The MAR Leadership Academy offers an intensive curriculum designed to develop skills in leadership, communications, strategic planning, legislative and government affairs, and community involvement and interaction,” said Academy Vice Chair John A. Harrison of the Anne Arundel County Association of REALTORS®. “Classes are conducted over seven months and stress the value of professional and personal commitment to business, charitable, and civic endeavors.”

Masten has been a REALTOR® since 1981 and a broker since 1985. She currently serves as a director on the CAR Board of Directors and chairs the association’s Rentals Task Force, while also serving on the Finance Committee. In the past, she has served on the Professional Standards, Grievance, New Members, Community Service, Broker, Strategic Planning and Association Executive Search committees. Masten is the incoming state chair for the Maryland/DC Certified Residential Specialist (CRS) designation, as well as the CRS Local Networking Group Director for the Eastern Shore of Maryland. She holds the Seniors Real Estate Specialist designation and is a secondary member of the Mid-Shore Board of REALTORS® in Easton and the Sussex County Association of REALTORS® in Delaware.

“The MAR Leadership Academy is a program spread out over seven months. It took commitment, motivation, enthusiasm, and the desire to make every minute in every class count,” Masten said. “I was up for the challenge because I wanted to know everything there was to know about the leaders in my industry. What makes them tick? How do they seem to have the time to give back to their community and profession while cultivating their own business? What sets them apart from others? What makes them a leader? How are laws that directly affect my livelihood and profession introduced? This program provided me those answers and I truly believe the skills learned and sharpened during this leadership program will benefit my community, my business, my clients, my family, and my local, state, and national boards of REALTORS®. I am now better prepared for my next leadership role(s). I would also like to mention my classmates, who were professional REALTORS® from all over the state. We exchanged and implemented ideas, supported one another through the tasks at hand, and built a bond of friendships to last a lifetime.”

Masten received the W.H.C. Wilson Memorial Scholarship award, presented by 2008 MAR President Ilene Kessler. The scholarship is administered through the Leadership Academy and is awarded to the graduate who best demonstrates integrity, a desire to lead, and a high ethical standard, both professionally and through community involvement. The award covers the cost of Masten’s tuition for the program.

Masten was also awarded the David E. Maclin Humanitarian Award, by her peers, as the graduate who best demonstrated Maclin’s character and ideals through faith, integrity, and a deep commitment to community and real estate endeavors. This award was created by colleagues from the Class of 2002 and was presented by Harrison.

This is the second year in a row that a CAR member has been the recipient of the David E. Maclin Humanitarian Award, as local REALTOR® and board member Joseph Wilson received the honor last year.

Masten was the first ever graduate to receive both awards in the same year.

Re/Max Office Opening

OCEAN CITY — Re/Max Advantage Realty, along with the Ocean City Chamber of Commerce, is hosting a ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday, May 11 from 4-6 p.m. at its new office at the Gold Coast Mall.

Headquartered in Columbia, Md., Re/Max Advantage Realty through its 250 sales associates averages $1 billion in annual sales by providing high quality and results driven customer service. Re/Max Advantage Realty is celebrating its 25th year in business with the opening of its sixth location in Ocean City with more locations planned to open soon in the shore marketplace.

Members of the community are invited to visit the company’s website at www.thehomesadvantage.com.

New Imaging Procedure Offered

BERLINThe Regional Cancer Care Center at Atlantic General Hospital has announced it has begun offering PET/CT scans with a new PET/CT system (positron emission tomography combined with a computer axial tomography), which offers early and highly accurate detection of cancer.

PET/CT is an imaging procedure that provides physicians with information about the body’s chemistry, cell function and exact location of disease. The precise images obtained with PET/CT are not available with other technologies, such as X-ray, MRI, or CT alone. The difference lies in the ability of the PET/CT equipment to combine or “fuse” the images of the PET scanner (metabolic function of cells) with the CT scanner (anatomic location of body structures) into one extremely detailed image.

This combination of the metabolic information from PET and the anatomic information from CT places PET/CT at the forefront of cutting edge technology allowing physicians to more accurately stage and treat patient disease processes.

For oncology patients, PET/CT is used to determine the exact location and stage of cancerous tissue and can prevent unnecessary surgery and biopsies and inappropriate treatments.

“Providing PET/CT right on our hospital campus will give patients and their physicians easier access to the imaging necessary to best monitor and treat their cancer,” said Michael Franklin, president and CEO of Atlantic General Hospital. “It’s another step toward the completion of the John H. “Jack” Burbage Regional Cancer Care Center, which will open in May 2018.”

Assistant Curator Hired

OCEAN CITY — The Ocean City Life-Saving Station Museum announced Christine Okerblom has been hired as assistant curator. She is filling the position previously held by Diane Knuckles, who retired the end of April.  Most of her duties will focus on the aquariums, programs, and events.

Biz-B-150x150.jpg

Christine Okerblom

Okerblom graduated from Salisbury University in 2013 with a B.A. in Environmental Studies and a Minor in Fine Arts.  She has several years of experience in education and program development from her time as Animal Curator & Wildlife Educator at the Delmarva Discovery Center & Museum in Pocomoke.

“Through expanding our programming and creating new events I hope to strengthen the museum’s mission of inspiring an appreciation for the cultural and natural history of Ocean City,” she said.