A Week In Business – October 14, 2022

Golf Pro Welcomed

OCEAN PINES – Ocean Pines Association has announced the hiring of Bob Beckelman as the new golf pro for the Ocean Pines Golf Club.

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Bob Beckelman

Beckelman grew up in Annapolis, Md., and West Chester, Pa., and studied aerospace engineering at Penn State University. He’s been a Professional Golfers’ Association member for 25 years and has lived on the Eastern Shore for the last 35 years.

Beckelman started his professional golf career at the Ocean Pines Golf Club, first from 1992 to 1997, and then returning from 2000 to 2007.

“I was hired here originally as an assistant under Buddy Sass, and then left to help build the Deer Run Golf Club, and then came back as the head golf professional in Ocean Pines,” he said.

Beckelman said “a phone call” brought him back to Ocean Pines for a third time.

“Honestly, when I first got into the golf business, I loved it and I enjoyed it so much,” he said. “I had been around Ocean Pines for a while already. When I was in college, I was working summers at the club, and waited tables and I bartended. I just got to know the people and really loved the community, and I had a lot of friends and built a lot of relationships here.

“Once I started at the Ocean Pines Golf Club, I enjoyed the golf community so much, I planned on working my way up the ladder and eventually finishing my career here,” Beckelman continued. “There’s been some changes along the way, but it’s still my plan – I started here, and I want to finish here.”

Ocean Pines General Manager John Viola said he’s happy to have Beckelman back.

“I reached out to the Golf Advisory Committee and the golf community, and they all told me this was the right guy for the job,” Viola said. “He obviously, knows the club and he knows the community. We’re happy to welcome him back and I think he’s going to be a great addition to the team.”

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Award Recipient

SALISBURY – Salisbury University’s Franklin P. Perdue School of Business has been named the recipient of the sixth annual WRDS-SSRN Innovation Award for the North American region.

As a part of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, WRDS enables comprehensive thought leadership — democratizing data access and giving global users the power to analyze complex information through curated research and analytics tools. SSRN is a worldwide collaborative of more than 2 million users that is devoted to the rapid worldwide dissemination of research.

The award recognizes one rising business school each year from North America, Europe and Asia Pacific regions.

“The WRDS-SSRN Innovation Award is presented to schools that have made a commitment to research, with an increase in publications and citations as a result of that commitment,” said Dr. Christy Weer, dean of the Perdue School. “This is not only a great honor for the Perdue School as a whole, but for the many faculty and students who have facilitated that research in recent years.”

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Designation Earned

SALISBURY – Hudson Behavioral Health has earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval® for Behavioral Health Care by demonstrating continuous compliance with its performance standards. The Gold Seal is a symbol of quality that reflects a health care organization’s commitment to providing safe and quality patient care.

Hudson Behavioral Health underwent a rigorous, unannounced site review in May of 2022. During the visit, a team of Joint Commission reviewers evaluated compliance with behavioral health standards spanning several areas including emergency management, environment of care, infection prevention and control and medication management.

The Joint Commission’s standards are developed in consultation with health care experts and providers, measurement experts and patients. They are informed by scientific literature and expert consensus to help health care organizations measure, assess, and improve performance. The surveyors also conducted onsite observations and interviews.

“As a private accreditor, The Joint Commission surveys health care organizations to protect the public by identifying deficiencies in care and working with those organizations to correct them as quickly and sustainably as possible,” says Mark Pelletier, RN, MS, chief operating officer, accreditation and certification operations, and chief nursing executive, The Joint Commission. “We commend Hudson Behavioral Health for its continuous quality improvement efforts in patient safety and quality of care.”

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New Location

OCEAN CITY – Ocean City just got a whole lot tastier with a new DQ® restaurant coming to town.

American Dairy Queen Corporation (ADQ) recently announced its new DQ Grill & Chill® restaurant opened in Ocean City. Conveniently situated at 11401 Coastal Highway, the restaurant is locally owned by Mike Ramadan and is operated by the trusted general manager of all his DQ locations.

An experienced multi-unit operator who first joined the brand as a franchisee in 2006, this Ocean City location is Ramadan’s fifth American DQ Grill & Chill restaurant, and he is thrilled to open his newest business in the bustling Gold Coast Mall. With an impressive background in business ownership, Ramadan also owns a local liquor store, pizza restaurant and recently bought another restaurant in Ocean City. His entrepreneurial expertise has proven to be an asset as he continues to grow his investment portfolio alongside the DQ brand.

“After more than 15 years with the brand, DQ continues to be a wonderful investment,” said Ramadan. “I am always seeking ways to build my portfolio while also investing in the local community by offering hometown staples and concepts that will bring joy to our customers’ lives, and I’m honored to bring the DQ brand to Ocean City. I know this location will be a welcome addition to the community, and quickly become a staple for those who live here.”

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Coordinator Hired

BERLIN – Assateague Coastal Trust (ACT) has welcomed Debbi Dean Colley as the new community engagement coordinator.

Brenda Davis, ACT’s new executive director, states, “We are so excited to have Debbi as part of our team. We have

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Debbi Dean Colley

many new programs and projects on the drawing board and she’s the perfect candidate to help make them come to fruition.”

This position encompasses social media specialist, fundraising campaigns, marketing, preparing press releases, along with volunteer coordination with an extension of outreach into the community. An artist at heart, Colley was born in Pittsburgh and attended Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. She has traveled internationally to London, England, and Rimini, Italy, teaching advanced platform work to colleagues in the salon industry. She then studied environmental education at Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pa., which then led her into the environmental sector and devoted herself to the issues surrounding waterway destruction.

Colley has a strong background in project management, event coordination and volunteer service with a previous commitment as the Project Manager for Grow Berlin Green (GBG). This was an extension of ACT, which was a multi-year campaign to the area as a model community for participatory environmental protection, conservation, and smart growth policy and practice. GBG was instrumental to Berlin as the first Maryland municipality to qualify for “Sustainable Maryland Certified” status by the University of Maryland Environmental Finance Center. Colley feels she has come full circle back to her old stomping grounds with her environmental education and action.

She is excited to be working with the ACT director, Brenda Davis, the coastkeeper, Gabby Ross, along with the entire ACT team and board to engage the community through outreach and communication. Her goals are to connect with businesses, schools and organizations to become partners and enact regulations that encompass the purpose and vision of Assateague Coastal Trust.