A Week In Business – November 11, 2022

New Budget Officer

SNOW HILL – The Worcester County Commissioners appointed Kim Reynolds to serve as the new budget officer.

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Kim Reynolds

“Kim is deeply committed to serving the public and has been a tremendous asset to the county throughout her years of dedicated service,” Chief Administrative Officer Weston Young said. “Her knowledge, experience, and consistent, fiscally-conservative approach to budgeting make her the solid choice to head up the top tier of our financial leadership team.”

Reynolds, the former senior budget accountant, brings 22 years of experience in accounting and grants compliance to this position. She is a vital member of the financial management team that develops the multi-year fiscal plans to assist with annual budget forecasting.

Her decisions and responsibilities play a key role in the prudent, fiscal performance that has secured Worcester County Government’s solid financial standing and led to the county obtaining clean opinions from TGM Group, LLC during the annual audit, the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting, and credit ratings of AA for Fitch, AA+ for Standard and Poor’s, and Aa2 for Moody’s Investor Services.

“I am humbled and honored for the opportunity to serve as the new budget officer,” Reynolds said. “I look forward to gaining more experience serving the County Commissioners and the citizens of Worcester County.”

Reynolds joined Worcester County Government (WCG) in 2007 as a budget accountant and was promoted to senior budget accountant in 2018. Reynolds graduated from LaSalle University with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and accounting. She is a member of both the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) and the Maryland GFOA.

Reynolds takes over for Candace Savage, who has been appointed to serve as the deputy chief administrative officer for WCG.

In her role as budget officer, Reynolds will help assure the accountability and effectiveness of WCG by providing efficient, innovative services, public policy analysis, and financial expertise in support of all departments, including preparing, appropriating, monitoring, analyzing the budget, and reviewing revenue projections and assessments.

She will also assist in the development of investment strategies and collaborate with the treasurer’s office to prepare the comprehensive annual financial report and any other financial documentation for the annual audit and bond financing.

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Properties Sold

SALISBURY – The McClellan Team with SVN Miller Commercial has settled on two properties on the north side of Salisbury, Md.

The two parcels are located at 2433 N. Zion Road, and 2449 N. Zion Road in Salisbury, Md. The latter property was the previous site of Chesapeake Paving Company. Both properties were purchased by Alabama-based Poultry Labor Solutions.

Poultry Labor Solutions specializes in providing employees for the poultry industry all over the region. They match trained employees with open positions and assist their employees with obtaining housing and other necessary means.

Poultry Labor Services has been growing rapidly in their services to local poultry integrators. As demand for their services grew, they realized their smaller, leased facility was inadequate.  In studying their service areas, they concluded Salisbury offered the most central location to fulfill the various contracts. They expect this location will serve their continuing growth in the region for many years to come.

“A local friend introduced me to Maceo Agurcia (local manager) and Jaime Castillo (company president) of Poultry Labor Solutions,” said John McClellan. “I toured the Zion Road facility with PLS various times and we saw value in the various improvements on the property to their operations. Once the property was selected, they also made an offer on the adjacent parcel.”

Castillo, president of Poultry Labor Solutions, said, “We were very pleased to have John helping us in the acquisition of our new Salisbury location. John’s expertise was crucial while guiding us and facilitating a sale of a property that required a great deal of due diligence as well as various obstacles that needed to be overcome.”

Castillo continued, “John tackled each challenge with a creative solution and solved any issue encountered making our transaction successful. We truly appreciate John’s guidance and support throughout the entire transaction.”

McClellan cooperated with Chris Davis of NAI Coastal who represented the seller, and William Smith and Brenda Lloyd at Mid-Atlantic Title & Escrow who completed the settlement.

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Officer Hired

SALISBURY – The Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore (CFES) has announced Jessica Atwood as the newly appointed gifts and grants officer.

Atwood will support the Community Foundation’s commitment to being an effective steward of the assets

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Jessica Atwood

entrusted by the community. In this role, Atwood will support the Foundation’s finance department to enhance data entry and analysis, gift and grants processing and donor relations efforts.

Atwood’s background includes over 12 years of experience in program management, fundraising, advancement, customer service, and more within the public, nonprofit, and education sectors.

Originally from Washington, she spent significant time in New Orleans, serving as the admissions director at De La Salle High School. Following her time in New Orleans she moved to southern Delaware working in both insurance and in grant and program management.

“We are excited to have Jessica join the Community Foundation,” said Erica Joseph, CFES president. “Her experience in the nonprofit sector, combined with her experience in donor data management made her a natural fit for the role.”

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Practitioner Welcomed

SALISBURY – TidalHealth is pleased to announce Jacqueline Messner, MS, CRNP, FNP-C, CDCES, has joined Population Health at TidalHealth Peninsula Regional in Salisbury, Md.

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Jacqueline Messner

Messner received her Master of Science as a family nurse practitioner from Georgetown University in Washington D.C., and she is currently in a Post-Master’s Doctor of Nursing Practice program at the University of Maryland School of Nursing.

Messner is a certified registered nurse practitioner and has been in practice as a family nurse practitioner since 2010. She is also a certified diabetes educator. Messner is on the faculty at Salisbury University’s School of Nursing. She lives in Berlin with her husband and two sons.

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Program Offered

SALISBURY – Farm Credit has announced that registration for the AgBiz Masters, the nationally recognized learning series for young and beginning farmers, is open now until Dec. 23, 2022.

“Farmers and agriculturalists are, by nature, lifelong learners,” said Tom Truitt, CEO of Horizon Farm Credit. “We’re proud of the additional educational opportunities our AgBiz Masters program offers those looking to either break into the industry or expand their business knowledge.”

The two-year educational program is available to young, beginning, and small producers who are interested in refining their business management, financial, and marketing skills to help them as they launch or grow their businesses.

This year, Year 1, is being offered virtually. It will focus on trends in agriculture, strategic business planning, financial management, and constructing both a balance sheet and income statement. Year 2 is being offered both virtually and in-person. This class features learning modules centered on understanding lending decisions, growth and transition management, personal financial management, and leadership skills.

The next AgBiz Masters class begins in January 2023 and will run through April. The registration fee is $225, with full reimbursement available to those who successfully complete their registered year. For more information, visit agbizmasters.com, or call Johanna Rohrer at 888-339-3334, extension 5277.