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Roundtable hosted by Payroll Network and Shulman Rogers

Speakers (from left) Michael Froehlich, Meredith Campbell, and Fred Sommer with Shulman Rogers addressed situations when employees cannot or will not come to work and the complicated laws associated with these issues. Event co-hosts (from center) Colleen O’Neil, Tom Dudenhoefer, Christine Colburn and Lizz Durante from Payroll Network joined the discussion.

March 5, 2010 — Payroll Network and Shulman Rogers hosted a seminar, "Employment Roundtable: Understanding What To Do When Your Employees Can't or Won't Come To Work." on March 3 at the Shulman Rogers Conference Center in Potomac.

All Howard County Rotary Clubs Choose Civility

February 10, 2010 — Howard County’s seven Rotary Clubs signed up to be Alliance Partners in the Choose Civility campaign January 19, 2010. Choose Civility is an ongoing community-wide initiative, led by Howard County Library, to position Howard County as a model of civility. From left to right: Claude Morissette, Rotary District 7620 Governor–Nominee; Scott Wyler, President, Rotary Club of Clarksville; Valerie J. Gross, CEO, Howard County Library; Cliff Feldwick, President, Rotary Club of Columbia Patuxent; Nancy Szlasa, District 7620 Asst. Governor; Debbie Fieldhouse, Secretary, Rotary Club of Ellicott City; Ceecee Paizs, Past President, Rotary Club of Ellicott City/Sunrise.

Rotary Club/Choose Civility partners not pictured: Rotary Clubs of :Columbia Town Center; Elkridge and Columbia.

AACPL, AAWDC team up to help county job seekers find employment

February 10, 2010 — The Anne Arundel County Public Library (ACPL) and the Anne Arundel County Workforce Development Corporation’s (AAWDC) One Stop Career Centers have formed a partnership to provide job seeker and career assistance to all County residents.

Since October, more than 400 people have sought help from AAWDC Job Search Specialists who are available at the West County Area Library in Odenton during most day and evening hours. The library is located at 1325 Annapolis Road, in Odenton.

In addition, hundreds more have availed themselves to workshops hosted by AACPL and AAWDC, including a program titled “Demystifying the Federal Employment Process,” held on January 26, 2010, which attracted more than 100 participants.

Based on the overwhelming demand for such services, officials from AACPL and AAWDC announced that the partnership will be expanded into the Southern end of the County, as well as to additional locations in the Western area.

“Our staff was increasingly being called upon to assist patrons with locating job listings, compiling resumes and filling out online job applications, among other tasks,” notes Marion Francis, AACPL Administrator. “We are thrilled to have yet another resource to offer those individuals who are seeking job and career assistance.”

"We are very excited about this partnership between the Anne Arundel One Stop Career Centers and the Anne Arundel County Public Library system,” adds Kirkland Murray, President and CEO of AAWDC.

Glenn Spitzer is one of the many individuals who has directly benefited from the partnership. Mr. Spitzer is a dislocated worker with a BS in Mechanical Engineering who has been looking for work since last April. His goal is to become a Professional Engineer in the area of HVAC/Construction with an emphasis on energy consumption.

After seeking assistance at the West County Area Library, Mr. Spitzer, with the help of AAWDC, has enrolled in several training sessions at a number of local higher education institutions that will better position him for achieving his career objectives.

In addition to the services offered through the partnership, AACPL offers many online job seeker resources that can be accessed online from the library’s website, www.aacpl.net. These include job searching tools, resume support, career and college information, and skills building and test prep tools.

Many branches also offer basic computer instruction, one-on-one computer training, and print materials for career and college training and test preparation.

For more information on these and other services, call AACPL at 410.222.7371.

Westfields Marriott Recognized As Top Meeting Property

February 10, 2010 — Westfields Marriott’s Louis Nicholls and Stephanie Linnartz, global officer for sales and revenue management for Marriott International, celebrate Westfields Marriott’s 2009 Gold Key Award. Bestowed upon the world’s finest meeting properties by Meetings & Conventions magazine, 2009 marks the thirteenth year Westfields Marriott in Chantilly, Va. has been recognized.

Alliance Partners draft Howard County's Seven Rotary Clubs

January 21, 2010 — Howard County’s seven Rotary Clubs signed up to be Alliance Partners in the Choose Civility campaign January 19, 2010. Choose Civility is an ongoing community-wide initiative, led by Howard County Library, to position Howard County as a model of civility. The county’s seven clubs have more than 300 members. For more information on club meeting times and locations, please visit - http://hocorotary.org/HoCo_Rotary_site/Rotary_Clubs_of_Howard_County,_Maryland.html

From left to right: Claude Morissette, Rotary District 7620 Governor–Nominee; Scott Wyler, President, Rotary Club of Clarksville; Valerie J. Gross, CEO, Howard County Library; Cliff Feldwick, President, Rotary Club of Columbia Patuxent; Nancy Szlasa, District 7620 Asst. Governor; Debbie Fieldhouse, Secretary, Rotary Club of Ellicott City; Ceecee Paizs, Past President, Rotary Club of Ellicott City/Sunrise. Rotary Club/Choose Civility partners not pictured: Rotary Clubs of: Columbia Town Center; Elkridge and Columbia.

St. Mary’s Hospital opens new rehab center named after Grace Anne Dorney Koppel

January 11, 2010 — On Jan. 8, 2010, St. Mary’s Hospital celebrated the grand opening of a new pulmonary and cardiac rehabilitation center named after Grace Anne Dorney Koppel, a national patient advocate for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's COPD Learn More Breathe Better® Campaign. Former ABC News “Nightline” anchor Ted Koppel had the idea for the gift and donated the funds to help open the center in honor of his wife, Grace Anne.

The Grace Anne Dorney Pulmonary & Cardiac Rehabilitation Center at St. Mary’s Hospital provides pulmonary and cardiac rehabilitation services designed to limit the effects of illness, prevent future recurrences or medical complications, and maximize the ability to participate in daily tasks. Rehabilitation may help individuals improve energy for tasks such as dressing and bathing, walking to the mailbox, shopping at the local store, or dining out with friends and family. The focus is on rebuilding a patient’s strength and endurance to safely resume life’s demands, whether that is returning to work or his or her favorite hobby.

St. Mary's Hospital is a 103-bed, full-service hospital, delivering state-of-the-art emergency, acute inpatient and outpatient care. MedStar Health is a $3.8 billion non-profit healthcare organization and a community-based network of nine hospitals and other healthcare services across Maryland and in the Washington, D.C., region.

Ribbon cutting: Grace Anne Dorney Koppel along with husband, Ted Koppel, cut the ribbon to commemorate the grand opening of The Grace Anne Dorney Pulmonary & Cardiac Rehabilitation Center at St. Mary’s Hospital in Leonardtown, Md., on Jan. 8, 2010. Ted Koppel had the idea for the gift and donated the funds to help open the center in honor of his wife, Grace Anne.

Ted, Christine & Grace Anne: From left, newsman Ted Koppel, St. Mary’s Hospital President Christine R. Wray and Grace Anne Dorney Koppel celebrate the opening of The Grace Anne Dorney Pulmonary & Cardiac Rehabilitation Center at St. Mary’s Hospital in Leonardtown, Md., on Jan. 8, 2010.

The Meltzer Group ‘Strides’ into 1st Place of UnitedHealthcare Walking Challenge

January 8, 2010 — Logging an impressive 1,559 average walking minutes, the team from The Meltzer Group Benefits in Bethesda, Md., won the UnitedHealthcare 2009 Walk for Health Challenge for the broker division. The challenge encouraged participants in Maryland, the District and Virginia to increase their physical activity by walking more during the six-week wellness program. With the highest average number of walking minutes per member, The Meltzer Group won a healthy lunch party, trophy and a $500 donation to the American Heart Association, their charity of choice. The active group is already looking forward to UnitedHealthcare’s next Walk for Health Challenge in the spring of 2010.

Unique Thrift Store hosts “looks for less” Fashion Show

December 16, 2009 — To celebrate the growth and continuation of the third year of its Unique Closet Program, Unique Thrift Store in Silver Spring, Md. hosted a fashion show on Wednesday, Dec. 9, featuring affordable looks with style. Benefitting more than 80 Montgomery County nonprofits, agencies and schools, the Unique Closet Program provides $100,000 in store gift certificates annually to be used by local families in need to purchase quality clothing and household goods. Showing off affordable “looks for less” from Unique Thrift Store, the fashion show’s volunteer models all benefit from the program, which has helped approximately 10,000 needy Montgomery County residents since it started in 2007. Announcing another donation to Montgomery County organizations for 2010, Unique Thrift Store Principal Dave Kloeber (second from left) presents the $100,000 check to Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett (right), with Montgomery County Council President Nancy Floreen (third from left), and several volunteer models from the organizations that benefit from the gift certificates.

Through the Kitchen Door Founder and President Liesel Flashenberg (right) joins Nancy Hinojosa before the volunteer models hit the runway in professional wear. Nancy has thrived since participating in Through the Kitchen Door, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering recent immigrants, low-income adults and at-risk youth through basic cooking and culinary arts training methods.

Working the runway with her two daughters, single mom Karen Figueroa, 20, has benefitted from the Mental Health Association’s Families Foremost program, which provides child care so she can continue going to school.

Grand Opening held for Northrop Grumman Innovation Institute

December 14, 2009 — Participating in the ribbon cutting ceremony on December 11 for the new Northrop Grumman Innovation Institute at 1550 West Nursery Road in the West*Quest Technology Park are, from left: James E. DeGrange, Sr., Maryland State Senator; Pamela G. Beidle, Maryland State Delegate; Charles J. Brinkman, Sector Vice President and General Manager of Northrop Grumman’s Advanced Concepts & Technologies Division; James F. Pitts, Corporate Vice President and President of Northrop Grumman’s Linthicum, Md.-based Electronic Systems sector; John R. Leopold, Anne Arundel County Executive; and William E. Eikenberg, Director of Strategic Operations and Sector Capital for Northrop Grumman’s Electronic Systems sector.

Technology Day at The Universities at Shady Grove

November 10, 2009 — Organized by The Universities at Shady Grove (USG), Montgomery College and Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), Technology Day was held on Saturday, Nov. 7, at The Universities at Shady Grove (USG) in Rockville. The event provided an opportunity for more than 200 middle-school students to learn about applied computer science and information technology and the careers associated with those technologies. Sponsors included Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Intervise, Human Genome Sciences and the Gazette. Showcasing how exciting new technology can relate to a future career, the event also helped students and parents understand there is a complete pathway to higher education in Montgomery County.

Longtime Lockheed Martin engineer Bob Eckman (right) engages a student and parent as part of his “Robots, Rockets & Future Engineers” program at Technology Day

Demonstrating the intricate design of a model solar car, Charlie Garlow (left) with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) connects with a student at Technology Day.