On the Move – Business edition

Accounting

Jennifer Estrada, CPA and supervisor at Gorfine, Schiller & Gardyn, of Owings Mills, was one of 10 accountants nationwide selected by the AICPA to participate in the CPA Exam Passing Score Panel. She has been with the firm for six years, focusing on audits, reviews, and compilations for not-for-profit organizations, small and medium-size businesses, and employee benefit plans.

Arts

John Schratwieser has been appointed executive director of Maryland Citizens for the Arts. During his 17 years in the nonprofit sector, Schratwieser’s primary focus has been management, development and operations of arts organizations, including Lincoln Center Theatre in New York, Signature Theatre in Arlington, Va., and, most recently, the Prince Theatre Foundation in Chestertown. Maryland Citizens for the Arts, based in Baltimore, represents Maryland artists and arts organizations of every discipline. Its principal mission is to promote adequate funding for the Maryland State Arts Council and to advocate for the arts at the state and federal levels.

Awards

Bruce Thompson, president of Clinical Trials & Surveys Corp., a clinical trials solutions company in Owings Mills, has been awarded the 2010 Innovation in Clinical Research Award by the Association of Clinical Research Professionals. The award recognizes an individual who has demonstrated creativity and innovation in adapting or implementing new or improved processes into a clinical trial function. Thompson, who has specialized in supporting best practices management of clinical trials for government, university and private organizations for more than 20 years as head of C-TASC, was honored for C-TASC’s development and implementation of a Web-based software system that manages clinical trial data more efficiently and cost-effectively.

Kimberly Willinghan, a registered nurse, recently was named Nurse of the Year at Saint Agnes Hospital, in Baltimore. Willinghan, who works in the Adult Intensive Care Unit, received the award during a ceremony as part of the hospital’s annual Nurses Week activities. Willinghan, who began working at Saint Agnes in 2000, is a member of the Nursing Research Council, the Critical Care Nursing PIPEs Council and a staff nurse representative on the Hospital Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee. She was chosen as Nurse of the Year based on her ability to exhibit excellence in nursing practice, initiative, team support, and for providing outstanding service to patients.

Arlene R. Ciroula, chief operating officer of accounting, tax and consulting firm KatzAbosch, of Timonium, recently received the YWCA Greater Baltimore “Special Leader” Award. Ciroula received Practical Accountant magazine’s Practice Innovation Award in 2005 and 2007, and the CPA Practice Management Forum, Association for Accounting Administration’s ACE Award in 2006. She is president of the Baltimore chapter of the Association of Accounting Administrators and serves on the board of directors for Baltimore Reads, a nonprofit organization that teaches adults literacy skills.

At its annual Hugs for Heroes fundraiser, The Harbour School honored Sandy Liotta and Carl Osterman as this year’s Heroes for their work on behalf of the non-public school. The Harbour School, which has sites in Owings Mills and Annapolis, is for children in grades 1–12 experiencing severe learning disabilities.

Michael Myers, whose son Sam has been a student at The Harbour School in Owings Mills, has won the Maryland Association of Non-Public Special Education Facilities’ annual Inspiring Dreams and Changing Lives Award. Myers was nominated by Linda Jacobs, executive director of The Harbour School, for his work for the school, including fundraising and helping in the launch of the CCBC Harbour Horizons program, which prepares students to live independently.

Earle Palmer Brown, founder of The Earle Palmer Brown Companies, of Bethesda, received the first Founders Vision Award from the Universities at Shady Grove on May 6 as part of the school’s 10th anniversary celebration. In 1999, Brown completed his second five-year term on the Board of Regents of the University System of Maryland. As a Regent, he was a driving force behind the establishment of the Universities at Shady Grove. Brown is a past chairman of the Middle Atlantic Council of the American Association of Advertising Agencies, past chairman of the Maryland State Chamber of Commerce, director of the Greater Washington Board of Trade, and a trustee of St. Mary’s College of Maryland. He founded his public relations and advertising firm in 1952.

R. Michael Walsh III, assistant professor/coordinator of speech communication at Community College of Baltimore County, Dundalk, recently received the 2010 Outstanding Teacher Award for the school from the Dundalk Chamber of Commerce. Walsh has worked with Greening of Dundalk, the Dundalk Chamber of Commerce, the Dundalk Renaissance Corp. and local businesses to bring community members on campus and to involve students with the community.

Michael Ellis-Tolaydo, professor of theater, film, and media studies at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, in St. Mary’s City, received the Helen Hayes Canadian Embassy Award for Outstanding Ensemble, Resident Play for his acting in “Heroes” at the MetroStage in Washington, D.C. Canadian Ambassador Gary Doer presented the award. Tolaydo, who was on a one-semester sabbatical from the college, appeared in two other plays this year, “The Accident” and “Benedictus.” He has been a faculty member at SMCM since 1987.

The Worcester County Jail, in Snow Hill, recently received its 10th consecutive Recognition of Achievement Award from the Maryland Commission on Correctional Standards. The commission, which is an agency within the state Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, give the award only to correctional facilities and programs that achieve 100 percent compliance with standards.

Evelyn S. Brunner, chief operating officer at Gorfine, Schiller and Gardyn, of Owings Mills, has been elected to the Hall of Honor of the Broadcasting Institute of Maryland. She has been the institute’s accountant since 1985. Brunner, who is a certified valuation analyst, started and heads her accounting and consulting firm’s physicians practice group.

Lockheed Martin’s Mission Systems and Sensors business recently honored employees from its Baltimore. The 2010 Evening of Stars banquet recognized the business’ top performers for 2009, chosen from more than 15,000 employees nationwide. Tushar K. Shah was recognized for his leadership, and Joseph J. Czarnecki, Kimberly K. Hughes and Charles R. Steppe were recognized as members of the CMMI Level 5 Team.

Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society for students attending two-year colleges, recently recognized John Parsons II as its best chapter president during its annual International Convention in Orlando, Fla. Parsons is president of Beta Alpha Tau at Community College of Baltimore County in Dundalk and has been elected 2010-2011 president of the regional office for Delaware/Maryland.

OrthoMaryland, an orthopedic practice, has been named one of the “100 Best Places to Work in Healthcare” by Becker’s ASC Review/Becker’s Hospital Review. This annual list includes the country’s most-respected health-care organizations that have affiliated ambulatory surgery centers. OrthoMaryland has offices in Owings Mills, on the campus of Greater Baltimore Medical Center and at Baltimore’s Quarry Lake.

Howard County has been awarded a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for the 34th consecutive year from the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada. The award is for the county’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2009. The reports are studied by major investors looking for assurance that the county’s bonds offer low risks.

Bob Davidson Ford Lincoln Mercury, of Baltimore, has received Ford Motor Co.’s President’s Award for achieving the highest levels of customer satisfaction in both sales and service. This marks the 11th consecutive year that the Baltimore-based automotive dealership has received the award.

Banking

Linda Linz has joined The Patapsco Bank, of Dundalk, as senior vice president–branch administration & operations. She began her banking career with Maryland National Bank. Linz will focus on retail branch administration, operations, information technology, risk management, marketing/advertising and facility management.

Benefits

Jennifer Ronald has joined Innovative Benefit Solutions, of Towson and Berlin, as an account executive specializing in life and health insurance sales for businesses and individuals in the greater Baltimore area. She most recently served as director of marketing and public relations for Trampoline: Learning Programs for Young Minds, an enrichment curriculum developer. Ronald also has worked in account service with the Baltimore office of Weber Shandwick Worldwide.  She has a bachelor’s degree from Washington College in Chestertown.

Boards

Geary Milliken, president & CEO of Carroll Lutheran Village, in Westminster, has been appointed to the Financial Advisory Panel of the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities International.

Consulting

Bryan Richardson, a partner with Urban Policy Development, a Baltimore-based public sector management consulting firm, has been selected by The Aspen Institute to serve as a data system and data use content expert to a select group of states applying for grant money in the U.S. Department of Education’s Race to the Top Competition. Richardson, UPD Consulting’s lead consultant in educational data systems, was picked by executives from New Leaders for New Schools, a national organization that is committed to reform in urban public schools. He previously was the SchoolStat director for Baltimore City Public Schools.

Aon Consulting, a global benefits and human capital consulting business of Aon Corp., recently promoted five executives: In the Baltimore office, Christopher Mazzini-Chin is now assistant vice president of health and benefits, Linda Boarman, Michael B. Miller and Tom Stauffer are now vice presidents of retirement, and Shimon Smith is assistant vice president of retirement. In the Owings Mills office, Cynthia Lucas is now assistant vice president of human capital.

Marketing

Jeaneen Andrews-Feldman has been appointed vice president of marketing of Merkle, of Columbia.  She most recently led product and channel marketing at the Corporate Executive Board. Earlier, Andrews-Feldman was vice president of marketing and business development at TrendIQ, a business intelligence software firm, and vice president of marketing and sales at AES. She also spent more than 10 years in regional and product marketing management roles with Sprint and AT&T.

Andi Frisbie Payne has been promoted to senior producer, event production by Feats Inc., a Baltimore-based experience marketing and production agency. She is responsible for planning and executing large-scale events, meetings and experiences for public, private and corporate clients. Payne has been with Feats since 2002.

Nonprofit

Thomas Phelan, president and CEO of IWIF Workers’ Compensation Insurance, was elected president of Kids’ Chance of Maryland, an educational scholarship fund that benefits children of Maryland workers who are fatally or catastrophically injured on the job. Phelan will succeed S. Woods Bennett, of Cornblatt, Bennett, Penhallegon & Roberson, P.A., of Towson, who has served as an officer of Kids’ Chance since 1997. Bennett was recently elected to a two-year term as president of Kids’ Chance of America, the national umbrella organization for the 27 state Kids’ Chance chapters. He will remain on the board for the Maryland Chapter.

Real Estate

MacKenzie Ventures, the holding company for a consortium of multi-disciplined commercial real estate firms, has appointed Robert J. Aumiller as president of MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate Services, and Glenn T. Ercole as president of MacKenzie Capital. Aumiller, a MacKenzie employee for 26 years, remains executive vice president and principal of MacKenzie Ventures. He previously was an attorney in a private practice, where he represented real estate investors and developers. Aumiller is also a former Maryland assistant attorney general, and a past president of the Maryland chapter of NAIOP. Ercole joined MacKenzie in 1990. He has served as the chief financial officer of MacKenzie Ventures, and as senior vice president and principal of MacKenzie Capital and MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate Services. Ercole is the former treasurer of Dickinson-Heffner. MacKenzie Ventures has offices in Baltimore, Annapolis, Lutherville, Maple Lawn and Bel Air.

Residential

Ian Hiltner has been named director of sales for Riderwood, in Silver Spring. Riderwood is managed by Erickson Retirement Communities. Hiltner’s most recent management role was as vice president and general manager of Intergis, LLC. He has a degree from the University of Maryland, College Park.