On the Move - Business edition

Accounting
Gorfine, Schiller & Gardyn, of Owings Mills and Hagerstown, and Bernard B. Cohen & Co., of Baltimore, have merged. The combined firm has more than 85 employees and operates under the name of Gorfine, Schiller & Gardyn from the GSG headquarters in Owings Mills. Merton E. Cohen has joined the firm as an officer with expertise in general accounting and tax. Neil Z. Insel has joined the tax department as a senior manager.

Susan Keller has joined the tax department of Ellin & Tucker. She had been a tax director with RSM McGladrey, of Baltimore. She began her accounting career in the New York City office of KPMG. Ellin & Tucker has offices in Baltimore, Belcamp, Frederick, and Washington, D.C.

Chad A. Terry has joined the audit and accounting department of Gross, Mendelsohn & Associates, of Baltimore, as a semi-senior accountant. Terry previously worked at a national CPA and consulting firm. Gross Mendelsohn is a full-service CPA and consulting firm.

Awards
Cal Sutphin Sr. of Braden Sutphin Ink, of Savage, and Art Stowe have been inducted into the Ben Franklin Honor Society of the Printing Industries of America. Sutphin received the National Association of Printing Ink Manufacturers 1992 Pioneer Award, the 2002 NAPIM Ault Award, and the 2002 Distinguished Service Printing & Graphic Communications Association Award. He was the Metro New York Printing Industry Association Man of the Year in 2007. Stowe became president of the Printing Industries of Maryland in 1972; he guided its merger with the Washington, D.C.-area affiliate to become the Printing & Graphics Association MidAtlantic, which he led until he retired last year.

E-Structors, specializing in the secure destruction and recycling of computers, electronics and documents, has been named the “Green Technology Company of the Year” by the Howard Technology Council. The company, based in Elkridge, is involved in the disposal and recycling of electronics that can be harmful to the environment.

Gynecologic oncologist Dwight Im, director of the Gynecologic Oncology Center at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, has been honored with a Patients’ Choice recognition. These awards are based on patients’ reviews provided to www.vitals.com. A graduate of Princeton University, Im completed his residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital and fellowship at Hopkins.

Shukoor Ahmed received Strayer University’s Outstanding Alumnus Award at last month’s commencement ceremony in Baltimore. Ahmed founded V-Empower Inc., a service provider of technology solutions, in 2000 that now has more than 100 employees across four continents. In 2006, Deloitte voted V-Empower the “Fastest Growing Company in Maryland” and the Washington Business Journal recognized the company for its contributions made to nonprofit organizations.

The Baltimore-based Institute for Faith-based Leadership and Philanthropy has honored two Children’s Guild employees. Treatment foster care recruiter Kay Brazile was named Foster Parent of the Year; Nichole Leonard, director of family life education, was recognized for helping IFLP secure sponsorship and support from the Maryland Association of Resources for Family and Youth. The Children’s Guild, a nonprofit organization in Baltimore City and Anne Arundel and Prince George’s counties, operates day schools, group and foster homes, a mental health center and other services for children and adolescents who are traumatized, autistic and have multiple disabilities.

Carol Coughlin, CEO and founder of BottomLine Growth Strategies Inc., of Towson, has been awarded the Certified Exit Planning Advisor designation after completing the Exit Planning Institute’s CEPA program. The designation is for business advisors who work closely with owners of privately held companies.

Mahan Rykiel Associates won the 2009 Maryland-Potomac ASLA Merit Award for its design of downtown Baltimore’s Center Plaza, a rooftop park for workers, shoppers and residents. The Baltimore-based landscape architecture, urban design and planning firm specializes in integrating people, nature and the built environment. It opened a branch office in Hong Kong in 2007.

Impact Marketing and Public Relations, of Columbia, recently won a Public Relations Society of America Best in Maryland Award of Excellence in Marketing Communications for its work on behalf of Baxley Development, of Columbia. The same campaign also won a MarCom Gold Award from the Association of Marketing and Communications Professionals. The firm provides marketing strategy, and ad agency and public relations services, primarily for small- to medium-sized businesses in Maryland.

Boards
Greg Cockerham has succeeded Donald Parsons Jr. as chair of the College of Southern Maryland Foundation. Others serving on the board are Trustee Representative MacArthur Jones, First Vice Chair Rick Tepel, Second Vice Chair Candice Quinn Kelly, Mary Sue Greisman, Glen Ives, Rosemary Keffler, Al Leandre, Jay Lilly, Elfreda Mathis, Rhodessa Millham, J. Harry Norris, Scott Pfister, Steve Proctor, Robinette Ross, Casey Smith, Carol Sprague, St. Clair Tweedie, Thomas Watts, Ray Wernecke, Suzanne Wible and Andrew Ziencik Jr. CSM is the fifth-largest community college in Maryland, with campuses in Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s counties.

Francesco Grasso, a colorectal surgeon and, since 1990, a staff member of the Greater Baltimore Medical Center, of Baltimore, has been elected president of the Maryland chapter of the American College of Surgeons. Grasso has been a physician with Greater Baltimore Colorectal Specialists for 20 years. The American College of Surgeons works to improve the quality of care by setting high standards for surgical education and practice.

Carl Kampel, director in charge of professional standards at Ellin & Tucker, was named to the board of directors of j-ref, a private, not-for-profit organization dedicated to fostering the entrepreneurial spirit in Howard County. Kampel is on the executive committee of the AICPA Employee Benefit Plan Audit Quality Center, the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s Emerging Issues Task Force and the board of directors of the Baltimore chapter of Financial Executives International. He is co-chair of the Baltimore chapter of the Financial Executives Networking Group. Ellin & Tucker has offices in Baltimore, Belcamp, Frederick, and Washington, D.C.

Education
Stephen B. Liggett has been appointed associate dean for interdisciplinary research of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, in Baltimore. He is a professor of medicine and physiology and will retain the title of director of the cardiopulmonary genomics program. Liggett directs a research team with National Institutes of Health.

Health Care
Ajay Kumar has joined the medical staff of Saint Agnes Hospital, of Baltimore, as a plastic surgeon. He will serve as a specialist in plastic, reconstructive, and hand surgery. He previously maintained a private plastic surgery practice in Duluth, Ga. Saint Agnes is a full service teaching hospital with residency programs in a number of medical and surgical specialties.

Marketing
Alexei Yukna has been promoted from director of interactive services to chief digital officer of gkv, a full-service marketing firm. He has played a large role in the expansion of the firm’s interactive and digital assets and services. Before joining gkv in 2006, Yukna was a senior developer for the Washington, D.C., office of AKQA.

Museums
The Contemporary Museum, in Baltimore, has been awarded a $50,000 Access to Artistic Excellence grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. The grant will support the exhibition “Bearing Witness,” featuring works by artists Bradley McCallum and Jacqueline Tarry. The exhibition will open in May as part of “Project 20,” a yearlong series celebrating the museum’s 20th anniversary.

Nonprofits
Robert Bavar, vice president of Bavar Properties Group, of Timonium, has been elected president of the Maryland chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties. He also is president-elect of the McDonogh School Alumni Executive Council and on the Garrison Forest School Buildings and Grounds Committee. The NAIOP’s purpose is to provide industry networking and education while advocating for legislation and responsible development. Dianna Wilhelm is president-elect of the state chapter, Will McCullough is vice president, and Christopher Nevin is secretary/treasurer.

Real Estate
Evers & Co. Real Estate recently added two experienced agents to its staff. Laura McCaffrey’s areas of expertise include Chevy Chase and Northwest Washington, D.C. Suzanne Blouin focuses on Bethesda, Chevy Chase, and Northwest Washington.

Sales
UnitedHealthcare of the Mid Atlantic, based in Rockville, has added seven professionals to its local sales and account management teams: Kathy Kenny has been named director of account management for the Owings Mills, Annapolis and Eastern Shore regions. Adrian White is now account advisor and migration team lead for UnitedHealthcare of the Mid-Atlantic. Five new account executives are: Ashley Meishar will work with brokers on the Eastern Shore and participate in UHC’s Grow group school program. Lloyd Wilson will focus on brokers in Western Maryland. Julie Roberts will focus on broker relationships in Montgomery County. Anton deRoo and Ryan Gregoire-Cope will focus on establishing relationships in Baltimore.