A Week In Business

Chamber Leader Appointed

SALISBURY — Bradley Gillis, president of the Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce (SACC), recently announced the appointment of Ernie Colburn as SACC’s executive director.

After an extensive, three-month search by a committee made up of key members and officers of SACC, the current interim executive director and past SACC president was chosen to head Maryland’s only accredited chamber.

"We are excited to have Mr. Colburn on board. Ernie’s extensive career experiences within our region and experience as a Past President of the Chamber has made Ernie more than qualified to implement the Chamber’s strategic plan,” said Gillis. “Ernie is a change agent and he will be the most effective voice for the business community and continue to build the Chamber as the area’s indispensable business resource.”

"Needless to say, it’s an honor and a privilege to be able to represent a nearly 100-year-old chamber that is four-star accredited by the United States Chamber of Commerce since 1964,” said Colburn. “Many great changes will take place in the coming year that will enable the Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce to better serve its nearly 800 business members and those new members moving forward, as well as enable our chamber to elevate itself to the ultimate level of five-star accreditation at the next renewal cycle. I look forward to the challenge and I appreciate the membership’s support, as well as the communities’ support."

Firm Grows team

SALISBURY — Local architectural and engineering firm George, Miles & Buhr, LLC (GMB) recently welcomed several new team members.

Katja Kalinski has joined the Salisbury office as a Landscape Architect in the Site/Sustainable Design Group. Kalinski has a Master of Science in Landscape Architecture from Leibniz Universitaet Hannover in Germany.

Patrick Sweeney, a recent graduate of the University of Maryland College Park, has joined the Structural Engineering Group as an engineer.

Billy Tyler has joined the  Salisbury office as a summer intern. He is a former GMB Scholarship winner and has just completed his second year at Bucknell University in civil engineering.

Kyle Pepper recently joined the Seaford office as a summer intern. He is a civil engineering major at the University of Delaware, where he will be a Junior this fall. He is a 2011 graduate from Seaford High School.

New Manager Hired

OCEAN CITY — Bethany-Fenwick Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director David Martin announced recently the hiring of Sue Nilsson as Member Benefits and Programs Manager. This new role will focus on building value and additional benefits into chamber memberships and identifying new program, event and member opportunities.

Nilsson has a long history of marketing expertise and community involvement. Originally from the Washington D.C. area, she was a marketing professional at both R.H. Donnelly and Bell Atlantic where she specialized in marketing research and strategic planning. She also owned her own marketing research firm that conducted focus groups and provided other marketing services.

I’ve said many times, the Chamber’s focus needs to always be on membership value,” Martin said. “How we support our members through promotion, helpful programs, events, educational and being a local voice for business will breed success. Sue will have a major impact in those areas, especially in our inland towns.”

As a former business owner, Nilsson embraces the good works of the Chamber and experienced first-hand how beneficial membership is. “It’s a very tightly knit business community,” according to Nilsson, “and one of its strongest threads is the Chamber. I’m very proud to be joining such a long-standing and important part of the local business community.”

Delmar Property Sold

DELMAR – Henry Hanna, Senior Advisor with Sperry Van Ness – Miller Commercial Real Estate in Salisbury, has announced the sale of the former Building Blocks Daycare at 38238 Old Stage Rd. Hanna represented the owner of the building.

The Tabernacle purchased the property for $680,000. Chris Davis, an Advisor with SVN-Miller, and George Vouros, an agent with Coral Reef Realty, represented the buyer.

“The building was built for a day care facility but was modified to become a church in 2011. It was a perfect match for the new congregation and they were able to hold their first service last Sunday,” Hanna said.