County Chamber Holds 63rd Session; Installs, Presents Awards

WILDWOOD — Veronica A. “Ronnie” Town, public affairs manager for Atlantic City Electric Co., was installed as chairwoman of the Cape May County Chamber of Commerce Oct. 5 at Wildwoods Convention Center by Superior Court Judge Raymond A. Batten
The installation ceremony was part of the annual awards banquet attended by over 300, one of the largest crowd on record, according to outgoing Chairman Jeff Gott of Crest Savings Bank.
Joining Town to operate the chamber for the coming year will be, Jay E. Sporl Sr., as first vice chairman; Steven C. Morey, second vice chairman; Janet Buchanin, secretary; Barbara St. Clair, treasurer. They also took their oaths from Batten.
Town has been with the utility for over 23 years in Atlantic City and Court House.
Her responsibilities include handling county, municipal and customer issues, such as getting streetlights fixed or informing customers of outages. She is active in several community, business and service organizations.
Sporl retired in 1989 after 21 years I the Coast Guard. He I s involved with his family business, Seashore Campsites, of which he is vice president and part owner. He has been active in the Cape May County Campground Owners Association and is on that body’s board of trustees. He is also a board member of the New Jersey State Campground Owners Association.
Morey is employed by Hatch Mott MacDonald in Court House. In addition to serving as a director on the county chamber, he devotes time as chair of the Environmental Affairs Committee, and serves as a member of the Strategic Planning and Building Committees.
Buchanin, of 1sst Bank of Sea Isle City, has been a banker for over 20 years. She is tasked with business development, advertising and public relations at the bank. She has served as a director of the county chamber since 1998, and serves on its executive board, annual dinner committee and golf committee.
St. Clair, public relations coordinator for Cape May County Technical School District, is a partner in Write Impressions, a public relations company that provides communications and media services to a variety of local clients. She is a member of the Cape Women’s Resource Fund, St. Barnabas by the Bay Episcopal Mission, and Foundation Board of Cape Regional Medical Center.
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The Member of the Year award was presented to Fitzpatrick, Bongiovanni & Kelly, P.C. and Innovative Leadership of the Delaware Valley. Together, these two businesses work in partnership offering business consulting services as Innovative Leadership Business Consulting Group. Both of these companies, located in Marmora, will receive this year’s top honors.
These businesses were recognized for their dedication to the Chamber as well as countless hours of volunteer time spent developing and facilitating programs, providing administrative counsel, as well as sponsorship and participation in many events throughout the year.
Thomas Fitzpatrick, founding partner at Fitzpatrick Bongiovanni & Kelly is a past Director of the County Chamber and also served as Chairman of the Chamber’s Small Business Development Committee.
Richard Hohmann, Vice President of Innovative Leadership of the Delaware Valley currently serves on the Chamber’s Board of Directors and is Chairman of the Membership Committee. Ellen Hohmann, President of Innovative Leadership, has provided her services as a seminar presenter at the Chamber’s professional development series of Business Bagels and Banter and Women In Business Conference.
The Volunteer of the Year award was presented to Sherwood LaValle Taylor of Atlantic Cape Community College (ACCC). Taylor, who is the Director of the Institute for Service Excellence, has facilitated a series of Technology Marketing seminars for the Chamber and was a presenter at the Women In Business Conference in March.
Additionally, Taylor has consulted with the Chamber on website marketing and development. Taylor also oversees the School Counts! program, which is an integral part of the Chamber’s commitment to work force readiness and scholarship programs, for ACCC.
The Cape May County Board of Chosen Freeholders received the 2007 Cape May County Betterment Award for their newly created Municipal Joint Venture Grant Program.
In 2006, this program distributed $3.8 million of county surplus funds to the county’s 16 municipalities for the development of capital recreation projects and is the first program of its kind in New Jersey. The freeholders were also recognized for this innovative program by the National Association of Counties receiving one of only three awards presented in 2007.
The Chamber’s Expo Committee was recognized as the 2007 Committee of the Year. The Expo Committee is chaired by Mike Hagan of M. A. Graphics. This committee is responsible for planning and hosting the Business @ The Beach Expo, a powerful marketing tool for local businesses to showcase their products and services to the business community.
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Out of 43 nominees, the Chamber presented the 41st Annual Beautification Awards to eleven winners as follows:
Historic Preservation – Coxe Hall Cottage at Historic Cold Spring Village, Cape May Stage for the Robert Shackelton Playhouse and Wildwood Doo Wop Preservation League for the Wildwoods By The Sea Doo Wop Experience.
New Construction – Sturdy Savings Bank, Ocean City.
Renovation – Princeton Bar & Grill and Circle Tavern at The Princeton.
Landscaping (Business) – La Mer Beachfront Inn.
Landscaping (Non-Profit) – Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts for the Emlen Physick Estate.
Sign (Business) – Marvis Diner.
Sign (Non-Profit) – Naval Air Station Wildwood.
Gateway – City of Ocean City Community Arts Project.
The Pan American Hotel received the General Conservation Award, sponsored by The Lomax Consulting Group LLC, for its very successful solid waste recycling program.
The Port Royal Hotel received the Water Conservation Award, sponsored by New Jersey American Water Company.