Public Relations

Awards M&T Bank was presented with a Diversity Trailblazer award at the annual Black CEO Summit. Contracts The National Institutes of Health awarded Quality Associates, based in Columbia, a $260,000 contract to design and implement a document management and archiving system. Correct Rx Pharmacy Services Inc. won a contract to provide pharmacy services to 14 correctional facilities in Maine. Warschawski has been retained by The Athlete's Foot as its agency of record. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Katherine "Kem" Martin, a retired freelance writer and public relations worker, died of lung cancer complications Sunday at Union Memorial Hospital. The Pikesville resident was 80. Born Katherine Metzger in Atlanta and raised in Selma, Ala., she studied journalism at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa and was a reporter for the Decatur Daily. She moved to New Orleans and was publicity director of International House, a trade organization. She promoted the port. After moving to Baltimore in 1971, Mrs. Martin became public relations director of the Printing Industries of Maryland.

Trahan, Burden & Charles has won one of the top awards given by the Public Relations Society of America for its work on the launch of Port Discovery.Another Baltimore-area company, Imre & Associates LLC, also was honored with a Silver Anvil award for its campaign for Ryobi North America, a power tool and outdoor equipment manufacturer.TBC Executive Vice President Sandy Hillman called the Silver Anvil "the equivalent of the Oscars" in the movie industry. "It sends an important message to your clients that you don't have to work with firms in New York or L.A.," she said.

To keep pace with new technologies as it expands to a full-service communications company, Baltimore advertising and public relations firm Trahan, Burden & Charles, said yesterday that it will shuffle its senior management team and open an office in New York.The company is also planning to open another office in the mid-Atlantic region in a few months, the firm's principals said.In Baltimore, the company will focus its efforts on expansion through acquisitions and strategic alliances with companies that can help the firm buttress its e-commerce, electronic marketing and other technology-related marketing services, the firm's principals said yesterday.

One hour after being hired yesterday, Brian Billick was displaying the energy that persuaded the Ravens to make him the second head coach in the team's three-year history.By 3 p.m., Billick was making reservations to attend the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., where he will begin forming his coaching staff. Four hours later, Billick was on the plane headed south, and his wife and two daughters were on a flight back to Minnesota.The Billick era had officially begun. Swoosh. As the coach to energize a team that has yet to have a winning season in Baltimore, the Ravens signed a 44-year-old computer geek born in Fairborne, Ohio, and raised in Redlands, Calif.

Baltimore police, struggling to find witnesses in the fatal shooting of a Baptist preacher, set up roadblocks on busy Reisterstown Road yesterday and searched for commuters who might have seen the gunman fleeing the scene.The unusual police action was part a plea for information and part public relations -- a way to demonstrate to a community struggling to fight encroaching crime that the killing of a pastor will not go unnoticed."I know that a lot of people in the community hope we catch this guy," said Officer Charles Feaster, a neighborhood patrolman.

College's marketing office takes regional honorsAnne Arundel Community College's public relations and marketing office has earned top awards in three categories at the recent District 1 Conference of the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations.The district includes Eastern Canada, the Northeast and much of the Middle Atlantic. The National Council for Marketing is an organization for marketing and public relations workers at two-year colleges.The college's catalog for 1999-2000 received a Gold Medallion, and the office earned a Bronze Medallion for computer-generated illustration.

Edwin J. P. Lentz, a retired public relations director and store manager for Hauswald Baking Co., died in his sleep Sunday at his Timonium home. He was 75.Mr. Lentz, a descendant of the Hauswald family which established the West Baltimore bakery in 1915, joined the company in 1945. He headed the public relations department and managed the bakery's outlet stores. He retired in 1986.In retirement, he developed a second career, helping his son renovate houses and making signs for his daughter, Charlotte Elizabeth "Betsy" Lentz, a real estate agent for Coldwell Banker Grempler Realty Inc. in Timonium.

A lawsuit filed by a Baltimore public relations firm against one of its former employees and Black & Decker Corp. moved a step forward yesterday as the two sides argued over what documents should be provided to lawyers.The $3 million lawsuit, filed by public relations firm Image Dynamics in August 1998 in Baltimore Circuit Court, contends that the actions of its former employee and the Towson-based toolmaker caused severe financial loss and forced Image Dynamics to merge with another company to survive.

Names in the newsFrank Moran has been named director of sales for Galaxy Automotive of Glen Burnie, Ellicott City and Columbia. Moran, who has 28 years of experience in the Baltimore market, will oversee new and used vehicle sales for Galaxy's three area locations. Galaxy is owned by March Hodge Master Management, which has dealerships across the country, and was named 1999 Automobile Dealer of the Year by Black Enterprise magazine.Melanie Clay has been named director of cable products and services for Millennium Networks.

Unemployment in Maryland topped 7 percent in May, reaching a more than 25-year high as joblessness rose in 48 states and experts said the worst is far from over. The jobless rate hit 7.2 percent in Maryland, up from 4.1 percent in May 2008, preliminary government figures released Friday showed. Economists say joblessness is expected to rise well into next year. "There is always a lag in terms of economic recovery in output and employment, and this recovery is expected to be slower," said Mohammad Iqbal, an economist with IHS Global Insight.

'Good Food for Good Health' at Graul's The Anne Arundel County Department of Health holds "Good Food for Good Health" weekends at Graul's markets to help consumers select nutritious, low-fat, high-fiber foods. Health educators at nutrition booths will offer information, answer questions and hand out take-home bags with healthy recipes, brochures and a magnet. Hours for the program are 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Fridays, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays. The program will be at the 1388 Cape St. Claire Road store today; and Friday, Saturday and March 29 at the 607 Taylor Ave. store, both in Annapolis.

John Thomas Yuhanick, who founded a public relations and event business, died of cancer Friday at Stella Maris Hospice in Timonium. The Guilford resident was 59. Born in Salem, Ohio, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at St. Louis University and moved in the early 1970s to Baltimore, where he worked as a Sun advertising representative. He sold ads related to the travel industry and remained an indefatigable traveler throughout his life, often visiting another country every two months.

Corridor Chamber events The Baltimore Washington Corridor Chamber of Commerce's 52nd annual Masquerade Ball is scheduled for 6 p.m. Feb. 28 at BWI Marriott Hotel, 1743 W. Nursery Road, Linthicum. There will be a silent and live auction and performance by The Capitol Steps. Tickets are $100 per person, $950 for a table of 10. Information: 410-792-9714 or 301-725-4000, ext. 102. Leadership Anne Arundel Leadership Anne Arundel hired Kathleen M. Nieberding as Director of Development. Nieberding is responsible for raising funds for Leadership Anne Arundel's Executive Leadership Series, Flagship and Neighborhood Leadership Academy Programs.

I don't know about anyone else around here, but I'm sick of the whole thing - this winter without significant snow. Bad enough the Steelers won the Super Bowl and Channel 11 had to reduce Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band to the size of a playing card so they could telecast the Maryland evening lottery numbers being drawn during the halftime show. Bad enough that we're now in the real boring part of winter - Pro Bowl, anyone? - and that the Terps aren't doing so well, and Gary Williams appears to be circling the drain, and Michael Phelps wants again to be forgiven for being young and foolish.

Awards * The Better Business Bureau of Greater Maryland presented Thomas P. Kimmitt Jr., an attorney with Whiteford Taylor & Preston, with the organization's 2008 Leadership Award. Contracts * HSU Development Inc., headquartered in Rockville, received a $21.6 million design-build contract from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for barracks renovation at Fort Meade. New clients * Baltimore-based Sawmill Marketing Public Relations has added AOEware to its client roster. The agency will handle the national campaign promoting the Philadelphia-based software company's BINDpoint instant messaging product.

Awards *Manekin LLC received three awards of excellence from the Maryland Chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties. The awards were Best Office Build-to-Suit for its headquarters building in Columbia; Best New Retail for McGaw Plaza in Columbia, and Best Office, mid-rise/low rise for a five-story office building at the Water's Edge Corporate Campus in Belcamp. *Mullin/Ashley Associates Inc., a communications, public relations and marketing firm, won two Alfred Knight Awards from the Maryland Society for Healthcare Strategy & Market Development.

Advertising Warschawski promoted Andrea DiRuscio to senior associate at the Baltimore-based public relations and marketing firm. She is responsible for client servicing, strategic planning, campaign development, media relations and account management. Profiles Inc. announced that Mia Catalfamo joined the staff of the Hampden public relations agency as a junior account executive. Education Villa Julie College selected Brenda Balzer as its new vice president of human resources. Health care Katzen Eye Group appointed Dr. Tania S. Marcic as director of glaucoma services for the private eye care practice.

Katherine "Kem" Martin, a retired freelance writer and public relations worker, died of lung cancer complications Sunday at Union Memorial Hospital. The Pikesville resident was 80. Born Katherine Metzger in Atlanta and raised in Selma, Ala., she studied journalism at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa and was a reporter for the Decatur Daily. She moved to New Orleans and was publicity director of International House, a trade organization. She promoted the port. After moving to Baltimore in 1971, Mrs. Martin became public relations director of the Printing Industries of Maryland.

Acquisitions Whitmore Group, an Annapolis-based commercial and digital printer with additional plants in Millersville and Baltimore, purchased Potomac Printing of Annapolis, expanding its services to include short run offset printing services. Awards Warschawski, a Baltimore-based public relations and marketing agency, has been awarded 19 international MarCom Creative Awards by the Association of Marketing and Communications Professionals for its work on behalf of clients including Athlete's Foot, Maggie Moo's and the U.S. Tennis Association.