Boothe's Heating and Air of Hollywood wins Dealer of the Year Award four years running
HOLLYWOOD—For the fourth consecutive year, Boothe Heating & Air Conditioning has been named Customer Care Dealer of the Year by the American Standard Heating and Air Conditioning company, as voted by customer satisfaction. Northeastern Supply—a plumbing, HVAC, and water systems wholesaler—is the region's authorized American Standard distributor. They honored their top producing independent American Standard dealers in an awards ceremony hosted in Annapolis on March 06.
"Our customers are responsible for us getting this award, and for that we are truly blessed and grateful," said Wayne Boothe, owner of Boothe's HVAC.
Boothe's has served the Southern Maryland community for over 20 years. "We know owning a home is a very big investment for our customers, and that the heating and air conditioning system is a major part of that investment," said Boothe. "Our goal is to provide the very best and economical solutions to our customers to ensure their investment is both wise and efficient."
Boothe credits his employees for much of his company's success. "Employees who feel satisfied and happy at their jobs naturally tend to be more helpful and considerate toward customers. If our employees like their job and the company they work for, they're going to communicate to customers that we offer great service and sell a good product."
In addition to be named Customer Care Dealer of the Year, Boothe's HVAC received the Regional Dealer of the Year award.
Groundbreaking for Thompson Creek's new building in Prince George's County April 20
New 117,000 square foot facility will house manufacturing and warehousing operations
UPPER MARLBORO—Groundbreaking ceremonies have been scheduled for Monday, April 20 at 3:15 pm for the initiation of construction of a new 117,000 square foot building housing the manufacturing and warehouse operations of Thompson Creek Window Company at 8300 Pennsylvania Avenue in the Upper Marlboro section of Prince George’s County, Maryland. The $20 million project is being undertaken by Chesapeake Real Estate Group, a locally-based commercial real estate and development company, on the site of the existing Murry’s Steaks facility adjacent to Exit 4 of the Capital Beltway.
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, as well as officials from Prince George’s County, Maryland, Thompson Creek Window Company and Chesapeake Real Estate Group will participate in the ceremony.
“By working with our partners in Prince George’s County, we are ensuring that Thompson Creek – a home-grown, family-operated Maryland company – has a new manufacturing and warehouse facility with the space needed to expand and add new jobs ,” said Governor Hogan. “Assisting companies like Thompson Creek underscores our commitment to creating a culture in Maryland where all businesses can grow and thrive.”
“When you successfully retain a corporate headquarters and manufacturing company with 400 jobs in Prince George’s County, it’s a great day to be County Executive,” said Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker. “Thompson Creek’s commitment to expand its operations and remain in Prince George’s County adds to Prince George’s success as a significant employment center. This is great news for Prince George’s County. Any state would have been fortunate to land such a major player in the home improvement industry. The fact that Thompson Creek Window Company chose to expand and remain in Prince George’s County further demonstrates the county’s ability to meet the needs of growing manufacturing businesses.”
Thompson Creek Window Company operates as a Mid-Atlantic home improvement and replacement products company. For the past thirty years, the firm has been customizing and manufacturing replacement windows, doors, gutters and siding in the residential and commercial marketplaces. In 1980, Thompson Creek began manufacturing energy efficient windows on West Street in Annapolis. They quickly outgrew that facility and in moved to a location on Thompson Creek Road in Stevensville, MD. In 2007, the company moved into a 70,000 square foot facility in Landover with a new corporate headquarters in nearby Lanham. Thompson Creek Window Company’s product mix includes replacement windows, doors, siding and a clog-free gutter system.
The $20 million includes $17 million for land acquisition and construction, and an additional $3 million for equipment and related infrastructure. Work on the new facility is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2016. The Company plans to retain its existing 330 full-time employees and hire 150 new employees for a total of 480 permanent full-time employees at its various County locations by the end of 2021.
Prince George’s County has created an Economic Development Incentive Fund (“EDI Fund”) to support job retention and attraction, economic development and redevelopment in Prince George’s County, and has offered the Company an incentive package consisting primarily of conditional loans and new jobs tax credits. To assist with the construction of the new facility, the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED) has approved a $750,000 conditional loan based on project costs and job creation.
“The building and the location are a perfect match for Thompson Creek Window Company. The new facility is just seconds from I-95 and will provide us the space we need to grow and provide new jobs in Prince George’s County. The move will be seamless, allowing us to continue deliveries to our customers throughout the region and continue our mission of creating the best customer experience in our industry. Everyone with Thompson Creek Window Company is excited to partner with Chesapeake Real Estate Group to create a state-of-the-art manufacturing, warehouse and distribution facility to meet our growth objectives,” said Rick Wuest, President, Thompson Creek Window Company.
“Thompson Creek Window Company is a recognized leader in the regional home improvement industry, and attracting a stable and extremely well-managed company to our Maryland portfolio represents a tremendous opportunity for our company,” stated James Lighthizer, Principal, Managing Partner of Chesapeake Real Estate Group. “Our team worked hand-in-hand with Thompson Creek in its comprehensive real estate search. This site offered every amenity and advantage the company required, including rapid connections to major highways and access to a talented and loyal labor market.”
Chesapeake Real Estate Group, LLC, headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, is a full-service commercial real estate operating company that includes brokerage, property management and development services. The firm currently has more than two million square feet of industrial projects planned in the Mid-Atlantic region. Notable projects include the Landover Logistics Center, Steeplechase @95 International Business Park, 8235 Patuxent Range Road and 1200 East Patapsco Avenue. For more information visit www.cregllc.com
Holmes-Tucker partners with IBM to offer Jazz lifecycle project management
LEXINGTON PARK—Holmes-Tucker International has partnered with IBM to offer naval aviation customers IBM Rational Jazz, the industry-standard lifecycle project management software.
"Jazz is one-stop shopping for managing an aircraft project from initial concept to retirement from the fleet," said Holmes-Tucker President and CEO Dorothy Hammond.
Jazz integrates a suite of software, including two critical applications from IBM's Rational Group: the Dynamic Object-Oriented Requirements System (DOORS) for requirements management and Rational Software Architecture (RSA) for enterprise architecture. Both are standard tools for the U.S. Navy's Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) in all new aircraft programs.
"It's a major step forward toward the NAVAIR vision of online, model-based systems engineering," Hammond said.
Jazz incorporates additional capabilities normally available only as separate applications, such as project timeline tracking and multiple report formats including graphical and bulleted-text slides. Jazz also can import data from Microsoft Project, Excel and other vendors' programs. All Jazz capabilities are bundled into one collaborative online platform accessible to all members of a project team no matter where they're located.
Holmes-Tucker has already installed Jazz for NAVAIR's P-8A Poseidon sub-hunter program and provides Jazz support and modifications for the UCLASS carrier-based unmanned aircraft program.
"It's imperative for a small business like ours to offer the Navy more and better services if we're going to survive the sequestration budget cuts," said Hammond, whose employees support NAVAIR at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, MD and other Navy and Marine Corps bases around the country.
As an IBM business partner, Holmes-Tucker gains a significant advantage in the competitive military contracting world, according to Adam Hammett, the company's Jazz applications manager.
"We have the full suite of Jazz software available for customer demonstrations, training and certification at our headquarters right across the street from NAVAIR at Pax River," Hammett said. "And the IBM engineers we work with are on call for immediate customer assistance."
For onsite installations, Holmes-Tucker configures the customer's server, installs the software, makes sure all components talk to each other, adds certified users' names and tailors the application to each client's requirements, including a customized dashboard. The company's Jazz package also includes administration, maintenance, training and on-call support.
Holmes-Tucker International, Inc. (www.htii.com) engineers corporate knowledge through advanced information technology and professional engineering and management services.
New, relocated and expanded businesses in Calvert Co.
New Businesses:
Affinity Insurance Group/Allstate Insurance
67 Sherry Lane, Prince Frederick
443-684-5771
The UPS Store
136 West Dares Beach Road, Prince Frederick
410-535-5292
The Mendelson Group
65 Duke St., Suite 103, Prince Frederick
301-299-6714
Expansions and Relocations:
Rexel, Inc.
1030 Prince Frederick Blvd., Prince Frederick
301-855-1050
Granados Automotive Service Center
25 Cove Point Road, Lusby
410-326-2672
Amore Hair Salon + Spa
75 Monnett Court, Suite 102, Prince Frederick
410-414-5520