BizBeat: Impressions Beauty & Bridal opens, Choptank Fiber grant, Armstrong award, R Brooks Mechanical acquired

Impressions Beauty & Bridal celebrated its grand opening Friday at the new location, 10 South Main St. in North East.

Charlene McGonigle, owner of the salon and bridal services center was surrounded by her employees and members of the North East Chamber of Commerce as she cut the ribbon. Under one roof she has four stylists, a salon coordinator and a wedding coordinator for bridal parties.

“We can do facials, mani-pedis, hair color, and cuts for all ages...and hair extensions,” she said, adding “But bridal is our specialty.”

Anyone needing an appointment or consult can contact Impressions Beauty & Bridal any time by calling 410-287-COMB (2662) or check out the Facebook page.

•••

The Rising Sun branch of APGFCU has re-opened its lobby effective Aug. 1. In an email Friday the credit union, which also has branches in Chesapeake City, Elkton, North East and at Cecil College, thanked members that use the Rising Sun Towne Center branch for their patience.

The lobby of the Rising Sun branch had been closed since January. Beginning Aug. 1 the branch will be open Monday through Thursday 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., until 6 p.m. on Fridays and from 9-1 on Saturdays.

•••

Perryville Outreach Program is collecting back-to-school supplies for its members throughout August.

Businesses are invited to host collection drives. Danielle Hemling, director of the program for school aged children in Perryville, said what’s most needed is soft pencil cases, composition books, pocket folders, one inch binders, and filler packs of notebook paper and graph paper.

Donations can be dropped off Monday through Friday at the OP, 418 Elm St. or at the Perryville Police Department, 2 Perryville Town Center Drive.

•••

Choptank Fiber and its parent company, Choptank Electric Cooperative, have been awarded more than $23 million through Maryland’s Network Infrastructure & Neighborhood Connect FY 2022 program to expand and improve broadband service in Cecil County as well as Caroline and Somerset counties.

“When we created the broadband affiliate, we expected our buildout to take much longer,” explained Mike Malandro, President and CEO. “Financial support from government partners at the state and local level and our ability to leverage those funds is allowing us to move much faster.”

There are 329 unserved homes in Cecil County in the southern part of the county for its partnership with Choptank. Construction is already underway with new homes coming online weekly.

•••

Armstrong, which provides cable, telephone and internet service to western Cecil, southern Chester and northern Harford counties, has been named 2022 Independent Cable Operator of the Year by Cablefax Magazine.

In announcing the award, its second in 14 years, Armstrong said it was chosen based on customer satisfaction, deployment of the latest technology, efforts to work with governments to serve underserved areas and community involvement.

“Armstrong has set the standard during a challenging time for the entire country,” said Amy Maclean, Editorial Director of Cablefax. “The company continues to serve its customers and communities with outstanding service, while being a leader in deploying 10G technology and helping to bridge the digital divide.”

•••

R Brooks Mechanical Heating and Air Conditioning in Rising Sun and Kennett Square has been acquired by Flow Service Partners, based in Bethesda, Md.

Rich Brooks, President of R Brooks, called this a partnership and a ‘transformational growth opportunity.’”

“We are thrilled to partner with Flow, RLJ and LPFC and believe that this combination will be highly beneficial to our customers, employees, and communities that we serve,” Brooks said.

The acquisition signals an expansion of Flow into Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania. Terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.

R Brooks was founded in 2001. The company is the fourth acquisition made by Flow.

“This partnership will grow our service capabilities and allows us to provide outstanding quality and customer service to existing Flow and R Brooks customers,” said Thomas Ince, Managing Director at LP First Capital.

•••

There has yet to be a winner in Cecil County of the Champions of Maryland Manufacturing Award hosted by the Regional Manufacturing Institute of Maryland.

There is no cost to enter. Go to https://rmiofmaryland.com/rmis-2022-champions-of-maryland-manufacturing/. Categories are Women in Manufacturing, Community Engagement, Innovation, International Trade, Workforce, Energy Efficiency and Sustainability and Diversity and Inclusion.

The deadline to submit a story is Sept. 23. All stories will be included in the Online 2022 Champions Directory but the winners will be announced Nov. 17 at Martin’s West in Baltimore.

•••

The Cream Bean, 1974 West Pulaski Highway in Elkton is collecting gently loved children’s books for Cecil County elementary school libraries this month. When you drop off that book you will get a free ice cream cone.

The Books for Ice Cream! campaign ends Aug. 31. Contact Coryn Combs for more information, 1-806-881-5420.

•••

Boundary Ventures LLC, a Wilmington, Del. company, has purchased four self storage properties in Cecil County for $18.8 million dollars.

MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate Services brokered the deal on behalf of Acorn Investment Company, based in Elkton.

Storage properties in the sale are located at 804 East Pulaski Highway, 1089 Augustine Herman Highway, and 4 Coachman Drive in Elkton and 1882 West Pulaski Highway in North East.

All four storage properties combined have 883 units and more than 125,000 square feet of space.

Business Beat is a weekly column on business happenings in and around Cecil County. If interested in having your business featured in this column, contact Jane Bellmyer at jbellmyer@cecilwhig.com or 443-245-5007.