Business Briefs

Ocean Medical Center recently acquired a LightSpeed computed tomography (CT) system that provides highly detailed images of the human body. The scanner allows doctors to simultaneously capture multiple wafer-thin images of a patient’s anatomy within seconds. The system provides exceptionally high-resolution images that help doctors to more accurately diagnose patients than ever before.

CT exams are used when people are ill or injured, or when a doctor suspects a medical problem that is not easily detectable from a normal physical examination. The LightSpeed CT scanner noninvasively assists physicians in the diagnosis of a variety of anatomical areas including spine, head, abdomen and chest.

James F. Lowney, public information officer for the Ocean County Vocational Technical School (OCVTS), was elected president of the New Jersey School Public Relations Association at a recent meeting at the Forsgate Country Club.

The professional association provides information to school public relations practitioners and administrator, as well as sponsoring communications workshops.

Lowney joined the school district in 1997. He previously served as community relations manager at the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station, Lacey Township, and media relations manager for Jersey Central Power & Light Company. Earlier, he was a reporter and education editor for the Asbury Park Press, and a staff photographer and contributing writer for the former Newark Evening News.

A resident of Toms River, Lowney is a graduate of Seton Hall University, South Orange. He is a member and past president of the Jersey Shore Public Relations and Advertising Association.

John P. Dorrity, Ocean County Veterans Service Bureau director, has been named president of the National Association of County Veterans Service Officers (NACVSO).

Dorrity, who has worked 10 years for the county office, was named director of the Veterans Service Bureau in 2003. The national organization represents 2,500 veteran service officers across the nation.

Freeholder Gerry P. Little, liaison to the Veterans Service Bureau, said Dorrity’s honor is well deserved.

"We have more veterans than any county in New Jersey and we couldn’t ask for a better man to lead our bureau than John Dorrity," Little said. "I’m very pleased the national organization has recognized this talented man and elected him as president for the coming year."

Dorrity is a combat disabled veteran who served as a door gunner with the 162nd Assault Helicopter Company in Vietnam from 1969 to 1970. The NACVSO provides education and training for veterans services officers, as well as supporting veterans legislation. Dorrity was elected president during the organization’s 14th annual Training and Business Conference last week in Rapid City, S.D.

Teon Lee of Brick was among those who completed the eight-week program at the Entrepreneurial Training Institute at the institute’s Lakewood location. The institute recently awarded certificates to 136 students who took classes in the fall or spring at the school’s various locations throughout the state. Sponsored by the Trenton-based New Jersey Economic Development Authority and New Jersey Development Authority for Small Businesses, Minorities’ and Women’s Enterprises, whose programs are managed by the Economic Development Authority, the ETI program supports Gov. James McGreevey’s initiatives to foster the growth of small businesses, particularly enterprises that are owned by women and minorities.

The New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners will host an informal networking breakfast July 1 at Amy’s Omelette House, 444 Ocean Blvd., Long Branch. Attendees will pay for their own breakfast. For reservations and details, call (732) 370-7047.

Annemarie Schreiber, Esq., has joined the Toms River law firm of Carluccio, Leone, Dimon, Doyle & Sacks. Schreiber, who brings 13 years of legal experience to the firm, will focus on elder law, including nursing home rights, elder abuse, Medicare, Medicaid, powers of attorney, estate planning trusts and wills. She is in the process of becoming a certified registered guardian.

Schreiber graduated from Brick High School in 1981. She received a bachelor of science in consumer economics from the University of Delaware and graduated from Widner Law School, Delaware, in 1991.

EMCON Associates Inc., Brick, was recently awarded a Customized Training Grant from the state of New Jersey in the amount of $93,405. Ocean County College’s Customized Training Program worked as a partner with EMCON in obtaining the grant and will be the primary training provider under the grant.

According to EMCON Vice President of Services Kenneth J. Moritz, over the next year EMCON is seeking to grow from its current level of 70 employees to about 115 employees. The OCC-administered grant will enable EMCON to raise the overall skill levels of its staff, as well as add more employees and train them faster and more effectively. Most of the training will take place at OCC’s Center for Business Education and Training in Brick. OCC’s Brick offices are right down the street from EMCON and make it easy for employees to attend the training right after work. Training began May 4.

EMCON Associates provides services to major retail businesses throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. EMCON helps retail businesses diagnose programs with plumbing, electrical or general repair and maintenance problems and then dispatches technicians to get the store back in business as quickly as possible.

Customized Training Grants from the state of New Jersey enable companies to help their employees grow and bring new employees on board quickly. The state’s community colleges are the preferred vendors to provide training under these grants.

According to Deborah A. Robinson, di­rector of the Center for Business Educa­tion and Training at OCC, the center’s staff will help companies with all aspects of the grant application and training pro­cess, including needs assessment, train­ing topic identification, curriculum devel­opment, grant application development, computer lab and training facilities, pro­fessional instructors, and completion cer­tificates.

For information about business train­ing grants or for help with a grant appli­cation, call the Center for Business Edu­cation and Training at Ocean County Col­lege, at (732) 255-0510 or log on to www.ocean.edu.

Imagemaker Associates, Brick, a central New Jersey advertising, public relations and marketing firm, has re­cently hired Jackie Cisternino as a copy­writer in its public relations department. She will be involved in the conception, writing and editing of brochures, press re­leases, advertisements, newsletters, Web sites and feature stories, and will work closely with the agency’s diverse clientele in creating these materials.

With a bachelor’s degree in journalism and English from James Madison Uni­versity, Harrisonburg, Va., Cisternino is currently pursuing her master’s degree in corporate and public communications at Monmouth University, West Long Branch.

Cisternino was formerly a marketing associate at McMaster-Carr Supply Co. in Dayton. She was also previously a copy­writer for West Wayne Advertising in Hollywood, Fla., and First Marketing Co. in Pompano Beach, Fla., where she worked on accounts in the travel, retail banking and consumer credit industries. A native of Howell, she currently resides in Ocean Grove.

Four Point Refrigeration, Point Pleasant, earned its accreditation as a Carrier Factory Authorized Dealer. Carrier Corp. is the world’s largest manufacturer of heating, air-conditioning and refrigeration systems and equipment. It is a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp., which provides a broad range of high-technology products and support services to the aerospace and building systems industries.

For the past 40 years, Harold Johnson Sr., president of Four Point Refrigeration, has provided service to the greater Point Pleasant area. The family owned and operated company employs 21 team members and provides a wide range of services to their residential customers.