Maryland Land Developer wins Lifetime Achievement Award for thinking Green

Resident Recognized as Outstanding Land Developer from the Home Builders Association of Maryland for Eco-Friendly Land Development Projects in Tri-State Region

[Press Release Statement Issued Oct. 25, 2009 – Baltimore, MD]

Award Summary

Dennis Gilligan honored with Lifetime Achievement Award as Green Land Developer in Maryland

W. Dennis Gilligan, owner of Craftsmen Developers, LLC was awarded with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his excellence in community development by the Home Builder Association of Maryland at the 2009 HBAM Land Development Council Awards.

Gilligan, a Maryland resident, has worked tirelessly to produce economically and environmentally viable communities throughout the tri-state area of Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania throughout the course of his lifetime.

Greatly honored by winning the award, Gilligan says he hopes this distinguished mark of achievement is, “only for the first half of his life”; Gilligan says he is honored and hopes yet another lifetime achievement award will be won by both he and his consulting based support team for the second half of his life (before the middle of the 21st century comes).

History of HBAM Land Development Council

The Home Builders Association of Maryland, HBAM, is a membership organization comprised of home builders, residential and commercial land developers, and private real estate consultants. Each year, the organization gives outstanding community members Land Development Council Awards based on excellence in community service. There are five different types of awards given in the Award of Excellence program:

Project Awards of Excellence

Developer of the Year

Consultant of the Year

Contractor of the Year

Lifetime Achievement Award

Maryland professionals in the Land Development industry who receive awards are those whose companies offer the highest level of service both to clients and community. Any category of award is a great honor for each individual or corporation recipient.

Goals of the Land Development Council Awards

The Land Development Council Award of Excellence program offers recognition to development professionals who provide superior and creative development projects that are sensitive to the community and make appropriate use of the existing natural elements.

The LDC awards program serves three purposes: (1) To promote positive public interest in (perception of) the land development industry, (2) To recognize excellence in land development for design and quality; and, (3) To recognize outstanding contributions by companies and individuals to the land development industry.

Projects are available to all HBAM member firms in the State of Maryland, and Adams and York Counties, Pennsylvania.

W. Dennis Gilligan: Biography of Lifetime Achievement Award Winner

After graduating from the University of Maryland with a dual major in economics and urban studies, W. Dennis Gilligan worked in a management capacity for Washington Homes and Pulte Homes.

In 1983, he founded Gilligan Development Incorporated, then simply a local developer and home builder. Over a period of twenty years his company grew to a regional developer and home builder with communities throughout the Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Delaware.

In late 2004, the business was purchased by Technical Olympic USA, a publicly traded home building company based in Hollywood, Florida. Gilligan assumed a role acting as Technical Olympic’s Executive Vice President of Land Development Projects from 2004 to early 2007.

In May of 2007, Gilligan founded Craftsmen Developers, LLC with son Conor Gilligan and new partner Bob Schulz.

At the 2009 HBAM Land Development Council Awards, W. Dennis Gilligan was awarded with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his excellence in community development.

Gilligan of Craftsmen Developers Community Service

Gilligan, as a member of the Greater Maryland community devoted to public service, is the MC and sponsor host of an annual summer kick-off fundraiser known to local residents as the “Gilligan’s Island Exotic Car Show”. Sanctioned by the Ferrari Club of the Mid-Atlantic Region (www.fca-mar.com) and held to raise money for Hospice of the Chesapeake (www.hospicechesapeake.org), the special event draws hundreds of local residents to Gilligan’s private four acre waterfront estate and luxury property in Pasadena, MD.

There, guests are able to see Italian exotic cars like Lamborghini, Maserati, and Ferrari on display along with art, vintage Jaguars, new Lotus, Ducati and Moto Guzzi motorcycles, and other rare collectible automobiles and vehicles.

About Craftsmen Developers

Craftsmen Developers believes strongly that it can and will improve the environment by creating “Green Neighborhoods”. Craftsmen Developers, LLC missions in land development are fundamentally to acquire, develop and sell residential and commercial real estate properties with the benefit of the overall community in mind.

In addition to working on their own projects, the Craftsmen Developers team also provides independent consulting services to third party clients. Each day, the company focuses on keeping a commitment to adhere to the following principles and ethics:

• Green Development – creating eco-friendly land development

• Experience and maturity – offering sage wisdom to clients and acting responsibly on behalf of the entire community (neighborhood and professional)

• Maintaining existing and building new partnering relationships with like-mined clientele

• Insuring the highest level of confidentiality and professionalism with integrity

Craftsmen Developers is a green land development firm that believes “Going Green” begins with a green attitude…. simple things, like recycling paper or more complex matters like reshaping communities to minimize runoff and maximize green space.

Craftsmen Developers fosters a “Going Green” culture throughout the company in such a way that management teams help to elevate employee and contractor sensitivity towards the environment. The effects of training builders and contractors to routinely utilize new green technology whenever and wherever has a profound effect, both on workers and for the overall health of the community in which they work.

With the ultimate design goal of creating “Sustainable Communities” in mind, the company’s land development projects attempt to maximize the use of porous surfaces and limit disturbed areas. As such, their unique professional team works for the betterment of the overall atmosphere, a lifestyle plus for modern humans that keeps local wildlife protected and plant species flourishing.

Contact Information

For more information about Craftsmen Developers, LLC projects or other Lifetime Achievement Awards winners, contact the following organizations directly:

Craftsmen Developers, LLC 7524 WB&A Road, Suite 101 Glen Burnie, Maryland 21061 phone (410) 766-6565 http://www.craftsmendevelopers.com

Home Builders Association of Maryland 7127 Ambassador Road, Suite 150, Baltimore, MD 21244 phone (410) 265-7400 or (410) 265-6529 http://www.homebuilders.org

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Experts to Address the Future of Transportation, Technology and Lifestyle in the United States

Experts to Address the Future of Transportation, Technology and Lifestyle in the United States

Volkswagen Group of America lead sponsor for symposium featuring environmental, business, regulatory and academic leaders

HERNDON, Va., Aug. 14 /PRNewswire/ — Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. is the main sponsor of “Mobility 2030: Transportation Technologies & Lifestyle of the Future” organized by the German American Chamber of Commerce (GACC). At the event, which takes place in San Francisco on August 18, international experts will present future scenarios for the year 2030 in the fields of politics, energy, technology, transport and lifestyle.

Speakers will include senior executives from Volkswagen, Siemens, the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), Union of Concerned Scientists, California High Speed Rail, California Energy Commission and many others. Topics include: policy changes in California leading to global innovation, cutting-edge vehicle technology including low-carbon options, green goods movement and the future of neighborhood structures.

Experts to Address the Future of Transportation, Technology and Lifestyle in the United States

Celebrity Vacations: Hotels.com names list of Worlds Best places to stay, determined by EST

Celebrities and the international star jet set crowd are not the only people in the world who have the opportunity to travel or go away on vacation. People looking to celebrate an anniversary, to go on a honeymoon, or to simply have a relaxing pamperer get away can book rooms and suites at the very same places that so many famous people and international stars travel when they go on vacation. Here’s the comprehensive list from the folks at Hotels.com, naming thier choices for the BEST “EST” hotels in the world to stay at while on holiday, professional business trip, or extended vacation. Well, maybe making a reservation is not always quite so easy as booking a room at http://www.hotels.com can be, but hey — travel lovers can dream, can’t we?

via Celebrity Vacations: Hotels.com names list of Worlds Best places to stay, determined by EST.

Make a Passionate Statement with the Walter P. Chrysler Museum’s Brick Legacy and Adopt-a-Vehicle Programs

Make a Passionate Statement with the Walter P. Chrysler Museum's Brick Legacy and Adopt-a-Vehicle Programs

National Stop Red Light Running Week – August 2 – 8

National Stop Red Light Running Week – August 2 – 8

VIDEO: How To Disable A Cash For Clunkers Car – cash for clunkers – Jalopnik

Engine Disablement Procedures for the CARS Program

THIS PROCEDURE IS NOT TO BE USED BY THE VEHICLE OWNER

Perform the following procedure to disable the vehicle engine.

1. Obtain solution of 40% sodium silicate/60% water. (The Sodium Silicate

(SiO2/Na2O) must have a weight ratio of 3.0 or greater.)

2. Drain engine oil for environmentally appropriate disposal.

3. Install the oil drain plug.

4. Since the procedure is intended to render the engine inoperative, drive or move the

vehicle to the desired area for disablement.

5. Pour enough solution in the engine through the oil fill for the oil pump to circulate

the solution throughout the engine. Start by adding 2 quarts of the solution, which

should be sufficient in most cases.

CAUTION: Wear goggles and gloves. Appropriate protective clothing should be

worn to prevent silicate solution from coming into contact with the skin.

6. Replace the oil fill cap.

7. Start the engine.

8. Run engine at approximately 2000 rpm (for safety reasons do not operate at high

rpm) until the engine stops. (Typically the engine will operate for 3 to 7 minutes. As

the solution starts to affect engine operation, the operator will have to apply more

throttle to keep the engine at 2000 rpm.)

9. Allow the engine to cool for at least 1 hour.

10. With the battery at full charge or with auxiliary power to provide the power of a fully

charged battery, attempt to start the engine.

11. If the engine will not operate at idle, the procedure is complete.

12. If the engine will operate at idle, repeat steps 7 through 11 until the engine will no

longer idle.

13. Attach a label to the engine that legibly states the following:

This engine is from a vehicle that is part of the Car Allowance Rebate System

(CARS). It has significant internal damage caused by operating the

engine with a sodium silicate solution (liquid glass) instead of oil.

via VIDEO: How To Disable A Cash For Clunkers Car – cash for clunkers – Jalopnik.

Exotic Cars 101: What is an ‘Exotic Car’ (by definition)?

WHAT DOES THE TERM “EXOTIC” MEAN TO PEOPLE IN GENERAL — NOT JUST TO THOSE WORKING IN THE CAR BUSINESS?

The term “exotic” ALONE by definition means, in its purest form, “strikingly strange or unusual”. Concepts that can be unilaterally or bilaterally applied to appearance of an object (as an adjective used to describe a person, place, or thing) or concepts that are exotic in nature — as in a term used to describe an overall feeling evoked by an idea that lead individuals to an assessment of an object as producing a sensation of foreign or alien — are easily described as exotic.

Rooted firmly in the xenophobic desire to give name to that meaning other (with a xenophobe being a person who has a fear [phobia] of other [xeno]), the term is a working definition. Applied as a term used to both describe and classify cars (as in “exotic cars”), the stipulative definition has been used to describe vehicles that are so rare and unusual, it’s not likely the mass population will ever see one in person . 99% of the public will seldom be fortunate enough to get near one as a driver or passenger. Furthermore, chances are the average layperson won’t even know what the cars are (by brand or feature definitions and specs) if they do happen to see one at a car show or on the road.

Dealers and die hard car fans are likely to be more specific with their criteria used to define the term “exotic car” than the general public is; however, the term as a subjective. Stipulative terms tend to be defined by a person or group of people seeking to define something for discussion of a niche area. The designation “exotic car”, when used as a sorting tool, is fluid in its application. More over, the meaning of the phrase shifts from decade to decade of production (influenced by advertising marketers, cultural trends, and developing industry production) and from generation to generation. What cars seemed exotic in nature 50 years ago may be considered common by todays vehicle standards; conversely, what was once well know, if exclusive, may today become less prominent — if a car is scarce and meets several levels of criteria as an exotic car, newer models may be seen as exotic cars by younger generations with older models of the cars being classified as classics.

Read the complete article here:  Exotic Cars 101: What is an ‘Exotic Car’ (by definition)?