Business Community Demonstrates Support of Troops

09/08/05
Capital Flyer

By Margo Turner

As wounded servicemembers wait for flights to their final destinations in the 1,245-square-foot Maryland Room, which is located near 89th Medical Group Aeromedical Staging Flight at Malcolm Grow Medical Center, they may not know the room involved the cooperation of the 89th Airlift Wing and the business community in Prince George's County.

The Maryland Room provides wounded servicemembers with a state-of-art-technology in a comfortable setting. Servicemembers have access to telephones and Internet connections so they may contact loved ones. They watch movies and programs on a 60-inch-wide screen TV or read magazines and other printed material while seated in large, recliners. Snacks and beverages, which Fisher House provides, are also available in a small kitchen.

The Maryland Room is a project spearheaded by the Greater Prince George's Business Roundtable, a nonprofit nonpartisan business alliance of chief executives formed two years ago to improve the political, economic and community environments in Prince George's County. Thirty companies in the county, some of which are GPGBR members, volunteered labor and material for the project or gave a cash donation.

"Nothing like this has ever been done at a major military base - certainly not on Andrews," said M.H. Jim Estepp, GPGBR president and chief executive officer. "For bases to survive, they need the outside community. For the outside community to survive, they need to have a good relationship with people on the base. The Maryland Room proves this."

Prior to the renovation, the room had several pieces of old furniture and a small TV. Senior leadership on base wanted to modernize the room, Mr. Estepp said.

More was involved than merely replacing the furniture, Mr. Estepp and other GPGBR members discovered. The electrical wiring had to be replaced and architectural plans prepared, said Mr. Estepp.

Mr. Estepp approached several GPGBR members about the project. One of them was Roger Blunt, a GPGBR board of directors member and president and chief executive officer of Essex Construction in Upper Marlboro, Md.

"I volunteered Essex Construction to provide leadership to the effort," said Mr. Blunt. "Construction management is our business. I realized volunteers, who would be providing materials and labor, needed the focus and professionalism that characterizes the successful commercial efforts members of the Business Roundtable desired in this project."

Mr. Blunt assigned his son, Jonathan, Essex Construction vice president, to serve as project manager and executive-in-charge of the project. Dana Roberts, the company's project engineer assisted him.

Mr. Estepp also contacted Gary Michael, GPGBR chairman and president of The Michael Companies. Mr. Michael arranged for the furniture in the room.

"When I was approached (by Mr. Estepp) about helping to sponsor the Maryland Room, I didn't hesitate for a moment," said Mr. Michael. "The concept of having a location where a soldier goes when he or she first arrives stateside that would project a warm, friendly and welcome atmosphere, was extremely appealing to me. Many of our young men and women have sustained serious injuries in a foreign land. Returning home should be something that reassures them their efforts have not been in vain. Having seen the Maryland Room, I believe this atmosphere has been attained."

Michael J. Chiaramonte, a GPGBR board of directors member and founder and president of Southern Maryland Health Care System in Clinton, Md., was involved in the project with his father, Dr. Francis Chiaramonte, president and chairman of the board of trustees at Southern Maryland Hospital Center in Clinton. The Chiaramontes purchased the partitions and desks for the private telephone/Internet cubicles in the Maryland Room.

Michael Chiaramonte said he and his father wanted to show their support for the men and women in the armed forces.

"I applaud the brilliant leadership of Andrews, past and present, for their overall capability, but specifically for their enhanced efforts to reach out to the community and integrate more fully with the surrounding neighborhoods," he said. "I grew up in Camp Springs, so through my entire life I have been very aware of the importance of the base and the folks who work there."

The Air Force estimated the project would have cost between $130,000 and $140,000 if it had gone through the military procurement process, said Mr. Estepp. The GPGBR renovated the room with less than $50,000, with Mr. Estepp's wife, Nancy, leading the fund raising efforts.

Mr. Estepp said the Maryland Room is an example of what can be accomplished when the military and community work together for a common cause. The 89 AW, 89 MDG and GPGBR dedicated the room Sept. 8.