Montgomery County Association of Realtors receives grant
Representatives from Trappe Borough and local Realtor associations pose under the new pergola at Rambo Park. The Montgomery County Association of Realtors received a $2,500 Placemaking grant to help fund the construction of the pergola and walkway. Shown here from left to right are: Jamie Ridge, president, Suburban Realtors Alliance; Eric Rehling, board president, Montgomery County Association of Realtors; Pat Webster, Trappe Borough Council member and Montgomery County Association of Realtors board member; Fred Schultz, former Trappe Borough Council president; and Robert Umstead, Trappe Borough Manager. BLUE BELL » The Montgomery County Association of Realtors has received a $2,500 Placemaking grant from the National Association of Realtors to help fund the construction of a pergola and walkway in Rambo Park in Trappe.
Pat Webster, a realtor and borough council member, first brought the project to the attention of the Montgomery County Association of Realtors.
The grant is intended to help realtor associations partner with others to plan, organize, implement and maintain placemaking activities in their communities. The Montgomery County Association of Realtors collaborated with Trappe Borough Council and former council member Fred Schultz on the project. The Suburban Realtors Alliance assisted in the grant application. Additional funding came from Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.
Placemaking grants are awarded to local and state realtor associations to help them and their members initiate placemaking projects in the community, like turning a parking lot into a farmer’s market or a vacant lot into a playground.
For more information about the Montgomery County Association of Realtors visit www. mcarealtors.org or call 610-2609931.
Blue Bell
TWO NEW MEMBERS APPOINTED TO THE MCCC BOARD OF TRUSTEES » The Montgomery County Commissioners recently appointed Dr. Raj Guttha of Lansdale, and David W. Kraybill of Pottstown to the Montgomery County Community College Board of Trustees.
Guttha, a senior risk, compliance, finance, information technology and change management executive, is managing partner of Guttha Global Consulting Group of New York, N.Y.
He has held senior level positions at several companies including Z&A InfoTek Inc. in Parsippany, N.J.; General Electric
Capital Corporation in Norwalk and Danbury, Conn.; McGraw-Hill Financial in New York, N.Y.; Citibank in New York, N.Y.; and J.P. Morgan Asset Management in Columbus, Ohio, among others.
Guttha also served as an associate professor of Finance at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, and as an assistant professor of Finance at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania. He holds a doctorate in economics/econometrics from Nagaruna University in India, a master’s degree in econometrics
and finance from Temple University, and master’s and bachelor’s degrees in economics and mathematics from Nagaruna University.
Kraybill is president of the Pottstown Area Health & Wellness Foundation which seeks to encourage children and families to adopt healthy habits through health promotion and education. In his 13 years as president, he has focused the Foundation on four areas including nutrition and physical activity in schools; access to primary and behavioral health care services; non-profit infrastructure and capacity building; and recreation and community economic development.
Kraybill previously served as director of development for The Commonwealth College of Pennsylvania State University, interim director of University Development for Pennsylvania State University, and president and executive director of the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Carnegie Mellon University, a certificate in Fundraising Management from the University of Indiana and a certificate from the Penn State Management Institute.
Guttha’s appointment to the Board of Trustees runs through December 2018; Kraybill’s appointment is through December 2020.