Winter 2017

HOME News Winter 2017 Newsletter

MERRITT

C E L E B R A T E S

CELEBRATING MERRITT’S 50TH ANNIVERSARY Our highly anticipated 50th anniversary celebration took place on September 16 at the B&O Railroad Museum. The event featured a pig, bull and oyster roast, live music by Stone Deaf and a DJ. Whether people were dancing, playing games or taking pictures in the photo booth, everyone had a wonderful time and it will be a night to remember! Photos from the party are available on-line via the links below. Here are just a few of the photos. https://www.flickr.com/photos/merrittproperties/albums/72157660926697788 https://www.flickr.com/photos/merrittproperties/albums/72157689281542735

M E R R I T T

50 Years

E S T . 1 9 6 7

The employee newsletter features Merritt family announcements, building information, awards and other important notices. We hope all employees will enjoy and participate. To have something included, please contact Noelle Hewitt at nhewitt@merritt-companies.com

CELEBRATING MERRITT’S 50TH ANNIVERSARY (CONTINUED...)

As part of our anniversary celebration, Merritt Spirit Week will take place the week following the holiday party, from Monday, December 11 until Friday, December 15. All participating employees will receive an anniversary scratch-off ticket, and one lucky winner will win a $500 Visa gift card! Five days = five tickets. See the schedule below: • Monday, December 11: “Merritt Monday” —wear your favorite Merritt apparel. “PJ Day” —come dressed in your most comfortable (and appropriate) nighttime attire. • Wednesday, December 13: “Workout Wednesday” — dress like you’re about to hit the closest Merritt Club! 1967” —think hippies, tie dye, platform shoes, beads, vests and more! What would you have worn when Leroy first started the company? • Friday, December 15: “Formal Friday” —the opposite of casual Friday, come dressed • Tuesday, December 12: • Thursday, December 14: “Throwback Thursday to

Prior to the party, we unveiled Merritt’s specially brewed “Handedruck” anniversary beer crafted by our customer, Jailbreak Brewing. Handedruck, German for handshake, pays tribute to Merritt’s history and our founder, Leroy Merritt. Leroy often completed deals on a handshake and that level of trust and respect carries on today. If you haven’t picked up your six-pack, stop by the office and visit the marketing department!

As a way of saying thank you for their business, our customers were treated to visits from our Anniversary Ice Cream Truck throughout the spring and summer. They also received one-of-a-kind Merritt scratch-off tickets for their participation in our Merritt logo scavenger hunt. WHY HÄNDEDRUCK? Händedruck, German for handshake, pays tribute to Merritt's history and our founder, Leroy Merritt. Leroy often completed deals on a handshake and that level of trust and respect continues at our companies today. HÄNDEDRUCK HEN DE DROOK • •

Thank you to everyone who participated in our video shoots throughout the year. We look forward to showing video footage that celebrates our anniversary at our holiday party on Saturday, December 9. A link will be shared to view all clips following the event. Remember, Leroy’s generous spirit is the greatest legacy to our company, so, Merritt will be donating $50 to a charity of each employee’s choice. Please confirm your charity has 501c3 status before submitting your selection. Don’t have a charity in mind? No problem! We proudly support a variety of organizations and would be happy to help you make a decision. The deadline to participate is December 15.

in your fanciest clothes. (This was Scott’s idea!)

To receive your scratch-off ticket, stop by the marketing department or submit photos via email to:

mark your calendar Merritt Holiday Party, Saturday, December 9 Office Closed, Monday, December 25

marketing@merrittproperties.com

PLEASE WELCOME OUR NEWEST MERRITT FAMILY MEMBERS NEW FACES AROUND MERRITT

Michele Anderson joined as an administrator for Customer Service team. She attended East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics with a minor in business administration. Previously serving as an administrative assistant at Lassen

Derrick Lucas joined us as a service technician for our Loudoun Customer Service team. He has been working with Merritt this summer through Baltimore’s YouthWorks program, and we are happy to welcome him to Merritt on a permanent basis! Prior to working with Merritt, Derrick worked for CDL and Sons

Marine &Webster, Inc. and a manager and server at Broom’s BloomDairy, Michele has over 10 years combined experience in customer service. Kelly Cullison also joined our Customer Service team as an administrator. She comes to us fromBrightStar Healthcare where she served as a recruiter and human resources manager since 2016. Kelly has experience in childcare, administration and customer service. She graduated Cum Laude from UMBC with a bachelor’s degree in health administration and policy program. We are pleased to welcome back Remy Merritt ! Remy graduated in May from the Robert H. Smith Business School at the University of Maryland with a bachelor’s degree in finance. She interned with Merritt last summer, and she has now joined us on a permanent basis. Primarily, she will be working with the construction department but will also be working with the leasing and accounting departments.

Construction where he acquired four years of experience in construction and repair work. He also spent time working for the non-profit organization Sisters Saving the City’s S.T.E.M. program where he built robots as well as acting as a helper and spokesperson.

Christine Stickel joined the Leasing team as a lease coordinator. Prior to coming aboard, Christine worked with DavCo for 25 years in various positions. Most recently she served as assistant director of Lease Administration and Real Estate. Christine is a longtime volunteer at the Baltimore Animal Care

and Rescue Shelter (BARCS) and has been volunteering her time there for ten years! She is also an avid Ravens fan and tailgates every home game with BARCS dogs to raise awareness and fund-raise.

Paul Cobb joined our HVAC team. He comes to us from Fresh Air Concepts where was an HVAC and service technician since 2012. Along with HVAC duties, Paul also has experience in electric, plumbing and duct work.

Travis Mohlhenrich joined our Customer Service team as a customer service technician. Travis has a decade of experience in welding/steel work and most recently served as a welder/crew leader for Harvest RGI in Woodbine. He began his career in the US Navy where he became a certified welder. In his

Welcome

spare time, Travis likes to give back to the community by volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, the Star Spangled Spectacular at Fort McHenry, providing roof repairs for a Veterans facility in Westminster, and coaching high school and youth wrestling programs.

Jeremy Parsons joined our Customer Service team. Jeremy comes to us from DHL/Clorox and Kohl’s where he has served as an equipment/forklift operator. He has spent time studying psychology and electrical engineering and has also studied logistics at the Naval Technical Training Center. Jeremy is excited to join the Merritt team and to rise to all challenges that come his way! PLEASE WELCOME OUR NEWEST MERRITT FAMILY MEMBERS NEW FACES AROUND MERRITT (CONTINUED...)

Brady Ray joined our Customer Service team as our newest HVAC technician. He comes to Merritt from Francis J Paxton Co. where he served as an HVAC technician for the past year. Prior to that Brady spent several years as a shift supervisor with Rite Aid Pharmacy and performed general warehouse work

with Amazon.

TO SHAELYN MULLANEY & LIZ TARRAN-JONES CONGRATULATIONS

Shaelyn was named a “40 Under 40” winner by the Loudoun-Times Mirror for making noteworthy contributions to Loudoun’s business community. She was honored at an awards ceremony in September. Liz was named one of “Maryland’s Finest” by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation for her contributions to the foundation and community, as well as her professional success. On November 15, Liz was honored by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation at a special event recognizing outstanding young professionals in the Maryland community.

Over the summer, five teams designed and built innovative benches from recycled materials. Winning criteria was based on creativity, appearance, functionality and the use of recycled materials. Although the competition was fierce, the team of Jamie Campbell, Joe Campbell, Nikkole Watson, Michele Anderson and Tejas Dhami was crowned victorious! The team used pressure-treated lumber for Merritt “M” legs and found threads and bolts fromHollins Ferry Road scraps. Light oak was repurposed from Craters & Fraters, and the dark walnut for the back of the bench was supplied from the Merritt office remodel in 2001. Paint was donated by PPG and the bench seat came from the ceiling of a Kensington Glass job. The armrest and the mansard wood came from the Ulman Cancer job and wood burning was donated by J.O. Spice. Congratulations to all challenge participants! BENCH BUILDING CHALLENGE MERRITT GREEN TEAM

Winning Bench

CORPORATE PASSES & TICKETS Merritt’s corporate passes include the National Aquarium, Maryland Science Center, Maryland Zoo, Maryland State Parks, Baltimore Orioles, Baltimore Blast, and Roundtop/Liberty/Whitetail ski tickets. Passes are available on a first- come, first-served basis. Kindly remember to return the passes as soon as possible so other employees and their families can enjoy. Please contact Kristen Ketner if you are interested in reserving any of Merritt’s corporate passes.

MERRITT HOLIDAY PARTY M&T BANK STADIUM

Please plan to join us for Merritt’s annual holiday party which will be held at M&T Bank Stadium on Saturday, December 9 from 8-12 p.m. Back by popular demand, the band Kanye Twitty will be returning. From 8:00-8:30 we will view clips fromMerritt’s anniversary video. The event is casual and, in lieu of dinner, will feature plenty of tailgate-style appetizers and desserts.

MERRITT’S GROWING FAMILY Liz Davies (Design) and husband Brian welcomed their first child, Charlotte Rae Davies, on July 24.

Juan Colin (IT) and wife Norma welcomed their second daughter, Aurora Elizabeth, on August 13.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! 12/1 Willie Fairbank 12/4 Dordy Fairbank 12/5 Ray Campbell 12/9 Dana Adkins 12/10 Noelle Hewitt 12/12 Mi Bruno 12/12 Ethel Rukenbrod 12/17 Cody Fenzel 12/24 Keith Niepokoj 12/27 Katherine Devaney 1/01 Tammy Nagel 1/07 Derrick Lucas 1/10 Dan Pallace 1/13 Clarence Lowery 1/15 Jimmy Smith 1/16 Michael Lopata 1/21 Andy Mccauley 1/21 Anthony Watson 1/24 Elbert Hankins 1/25 Laura Hoke 1/26 Joseph Rotolone

Charlotte Rae

Aurora with her big sister Lidia

John Mossgrove (VA Construction), his wife Jenny, and big brothers Jackson and Cooper welcomed Finnegan Owen on August 30.

Jason Blotzer (Construction) and his wife Megan, welcomed their first child, Delaney Grace, on October 12.

Delaney

Finnegan

Jimmy Walters III (Construction) and his wife, Ermelia, welcomed their first daughter, Abigail Claire, on September 22.

Chris Davis (Customer Service) and his wife, Amy, welcomed their first child, Charleigh Elizabeth, on November 1.

1/28 Sharon King 1/28 Missy Teague 1/30 Bob Arnstein

Abigail

Charleigh

MERRITT ACQUIRED 100 WEST ROAD LEASING UPDATE

In August, Merritt purchased the 121,414-square-foot office building at 100 West Road in Towson. The Class A, five-story building is LEED-EB Gold certified. Merritt acquired the building at 100% occupancy, and current tenants include Comcast, Robert W. Baird & Company, Regus and Liberty Mutual, among others. 100 West Road building amenities include an expansive atrium, open-air balconies, free surface parking, a conference center, an on-site café and a fitness center. We enjoyed welcoming them to the Merritt family with an ice cream social. Merritt Properties signed Deli Brands of America, the processing subsidiary of Saval Foods Corporation, to a 19,000-square-foot industrial-warehouse lease at 1705 Twin Springs Road. Under construction, 1705 Twin Springs Road will be a single-story, 42,000-square-foot building, providing 20 to 24-foot clear heights, docks and load-in doors, open floorplans and free surface parking. The new facility will support the customer’s current operations, specifically the production and distribution of deli meats, entrees and custom-cut steaks, once construction is completed. 1715 Twin Springs Road, a second, new development, is also being constructed at Beltway Business Park and will be completed in 2018. The building will offer 33,000 square feet of warehouse space. United Brokerage Packaging, a packing material supplier, represents the first tenant to sign a lease at Merritt I-66 Business Park. They will occupy 34,266 square feet of the 97,200-square-foot building. The company has served the moving and storage industry, as well as manufacturers varying from food products to light automotive, for over 50 years. They specialize in corrugated packaging, tapes, poly protection films and bubble, all forms of plastic packaging, returnable bins and many forms for paper dunnage. They will occupy the space come February 2018.

SAVAL FOODS

UNITED BROKERAGE PACKAGING

In an effort to better connect all Merritt Companies’ employees, members of our construction teammoved into a temporary space, considered Phase I of an expansion, so that Merritt Clubs could move offices to a more centralized area in July. The work encompasses the interior build out of the Clubs’ warehouse space, a connection to the existing offices and the reconfiguration of the construction and land development space, with the goal of unifying the entire construction group. The renovation offers an open structure with connections to the existing office mezzanine. Overhead doors at the front of the bay and a glass-paneled conference room maximizes light in the space. We look forward to sharing photos of the final product in our next newsletter. MERRITT OFFICE RENOVATIONS NEXT NEWSLETTER Do you have something you would like to include in the next employee newsletter? If so, please email the information to Noelle Hewitt (nhewitt@merritt-companies.com). We’d love to hear about your family vacations, charity events, or just fun stories about customers or employees. Spouses, if you would like to receive an electronic version of the newsletter and be included in Merritt email announcements please send your email address to Kristen Ketner (kketner@merritt-companies.com).

MERRITT CONSTRUCTION SERVICES SPOTLIGHT

THE POINT

A 64,000-square-foot project, this marks the second location for The Point, a casual restaurant and bar offering American food with a twist. The restaurant, located in Towson at 523 York Road, has a main bar with 11 televisions and communal high-top tables, a craft beer and cocktail bar, rear dining area, an exposed kitchen and a patio area. A modern-industrial interior features exposed beams, brick, timber and duct work, and garage doors and windows open to the outside on nice days. Due to the property’s original condition, Merritt Construction Services had to complete extensive structural and cosmetic repair and install new electrical, plumbing and mechanical systems. As the client shared, “Merritt did a great job assessing everything and ended up replacing 90% of the restaurant. Hardly anything was salvageable, and I knew they could handle the amount of work this project required.” Due to general club overcrowding and a constrained parking lot, Merritt recognized the need for an expansion. Led by Josh Asbury, Patrick Huhra, Bryan Cornell and Craig Flowers, the team began construction on an eight-story parking garage and club expansion in January 2017. The 20,000-square-foot, first-floor club expansion includes a lap pool, new children’s area, bar and café, signature indoor/outdoor turf area for training purposes and additional cardio space. The second through the seventh floor features parking for members, 1st Mariner Bank employees and general, pay-per-hour parking. The eighth floor will feature two rooftop pools, a spa, a full-service bar and kitchen area and cabana and lounge areas. The parking garage will open in February 2018 and the rooftop pool will open in May. CANTON MERRITT CLUB

Merritt Construction Services plans to begin work on the $20 million ION International Training Center in Leesburg. The 100,000-square-foot facility will serve as the region’s newest and largest ice complex, featuring twin ice rinks — one of which will be encircled by 3,500 to 4,200 seats — and a floor that can be converted for non-skating events. For some dry events, including concerts, the capacity will top out at around 5,500. This tilt-up project is expected to be complete by summer 2018. WORK BEGINS IN LEESBURG ION SKATING TRAINING CENTER

OUR CUSTOMERS ARE OUR PRIORITY CUSTOMER SERVICE

MERRITT EMPLOYEES OUT AND ABOUT

If you are new to Merritt, you may have never heard “The Plunger Story”. It’s a perfect example of Merritt’s commitment to our customers, so we’re sharing it here.

Working late one Friday evening, Leroy answered the phone to hear a panicked female voice on the other end frantically explaining that an office toilet was overflowing, there was water all over the floor, and she had to leave to pick up her daughter. Rather than call a customer service representative, Leroy quickly grabbed a plunger, threw it in

KUDOS: “I cannot begin to tell you how much we appreciated the opportunity to showcase Merritt Properties and hold the party of the century at your location. Calvin was an absolute gem! He and his teamwent above and beyond to make the event a success. I cannot begin to thank them enough. If you have any ideas of something we can do to recognize them, we would love to do so. The customer service attitude was wonderful! If Merritt treats people this well who aren’t even paying tenants, I can’t imagine what it would be like on a daily basis. If I could break my lease, I would move into the property!” Tamera Rush, TENAX Technologies “Here’s how my day played…. I arrived early for a conference call. Flying up the stairs in my haste I dropped my keys, which fell between the staircase and wall. Much to my surprise they were nowhere to be found… Ughhh.. I quickly called Merritt and put in a service call! Much to my surprise when I finished my early morning conference call my keys were rescued. Elbert saved the day for me. He actually went above and beyond by cutting an access panel into an enclosed wall. I was able to go down and thank him personally, but also felt strongly about contacting Merritt Customer Service to convey how PLEASED I am with their customer service not only today, but ALWAYS. A special thanks to Elbert for being my hero today. (plus the husband thanks him too…)! Elbert and Dave have been working with me personally for years and again, I cannot thank the Customer Service Department enough for always acting quickly with building maintenance, parking complaints, and so on….. The entire team is one that I can always count on! A huge THANK YOU!” Deborah A. Onheiser, Med-IQ “Merritt has been great since the day I started dealing with you guys. In all of the buildouts and moves… I have not encountered one person with a bad attitude. Your company is truly made up of its people and it shows.” Darrell Grant, Agensys Corporation the back seat of his Mercedes and drove straight to her address. It’s doubtful the customer ever realized that it was Leroy Merritt who came to her rescue. But it was clear to her that at Merritt, she was a priority.

Mike, Kristie, Dordy and Pat participated in the 6 th Annual Back River Restoration Committee Golf Tournament to support cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay.

The Merritt CORE team invited employees to go out into the field to check out some “special events”. The first special event was at the Canton Garage project where they climbed the tower crane to get a better view from above.