Donald B. Perry Jr., of Tradewinds Heating and Cooling, Brick, has earned certification from North American Technician Excellence (NATE) as a Service Technician and Installer for Heat Pumps and Air Conditioning equipment and systems. NATE is an independent, third-party organization that develops and promotes excellence in the installation and service of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration equipment by recognizing high-quality industry technicians through voluntary testing and certification.
Perry, a resident of Lakewood, is the service manager for Tradewinds Heating and Cooling. He has six years of experience working in the Heating Venting Air Conditioning and Refrigeration (HVACR) field and will be graduating from a four year HVACR program at Ocean County Vocational Technical School this spring.
The Howell Chamber of Commerce announced that the following events will be taking place:
• March 31, 5:30-7:30 p.m., networking event at the One Stop Center, 6843 Route 9 North (next to Regent Diner), co-sponsored by Angelo’s Brick Oven Pizza Cafe in Freehold.
• April 11, 5:30-7:30 p.m., networking event at Joseph Alexander Hair Salon, 5012 Route 9 south, Howell.
• April 27, Professional Assistance Day at Our House Restaurant in Howell from noon to 2 p.m.; $25 per person.
• May 5, 6:35 p.m., Howell Night at First Energy Park, Home of the Lakewood BlueClaws, 2 Stadium Way, Lakewood.
• May 19, 7:45 a.m., breakfast at Scooters; state Sen. Robert Singer will be the speaker.
• June 4, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Cowboy Adventure at Curry Farms, 177 Georgia Tavern Road — a fund-raiser for the Howell First Aid Squad.
All networking events are $7 per person or two for $10. The charge for breakfast is $15, lunch is $20, and dinner is $25. Nonmembers will be charged an additional $5. Details: (732) 363-4114.
The Eye Center at Jackson, 260 North Countyline Road in the Jackson ShopRite Plaza, will host “Colored Contact Lens Night” March 24 from 4-7 p.m. The event will provide an opportunity for people to try on trial colored contact lenses at no charge to see how they look. Details: (732) 730-EYES.
Mordy Schreiber, owner of Town Appliance in Lakewood, announced the start-up of a Lakewood-based Mr. Appliance franchise, a full-service appliance repair company that provides repair services, both residential and commercial, on all major brand appliances.
Mr. Appliance installs and services all makes and models, including General Electric, Whirlpool, Maytag, Kitchen Aid, Subzero, Amana, Bosch, Wolf and others.
Schreiber said that for more than 30 years he has been providing customers with appliances, and now will be able to offer customers repairs and installations with the Mr. Appliance franchise.
Doug Rogers, vice president of operations for Mr. Appliance, said that Schreiber will receive the support of Mr. Appliance’s corporate office to help grow the business and serve more customers.
The Lakewood-based Mr. Appliance will serve the counties of Ocean and Monmouth, concentrating primarily on Lakewood, Howell, Brick, Toms River and Jackson.
Mon-Oc Federal Credit Union is offering students of Monmouth and Ocean counties a different way to save money. For every “A” a child earns, Mon-Oc will deposit $1 in a student’s Mon-Oc savings account. The program is called “Dollars for A’s,” and it’s available to Monmouth and Ocean County school students up to grade 12. Parents can bring their child’s most current official report card into any Mon-Oc branch until July 1. Details: (800) MONOC-95.
CentraState Medical Center, Freehold Township, announced that it now provides comprehensive speech therapy services on an outpatient basis. The outpatient services for communication and swallowing disorders are available to patients age 15 and older with speech, language, voice, swallowing and/or cognitive-linguistic deficits. For more information on Centra-State’s outpatient services for communication and swallowing disorders, call (732) 294-2705.
Gellman Images, Howell, was chosen to photograph the front cover of George Taber’s “Guide to Financing and Growing Your Business in New Jersey.” The publication was released to 58,000 financial leaders in New Jersey.
Grape Beginnings Wine School, 54 W. Main St., Freehold, is a winemaking center that teaches people the art and science of winemaking. The entire process takes about nine months. Grape Begin-nings is getting ready for grapes to arrive from Chile and to start the new crush season. Grape Beginnings will host its annual barrel sampling party on April 2 from 5-8 p.m. Guests will be able to sample wines from barrels currently being produced. Anyone who is interested in making wine may call and reserve grapes. For more information call (732) 431-3313, (732) 586-3572, (732) 618-8308.
The Jersey Shore Public Relations and Advertising Association will meet at 11:30 a.m. April 1 at Palumbo’s Restaur-ant, Tinton Falls. Tom DeSanto, executive vice president of creative services for Aloysius, Butler & Clark, will discuss the future of health care marketing.
DeSanto has more than 20 years of experience in health care marketing as a copywriter, creative director and strategist, working with hospitals, health systems, insurers and other health care organizations. The cost is $25 for members and $30 for nonmembers if reserved before March 29, and $35 thereafter. Registration for the event can be completed online at www.jspraa.com. Details: (732) 842-3311.
Commerce Bank, Cherry Hill, recently named Stephanie L. Hadam as vice president, commercial real estate lending. She will develop customized real estate lending solutions for commercial real estate clients throughout Monmouth and Ocean counties.
A resident of North Long Branch, Hadam has more than 16 years of real estate lending experience and most recently served as an executive vice president at Progress Realty Advisors. She is a member of the Long Branch Planning Board, the New Jersey Apartment Association, and the Building Industry Association of New York City. She received her master of business administration degree from Mon-mouth University, West Long Branch. Commerce Bank has a local branch in Howell.