McDonald’s, 4 Gordons Corner Road, Englishtown, held its grand opening on Dec. 10 with a fresh new look, a ribbon cutting ceremony and a meet-and-greet with Ronald McDonald. To celebrate the opening of the 24-hour restaurant, McDonald’s will donate $250 to the Englishtown-Manalapan First Aid Squad and $250 to the Englishtown Police Department.
Xplosive Entertainment Company will host a party showcase from noon to 3 p.m. Jan. 19 at the Battleground Country Club, Manalapan. Explore the options in entertainment, photography, décor, invitations, food, and more for any upcoming Sweet 16 parties, and bar and bat mitzvahs. The party showcase will feature DJs, dancers, emcee talent, and entertainment by Xplosive. The culinary team at Battleground Country Club will provide a sampling of menu items. Admission is free and open to the public, Details: Michael Langsner, 732-866-1620.
Tom + Chee, a grilled cheese and tomato soup restaurant, opened its ninth store and first East Coast location at 3681 Route 9 north, Freehold Township, on Jan. 13. Since founders Corey Ward and Trew Quackenbush appeared on ABC-TV’s “Shark Tank,” they have been flooded with 12,000 franchise requests. In addition to more than 25 sandwich choices, Tom + Chee offers build-your-own options, six breads, fresh salads, three varieties of tomato soup and specials. Details: 848-222- 4731.
First Aid & CPR LLC, an off-site training company that brings the life-saving skills of cardiopulmonary resuscitation and first aid to homes, offices and organizations, has announced a partnership with HeartSine Technologies, a leader in automated external defibrillators (AEDs).
These devices offer a longer warranty of 10 years and a lower overall lifetime cost. They have integrated the defib pads and battery into one “pak” and extended the life to four years. In addition, they offer free Pad- Pak replacements if the unit is used on a sudden cardiac arrest and downloaded within 72 hours.
Their Forward Hearts program will donate in the user’s name, an AED to the nonprofit charity of the user’s choice, if the AED is used and results in a save. For more information, call 888-242-4259 or email [email protected].
In the wake of superstorm Sandy, the Ocean County Long-Term Recovery Group and the Monmouth County Long-Term Recovery Group were formed to serve as a resource for residents who were affected by the storm. OceanFirst Foundation, through its Sandy Grant Program, awarded the Ocean County Long-Term Recovery Group $100,000 and the Monmouth County Long- Term Recovery Group $88,465 to assist primary households with unmet needs.
Made possible by a one-time endowment from OceanFirst Bank in 1996, OceanFirst Foundation provides grants to organizations that meet community needs within the OceanFirst market area.
Ocean County residents interested in learning more about the Ocean County Long-Term Recovery Group may contact 732-569-3484. Monmouth County residents wishing to learn more about the Monmouth County Long-Term Recovery Group may contact 848-206-2555.
EmbroidMe, a custom embroidery and promotional products franchise, has recently opened at 520 Route 9 north, Manalapan, providing quality products and service to businesses, schools and teams, among many other organizations. The company specializes in embroidery, garment printing, custom apparel, promotional products, screen-printing and personalized gifts. Siblings and business owners Alyssa Salter and Paul Sanders have combined their backgrounds in public relations, marketing and embroidery to bring high-level customer service to the community. Details: 732-851- 6544.
Richard Isgard of Freehold has joined Surety Partners of America, Chester, as its chief legal officer, where he will direct the design and implementation of the firm’s risk management strategies and oversee its surety claims handling practices. Isgard brings more than 25 years of experience to the firm.
Surety Partners of America, an exclusive program administrator for Hudson Insurance Company, focuses on writing contract surety bonds for premier contractors throughout the country.
Wholetrition Wellness Center, 265 Route 34, Colts Neck, will host a Girls Night Out from 6:30-9 p.m. Jan. 18. The event will feature a speaker representing Ava Anderson Non-Toxic, a company that develops and produces non-toxic personal care products and focuses on providing wellness information. Attendees will learn more about the dangers of chemicals and what they can do to protect themselves and others. Karyn Annette of Reflections of Aine will offer information about the benefits of crystals, and Pure Nectar will offer samples of its juices during the lectures. Tickets are $15 and will be available at the door. Details: 732-858-1548.
The Provident Bank announced the three top prize winners and charities of its annual “Committed to Share” sweepstakes, which ran from Oct. 1 to Nov. 23. The series gave New Jersey residents the opportunity to win cash prizes and support their favorite charities.
During its eight-week run, the bank awarded $10,800 in prizes to 54 daily sweepstakes winners and their favorite charities. These winners were entered for a chance to win one of the three cash prizes awarded on Dec. 14.
The grand prize of $5,000 and its matching charitable donation went to Janet Boud of Allenhurst and the FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties, Neptune.
The first-place prize of $2,500 and matching charitable donation went to Martha Chanese of Fords and the Newarkbased G.I. Go Fund.
The second-place prize of $1,000 and matching charitable donation went to Angelina
Flanagan of Parlin and the Special Olympics of New Jersey.
Provident Bank notified the winners a week earlier that they were the three sweepstakes finalists. They attended a ceremony at the bank’s office in Iselin, where President and CEO Chris Martin announced the winners.
“We are genuinely excited to once again help those in need through the charities our participants chose to support,” Martin said.
Columbia Bank recently completed its annual corporate holiday toy/coat drive for needy children in New Jersey. The community program, coordinated by bank employees, collected more than 600 holiday gifts, gift cards and coats, which were distributed through the New Jersey Department of Children and Family Services and other local charities. Some 335 children received gifts and coats this year.
Jersey Central Power & Light has completed scheduled reliability enhancement projects for 2013 on 94 major circuits that serve more than 100,000 customers in northern and central New Jersey.
In addition, the company has completed multiple reliability inspection programs including infrared scans on nearly 400 distribution and sub-transmission lines and inspecting 284 overhead and underground circuits and nearly 34,000 utility poles.
The circuit upgrades include adding automatic reclosing devices, replacing crossarms, lightning arrestors, fuses, animal guards and spacer cable devices as needed, which is expected to help limit the frequency and duration of power outages.
The work was part of JCP&L’s overall $200 million investment in 2013 that was designed to help improve service reliability.
“These infrastructure investments are designed to enhance day-to-day service reliability now, along with maintaining our system’s capability to handle future load growth,” said James Fakult, president of JCP&L. “When combined with similar investments we made last year, JCP&L remains committed to enhancing the quality of service we provide our customers.”
Cambridge Learning Center of New Jersey, a one-on-one tutoring center that employs only licensed New Jersey boardcertified teachers, opened its newest branch in Manalapan in the Home Fashion Center, 520 Route 9 north, on Jan. 2.
The learning center specializes in SAT/ACT score improvement, as well as reading, writing and math enrichment. For more information, visit www.njcambridgelearningcenter.com.
The Capital Gains chapter of Business Network International collected new toys for a holiday donation to Toys for Tots.
BNI-Capital Gains meets at 7 a.m. every Thursday at the All Seasons Diner II, Route 9, Freehold Township. Prospective members are welcome to join the group for coffee and a business networking experience. Details: 201-259-9279.
Items for the Business Briefs may be sent via email to [email protected].