Our Board of Advisors

"Plans fail when there is no counsel, but with many advisers they succeed." (Proverbs 15:22)

We have invited the following list of wise, godly, and seasoned businessmen to be a part of our Advisory Board.

Paul Bender - Access Database Expert and Church Elder. Paul is semi-retired with over 30 years of technology experience in computer programming, leading design and development teams, project management and independent consulting. Paul’s teams have designed and developed multiple departmental and enterprise-wide systems for profit and non-profit organizations. His current specialty is helping organizations build or fix MS ACCESS database systems to meet their needs. Paul is a strategic business partner with SYNERGETEC Corp. He is also an elder at Central Presbyterian Church in Baltimore, MD. Paul can be reached at paulbendermail(at)gmail.com.

Elmer Bley - A Businessman's Coach, CPA, and Attorney. Elmer has over 50 years of combined experience in the accounting and legal aspects of business - from small businesses to large corporations. He has Bachelor's degree in both Accounting and Law from the Univ of Baltimore. He guides owners/managers to get into, out of, and stay in business profitably as he coaches business people to manage their business with vision and timely information so as to make wise decisions. His expertise is in financial management, corporate administration & organization, time management, and strategic planning. For 20+ years, Elmer served as the CFO and President of a real estate subsidiary of Mercantile Bank. He now serves as an independent business consultant under the name of Master Designers, Inc. Elmer can be reached at MasterDesigner(at)Comcast.net.

John Chetelat - President of Action Integrated. Action Integrated has provided design, monitoring and support services for security, communication, and entertainment systems in Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania for over 30 years. Among his greatest blessings in business are the many long-term relationships he has made and continues to enjoy with his customers and employees - many of which have grown to second generations within the same families and businesses. John has been happily married for over 25 years, dad to three young adults, and grandad to one. Led to Christ by his brother in 1980, he was discipled through the ministry of CBMC where he was trained to be a discipler of men and has had the privilege of investing 13 years with other businessmen in a study of Business by the Book. John can be reached at JohnC(at)ActionIntegrated.com.

John Cicone - Retired Businessman and Educator. John spent over 32 years with Verizon Communications in various engineering and management positions. During this time, he managed the implementation of several major telecommunications programs and was also a major player in the successful implementation of the largest modification to the telecommunications network in over 100 years. In 2001, John fulfilled a lifelong dream to enter the field of education the Dean of the Upper School for Redeemer Classical Christian School (RCCS). For nearly 4 years, he also taught Precalculus, Calculus, Computer Applications, Logic and PSAT/SAT Preparation. In addition to teaching at RCCS, John has taught at the University of Maryland Graduate School in College Park and Harford Community College. John can be reached at JohnCicone(at)Comcast.net.

Charlie Jones - Attorney with Thomas & Libowitz. Chas' practice focuses on representing individuals and families in the coordination and implementation of their long term family and business wealth transfer goals and objectives. His client base is from within and outside of Maryland and he has collaborated planning efforts with lawyers from many other states including Washington, California, Idaho, Montana, Florida, Texas, Delaware and Connecticut. Chas' practice runs the full gamut of federal estate and gift tax and the state law implications thereof. He has provided advice to clients with respect to discrete transactions and complex estate and business planning. He has been a consultant to nationally recognized firms regarding creative charitable gift planning and has been counsel to and serves on the directorate of several charities. Chas can be reached at CJones(at)tandllaw.com.

Paul Lantz - Former Regional Director for CBMC for 24 years. Now semi-retired, Paul is concentrating on developing CBMC Forums. Before joining the CBMC staff, Paul was Vice President of Services & Energy Management at R. D. Goss, Inc. This followed working as the Maintainability Engineer at HRB Singer in State College PA. He served for 6 years in the USAF Strategic Air Command as a Staff Sergeant in electronics on the B-52 and in a Precision Measurement Equipment Lab. Paul was very active in Chamber of Commerce work at State College where he served as President. He attended Central Washington College and Penn State University majoring in electrical engineering and business administration. Paul can be reached at PLantz(at)cbmc.com.

Rick Conniff - State Director, Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Rick spent 18 years in sales and sales management before being called into full-time ministry with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) in 2000. Prior to his sales career, he served seven years of active duty with the U.S. Air Force as a pilot. He continued his military service as an active reservist for 23 years until retiring as a Colonel in 2005. Rick directs the MD & DE FCA ministry which has a presence in 180 schools touching the lives of thousands of students and coaches through the platform of sports. During the summer, FCA conducts 10 local camps in the MD/DE area. Rick has a Bachelors of Science degree in General Engineering from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Rick can be reached at rconniff(at)fca.org.

Matt Paavola - Managing Attorney of Workers Comp Law Firm, LLC - A graduate of the University of Maryland School of Law, Matt began the practice of law in the Essex area in 1982. He founded his own firm in 1986. Now known as Workers Comp Law Firm, LLC, the firm concentrates in Workers' Compensation law and other personal injury law. Business law, estate law, criminal law and civil litigation are also part of the firm's practice. Matt has tried cases from Maryland's various courts of original jurisdiction to the highest appellate courts. He has also been involved in a great deal of federal litigation. Matt's greatest expertise is his trial skills in Workers' Compensation Law. He has tried well over 500 Workers' Compensation cases and appeals. Matt was a leading attorney on a 2007 case that upheld One-man, One-woman marriages in Maryland. Matt can be reached at Matt(at)MyWorkersCompLawFirm.com.

Bill Tamulonis - V.P. of Market Research, Erickson Retirement Communities. Bill has over 25 years of experience conducting market research and applying the findings to strategic marketing decisions. Topics include new site selection, advertising research, brand awareness and image, buyer behavior, customer satisfaction, and competitive analysis. Bill has extensive experience in quantitative and qualitative research techniques, predictive modeling, and geographic information systems. Prior to joining Erickson Retirement Communities in January 2006, he was Marketing Research Director at Bottom Line Connection for thirteen years. He also served Maryland National Bank and Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. in various research positions. Bill holds a Bachelors degree in Marketing and Management from the Wharton School and an MBA from Loyola College. Bill can be reached at wtamulonis(at)erickson.com.

Paul Twining - Director of Beachmont Christian Ministries. In 1974, Paul founded Beachmont Christian Ministries to serve the local churches in the Baltimore area and to reach out in a variety of ways to influence people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. This gospel outreach is accomplished with a summer day camp for children ages 4-13, a teen Bible study throughout the school year, a church softball league, fall hay rides, an Easter sunrise service, a Christmas live nativity, and a physical education program for home schooled families. Beachmont has partnered with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes in providing playing fields for the FCA Lacrosse Team and for the Maryland Saints high school football team and cheerleading squad of home schooled and private schooled young people. Beachmont has also partnered with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association in facilitating a telephone counseling center. Paul can be reached at PTTwining(at)Beachmont.org.

Chuck Whitmore - Maryland Director of CBMC . Chuck is a former Branch Manager with Crawford & Company, US Property & Casualty in Baltimore where he managed the Claims Services office in Baltimore since 1989 providing oversight to five Maryland offices as well as Wilmington, Delaware. Chuck has over 30 years of experience in claims adjusting, specializing in Commercial Property, Business Interruption, and Multiline Casualty. He has over 18 years of experience in management and supervision of Claim Specialists and Multiline Adjusters. Beginning in November of 2007, Chuck received the baton from Paul Lantz to become the new Director of CBMC Maryland. Chuck can be reached at CWhitmore(at)cbmc.com.