For those of you who appreciate the creative and proper use of the English language, see my query: What advertising phrase is the most copied, i.e. unimaginative?  I cringe every time I see an ad saying something similar to “XX Product or Service Changing the World, One Customer at a Time.”

So far about 80 marketing and communications brethren have sent in their favorite bad-ad themes (need to have a LinkedIn account to view).

linkedin.com/group…

ANNAPOLIS – CommerceFirst Bancorp/CommerceFirst Bank earned a consolidated net profit of $678,000 for the year ended December 31, 2009 compared to a net profit of $295,000 for the previous year.  Credit for the higher profit is due to demand for both commercial and industrial loans and commercial real estate loans, much of which are owner-occupied transactions with local businesses.

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EASTON – Shore Bancshares reported net income of $1.216 million for Q4 2009, a drop from the $1.951 million for the previous quarter and the $2.261 million for the year-ago period.  For all of 2009, net income was $5.4 million, a little less than half of the $11.5 million reported in 2008.  Numbers were lower in 2009 because the bank holding company took a hit with the sale and repurchase of preferred stock under the U.S. Treasury’s TARP program.

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OLNEY – Sandy Spring Bancorp/Sandy Spring Bank posted a net loss $4.4 million for Q4, more than the $3.8 million for the year-ago period.  Q4 included a provision for loan and lease losses of $21.1 million. 2009 totals were a net loss of $19.7 million, as compared to the $15.4 million for 2008.  Comments the CEO, “Looking back on 2009 and forward into 2010, we feel that this company has the underlying fundamentals and strength to weather the current economic cycle.”

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ANNAPOLIS – Annapolis Bancorp/BankAnnapolis registered net income of $381,000 for Q4 2009, an increase of $236,000 or 163% from net income of $145,000 in Q4 2008. On a sequential quarter basis, net income increased $158,000 or 71% from $223,000 reported for the three months ended September 30, 2009.

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CLARKSVILLE – Georgetown Consulting has formed Fourth Party Reverse Logistics, a firm that focuses on the environment friendly components of the supply chain for returns processing, equipment resale, asset management, equipment reuse management and recycling/hazardous waste management.  GC also acquired a stake in TBW Solutions that designs and deploys Smart Grid systems for electricity delivery.

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JESSUP – A bankruptcy judge has approved the sale of Classic Sleep Products to Classic Brands LLC, which was formed by the current management team and the company’s Chinese manufacturing partner.  With a combined $10 million in funding from JMX Capital Partners and CIT Commercial Services, the new company will couple U.S. design, engineering, sales, logistics and marketing with Chinese manufacturing.

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ANNAPOLIS – The Carlyle Group’s portfolio company ARINC has completed a digital enhancement of the nine-state flight operations radio network of PHI Air Medical Group, provider of emergency helicopter transport for hospitals and public safety agencies.  ARINC deployed digital command consoles and custom software at four sites and installed digital network hardware at 53 new and existing air-ground radio sites.

Separately, ARINC announced a contract win to provide new rail control and passenger information systems for the 77-mile Caltrain commuter rail line, serving California’s San Francisco peninsula and Santa Clara Valley.

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ORLANDO, FL – Beginning May 4, AirTran Airways will begin nonstop service between BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport and Jacksonville, Fla. with two daily nonstop flights.

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COLUMBIA – WellPoint subsidiary Resolution Health has developed 25 of the 70 measures recently endorsed by the National Quality Forum to encourage the use of electronic data to measure, report and improve the delivery of health care across the U.S.  NQF reviewed more than 200 measures currently used by private health plans to assess physician performance.

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