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Bonita Community Health Center achieved accreditation by the American Association for Ambulatory Health Care.

Florida Gulf Coast University’s Institute for Entrepreneurship presented students Kylee Snyder and Michael Brinkman with EaglePlan business plan awards, and Jeremy Croteau with its EagleBiz business operations award.

The Florida Institute of Government at FGCU won a contract from the state Association of Supervisors of Elections to develop a program to certify supervisors of elections and their staffs.

Collier Building Industry Assoc-iation 2007 Parade of Homes award winners included Bordeaux Homes, with four gold and four platinum awards; and Harbourside Custom Homes and London Bay Homes, with two silver awards each.

Cypress Cove retirement community was the first in Florida to gain person-centered, long-term care accreditation from the Continuing Care Commission.

Jeanne L. Seewald, a partner in the Naples office of Hahn Loeser & Parks, received board certification by the Florida Bar in Intellectual Property Law.

Mary Beth Crawford, a principal and attorney with Cummings & Lockwood, Bonita Springs, is now president of the board of directors of the David Lawrence Center. New board members are Edward Sheridan, clinical psychologist; Pablo X. Veintimilla, executive vice president and chief financial officer for Hillcrest Bank of Florida, Naples; and Leila Anderson, human resources director for Architectural Network, Naples.

The Community Health Association, Fort Myers, donated $11,000 to the United Way of Lee, Glades and Hendry Counties.

The Hilton Naples and Crowne Plaza Hotel at Bell Tower Shops earned green lodging certification from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection Services.

The Florida Association of Insurance Agents appointed John M. Pollock, president of Oswald, Trippe and Company, to its board of directors.

Dunbar High School is the first in the country to offer Microsoft Technical and Business Certifications to all of its students.

Eye Centers of Florida won an award for Excellence in Employee Development from the area chapter of the American Society for Training and Development.

The Urban Land Institute’s area council named Debrah Forester, redevelopment manager of Charlotte County, as chair of its executive committee on green development.

HSA Engineers and Scientists, Fort Myers, was named one of the annual ZweigWhite newsletter’s 200 fastest-growing architectural, engineering and environmental consulting firms, as well as one of Inc. magazine’s 5,000 fastest-growing private firms in the country.

Real Trends magazine listed John R. Wood Realtors 108th in sales among the top 500 residential real estate brokers nationwide.

Marcia Hobe, senior vice president of U.S. Trust, Private Wealth Management, was named chairman of the Junior Achievement of Southwest Florida advisory board. Vice chairman is Ed Ryan, director of development, Bishop Verot High School. Other new board members are Debra Quade, Merrill Lynch; Scott Robertson, Cushman & Wakefield of Florida; Laurel Smith, Gravina, Smith & Matte; Bud Stephens, Hope Hospice; Grover Whidden, Florida Power & Light; and Ginny Yates, Markham Norton Mosteller Wright & Co. Also, a golf tournament at the Estuary at Grey Oaks raised more than $84,000 for Junior Achievement.

Scott Koenig, first vice president and commercial lending team leader of Colonial Bank in Lee and Collier counties, was named president of the Lee County Boys & Girls Club.

Dennis Gilkey, CEO of Gilkey Organization, spoke at the Florida Earth Foundation’s South Florida Land Use Initiative Forum at Edison College, Naples.

The Southeast Tourism Society chose the Charlotte Harbor Kayak & Wildlife Festival as a "Top 20 Event in the Southeast" for April.

Nearly $375,000 was raised at the annual American Heart Association Start! Heart Walk in Centennial Park, Fort Myers. Also, the Lee County AHA donated nearly $13,000 to the Sheriff’s Office for automated external defibrillators for first-responder vehicles.

The Women’s Council of Realtors Fort Myers Chapter named the following as 2007 award winners: Joanne Chando, Business Woman of the Year; Connie Gustafson, Member of the Year; Barbara Holzinger, Affiliate of the Year; Darlene Carrillo, Rising Star. Presidential Award recipients are Donna Guido, Bill Jurek and Linda Carpenter. State award recipients for the year were Cynthia Shafer, State Member of the Year; Bill Jurek, State Affiliate of the Year; and Donna Guido, State Rising Star.

Kelley Geraghty Price, a director in Cohen & Grigsby’s litigation practice group, is included in the Super Lawyers – Corporate Counsel Edition guidebook.

Reg Buxton, associate publisher of the Naples Journal, and Jason Korn, managing partner of Cohen & Grigsby law firm, were named president and president-elect, respectively, of the United Way of Collier County.

Carla Bonten, owner of real estate and auction firms in Bonita Springs, was appointed a division board member of the Children’s Home Society of Florida.

The United Arts Council of Collier County appointed as board members Andrea Clark Brown, Brown Poorman Architects; Jane Borchers, artist and art teacher; Pat Antonetti, Fort Pitt Capital Group; and Jonathan Kukk, Kukk Architecture & Design.

Five programs conducted by Collier County’s communication and customer relations department each won 2007 Florida Government Communicators Association Awards.

Cape Coral Housing Development Corp. received a $10,000 donation from the Wachovia Foundation for its educational efforts and $8,000 from Cape Coral Community Foundation for its foreclosure-prevention program.

Jon C. Cecil, chief human resources officer, Lee Memorial Health System, became a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Three Marco Island residents received 2007 honors for contributions to the community: Craig Woodward, Naples Daily News Citizen of the Year; Judy Perez, Marco Eagle Volunteer of the Year; and Pat Neale, Marco Island Area Chamber of Commerce Lifetime Achievement Award.

The area chapter of the American Society for Training and Development, Fort Myers, elected as board members Geri McArdle, Carole Kaptur, Mike Fischer, Daralene Jones, David Jaffe, Charles Ingram, Nancy Smith, Chris Jones, Jim Jacoby, Lorna Kibbey and Jody Pugh.

David Bankston, executive vice president of Neighborhood America, was named a 2008 Modern-Day Technology Leader by U.S. Black Engineer & Information Technology magazine.

Old Corkscrew Golf Club, Estero, was named the National Golf Course Owners Association 2008 Florida Course of the Year, and one of America’s Best New Courses by Golf Digest magazine.

2007 Bonita Springs-Estero Association of Realtors award winners were Penny Hook, Focus Real Estate; David Morton, John R. Wood Realtors; Rod Mease, Premier Properties of SW Florida; and Sherry Gilliam-Shirk, First Title of Southwest Florida. Also, the association donated $9,000 to Habitat for Humanity.

J.L. Wallace Inc. donated a van to Bahamas Methodist Habitat to aid construction on the islands.
The Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International presented NOISE Branding Communications, Sanibel, four Adrian Awards for marketing campaigns for ’Tween Waters Inn and Florida Repertory Theatre.

Gregory Sorce, partner of HBK Sorce Financial, Naples, earned a Master of Science in Financial Services degree from the Richard D. Irwin Graduate School of the American College, Bryn Mawr, Pa.

Sonya Shaheen was named Sales Associate of the Year for 2007 by Grey Oaks Realty, the agency for Grey Oaks and Estuary golf club community, Naples.

Innova Robotics & Automation appointed Charles House, senior research scholar at Stanford Univer-sity, as chairman of the board. Its subsidiary, CoroWare, expanded distribution of its CoroBot mobile robots via an agreement with RoadNarrows.

Norman Love Confections’ chocolates were featured in The Humble Stumble cartoon, by Roy Schneider of Fort Myers, which appeared in newspapers nationwide. Also, Norman Love was a judge for a dessert chef contest that aired on the Food Network.

Frank Bell, general superintendent for Charlotte County operations of Owen-Ames-Kimball, was appointed to the Enterprise Charlotte advisory board by the Board of County Commissioners.

Jon and Sonja Laidig donated $1.5 million to the Marco Island Historical Society toward building a museum adjacent to the Marco Library.

The Hispanic Affairs Advisory Board of Lee County inducted Rev. Robert Selle of Amigos Center, Bonita Springs, into its Hall of Fame for his contributions to the Hispanic community.

For the third year in a row, Orion Bancorp was judged the state’s top performing community bank by securities and investment firm Allen C. Ewing & Co.

The Mental Health Association of Southwest Florida, Naples, named Dorothy DeMichele, sales director for M.D. Lifestyles Magazine, president of its board of directors. Other 2008 board members are Joshua Rudnick, attorney, Conroy, Conroy and Durant; Roger Munz, poll-worker
coordinator, Collier County elections office; Celinda Freeman, realtor; Catherine Consolo, integrated mental health associate director for Bristol Myers Squibb; Heather Daley, clinical social worker; Ellen Harris, mental health counselor; and Ashley Withers, attorney, Wicker Smith.

Dr. John Donaldson was elected chairman of board of directors of Lee Memorial Health System. Also elected were Nancy McGovern, registered nurse, vice chair; Richard Akin, president and CEO of Collier Health Services, treasurer; and Lois C. Barrett, secretary.

Members of the 2008 board of directors of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southwest Florida are G. David Schiering, Garey Butler, Carey Randall, Jim Mitchell, Laura Ragain, Neil LeClair, W. Perry Roberts and Tina Millette Sanders.

The fourth annual Honoring the Community awards for Collier County organizations saluted The Pilot Club of Naples, Music for Minors and the Neighborhood Health Clinic. It was sponsored by First Integrity Bank, Olde Marco Inn & Suites and the Kruchten Law Firm.

Members of the 2008 board of directors of Avow Hospice are chairman Edward E. Wollman, a principal of Wollman, Gehrke & Solomon law firm, Naples; vice chairman George M. Walters Jr., former vice president of Northern Trust bank; secretary Mary Baron; and treasurer Douglas L. Allemong.