Thrill is electric at upcoming car event

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

The electric car has been touted as the car of the future for decades, but the Charles County Technology Council is betting that the future is about to arrive.

"The Emerging Future of Transportation (Electric Vehicles and Charging Infrastructure)" will be held noon to 1:30 p.m. June 25 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Waldorf. Attendees will hear a presentation about the feasibility and desirability of encouraging the use of electric cars in Charles County.

Mark Czajka, chairman and acting president of the council, said he believes tourism and business stand to benefit if regional governments make available the required infrastructure, chiefly stations where electric car owners could recharge their batteries during the day. The Volt, an electric car that General Motors plans to introduce commercially next model year, has a battery with a range of only 40 miles, though it can use gasoline to power its motor after that, according to a company website.

While the audience eats lunch, Mahi Reddy, CEO of SemaConnect, will give a talk about the cars and the charging stations they will need to become common. He also will bring a charging station to demonstrate and will give the audience the chance to try the system as well as view the Web portal used to manage charging infrastructures, according to the council.

Reddy is an entrepreneur who has a track record of more than two decades in starting and building successful businesses. He previously co-founded CBay Systems in Annapolis, a company that won the Deloitte Award four times in a row and is listed on the London Stock Exchange, according to the council. "I think its proven technology and if it's mass-produced it's just going to get less expensive. … We're definitely in a good time for that. It's like e-books like the Kindle. Look at the success. It's all about timing. People are looking to reduce costs and electronic materials versus paper-based, we're seeing a lot of movement over to that. They've tried the e-books thing over the last 20 years, but it only recently took off," Czajka said in an interview.

Most counties in the state aren't even thinking about charging stations yet, meaning Charles County could be ahead of the curve if it takes action now, he said, especially as Washington, D.C., could be a hub of the new technology. He suggested that locally, government buildings or other office buildings could be the first to install the new technology for the benefit of workers.

Still, convincing building owners to go to the expense, and lining up demand for charging stations, will be a delicate operation, he said.

"If you put one in today it wouldn't really get utilized. It would be an awesome goal to have one in the county next year," Czajka said.

Registration costs $35. Go to http://cctcevi.eventbrite. com.

Alzheimer's assoc. hires Gottfried

The Alzheimer's Association's National Capital Area Chapter has named Linda Gottfried community services manager for its Southern Maryland regional office in La Plata.

The office serves Calvert, Charles and St. Mary's counties and part of Prince George's County.

Gottfried is the former director of development at Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C., where she was responsible for major gift fundraising for heart and vascular and neuroscience service lines. She received the single largest donation in the hospital's history, a $2 million donation from the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation to support the expansion and enhancement of the electrophysiology laboratories, the release stated. She came to Washington Hospital Center with 12 years of public relations and fundraising experience in higher education. Gottfried previously served as the founding executive director of a college foundation, building assets to more than $1 million in less than three years through endowments, special events, direct giving and naming opportunities, according to a press release.

A member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy, Gottfried served on the board of United Way, volunteered in the Rotary Club, and has served on several other nonprofit boards. She also hosted a weekly radio show featuring topics and guests from around the region. She holds a bachelor of fine arts from William Paterson University in Wayne, N.J., is a certified grants writer and earned a certificate in educational leadership from the University of Nebraska.

Gottfried currently serves on the board of directors for the Mattawoman Creek Arts Center and has provided training in fundraising strategies for the Charles County Christmas in April board of directors. She is the mother of two grown sons and the grandmother of twins. She lives in Bryans Road with her husband, Bradley M. Gottfried, president of the College of Southern Maryland.