Spotlight on New Business

Wasilewski Opens RW Investments
Robert Wasilewski, an investment adviser with more than 25 years' investment management experience, has launched RW Investment Strategies, a firm dedicated to helping individuals and families manage their own investments.
The firm offers hourly consulting and low-cost management services on a fee-only basis. Wasilewski has managed funds for institutions, including pension funds and college endowments, as well as for high net-worth individuals. He most recently was an adviser for Baltimore-Washington Financial Advisors in Columbia.
For the past 10 years, he also has been a senior adjunct instructor at Howard Community College, teaching principles of macro- and microeconomics along with online money and banking. He was named Outstanding Adjunct Faculty for the college's Social Sciences Division in 2004-05.
He is an occasional contributor to The Business Monthly and has been a guest since November 2006 on the advice segment on "Down to Business," a program on Howard County Public Television that is hosted by Michael Mobley of j-ref.

Leadership Academy
Launches in Columbia
The Columbia Leadership Academy will soon open to provide state-of-the-art leadership development services for organizations that want to maximize their results through deeper development of leadership.
The academy offers that its research is undeniable: extraordinary leadership generates greater profitability, performance and employee loyalty; poor leadership costs companies profitability and leads to a talent drain.
The first Core Program, which includes assessment, experiential workshops and executive coaching, will be offered at the academy in March. For organizations that value ongoing leadership development but are tight on funds, the program provides a cost-effective way to provide a high caliber leadership development experience for their executives.
Compared to a typical six-month executive coaching engagement, The Columbia Leadership Academy's core seven-month program can reduce the investment by 60% or more. Call 410-381-9155 or visit www.columbialeadershipacademy.com for more information.

Local Businesswoman Joins National Firm to Help Small, Mid-Market Businesses
Local business owners are leveraging Ellicott City resident Kaye Simmons's 32-year track record in financial management by hiring her as their CFO on a part-time, as-needed basis. Simmons, of B2B CFO, is serving as a part-time worker for companies in diverse industries in the Baltimore area.
The part-time, as-needed CFO role is a hallmark of B2B CFO, the nation's largest CFO firm that provides services exclusively to emerging and mid-market companies. Simmons joined B2B CFO as a partner last fall. Nationwide, the firm has 147 partners spanning 39 states.
Simmons's clients benefit from her combination of executive finance and consulting experience supported by the depth of resources provided by the national firm. Prior to joining B2B CFO, Simmons served as the CFO of Mercantile Banks during the merger with PNC Financial Services and the treasurer of Mercantile Bankshares prior to the merger.
Additionally, she was the CFO of two Russell 2000 public companies as well as having served three years as a divisional CFO with a Fortune 500 company. She was also strategically involved in the sale of a $17 billion financial services company for a purchase price of approximately $5.6 billion, a $4.5 billion financial services company for a purchase price of approximately $810 million, and a $2.2 billion financial services company for a purchase price of approximately $535 million.
For more information, visit www.b2bcfo.com.