Chamber Announces 2014 Business Hall of Fame Inductees
The Maryland Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce the 2014 inductees into the Maryland Business Hall of Fame. The inductees will be honored during the Maryland Chamber’s Annual Meeting & Business Hall of Fame Awards Dinner, which will be held on Tuesday, May 6, at Camelot by Martin’s in Upper Marlboro.
This year’s honorees are:
Thomas J. Baltimore, Jr.
President & CEO, RLJ Lodging Trust
Thomas J. Baltimore, Jr. is President and Chief Executive Officer of RLJ Lodging Trust, one of the largest U.S. publicly-traded REITs with 150 properties, comprised of 148 hotels with more than 22,400 rooms and two planned hotel conversions, located in 23 states and the District of Columbia.
Baltimore was the co-founder and President of RLJ Development, with direct day-to-day responsibility for company operations since its inception in 2000. Under his leadership, RLJ, through its affiliated private equity funds, raised over $2 billion in equity from major public and corporate pension funds, financial institutions and insurance companies, and acquired or disposed of nearly $6 billion in hotel real estate. In May of 2011, Baltimore successfully led the roll-up and merger of RLJ Development with its two affiliated private equity funds, and the subsequent initial public offering of RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE: RLJ).
A seasoned hospitality executive, prior to launching RLJ, Baltimore served in senior-level positions at Hilton Hotels Corporation, Host Marriott Services Corporation (Marriott spin-off) and Marriott Corporation. He serves on numerous boards, including Prudential Financial, Duke Realty Corporation and the University of Virginia’s Jefferson Scholars Foundation.
Dr. Ellen H. Yankellow, PharmD
President/CEO, CorrectRx Pharmacy Services, Inc.
After a long career as a top executive in the pharmacy services industry, Ellen Yankellow founded Correct Rx Pharmacy Services in 2003. The firm has grown to one of Maryland’s largest female-owned companies.
Correct RX is a national leader in institutional pharmacy services, currently serving more than 200,000 people in over 195 correctional facilities, dozens of juvenile facilities, and numerous residential treatment and senior care facilities throughout the United States. The company’s business model is based on innovative clinical programs that offer better medical outcomes and lower healthcare costs at the same time. Yankellow has created a culture of caring that pervades every aspect of her business.
She has received numerous awards, including the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Girl Scouts of Central Maryland Distinguished Women’s Award and the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy’s Key to Pharmacy Hall. She has also been inducted into the Daily Record’s Circle of Excellence for being named one of Maryland’s Top 100 Women three times. Yankellow is Chair of the University of Maryland-School of Pharmacy Board of Visitors, and she serves on numerous other boards, including the Maryland Chamber’s Board of Directors, Stevenson University President’s Advisory Council and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Women’s Leadership Council.
John “Jock” T. Menzies, III (posthumously)
Chairman, The Terminal Corporation
Jock Menzies was Chairman of The Terminal Corporation, which provides public and contract warehousing, marine terminal operations, and transportation services. He and his brother Scott purchased the company from their father and uncle in 1984. He died suddenly in August 2013 in an accident at his home.
Menzies was responsible for all of Terminal’s strategic planning, new business ventures, and high-level vendor relationships. Under his strategic guidance, Terminal Corporation grew tenfold, with annual sales of over $30 million and almost two million square feet of strategically located warehouse space in and around the Baltimore/Washington area.
In 2009, the University of Maryland’s Supply Chain Management Society selected Menzies as its Person of the Year, and DC Velocity Magazine recognized him as a “Rainmaker” in the industry. As chair of the Central Maryland Red Cross in 2003, Jock helped engage supply chain companies to assist in recovery efforts after Hurricane Isabel. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Jock participated in establishing the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN), a network of hundreds of supply-chain businesses that stand poised to respond in the event of disasters. He was the organization’s first president.
The Maryland Business Hall of Fame was established in 2000 to recognize the accomplishments of entrepreneurs and business executives throughout Maryland whose contributions, in business and in the community, have helped to advance the quality of life for Marylanders and the state’s business climate. View all prior year inductees online here.
