Future of Montgomery County

Mark Korman, along with his brothers Larry and Brad is a partner in Korman Communites. Mr. Korman serves as KC’s President of Commercial & Development.. Built on a sound foundation of family values forged over a century ago, Korman Communities carries forward a name synonymous with integrity, market savvy, and proven performance in the real estate development, investment and operations arenas. Korman's reputation reflects four generations of dedication and business acumen, resulting in the construction of more than 40,000 single family homes, 6,000 condominiums, 16,000 apartments and townhouses, 4,000 hotel suites, and over 2,000,000 square feet of commercial space. Korman's original furnished apartment concept, conceived fifty years ago – short-term, furnished apartments in a traditional multi-family residential setting – has evolved to an innovative residential hybrid for travelers and discerning business persons seeking flexible-stay furnished residences. Today Korman Communities is a fully integrated, multi-dimensional real estate company with development, management, legal and financial capabilities operating throughout the United States (& with one property in London, England). The residential portfolio is comprised of 20 properties under two brands – AVE suburban garden-style and mid-rise communities, and AKA urban high-rises in prime locations. The commercial portfolio is growing with several hundred thousand square feet of office, and another couple of hundred thousand square feet of retail (most added in the last few years). Mark began his professional real estate career as the marketing director for KormanSuites Aapartments in 1994. Mr. Korman embarked on his first land development venture in 1997 when he started to build single purpose retail. Today, Mr. Korman is developing both shopping centers and Korman Communities’ AVE residential brand in North Jersey and Southeastern Pennsylvania. He also oversees all commercial operations (currently in Beverly Hills, CA, as well as Philadelphia, Montgomery & Chester Counties, PA). Mark is a graduate of Germantown Academy and Duke University respectively. He is an active alum @ both institutions. Mr. Korman was a founding Board member of the Community Partnership School in North Philadelphia and The Ambler Theater. He serves of the Board of Lower Gwynedd Little League and spends most of his free time coaching baseball there, as well as Basketball for WRA and the Wiss Run. Mark resides in Montgomery County with his wife and two teenage children.

With more than 25 years in public accounting, George devotes most of his time serving clients in the Real Estate Industry. These include developers, commercial and residential operators, hotels, property and asset managers, home builders, private equity funds, and individual investors. In 2009, he took on the lead role of the legacy LarsonAllen firm’s Real Estate practice and has brought that experience forward focusing on further developing the firm’s capabilities in advisory, assurance, and tax services available to clients in the real estate and hospitality space. He also is a lead resource in the firm helping clients in real estate workout transactions. Technical experience: • Assists clients in selecting entity status, advises on partnership and LLC formations, helps with modeling IRR calculations and waterfall provisions, and forecasting distributions and allocations under IRC Subchapter K • Provides consulting and expert services related to performance, cash flow, and operations of commercial real estate and hotel operations, including litigation support • Helps clients assess the benefits of cost segregation studies, repair studies, change in accounting methods, as well as help facilitate closely-held business strategic planning initiatives, and design and implementation of succession plans Education/professional involvement: • Bachelor of business in accounting from Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • American Institute of Certified Public Accountants • Certified Public Accountant in the state of Pennsylvania Speaking engagements: • Pennsylvania Bar Institute panelist on Distressed Real Estate transactions • Testified in Federal Bankruptcy Court (Trenton, NJ) on feasibility of petitioner’s plan.

Mike Bowman is a 30-year veteran of the hospitality and gaming industries, having worked in several senior level positions for Hilton Hotels, Wyndham Worldwide, Rush Gaming and Caesars Entertainment. He was recently named President of the Valley Forge Tourism & Convention Board (VFCTB). Previously he served as chairman of the Board of Directors for the organization. Prior to that, he was President and CEO of Valley Forge Casino Resort, responsible for all gaming, entertainment, hotel, food & beverage, and convention business — along with all strategic gaming operations and marketing and managing a staff of 1001 employees. He has achieved numerous hospitality industry accolades. Twice he has been awarded Caesar’s annual top leadership award and Manager of the Year for Wyndham Worldwide, while being responsible for all property operations in the Caribbean and northeast hotel resorts. He maintains active involvement in several community service organizations including the Jewish Community Center of Margate. In addition, Bowman has partnered professionally and personally with organizations such as the United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey, Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia, the Asian Heritage Festival and Mission Kids. He also works with various charities and homeless advocacy support groups in the area. Professionally he maintains a presence on the Valley Forge Casino Resort board of directors, reporting to Ira Lubert of Lubert Adler Real Estate Funds. He is also a board member of Upper Merion’s Board of Community Assistance and chairman of the board for Peddler’s Village in Bucks County. In addition, he serves as an executive board member for the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau and most recently was appointed to the board of the Montgomery County Development Corporation. A graduate of the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, he and his wife, Karen, reside in New Jersey with their two daughters, Oksana and Anastasia.

Dr. Valerie Arkoosh was unanimously elected as Chair of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners on November 17, 2016 succeeding former Commission Chair Josh Shapiro. First appointed to fill a vacancy on the Commission in January 2015, Arkoosh won election to a full four-year term in November 2015 and served as Commission Vice Chair until her election as Chair. Arkoosh is a longtime resident of Montgomery County who has been engaged in public health policy development across all levels of government during her impressive career.  She is a nationally- recognized public health policy expert. Until recently, she was Professor of Clinical Anesthesiology and Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania. She sought the Democratic nomination in 2014 for the 13th Congressional District seat. Arkoosh is a graduate of the University Of Nebraska College Of Medicine and has a Master’s in Public Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She performed her residency at Jefferson Medical College in Anesthesiology with a special focus on Obstetrics.  She has an undergraduate degree in economics from Northwestern University. Her strong educational background propelled her into national prominence, and has given her a unique blend of public health, leadership, and medical expertise. Upon obtaining her Master’s in Public Health from Johns Hopkins in 2007, she became deeply engaged in the national effort to achieve comprehensive health care reform. She led a national non-profit organization of physicians, who, putting their patients before profits, joined a broad-based nation-wide coalition for reform.  During this time, she developed policy and legislative strategy, and promoted public engagement in Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania, and throughout the country. While much of her career has been in medicine and public health, Arkoosh has significant experience in dealing with many of the same challenges governments face.  She has significant leadership experience managing complex organizations during times of fiscal challenge.   Arkoosh served for five years as Chair of Anesthesiology at the Drexel University College of Medicine where she successfully drew upon her undergraduate training in economics to restore her department to fiscal solvency following the Allegheny University bankruptcy.  During this challenging time, she also served as Interim Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and was actively involved in the financial oversight of the medical school clinical practice plan. Arkoosh was an important and active member of the Shapiro-Richards transition team in 2011 serving as co-chair of the Health and Human Services Subcommittee.  This effort gave her not only a working knowledge of how county government functioned when this administration came into office, but it also allowed her to play an important role in helping to craft the transformative changes that were subsequently made.  Later, Arkoosh served as chair of the Montgomery County Board of Health, until she resigned to run for Congress. Arkoosh lives in Springfield Township with her husband, Jeff Harbison, and their three children.

Commissioner Joseph C. Gale is a lifelong resident of Montgomery County. Raised in Plymouth Township, he attended schools in the Colonial School District. He is a graduate of Temple University's Fox School of Business where he earned a degree in Finance and Real Estate. While in college Joe held several leadership roles within student government and community organizations. Upon graduation from Temple University, Joe began working as a Recording Clerk in the Montgomery County Recorder of Deeds department. In this position Joe saw first-hand county government at work and closely followed county operations. Joe then expanded his financial background in the private sector where he worked in the mortgage division of one of the country's largest home building corporations, NVR Inc. Joe was elected commissioner in November 2015 after successfully running a grassroots, independent campaign in the Republican primary, and then garnering more votes than the endorsed Republican candidate in the general election allowing him to join Commissioners Shapiro and Arkoosh on the board. Joe believes that a common sense approach to government focused on putting people before politics will keep Montgomery County’s fiscal house in order and continue to make Montgomery county a great place to live, raise a family, work, and grow a business.