As a special addition to our member promotion services, the Chamber is now offering a free Featured Member Profile, which will be printed in the Chamber View and posted on the website for a month, then moved into a prominently-placed online archive for the remainder of the year.  To win this free publicity, just drop your business card into the Featured Member Fishbowl at each monthly Networking Mixer and be present for the drawing.  For more information, call the Chamber, 410-719-9609.

Featured Member

September 2009

Ed Hastry  - From Teens to Timeshare Owners,
A Lifetime of Making a Difference

Ed Hastry’s not one to boast about the leadership roles he carries in Catonsville civic organizations. But when you can persuade him to list them all, the first thought that comes to mind is – how many hours are in his day?

Quite a few indeed, it would seem. Mr. Hastry is President of the Kernan Hospital Auxiliary; President of the Catonsville Professional Business Builders ; First Vice President of the Catonsville Lions Club; an Ambassador for the  NRG networking organization; Resident Ambassador at Charlestown Retirement Campus; a former Board member for the Greater Catonsville Chamber of Commerce; Board member of the Local Management Board for Baltimore County; and a former certified Mediator for the Baltimore County Police Department.

All of this civic leadership makes for a busy life, as Mr. Hastry’s decades of involvement have established him as the go-to man and mentor for many of the organizations he serves.  It’s a rare day that passes without his presiding over at least one meeting.

And it’s a rare hour that doesn’t bring a call from someone requesting advice or information about community resources, or – most often - guidance in negotiating complex timeshare sales or purchases, or recovering from vacation-property scams.

But if there’s one thread that underlies all of Mr. Hastry’s roles, it’s his passion for bringing people together in mutually beneficial connections.

Whether he’s helping the Lions Club match disadvantaged people with resources for glasses and hearing aids, matching Catonsville business owners with likely clients, promoting the Kernan Hospital gift shop, or referring timeshare owners to honest licensed resources, his focus is on creating connections to make a difference.

This mission came to its height after his 26-year career as Regional Sales Manager for Borden Chemical Company, which ended in corporate buyout. Mr. Hastry then developed and led an intervention program for at-risk children and their parents. Funded by multiple State agencies,including the Baltimore County Police Department, Baltimore County Board of Education, and staffed by volunteers from the Department of Aging, Project Attend ran successfully for 11 years. To this day, the young adults who benefited by the program approach their “Mr. Ed” with thanks for the difference he helped to make in their lives.

While he networks ferociously for all of the organizations he represents, most of his energy today  goes toward promoting his new residence, Charlestown Retirement Campus, and his brainchild, the 12-year-old National Timeshare Owners’ Association.

The NTOA was created exclusively by and for timeshare owners, dedicated to serving their needs. The association’s motto? “Informed timeshare owners = happy owners.”

Each day brings incessant calls seeking answers on how to buy, sell, transfer and rent safely, avoid scams, and get the greatest value out of a timeshare property once it’s been purchased. Mr. Hastry again plays the role of an educator/broker, linking members with qualified service providers. He also helps to organize regional conferences for timeshare owners to network and hear educational presentations from a select group of highly rated experts.

“It’s all about making a difference in someone’s life,” he says. “The kids from Project Attend, the timeshare owners in the NTOA , all the others – nothing matches the satisfaction I feel when I know I’ve helped to solve someone’s problems. “

 Past Featured Members