As we’ve observed the heart-wrenching events unfolding in our country these last few weeks, we wanted to take time to reflect on how we can have the greatest impact on being a force for good in our community and beyond. As a member of the PMG Family, we’re proud to share how we’re helping to make things better.

For the past 23 years, PMG has made it an ongoing practice to support local organizations in the Baltimore-Washington area through our “Spirit of Good” initiative, including financial contributions, volunteering, and in some cases board leadership.

We’ve supported Nick’s Place, a recovery home for young men battling addiction and alcoholism, Light House, a homeless prevention support center, Casey Cares Foundation, which provides uplifting programming for critically ill children and their families, and Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic, among other local nonprofits.

We are now adding the Black Futures Micro-Grant Program to our “Spirit of Good” efforts, which supports black-owned small businesses in Baltimore and Baltimore County. PMG is a small business, and we understand the positive ripple effect that a successful company can have by building strong relationships with employees and their families, customers, suppliers, and the surrounding community. We hope our donation to the Black Futures Micro-Grant Program can, in a small way, help support the black community during these most difficult times.

We also want to share a message of hope and healing with a gentle but firm request to eliminate hate and embrace love in ourselves and in our own families. Each of us at MMI Direct and the PMG Family holds these words in our hearts, and we promise to continue working at making things better for all of us.

A sunny Florida welcome to Carolyn Hoehn who recently joined MMI Direct. She will be converting lists and completing other data analysis work for our clients from Largo, Florida where she lives.

We’ve known Carolyn for quite some time as she previously did contract work with one of our clients. When we found out she was a free agent, we immediately reached out to the self-proclaimed ‘Data Geek’ to see if she’d like to join our team – with a title like that we were sure she’d fit right in here!

In addition to geeking-out on data analysis, she loves to participate in trivia contests, paint and sips, and enjoys reading. Her favorite book is The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck. She has family in Germany which she’s visited numerous times. She loves to travel, venturing to some of her favorite places like Prague, Paris and the Netherlands to name a few.

Carolyn is a former dog groomer who loves her 13-year-old Akita/Chow mix pup named Simba. In addition to keeping her furry friend looking his best, she has bragging rights to a pretty impressive accomplishment: as a member of a bowling league, she once scored a 291 game. Near perfect! For any future company bowling outings, Carolyn will surely be a first-pick as teams are created.

Welcome Carolyn – we’re so happy to have you as a member of our data geek team!

He’s planned for it and dreamed about it; the time has come for our friend and valued co-worker Bob Jones to retire.

Bob has been an account manager at MMI Direct for nearly 11 years. We love him, his clients love him and his bosses love him. He has been an important part of our Community Outreach program for years. He’s always been a team player on a mission to help others.

In his late teens, Bob worked in construction. During this brief employment, he quickly determined that this was not the industry for him. His father was director of data processing at the Veterans Administration and he had always marveled at the manner in which the big machines worked (boy, technology has sure changed since then!). So, he worked that construction job just long enough to save money to go to computer school. No more muddy work boots for Bob!

In 1970, he officially took his first job in the data processing industry. He’s seen many things change – like the size of a computer going from taking up large rooms to a powerful computer sitting on your desk. Back in the mid to late ‘80s he worked with a young, whipper-snapper sales guy named Rick Powell at another firm…small world.

It’s no wonder he has a hobby that allows him to help others. On his days off, you’ll often find him answering a plea from an individual who seeks assistance from Shore Seekers, a metal detecting club where Bob is a member. He’s helped to recover lost family heirlooms and other precious items with his metal detector and big heart.

When we asked him what he was going to do on his first day not in the office, he replied, “It’s going to be a lazy day. I have absolutely no plans.” That sounds like a happy retirement to us! For now, Bob plans to stay in Maryland, but he and his cat Tiger will travel to southern locations exploring where they may want to move.

Bob, we’ve always admired your driven, helpful nature to troubleshoot problems and your dedication to both clients and our company. It’s a bittersweet time for all of us, but we wish you happy days ahead and a journey that unearths many hidden treasures!

Once upon a time, Tricia was an account manager working in merge purge processing but left us in 2008 to start a family. Recently, she returned as a list conversion analyst and she tells us she’s loving her new role and all the people, “It was great to come back to MMI; it’s like returning to family, a bigger family than when I left, but family just the same.” MMI Direct has grown since Tricia left. In 2009, the company officially became a member of The Production Management Group, Ltd. (PMG) which provides direct mail production, online fundraising and postal logistics.

She lives in Crofton with her 7-year old daughter. She’s super active, enjoys the outdoors and plays soccer and kickball in her spare time. Tricia also coaches her daughter’s soccer team. When she’s not on a field kicking a ball she loves to travel.

So glad to have you back Tricia!