Minority business award to Dancel

Bernaldo J. Dancel, chairman and CEO of Ascend One Corp., has received a Top 100 Minority Business Enterprise Award.

The program, sponsored by the University of Maryland University College, the Governor's Office of Minority Affairs and the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, honors minority and women business owners in the region for achievement in business development, client satisfaction, professional affiliations and community involvement.

Ascend One, with headquarters in Columbia, provides help to consumers seeking to extricate themselves from credit card debt. Its family of financial businesses includes CareOne Services Inc., Amerix Corp., and 3C Incorporated, which owns the CareOne Credit Counseling service mark.

Deborah Deaton has been named director of operations for Amerix Corp., which provides processing and technology for credit counseling and debt-management organizations.

Deaton has been president and CEO of her own company, Deaton Consulting Inc., providing consulting services to major retailers and banks in the United States and Europe.

Parker promoted at Howard Bank

Robyn A. Parker of Ellicott City has been promoted to assistant branch manager of Howard Bank's Hickory Ridge branch.

She began work at the bank three years ago as a teller and was later promoted to head teller and customer service representative.

The locally owned bank was named 2007 Small Business of the Year by the Maryland Chamber of Commerce.