Board Members

Jonathan M. Hutcherson, Chairman
Founder & CEO of Exclamation Labs

With an extensive design and marketing background, Jonathan Hutcherson founded Exclamation Labs as a full-service web agency in 1996. The company has grown steadily over the past 20 years due to its unparalleled work in enterprise level digital development, user experience optimization, and web analytics. Jonathan’s team is made up of over 20 full-time employees who design and implement large mission critical infrastructure and execute the marketing programs that make them successful. Headquartered in Cumberland, Maryland, Exclamation Labs has focused on corporate customers such as Gerber Life Insurance Company, Choice Hotels International, DuPont, and the National Science Foundation.

Jonathan was the recipient of the Allegany County Chamber of Commerce Entrepreneurial Spirit award in 2012. The award was presented in recognition of his passion for developing new technologies and finding innovative ways to serve the needs of the community as the leader of a progressive local business.

Locally, Jonathan is the convener for the Western Maryland IT Center of Excellence, an entity that links regional Information Technology industry leaders with economic development leaders to encourage business retention, expansion, and the attraction of new business within the IT sector in Western Maryland. Both job readiness and incumbent IT training as well as the overarching goal to present Allegany County as “Technology Ready” is the main focus of the Center. He also serves on the Western Maryland Health System Board of Directors.

Jonathan is proud to call Western Maryland his home, and resides in Cumberland with wife, Amy and daughters, Grace and Eve. Choosing to locate his office in a historic house, he is reminded daily that what we make matters.


John H. Balch
President & Owner of The PharmaCare Network

John H. Balch, RPh, is the President and Owner of Bedford Road Pharmacy, Inc. dba PharmaCare of Cumberland which operates retail, institutional, compounding and infusion pharmacies plus home medical equipment and respiratory care. Mr. Balch earned his B.S. in Pharmacy at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy and has owned and operated PharmaCare since 1977.

John has served as Commissioner, Long-Term Care Task Force Chairman, Executive Board member and President of the Maryland Board of Pharmacy. In addition, he is the Chairman of Cardinal Health’s National Retail Advisory Board and a member of the LeaderNet Managed Care Panel. He also serves on the Owners’ Advisory Council for Medicine Shoppe International, Inc. and along with PharmaCare was named 2014 MSI Franchisee of the Year. John is a member of the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy Board of Visitors, along with membership with the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists and Maryland Pharmacists Association.

In our local community Mr. Balch was the Founding Chairman of The Greater Cumberland Committee, the Capital Campaign Chairman for the Cumberland YMCA’s Riverside YMCA Project, and served on Western Maryland Health System’s Capital Campaign Cabinet and as the WMHS Foundation Chairman. He currently serves as a Board Member of The Children’s League, Frostburg State University Foundation, Standard Bank Advisory Board, along with President of the Catholic Community Foundation Board and Chairman of the Bishop P. Francis Murphy Educational Endowment for Western Maryland. He was a member of the Class of 1999 of Leadership Maryland!


Katherine Getty
Director of Business Relations, First United Bank & Trust

Kathy Getty brings 38 years of banking and financial services experience to the CEDC.   Her prior experience included serving as Market President for Allegany and Garrett County, Maryland and Bedford County, Pennsylvania; Regional President and Managing Director of Retail Banking; and Vice President of Commercial Banking in Allegany County for a regional financial institution.   Prior to that she served as Credit Review Examiner, Vice President and Unit Head of a Syndication Group, Loan Production Office Manager, Special Industries Group Manager as well as Manager for a Baltimore County Lending Group.

Ms. Getty earned her Masters of Business Administration from Loyola College and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in Finance from the Georgetown University School of Business Administration.

Ms. Getty also has an extensive history of community involvement and has been a leader in numerous initiatives in our community.  Kathy has served on many local boards throughout her career which include: Campaign Chairman for County United Way, President of the YMCA Heritage Foundation, Chairman of the City of Cumberland Economic Development Commission, Member of the Board of Education Curriculum Committee, and Chairman of The Greater Cumberland Committee.

In recognition of her community involvement and leadership, Ms. Getty has received several awards and honors including Volunteer of the Year by County United Way, the Henrietta Schwarzenbach Civic Service Memorial Award from Dapper Dan, and she was named one of Maryland’s Top 100 Women by The Daily Record and the Paul Harris Fellow by the Rotary Club of Cumberland.  She also received the Community Caring Award from the United Way of Allegany County, “The Greater Good Award” from the The Greater Cumberland Committee, served as the WalkAmerica Chair for the March of Dimes and is a graduate of Leadership Maryland.


William E. Freas, Jr., CCC A/SLP
Chief Executive Officer for CareVentures Inc.

Bill has a business, speech-language pathology, and audiology background. With over 40+ years of experience in the healthcare industry, he has owned and operated several rehabilitation companies throughout the east coast. Bill has distinguished himself as an outstanding and innovative problem-solver and leader who is well-respected within the Long-Term Care industry and the greater healthcare community.

Bill is a tremendous asset to the CEDC and City of Cumberland as a business leader, a community partner and an experienced entrepreneur.


Raymond Morriss
Mayor of Cumberland

Ray was elected to a four-year term as Mayor of Cumberland in November 2018.

Ray is a fourth generation railroader and after college started his career as a locomotive engineer. In September of 1983 Ray came to live in Cumberland for the first time when he was assigned as an Assistant Terminal Trainmaster. Ray received several promotions that took him away from the area until he returned in 2004.

As the Terminal Superintendent with a $13 million annual budget, Ray was responsible for directing and coordinating all activities of transportation, implementation of key performance improvements, managing payroll, overtime time claims, and administrative functions.

Ray is involved in many community organizations including the Rotary Club, the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad Board of Directors, the Western Maryland Health System Community Advisory Board, and a lifetime member of the Allegany Arts Council.

Ray retired from the railroad after 38 years in 2017. He resides in the city with his wife Brenda and their dog Winston. He enjoys traveling, reading a good book, and spending time with family and friends.


Dr. Cynthia Bambara
President, Allegany College of Maryland

Dr. Cynthia Bambara was appointed Allegany College of Maryland’s (ACM) fifth president in March of 2011 and the first woman to lead the Cumberland-based community college in its more than 55-year history.
Dr. Bambara came to ACM from Virginia, where she was a veteran community college administrator. During her tenure, Dr. Bambara served as Interim President at Central Virginia Community College and as Vice President of Student Success at Lord Fairfax Community College.
She received her Ph.D. in Community College Leadership from Colorado State University, her M.Ed. in Rehabilitation Counseling from the University of South Alabama and her B.S. in Psychology from Juniata College.
Dr. Bambara is a 2012 graduate of Leadership Allegany! and a 2005 graduate of the inaugural class of Lead Virginia. Dr. Bambara serves the local community in various capacities including the Allegany County Chamber of Commerce (two term board member), the Cumberland Rotary Club (board member and past president), The Greater Cumberland Committee (Executive Committee and Education Workgroup Chair) and the UPMC Western Maryland Community Advisory Board, Frostburg State University Doctoral Program Advisory and the Bridges to Opportunity Steering Committee.
Dr. Bambara serves the region in several ways. She is an Evaluation Team Chair for the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. She is the current chair of the Maryland Council of Community College Presidents and she serves on the Executive Committee of the Maryland Association of Community Colleges.
Dr. Bambara serves on the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society
Advisory Board. She represents the State of Maryland on the board of the
Community Colleges of the Appalachia.
Dr. Bambara and her husband Michael reside in Frostburg. They are the proud parents of two sons, Timothy and Thomas.