IN SHORT

New hires

Maine Women's Lobby in Augusta hired Jennifer Sorkin as community organizer and program assistant.

Camden National Wealth Management hired Jennifer Mirabile as managing director. Mirabile was previously senior vice president and senior wealth advisor for the state of Maine for People's United Bank Wealth Management.

Lipman & Katz, a law firm in Augusta, hired Evan Fisher. Fisher's legal background includes experience in municipal law and in criminal law as both a prosecutor and as a defense attorney as well as experience with planning and zoning, substandard structure abatement and other aspects of land use law.

Cumberland County hired Travis Kennedy as director of public affairs. Kennedy was the regional representative for Cumberland County for the Office of U.S. Sen. Angus King Jr.

Fluid Imaging Technologies Inc., a laboratory instrumentation manufacturer in Scarborough, hired Clint Strout as CFO. Strout previously operated Client Performance Solutions LLC, a business consulting firm.

Village Candle Co. in Wells hired Jeanne Hulit as president; Dana Schwarz as vice president, eCommerce and brand management; Erik Murer as vice president, finance and operations; and Kim Biggs as director of new business development. Hulit most recently served as president of Northeast Bank's community banking division; Schwartz is considered a leader in consumer direct, digital commerce and consumer experience in the premium brand space, both domestic and international; Murer led supply chain and demand planning efforts for the Performance Sports Group; and Biggs rejoined the company in a new role with a proven track record for successfully driving sales and transformation initiatives for numerous leading brands.

Portside Real Estate Group in Falmouth hired Troy Wilkins as a broker. Wilkins has more than 10 years of experience in the real estate industry.

The Maine Warden Service in Augusta hired Christopher Hilton as a pilot. Hilton was previously with the Department of Marine Resources as a marine patrol officer.

HM Payson, an investment management company in Portland, hired Edward Demetriou as a portfolio manager. Demetriou previously led the private equity program at the Maine Public Employees Retirement System.

The Maine Republican Party in Augusta hired Garrett Murch as political and communications director. Murch was previously a senior advisor for Gov. Paul LePage's Office of Policy and Management.

The Maine Department of Labor in Augusta hired Laura Hudson as director of communications. Hudson, who has more than 30 years of experience in marketing, public relations, business management and economic development, was most recently chief experience officer at Kennebec Savings Bank.

MaineStream Finance, a community development financial institution in Bangor, hired Chris Linder as CEO and Taylor Pond as financial education coordinator.

Preti Flaherty, a law firm in Portland, hired Sara Moppin. She will focus on mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance matters, business transactions, commercial law, contract issues and finance.

The Montalvo Corp., international specialists in web tension control based in Gorham, hired Cristine Vickery as inside sales representative.

Dream Local Digital, a digital marketing agency in Rockland, hired Carissa Christie as special projects leader. Christie was most recently retail midcoast market manager and vice president for Camden National Bank.

The Trust for Public Land, a nonprofit in Portland creating parks and protecting land for people, hired Bill Toomey as northern New England-area director, representing Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. Toomey was most recently the director of forest health protection, North America region with The Nature Conservancy.

Norway Savings Bank hired Teri Lounder Bach as assistant vice president, trust officer of the asset management group.

The Maine Heritage Policy Center in Portland hired Terry Brown as director of communications. Brown also owns two correlated consulting businesses in Portland where he develops data driven communications strategies for global brands.

Scott Simons Architects in Portland hired Seth Wilschutz as a project manager. Wilschutz was an associate at Hartman-Cox Architects in Washington, D.C.

Bangor Savings Bank hired Lisa Phillips as vice president and branch manager of its Belfast Plaza location in Belfast. Phillips was the banking center manager for the Belfast branch of Camden National Bank.

Allen Insurance and Financial in Camden hired Christopher Beaulieu as a broker-dealer assistant in its Waterville office.

The Portland Society for Architecture hired Addy Smith-Reiman as executive director. Smith-Reiman previously served as Riverlife's senior planner and project manager. She managed the design, construction and maintenance planning for Three Rivers Park, Pittsburgh's downtown riverfront park along the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers.

OTT Communications in New Gloucester hired Gabriel Winch as technical support representative based in Bangor.

Promotions

MaineStream Finance, a community development financial institution in Bangor, promoted Denise St. Peter to development manager and Matthew Lewis to portfolio and business services manager.

University Credit Union in Orono promoted Jason Preble to information technology manager in Orono, Benaiah Pelotte to campus branch manager in Orono and Erika Taylor to branch manager of its Forest Avenue branch in Portland. Preble was previously senior technology specialist, Pelotte was assistant branch manager of the credit union's 15 Main St. Orono branch and Taylor was assistant branch manager in Farmington.

Channel 8 WMTW in Portland announced Meghan Torjussen will join the 11 p.m. team for “Maine's Total Weather | News | Coverage.” Torjussen was previously co-anchor of the station's 4 p.m., 5 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. newscasts.

Appointments

Portland City Council appointed Steven Silver, an attorney at Pierce Atwood, to the board of assessment review. The board meets when property tax appeals are filed, holds public hearings, and issues written decisions on its findings. Silver has experience working with residential and commercial property owners on real and personal property assessment issues.

The Maine Real Estate & Development Association in Portland elected Josh Fifield as vice chair of the association's membership and marketing committee. Fifield is a senior account executive in the business insurance department of Clark Insurance.

PROPEL Portland announced Rebecca Bolduc as board president and Kaitlyn Morse as board vice president. Bolduc is a senior team leader at WEX Inc., while Morse runs sales for The Woods at Canco, a retirement community in Portland.

Achievements

Maine Historical Society in Portland presented its “Maine History Maker Award” to the Cianchette family for their business and civic leadership.

The State Workforce Board's Older Worker Committee selected Care & Comfort, Community Health Options, Moody's Co-worker Owned Inc. and Associates for Training and Development as its 2017 best employers for workers over the age of 50 in Maine.

The Maine Manufacturing Extension Partnership Maine MEP named Auburn Manufacturing Inc., a certified Women's Business Enterprise and industry leader in the manufacturing of high-performance textiles and fabrics for extreme temperature applications, as its “2017 Maine MEP Manufacturing Excellence Award of the Year” winner.

Gifford's Famous Ice Cream in Skowhegan announced that its Old Fashioned Vanilla and Orange Sherbet swept first place in its categories at the World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Products Contest.

BerryDunn, an accounting and consulting firm in Portland, was listed No. 72 on Inside Public Accounting's annual list of the “Top 100 public accounting firms in the U.S.” The firm has been included in the list for the past seven years.

Maine Aviation Aircraft Charter LLC, a subsidiary of MAC Air Group in South Portland, said it was awarded the Aviation Research Group “Platinum Rating,” a requested symbol of quality for charter operators around the world.

Maine Development Foundation announced its 2017 Award Recipients. Winners included “Champions of Economic Development,” Aroostook Aspirations, Maine Startup & Create Week, Robbins Lumber, UniTel and Unity Foundation; “Downtown Visionary Award,” David Holt and Andrea Burns of Norway; “William F. King, Jr. Downtown Champion Award,” William King Jr. of Bath; “President's Award,” Bettina Elizabeth Doulton; and “Kenneth M. Curtis Leadership Award,” Susan Hunter, president of the University of Maine.

Penobscot Community Health Care in Bangor announced that Maggie Vance, prescription refill specialist, and Abagail Smith, housing navigator at Hope House Health & Living Center, were named its “2017 Clinical and Non-Clinical Employees of the Year.”

Melissa Cox and Reilly Kons of GHM Insurance in Waterville earned the Certified Insurance Counselors designation from The National Society of Certified Insurance Counselors, a provider of professional insurance education.

Wright-Pierce, an employee-owned, multidisciplinary environmental engineering firm in Portland, was recognized by Engineering News Record as one of its “Top 200 Environmental Firms” in the country. The firm has been ranked in the Top 200 for eight consecutive years.

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Maine in South Portland said it received a rating of 4.5 out of 5 in the “National Committee for Quality Assurance Private Health Insurance Plan Ratings 2017-18,” making it a top-ranked plan in the state.

Camden National Bank announced its annual award winners including “Employee of the Year,” Danica Hooper, customer assistance center, Rockport; “Officer of the Year,” Kevin Throckmorton, branch operations associate, Ellsworth; “Commitment to Core Values,” Kayla Roberts, assistant banking center manager, Richmond, and Chris Paradis, physical security manager, Gardiner; “Commitment to the Customer,” Bradley De Rosa, assistant banking center manager, Kennebunk, and Dean Waterman, commercial banking officer, Auburn; “Commitment to the Community,” Viktorie Mathiau, commercial loan administrator, Rockport, and Jody Landrith, banking center manager, Camden; “Commitment to the Employee,” Nancy Cobb, branch supervisor, Bangor, and Susan Weber, credit risk officer, Rockport; “Commitment to Internal Service,” Kristen Matson, deposit and payment services supervisor, Rockport, and Jamie Pellerin, marketing manager, Portland; “Commitment to our Shareholders,” Brandon Plourde, budget and financial analyst, Camden, and Tori Stewart, wealth management project manager, Portland; and “Bob Daigle Award for Achievement through Innovation,” Andrew Fortin-Trimble, digital marketing manager, Augusta.

National Consortium of Breast Centers recognized the Martha B. Webber Breast Care Center, a program of Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington, as a Certified Quality Breast Center of Excellence (clinical) in the National Quality Measures for Breast Centers Program. This is the organization's highest certification level and represents a commitment by this breast center to provide the highest level of quality breast health care to patients in its community.

The Maine Society for Human Resources Management announced its “2017 Best Places to Work in Maine.” Top-three finishers in each category included Edward Jones, Machias Savings Bank and Consigli Construction Co. Inc. in the “Large Company Category (250-plus U.S. employees);” Patriot Subaru of Saco, JMG and SGC Engineering LLC in the “Medium Company Category (50 to 249 U.S. employees);” and Maine Information Network, SFX AMERICA and MPX in the “Small Company Category (15 to 49 U.S. employees).”

The city of Portland said that the National Alliance to End Homelessness awarded the Oxford Street Shelter one of its “2017 Innovation and Excellence Awards,” which honors individuals and organizations making efforts to end homelessness in their communities and recognizes their impact in advancing the mission to end homelessness nationwide.

Jeremy Fischer, practice group leader for bankruptcy, restructuring and creditors' rights at Portland law firm Drummond Woodsum, was recognized by the American Bankruptcy Institute as one of the Top 40 bankruptcy, insolvency and restructuring professionals globally who are 40 years old or younger as of Dec. 1, 2017.

Husson University in Bangor named Anne and Edward Baker as its “Presidential Outstanding Service Award” winners during the university's annual Alumni Hall of Fame Recognition Dinner. Jamie Jackson, founder and CEO at Arkatechture, was honored as this year's young alumnus; Arlene Clifford, retired, was recognized as this year's Honorary Alumnus; and Tracey Whitten, owner of Black Bear Inn and Conference Center in Orono, and Stephen Jacobs, entrepreneur, were inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame.

Barba + Wheelock Architects in Portland received a preservation award from the Lower Merion Township in Philadelphia, Pa. for a rehab of a carriage house to a makers Space project at Friends' Central School in Wynnewood, Pa.

Michael Schoeppner, University of Maine at Farmington assistant professor of history, was awarded the “2017 Hines Prize” by the College of Charleston's Carolina Lowlands and Atlantic World program. The honor is awarded to the best new scholarly publication by a first-time author relating to any aspect of the Carolina Lowcountry and/or the Atlantic World.

Sarah Kelly, owner of Sarah Kelly Coaching in Portland, earned certification as a National Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach from the International Consortium for Health & Wellness Coaching and the National Board of Medical Examiners.

The Natural Resources Council of Maine, a nonprofit membership organization in Augusta working to protect Maine's environment, named its “2017 Conservation Leadership Award” winners. David Courtemanch of Mt. Vernon was honored for “Lifetime Achievement,” Addie Farmer and Lainey Randall of Portland won the “2017 People's Choice Award,” Tony Giambro and Travis Ritchie of Paris Autobarn, South Paris received the “2017 Conservation Leadership Award” and Martha Spiess of Freeport was selected as the “2017 Conservation Leadership Award” winner.

Karen Demo of K&L Demo Transport Inc. in Skowhegan was named among 17 regional “FedEx Ground Entrepreneurs of the Year” for excellence in business.

Gawron Turgeon Architects PC in Scarborough was named a winner of the International Interior Design Associations sixth annual IIDA Healthcare Interior Design Competition. The firm was recognized in the category of “Extended Care and Assisted Living Facilities” for The Mooring on Foreside in Cumberland.