🔒IN SHORT

New hires

R. M. Davis, a wealth management firm in Portland, hired Bob Davis as vice president and portfolio manager. Davis was previously with HM Payson.

The United Way of Androscoggin County in Lewiston hired Kim Preble as director of community engagement. Preble was with United Way of Oxford County.

Serra Public Affairs in Augusta hired Lauren LePage as director of strategic partnerships and political outreach and Jamie Logan as communications director.

North Yarmouth Academy hired Jennifer Richard as director of development and Garrett Bowne as CFO. Richard was most recently assistant vice president of college advancement at Bates College while Bowne was senior vice president and group risk officer at Delhaize Group.

First National Bank in Damariscotta hired Marcia Bender as branch manager in Bar Harbor.

The Maine GOP in Augusta hired Conrad Tavarez as data director for the 2018 Cycle. Tavarez previously worked as field director for a congressional campaign in Montana as well as special assistant to President Trump's inauguration committee.

New Dimensions Federal Credit Union in Waterville hired Tanya Verzoni as director of financial education and staff development.

HistoryIT, a digital history company in Portland, hired Hayes Ferguson as president and COO. Ferguson, a founding member of the management team at Legacy.com, was previously an advisor with the company for the past two years.

Mechanics Savings Bank in Brunswick hired Justin Laverriere as vice president, commercial loan officer serving the Brunswick region on its business banking team.

Maine Medical Partners in Portland hired Mark McAllister in its neurology department, Michelle Crispo in emergency medicine and palliative care, Elena Ziarnik in its thoracic surgery department and Nicholas Perros, Andreas Thyssen and Joshua Keller in hospital medicine.

Clark Insurance in Portland hired James Brissenden as marketing and communications specialist. Brissenden was previously a marketing and data analyst with Strategic HR U.S.

Diversified Communications, an international media company in Portland, hired Missy Ayotte as a data analyst. Ayotte was previously with IBM.

Skowhegan Savings hired Christopher Farmer as a vice president regional community banker focused on working with both commercial and retail customers in the Franklin County area. Farmer most recently was general manager, CFO and in-house counsel of Saddleback Ski Resort in Rangeley.

Fontaine Family – The Real Estate Leader in Auburn hired Caleb Labrie as a sales agent.

Gov. Paul R. LePage hired Madeline Malisa as deputy counsel and senior policy advisor.

Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor hired Alexandria Dame as a primary care provider at EMMC Family Medicine. Dame recently worked in the hospital's emergency department.

Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington hired Paul Wooden as a member of Franklin Health Livermore Falls Family Practice. Wooden, a family physician who specializes in the treatment and prevention of skin cancer and other diseases of the skin, was in private practice and has been a member of the hospital's medical staff since 1995.

Promotions

Geiger, a promotional products distributor in Lewiston, promoted Amanda Bryant to assistant program manager and Johnathan Plummer to web designer/production artist. Bryant was previously an accounts receivable specialist while Plummer was a production artist.

First Advisors, the Trust and Investment Division of First National Bank in Damariscotta, promoted Richard Price Jr. to portfolio manager. Price was assistant portfolio manager.

John Ronan was named president of Blue Hill Memorial Hospital and Maine Coast Memorial Hospital in Ellsworth. Ronan has served as president of Blue Hill since 2014 and has been acting president at Maine Coast since late 2016.

Kleinschmidt Associates, a firm in Pittsfield that provides engineering, regulatory and environmental consulting services to energy companies and government agencies, recently announced it reorganized the leadership structure of its energy, water and environmental business. Scott Ault became chief technical and operations officer; Russ Sanford, chief marketing officer; Tim Oakes, power and energy business sector leader; Glen DeWillie, water and environment business sector leader; Kevin Cooley, director of engineering; Kelly Larimer, director of science, regulatory and MGIST; and Jason Aberdeen, director of project and program management.

Gorham Savings Bank announced several promotions. Dan Hancock was promoted to chief deposit officer; Mark Girr to senior vice president, director of marketing and communications; Tracey Sardella to vice president, compliance officer; Alden Joy to vice president, general services; Michael Voisine to assistant vice president, commercial portfolio loan officer; and Kristine Amato to officer, loan administrative supervisor in the business banking department.

Maine Medical Center in Portland promoted David Seder to chief of critical care. Seder, who received his medical degree from the University of New Mexico and then completed three years of internal medicine training at the center, was previously interim chief of critical care since February.

Appointments

Dream Local Digital, a digital marketing and communications agency in Rockland, added Todd Handy to its board of directors. Handy, who has more than eight years of experience in monetization in the digital media industry, is with MarketStar.

Achievements

Bernstein Shur, a law firm in Portland, announced that shareholder Michael Bosse was admitted to the Fellowship of the Construction Lawyers Society of America. Bosse is the co-chair of the firm's Litigation Practice Group, chair of its Construction Practice Group and a member of the firm's Data Security Team.

Penobscot Community Health Care in Bangor announced that its Unlimited Solutions Clubhouse achieved accreditation through Clubhouse International for a three-year period.

Money Magazine ranked Thomas College in Waterville No. 23 among colleges that add the most value. The ranking was a part of the magazine's “2017-18 Best Colleges Where Alums Beat the Odds.”

Bangor Region Leadership Institute, a regionally-oriented leadership development program, announced members of its Class of 2018: Thomas Bearor, Cross Insurance; Michael Corbett, Elizabeth Keenan and Suzie Phillips, EMHS; Tracey Cousineau, Amicus; Amanda Cummings and Tina Ferrill, Husson University; Francesca DeSanctis, Eastern Maine Community College; Veena Dinesh, University of Maine; Michelle Dwyer, Bangor Daily News; Sara Green-Hamann, Dennis Paper & Food Service; Danielle Hewes, Maine Savings Federal Credit Union; Paul Hilchey-Chandler, Greater Bangor Convention & Visitors Bureau; Amy Jones, self-employed soil scientist; Ruth Lyons, RSU22; Susan MacKay, Cerahelix; Paul Monyok, WBRC Architects Engineers; Angela Oechslie, Educate Maine; Kristen Oliver, Sutherland Weston Marketing Communications; Kyle Oliver and Jaclyn Silk, Bangor Savings Bank; Kathryn Parker, Penobscot Community Health Care; Collin Phillips, Wayfair; Robert Rawcliffe, Rawcliffe's Service Center; Kelley Syphers, KeyBank; Walter Tardiff, UniFirst; and Janelle Wuoristo, United Way of Eastern Maine.

Aroostook Aspirations Initiative announced its “Best of Aroostook” winners including Dunkin' Donuts, Best Coffee Shop; John's Shurfine, Best Locally Owned Grocery Store; Houlton Farms Dairy Bar, Best Ice Cream; Big Rock Mountain, Best Skiing; Daigle Oil Co., Best Gas Service Station; Grammy's Country Inn, Best Locally Owned Restaurant; Pelletier Ford, Best Car Dealership; Big Country 96.9, Best Radio Station; Portage Lake, Best Lake; and The Maine Potato Blossom Festival, Best Festival.

The city of Portland was awarded a certificate of achievement for excellence in financial reporting by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada for its June 30, 2016 comprehensive annual financial report.

WalletHub, a national finance website, ranks the city of Bangor as “Top Maine Small City to Start a Business” in a 2017 analysis comparing the business climate of over 1,200 small cities. Using 16 key metrics including average growth in number of small businesses, real estate and labor costs, number of startups per capita and access to capital, the city ranked ahead of other Maine cities with a total score of 40.6 and ranking of 434 out of 1,261 cities overall.

Coastal Enterprises Inc.'s headquarters in Brunswick earned a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum accreditation, the highest level for building energy efficiency and sustainability, and one of just six awarded in Maine for new commercial construction since the standard was created.

Meesha Luce of Allen Insurance and Financial in Camden earned the Safeco Insurance Award of Excellence, an honor recognizing underwriting skill that is achieved by a select group of agents across the U.S. who sell the insurance product.

Aroostook Aspirations Initiative received a “2017 Champion of Economic Development Award” from Maine Development Foundation.

Skelton Taintor & Abbott, a law firm in Auburn, said eight of its attorneys were named to the U.S. News Media Group's “2018 Best Lawyers in America” list.

Geiger, a promotional products distributor in Lewiston, named Patrick Blanchard as the winner of its quarterly “Star Awards”. Blanchard works in the company's marketing department.

Shaheen & Gordon PA, a law firm in Saco, announced that Karen Lovell, Peter Schroeter and Randall Smith were named to the U.S. News Media Group's “2018 Best Lawyers in America” list. The firm also said five additional lawyers based in offices located outside of Maine also made the list.

GHM Insurance Agency in Waterville said Reilly Kons successfully completed the licensing exam to be a property casualty insurance agent.

Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington earned The Joint Commission's Gold Seal of Approval for Hospital Accreditation by demonstrating continuous compliance with its performance standards. The approval is a symbol of quality that reflects an organization's commitment to providing safe and effective patient care.

Tilson, an IT professional services and network deployment firm in Portland, was named to the Inc. 5000 list of America's fastest-growing private companies for a seventh consecutive year. In so doing, the firm joins a group of firms in the Inc. “5000 'Honor Roll,'” a milestone which just 2% percent of Inc. 5000 companies ever achieve, according to the publisher.

Hidden Pond in Kennebunkport was voted the No. 1 Destination Resort in USA Today's “10 Best Readers' Choice Awards.”