IN SHORT

New hires

Spruce Point Inn in Boothbay Harbor hired Eric Flynn as executive chef. Flynn was previously food and beverage director at the Portland Harbor Hotel.

East Brown Cow, a real estate management, investment and development company in Portland, hired Dan Nelson as CFO. Nelson was in global taxation with PwC.

Becker Structural Engineers, a structural engineering consulting company in Portland, hired David Martin as an associate, Charlotte Bouvier as senior engineer and Jessica Kandel as marketing/communications manager.

Diversified Communications, an international media company in Portland, hired Emily Nelson as a registration coordinator and Erin Morton as an operations coordinator.

James D. Julia, an antique auction house in Fairfield, hired Jeremy Hatch as a firearms sales representative. Hatch was a senior sales and marketing executive with Shooting Sportsman magazine.

ReVision Energy in Portland hired Barry Woods as director of electric vehicle innovation. Woods was most recently an attorney with Drummond & Drummond LLP and director of Electric Mobility NE.

Merrill Lynch in Portland hired Tara Colello as a financial advisor, partnering with the Ylvisaker Group. Colello was most recently with Wells Fargo Advisors.

PDT Architects in Portland hired Benjamin Winschel as an architectural designer.

Harriman, a design and engineering firm in Portland, hired Mark Burnes as a principal. Burnes was the founder of Foreside Architects LLC.

Mechanics Savings Bank hired Ed Powell as vice president, commercial loan officer in Windham. Powell has more than 30 years of banking experience.

The Portland Museum of Art announced that Nat May will serve as the guest curator for the 2018 Portland Museum of Art Biennial. May was previously executive director of SPACE Gallery in Portland.

Newcastle Realty in Damariscotta hired Dean Jacobs as a real estate agent.

RE/MAX Realty One in York hired Karen Rice as a realtor.

York County Community Action Corp. hired Carter Friend as deputy director. Friend brings more than 25 years of management and leadership experience to the position.

Promotions

Baker Newman Noyes, an accounting and consulting firm in Portland, promoted C. Dayton Benway to director of the firm’s health care consulting practice. Benway specializes in hospital Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, rural health clinic Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, Medicare audits and provider certifications.

H.M. Payson, an investment advisory firm in Portland, promoted Michelle Santiago, Shawnee Sax, Benjamin Michaud, Pamela Stephenson and Deborah Towle to shareholders.

CES Inc., a firm of engineers, environmental scientists and land surveyors in Brewer, announced that Pete Tuell, Dennis Kingman, Sean Thies and Chris Snowdeal became shareholders. Tuell specializes in structural and geotechnical engineering; Kingman has more than 27 years of experience providing asbestos and lead and PCB management, occupational health and safety consultation and environmental management services to industry and academic institutions and local, state and federal government; Thies specializes in civil engineering, including site design, roadway design and permitting; and Snowdeal has nearly two decades of structural engineering work experience assisting clients with building and life safety code review, general structural/building analysis and design, construction document development and administration.

The Maine Water Co. in Saco promoted Richard Knowlton to president. Knowlton has served as vice president of operations since he joined the company in 1993.

The city of Portland promoted Kolawole Bankole to public health director. Bankole was most recently the family health program manager for the city.

FairPoint Communications promoted Michael Reed to state president of Vermont. Reed also serves as the company as state president of Maine.

Appointments

The Universal Accreditation Board, which governs the industry certification for public relations professionals, the Accreditation in Public Relations, elected Judy Katzel as chair. Katzel, a Maine Public Relations Council board member, is chief communications officer for Catholic Charities Maine and owner of KDK Consulting Group LLC.

Hospice of Southern Maine in Scarborough added Chris Coon and Nathan Wilson to its board of directors. Coon is vice president of finance at Maine Medical Center in Portland while Wilson is vice president of quality and safety at Southern Maine Healthcare Internal Medicine in Biddeford.

The University of New England in Biddeford said that Nicole Trufant was appointed to serve on the board of the National Association of College and University Business Officers and elected to a serve as vice chair of the Eastern Association of College and University Business Officers beginning in the fall of 2018. Trufant is vice president of finance and administration at the university.

The Maine Department of Education announced that Jon Amory, Jason Judd, Jennifer Mallett, Amanda Nguyen, James Ritter and Robert Neely were appointed by Gov. Paul R. LePage and Acting Commissioner Robert Hasson Jr. to serve on the Maine STEM Council. Amory is an engineering/robotics teacher at Baxter Academy, Judd is program director at Project>Login at Educate Maine, Mallett is adjunct math instructor at York County Community College, Nguyen is a digital learning specialist at the Maine Department of Education, Ritter is state librarian and chief administrator at the Maine State Library and Neely is vice chancellor for academic affairs for University of Maine System.

The Portland Water District elected William Lunt as president and Guy Cote as vice president of its board of trustees. In addition, David Kane was reelected treasurer and Donna Katsiaficas was reelected clerk.

Achievements

The UMaine Business Challenge, presented by Business Lending Solutions, said that Bradley Shepherd, Benjamin Koehlern and Ian Shea of the University of Maine; Anita van Dam, College of the Atlantic; and Michael Parks, Southern Maine Community College, were finalists for the top prize of more than $20,000 in cash and prizes. Winners will be announced April 29.

Sevee & Maher Engineers Inc. in Cumberland announced that Tyler Dunlea and Laura DeVaudreuil became certified in Level 1 Thermography. Dunlea is a technology specialist with the firm while DeVaudreuil is a chemical engineer.

James Lamb, financial advisor and certified financial planner practitioner with James E. Lamb & Associates in Scarborough, became an Ameriprise Financial Private Wealth Advisor.

Acadia Hospital in Bangor earned The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval for Hospital Accreditation by demonstrating continuous compliance with its performance standards. The accreditation reflects an organization’s commitment to providing safe and effective patient care.

Clifford Ryan, principal of Elder Planning Advisors of Maine in South Portland, qualified for a 25th year with Million Dollar Round Table, a national association of financial professionals.

The MaineHealth Operational Excellence Team, a system-wide group of performance improvement professionals, was awarded the “2017 Quality Improvement Leadership Award” from Maine Quality Counts, a nonprofit organization working to transform health and health care. The award recognizes an individual or organization that has introduced innovations, used creativity and embraced risk-taking in its leadership of demonstrably successful quality improvement initiatives.

Morgan Stanley announced that Todd Doolan, a senior vice president, senior portfolio management director, financial advisor in the firm’s Maine Wealth Management office in Portland, was named to Barron’s list of America’s Top 1,200 Advisors: 2017 State-by-State. This represents Doolan’s fourth consecutive year on the list and the second year that he received the top ranking for the state of Maine.

Preti Flaherty, a law firm in Portland, said the American College of Trial Lawyers inducted Peter Callaghan as a fellow. Callaghan is a director in the firm’s office in Concord, N.H.

Tax Abilities LLC, a business and tax consulting company in Lewiston, announced that Michael Ptak attained a certified fraud examiner designation in support of the company’s cost recovery services. Ptak is co-founder and treasurer of the company.

The Maine Restaurant Association said that Laura Benedict, owner of The Red Barn restaurant in Augusta, received the “Restaurant Neighbor Award” for 2017 from the National Restaurant Association. The association also announced its annual award winners including Jonathan West, Jonathan’s Restaurant in Ogunquit, restaurateur of the year; Joshua Berry, Union Restaurant in the Press Hotel, chef of the year; Cheryl Lee Rust, Le Garage Restaurant in Wiscasset, “Bill Zoidis Lifetime Achievement Award;” and Performance Food Service in Augusta, “Allied Member of the Year.”

Leigh Kellis, founder of The Holy Donut in Portland, was selected as U.S. Small Business Administration’s “Maine Small Business Person of the Year.” Other award winners were: “Maine and New England Veteran Owned Small Business of the Year,” Joshua Broder, Tilson Technology Management LLC of Portland; “Jeffrey Butland Family Owned Business of the Year,” Alison and Scott Snell, Wilson’s on Moosehead Lake of Big Moose Township; “Maine Small Business Exporter of the Year,” James Banfield, Terra Speakers of Brunswick; “Maine Woman-Owned Small Business of the Year,” Pamela Laskey, Maine Foodie Tours of Portland; “Maine Young Entrepreneurs of the Year,” Devin McNeill and Charles Friedman, Flowfold of Scarborough; “Maine Home-Based Business of the Year,” Justin and Alisa Carney, Afterlife Affections LLC of Washburn; “Maine Minority-Owned Small Business of the Year,” Naima Abdirhmon, ARWO Learning Center LLC of Portland; “Maine Micro-Enterprise of the Year,” Kate Beever, Maine Music & Health LLC of Saco; and “Maine Financial Services Champion of the Year,” Ann Marie Swenson, People’s United Bank.

Penobscot Community Health Care in Bangor was recognized for the seventh year in a row as a “Leader in LGBT Healthcare Equality” by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the educational arm of the country’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization.

Former Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives Mark Eves received the “2017 Ikaria Award” by SeniorsPlus, an agency on aging located in Lewiston. The award honors an individual in the community for singular and outstanding contributions toward improving the lives of older adults.

The MaineHealth Center for Tobacco Independence Tobacco Prevention Services announced Central Maine Community College, Kaplan University, Kennebec Valley Community College, Maine Maritime Academy, Northern Maine Community College, Saint Joseph’s College, University of Maine at Presque Isle, University of New England, University of Southern Maine and York County Community College all met all 10 standards and achieved the gold level in its “2017 Breathe Easy Coalition Tobacco-Free College Gold Star Standards of Excellence” recognition program. In addition, Bryanna Smith, York County Community College; Deidra Davis, Maine Maritime Academy; and Karen Normandin, Kennebec Valley Community College, were recognized as individual gold-star champions.