IN SHORT

New hires

Cornerstone Financial Planning in Portland hired Nichole Myers as portfolio manager.

New Castle Hotels & Resorts, a third-party hotel management company, owner and developer, hired Joseph Dadiego as general manager of the Westin Portland Harborview. Dadiego most recently was the general manager of the Dedham Hilton in Boston, Mass.

Alba-Technic LCC, a protective headgear company in Winthrop, hired Nicole Vera as operations manager and Vincent Caccese as project engineer.

The Connectivity Group, a technology integration company in Falmouth, hired Jim Barrick as senior AV sales engineer, Dane Courtois as AV field engineer and Jason Hewitt as national project manager. Barrick was most recently with Northeastern University, Courtois was with Advance Technology Inc. and Hewitt was with Headlight Audio Visual.

Final Draft CAD LLC, a BIM and CAD consulting firm in Portland, hired Richard St.Pierre as reality capture manager in support of business operations and increased demand for 3D scanning services. St.Pierre was previously president and CEO of InMaps.

Fluid Imaging Technologies Inc., a laboratory instrumentation manufacturer in Scarborough, hired Alex Ensign as a mechanical engineer.

People's United Bank in Portland hired Michael Neff as senior vice president and senior wealth advisor. He was previously a portfolio manager for Camden National Wealth Management.

ORPC Inc., the Portland-based company that built, operated and delivered power to a utility grid from a tidal project in Cobscook Bay and to a remote community grid from a river project in Alaska, hired Alexandre Paris to be president and CEO of its Quebec subsidiary, Énergies Marines Renouvelables Québécoises Inc. Paris was most recently senior manager, growth and innovation at Hydro-Québec's research institute, IREQ.

Opus Consulting Group, a business management consulting firm in Portland, hired Caitlin Noel as a junior consultant specializing in accounting and administrative based tasks for clients.

The Portland Chamber Music Festival hired Alice Alexander as operations manager. Alexander has 17 years of experience in managing arts programs, nonprofit organizations and small businesses.

Skowhegan Savings hired Donna Mills-Stevens as vice president regional community banker for Kennebec County. Mills-Stevens was previously assistant vice president of residential lending for the midcoast, Kennebec and Knox counties for Bar Harbor Bank and Trust.

Diversified Communications, an international media company in Portland, hired Ashley Bigda as a registration team administrator, Caitlin Hurley as a marketing coordinator, Drew Patterson as an attendee sales representative, Evan Habeeb as a web designer and Andrea Dillon as a marketing and sales coordinator. Bigda was with CIEE in Portland, Hurley with Stadium Retail Marketing in Boston, Mass., Patterson with Certify in Portland, Habeeb with Rainstorm Inc. in Bangor and Dillon with TJX Cos.

Legacy Properties Sotheby's International Realty hired Elizabeth Banwell as a vice president at its greater Portland office.

BerryDunn, an accounting and consulting firm in Portland, hired Raelynn Ainsworth as office manager and Andrea Rose as accounting manager in its administrative group; Emily Simpson as auditor in its audit and accounting group; Connie Devenger as contract and compliance administrator and Clare Lizotte as compliance associate in its compliance group; Jennifer Dodge, Jason Hargrove, Lauren McTear and Debbie Saxe as senior consultants, Crystal Gray as project coordinator, Kevin Scheirer as senior business development specialist and Alex Kee and Moniefia Maitland as consultants in its government consulting group; and Meta Patten as tax specialist in its tax group.

Educate Maine hired Katherine Sadowski to join the Project>Login team as its southern and western Maine program coordinator.

Promotions

Cheney Insurance in Damariscotta promoted Holly Harris to personal insurance team leader in its personal insurance division.

Steve Marsanskis of the Portland Group at Morgan Stanley and Gary Bergeron of the Breakwater Group at Morgan Stanley were promoted to first vice presidents. Marsanskis is a financial advisor and senior portfolio manager in the firm's wealth management office while Bergeron is a financial advisor and portfolio management director in the firm's wealth management office.

WBRC Architects Engineers in Portland promoted Michael Johanning and Daniel Monroe to principals to its owner/management team. Johanning is an architect with the firm while Monroe is a mechanical engineer.

Norway Savings Bank promoted Amanda Dyer to branch manager in Freeport. Dyer was previously assistant branch manager in Freeport.

First National Bank and its parent company, The First Bancorp in Damariscotta, promoted Kim Averill to retail loan administrator, Missy Bryant to vice president, mortgage underwriter, Jeff Cole to branch manager in Bangor and Rebecca Melquist and David Nadeau to mortgage loan officers. Averill was previously a loan assistant, Bryant a mortgage underwriter, Cole an assistant branch manager and Melquist and Nadeau were retail loan administrators. In addition, First Advisors, the investment management division of the bank, promoted Gary Stone, vice president, portfolio manager, to senior business development officer.

New England Cancer Specialists in Falmouth promoted Chiara Battelli, a breast cancer specialist, to practice president, David Benton to lead physician in Brunswick, Devon Evans to lead physician in Scarborough and Can Ilyas to lead physician in Kennebunk.

Nickerson & O'Day Inc., a construction company in Brewer, promoted Tyler Weymouth to project manager. Weymouth was previously an assistant project manager.

Appointments

The Androscoggin County Bar Association elected a new slate of officers including President, Michael Malloy, The Malloy Firm; Vice President, Mara King, Andrucki & King; Treasurer, Jean Sund, Robinson, Kriger, and McCallum; and Secretary, Amy Dietrich, Skelton Taintor & Abbott.

Achievements

Tilson, an IT and network deployment firm in Portland, said that Kelly Brewer was named a “Top Young Professional” in New England by Engineering News-Record. Brewer is director of engineering at the firm.

U.S. News & World Report ranked the University of Maine at Augusta in a tie for No. 94 on its list of the nation's “Best Online Bachelor's Degree Programs.” This is the sixth year that the university was named to the list.

Berman & Simmons, a law firm in Portland, recognized the national leadership of one of its attorneys, Daniel Kagan, as he celebrates his 20th year as a governor for the American Association for Justice, the preeminent national organization for trial lawyers.

Linda Varrell, founder and president of Broadreach Public Relations, a strategic communications firm in Portland, was accepted into the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program. The program aims to help entrepreneurs create jobs and stimulate economic growth by connecting them with education, capital and business support services.

Lonely Planet, an international travel guide book publisher, ranked Midcoast Maine No. 6 on its list of “Best in the U.S. 2018: The U.S. destinations you need to see in 2018.”

The city of Portland's Barron Center was named an “Eli Pick Facility Leadership Award” winner and identified as a top performing skilled nursing facility by the American College of Health Care Administrators. Only 11% of facilities nationwide qualify for the award determined by using quality indicators, occupancy and three years of survey data.

The Greater Freeport Chamber of Commerce named Jim Frey its “Volunteer of the Year Award” winner, Betsy Ruff its “Ed Bonney Community Contribution Award” winner and Wolfe's Neck Center for Agriculture & the Environment as its “L.L.Bean Community Involvement Award” winner at its annual meeting.

The National Rural Health Association honored U.S. Sen. Susan Collins with its “2018 Rural Health Champion Award” for her leadership in finding bipartisan solutions for health care in rural America.

The Tru Brit Realty Group of Saxby, Meek & Coward at Keller Williams Realty in Portland said it recorded real estate sales exceeding $25 million in 2017.

Maine Medical Center in Portland announced it received the Joint Commission's “Gold Seal of Approval” and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's “Heart-Check” mark for Advanced Certification for Comprehensive Stroke Centers, the highest level of stroke certification a hospital can receive. The hospital said it is the first in Maine to join this group of certified Comprehensive Stroke Centers in the United States.

Lutron Electronics, an energy-saving lighting and shade control manufacturer, recognized Lighting Concepts in Lewiston as its “Shade Project of the Year” and “Connected Home Project of the Year” award winner at its 2017 5-Star Lighting Showroom Awards.

ManpowerGroup, an international workforce solutions company, was recognized for the eighth consecutive year as a “World's Most Ethical Company” by the Ethisphere Institute and was named one of Fortunes Magazine's “2018 World's Most Admired Companies” for the 15th year in a row, ranking second for the most admired company in the diversified outsourcing services industry. The company has Maine offices in Auburn, Augusta, Bangor, Biddeford, Portland, Presque Isle, Rockland and Springvale.

The UMaine Alumni Association selected former Maine Gov. John E. Baldacci to receive its highest honor, the “Alumni Career Award,” and the family of Donald and Patricia Collins for its “Fogler Legacy Award.” Other award winners included: Allen and Patricia Morell, “Bernard Lown '42 Alumni Humanitarian Award;” Todd Saucier, “Pine Tree Emblem Service Award;” George Pullen, “Spirit of Maine Achievement Award;” and Norman Minsky, “Champion of UMaine Award.” In addition, Brian Harris, Hannah Hudson and Owen McCarthy received the Alumni Association's new “Rising Star Award.”

CarMax Inc., the nation's largest retailer of used cars, was ranked No. 34 by FORTUNE magazine on its list of the “100 Best Companies to Work For.” The company recently opened its first store in Maine, at 415 Maine Mall Road in South Portland.

The Portland Water District said David Kane, director of administration, was honored with the New England Water Works Association's State (Maine) Leadership Award. Kane has 27 years of industry leadership experience.

Brian Bernatchez, an independent LPL Financial advisor and managing director at Golden Pond Wealth Management in Waterville, was named to the 2018 LPL's Chairman's Council, presented to less than 2% of the firm's approximately 15,000 advisors nationwide.

Cushman Creative, a design agency in Port Clyde specializing in biomedical and life science marketing, was honored with a gold “2017 MarCom Award” for its work on MDI Biological Laboratory's semi-annual donor magazine, recently retitled Breaking Through.

Deb McDonald, a business insurance account manager at Allen Insurance and Financial in Camden, achieved the designation of Accredited Customer Service Representative in Commercial Lines from the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America.

Marc Cardullo, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Cape Elizabeth, earned the designation of Certified Log Home Builder/Expert from the Log Home Builder Association of North America.

Fontaine Family – The Real Estate Leader in Auburn presented its award winners for 2017 production. The top-five volume winners were Clayton Larochelle, 73 closed units and $10 million in volume; Bill Bergeron, 62 closed units and $9 million in volume; Dawn Marston, 36 closed units and $8.8 million in volume; Maria Morrissette, 22 united closed and $6.7 million in volume; and Charmaine Raby, 23 closed units and $4.9 million in volume. In addition, Sally Christner was named the “Rookie of the Year Award” winner with 25 closed units and Jennifer McGaughey was honored with the “Unsung Hero Award.”

Morgan Stanley, a financial services firm in Portland, said that Andrew Thomas, Michael Boyson, James Gribbel, Josh Burns and Richard Rosu-Myles were named to the firm's Master's Club; Jay Cross, Mark Leighton and Richard Hubbell were named to the firm's Century Club; and Todd Doolan was named to the firm's President's Club. In addition, Damien Saccani, Iain Eldredge, Stephen Roop and Tammy Weston were named to the firm's Pacesetter's Club, a global recognition program for financial advisors who, within their first five years, demonstrate professional standards and client service.

Sherree Craig, senior account executive in the Insured Benefits Division at Allen Insurance and Financial in Camden, achieved an Advanced Self-Funding Certification from the National Association of Health Underwriters. The certification ensures knowledge of regulatory concerns, service model options, cost-containment strategies and underwriting concepts necessary for providing advice and direction on employer self-funded health plans.

Systems Engineering, an IT strategy and managed services provider in Portland, said it was named to CRN's 2018 Managed Service Provider 500 list. CRN is the nation's leading news source for the IT channel.

Norway Savings Bank recently held its annual Employee Awards Banquet. Winners included: Janel Danforth, assistant vice president of retail operations, “2017 Employee of the Year;” Steve Whitney, executive vice president, risk, IT and deposit operations, “President's Award;” Tina Merritt, Sharepoint administrator, “2017 Best Supporting Role Award;” and Miranda Giraldo, customer relations representative in Yarmouth, “2017 Culture Champion of the Year.” “Culture Award” winners went to: Lin Dehetre, Kristen Charette and Michelle Wickham, “Employees, Customers and Community Award;” Tammy Bailey and Bobbie-Jo Chase, “Open, Honest and Transparent Communications Award;” Frank Farrell, Tricia Brooks and Megan Merrifield, “Taking Ownership and Being Accountable Award;” Kelcey Kimball and Sharon Breytenbach, “The Value of Inclusivity and Collaboration Award;” Matt Brady, Heather Worcester and Scott Fogg, “Positivity, Attitude is Everything Award;” Jen Gillespie and Christine McMann, “Supporting Greatness and Achieving Great Things Award;” Maria Edwards and Kaleigh Deering, “Thinking Differently Award;” Missy Babineau, Corey McEntyre and Amy Marshall, “Fun and Humor Award;” Rhonda Ferrara and Kurt Garascia, “Strong Financial Stewardship Award;” and Mark Thurlow and Mary Leavitt, “Making it Happen Award.” “Length of Service Awards” went to Deb McPhail, 35 years; Andrea Osgood and Brooks, 30 years; Karen Hakala, Dan Walsh, Jackie Morin and Tici Conant, 20 years; Brian Shibles, Lynn McAloney, Pam Veilleux, Elizabeth Stevens, Joy Hutchinson, Chris Martin, Jesse Shand, Rose Onos, Susan Driscoll and Heather Adams, 15 years; Mary Hewett, Ryan Dillingham, Kyle Hodgkins, Sacha Marston, Jessica Lilly, Patty Vaillancourt, Nancy Stroud, Janel Danforth, Alicia Taylor and Todd Schryer, 10 years; and Missy Babineau, Charette, Worcester, Peter Horr, Joy Willard, Brendan Fickett, Linda Sarkisian, Maria Edwards, Jason Fitzgerald, Joe Leland, Breytenbach and Randy Easler, five years.