In Short from Aug. 11, 2008 | A roundup of new hires, promotions, accolades and appointments from Maine's business community

New Hiresâ€&Copy;

Androscoggin Bank in Lewiston recently hired Andrew Grover as vice president and risk manager, and David Pease as senior vice president and human resources director. â€&Copy;

Debora Redmond recently was hired as assistant vice president and loan production manager at Northeast Bank in Lewiston. â€&Copy;

Michael Osborne recently was hired as director of finance at Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor. Previously, Osborne was director of finance and administration for Eastern Maine Development Corp. in Bangor.â€&Copy;

Portland Harbor Hotel recently hired Lisa Smith as a baker and pastry chef for its restaurant, Eve’s at the Garden. Previously, Smith was a baker at Standard Bakery in Portland.â€&Copy;

Pop!Tech, an annual technology summit in Camden, recently hired the following: Jason Rzepka, previously head of communications for MTV’s college network mtvU, as director of communications; Elizabeth Levy, a writer, director and producer, as senior conference producer; and Louis Juska, previously employed at the Bay Area Video Coalition in San Francisco, Calif., as director of technology. â€&Copy;

KeyBank, based in Cleveland, Ohio, recently hired the following at its district office in Portland: Sherry Brown as district marketing manager of marketing and communications; Gregory Hughan as senior vice president and district credit officer; and Guy Langevin as vice president and senior relationship manager of human resources. Previously, Brown was synergy manager at TDS Franchising in Glendale, Calif., Hughan was senior vice president and senior approval officer for Bank of American in Manchester, N.H., and Langevin was human resources manager at Hannaford Bros. Co. in Scarborough.â€&Copy;

Macdonald Page & Co., an accounting firm in South Portland, recently hired Kristina Emmons and Ross Burgess as staff accountants. Emmons is a recent Plymouth State University graduate, and Ross currently is completed his Masters at the University of Southern Maine.â€&Copy;

Martina Duncan recently was hired as assistant director of the Maine Humanities Council, a nonprofit organization based in Portland that offers literary and cultural programs. Most recently, Duncan was director of community chamber partnerships at the Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce.â€&Copy;

Museum L-A in Lewiston recently hired Karla Leandri Rider as coordinator of collections and visitors programs. Previously, Rider was assistant registrar at Bates College Museum of Art in Lewiston.â€&Copy;

Ocean Properties Ltd. recently hired Kara Greer as director of sales and marketing for the company’s northern New England sales team, which handles sales and marketing services for the Samoset Resort in Rockport, the Bar Harbor Regency and the Harborside Hotel, Spa & Marina in Bar Harbor. â€&Copy;

Amanda Hepler recently was hired as a physician at Rangeley Family Medicine, a member of HealthReach Community Health Centers, a health care system based in Waterville with facilities in central and western Maine.â€&Copy;

Elizabeth Chase recently was hired as a Spanish and music teacher at Friends School of Portland, a Quaker day school for grades preK-8. Previously, Chase was a teacher at The Mast Landing School in Freeport.â€&Copy;

Dorcas Riley recently was hired as vice president and chief financial officer at Kennebec Savings Bank in Augusta. Previously, Riley was chief financial officer for Performance Food Group NorthCenter in Augusta.â€&Copy;

Barry Blumenfeld recently was hired as chief information officer for Maine Medical Center in Portland and MaineHealth, its parent organization. Previously, Blumenfeld was general manager of solutions architecture for GE Healthcare Integrated IT Solutions, based in the United Kingdom.â€&Copy;

Merrill Bank, based in Bangor, recently hired Jeannette Hafford as assistant branch manager for its new location on Broadway in Bangor. Previously, Hafford was a customer service representative at Bangor Savings Bank. The bank also recently hired Chris Pushor for the position of branch manager in Bangor.â€&Copy;

Promotionsâ€&Copy;

Macdonald Page & Co, an accounting firm with offices in Augusta and South Portland, recently promoted Hadje Esmiller to staff accountant in the South Portland office. Esmiller had worked as an intern in the audit department.â€&Copy;

Melissa Bobalek recently was promoted to branch manager of the Brunswick Cooks Corner branch of Norway Savings Bank, a financial institution based in Norway. Bobalek was previously acting manager of the branch.â€&Copy;

Lee Academy, a private high school in Lee, recently promoted Deborah Jacobs to the position of director of admissions. Jacobs previously worked as the administrative assistant to admissions and development.â€&Copy;

U.S. Cellular, a wireless phone company based in Chicago, recently promoted Sean Griffith to store manager and Stephanie Dow to sales manager, both at its Bangor store. Griffith was previously store manager for U.S. Cellular locations in central Maine, and Dow was a customer service associate.â€&Copy;

Frederick Servello recently was promoted to the positions of associate dean for research at the University of Maine in Orono’s College of Natural Sciences, Forestry and Agriculture and associate director of the Maine Agricultural and Forest Experiment Station. Servello previously served as faculty chair of the Dept. of Wildlife Ecology at the university and as the interim associate director of the Experiment Station.â€&Copy;

Sue Walton recently was promoted to assistant vice president at Saco & Biddeford Savings Institution, a financial services institution based in Saco. Walton was previously assistant branch manager at the bank’s Biddeford branch.â€&Copy;

Roger Desveaux recently was promoted to assistant vice president, actuarial, at Disability RMS, a reinsurance provider in Westbrook. â€&Copy;

Legacy Publishing Company, a Westbrook-based producer and publisher of personal development products for families, recently announced the following promotions: Fran Potvin to customer support manager, Jeffrey Wentworth to Brunswick sales manager, Krista Viola to customer service shift leader, Adam Demmons to senior customer service representative, Heath Fecteau to senior call monitor of development, and Amanda Huff to senior call monitor of data processing. â€&Copy;

Appointmentsâ€&Copy;

North Yarmouth Academy in Yarmouth recently elected the following to its board of trustees: Allen Bornheimer, president/principal of Cargex Properties LP in Boston, Mass.; Margaret Fast, vice president and managing counsel at Unum Law Department in Portland; David Fenderson, vice president of Windward Petroleum in Westbrook; Jay Flower, financial advisor at Smith Barney in Portland; and Cindy Maxsimic, a realtor at King Real Estate in Falmouth.â€&Copy;

The Maine Highlands, a nonprofit organization that promotes economic development, recently elected the following as officers on its board of directors: Bob Hamer, executive director of the Moosehead Lake Region Chamber of Commerce in Greenville, as chairman; Kelly Cotiaux of Sephone Internet Solutions in Bangor as first vice chair; Jane Briggs, executive director of the Sebasticook Valley Chamber of Commerce in Newport, as secretary; and Kerrie Tripp, executive director of the Greater Bangor Convention and Visitors Bureau, as treasurer. In addition, the organization elected the following as board members: Russ Page, executive director of the Piscataquis County Chamber of Commerce in Dover-Foxcroft; Cheri Archer, executive director of the Lincoln Lakes Chamber of Commerce in Lincoln; Deborah Grass, board member of the Katahdin Area Chamber of Commerce in Millinocket; Terry Johannemann and Jeff Johannemann of The Greenville Inn; Mike Dugas of J.W. Parks Golf Course in Pittsfield; Risteen Masters of Bangor International Airport; and Donna Fichtner of The Maine Tourism Commission.â€&Copy;

The Maine Center for Creativity, a nonprofit that promotes the growth of arts industries in the state, recently appointed the following as officers on its board of directors: Greg Boulos as president, Meg Weston as vice president, Paula Lundgren as treasurer and Alan Atkins as clerk. In addition, the organization elected the following as board members: Jerry Ade, Richard McGoldrick, Pamela Plumb, Charles Dibner, Tom MacDonald, Raphael DiLuzio, Katherine Greenleaf, Jamie Morin and Ayres Stockly.â€&Copy;

Brian Willing, an attorney at Drummond Woodsum in Portland, recently was elected to the board of directors of the Children’s Museum of Maine, also in Portland.â€&Copy;

James Schmidt, formerly chief of dental service at the Togus Veterans Administration Medical Center in Augusta, recently was appointed president of the Maine Dental Association. Schmidt has served on MDA’s executive board since 1980.â€&Copy;

Pop!Tech, an annual technology summit in Camden, recently appointed the following to its board of directors: John Legend, R&B singer, songwriter and pianist; Steven Koltai, founder of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Warner Bros. Online; Sarah Laskin, vice president and chief operating officer of mission programs at the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C.; and Bill Gordon, president and CEO of Tetragenetics Inc. in Ithaca, N.Y. In addition, the organization appointed photographic artist Chris Jordan to its advisory board.â€&Copy;

The Maine International Trade Center in Portland recently appointed the following to its board of directors: William DeWitt III, associate dean of Maine Maritime Academy in Castine, and Aaron Moser, director of new business development for Thos. Moser Cabinetmakers Inc. in Auburn. In addition, MITC reelected the following to an additional term as board members: John Gulliver, a partner at law firm Pierce Atwood in Portland, and Joseph Mooney, senior vice president and trade finance sales manager at TD Banknorth N.A. in Portland.â€&Copy;

Company newsâ€&Copy;

The Finance Authority of Maine has awarded Coastal Enterprises, Inc. in Wiscasset $120,000 from its Regional Economic Development Revolving Loan Program. The money will be loaned through CEI to qualifying businesses in the Lincoln, Knox, Waldo and Sagadahoc county areas, excluding Bath and Topsham. â€&Copy;

Three Maine institutions have received more than $700,000 in grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities: The Maine Maritime Museum in Bath received $197,582 to stabilize its watercraft collection and construct visible storage for 117 historic Maine boats. The American Musicological Society in Brunswick got $110,000 for a multi-volume project called “Music of the United States of America (MUSA): A National Series.” And the University of Southern Maine in Portland received $466,009 to acquire storage equipment for cartographic collections at the Osher Map Library.â€&Copy;

The Cianbro Charitable Foundation in Pittsfield recently gave 42 Maine students who are offspring of Cianbro employees its Cianchette Brothers Scholarship awards totaling $60,500.â€&Copy;

The York Family Eye Care has relocated to a new office on U.S. Rte. One, a few minutes north of the Maine Turnpike’s York spur.â€&Copy;

Forty Maine high school students and teachers attended the 2008 Summer Institute in Pulp and Paper Process Technology at the University of Maine in Orono from July 14 to 17.â€&Copy;

York County Community College will become a satellite location for the University of Southern Maine by offering the first of several prospective future courses at its Wells campus this fall. â€&Copy;

McDonald’s recently opened a new restaurant at 332 St. John St. in Portland. The new location, the largest north of Boston, features Maine’s first double drive-through, a McCafe and wireless internet access. â€&Copy;

Blue Marble Geographics, based in Gardiner, recently released an online, searchable knowledgebase that will feature documentation for the company’s products. The company also offered training sessions Aug. 7 and 8 at the ESRI User Conference in San Diego, Calif. for its Geographic Calculator and Geographic Transformer products.â€&Copy;

The Beachmere Inn in Ogunquit recently held a reopening event to showcase its newly constructed wing and other renovations. The inn had been under construction since October 2007. â€&Copy;

Key Bank, based in Cleveland, Ohio, recently said it plans to give $25,000 to the Aroostook Partnership for Progress, an economic development program in northern Maine. â€&Copy;

Pro Search Inc., a recruiting and staffing firm in Portland, recently said, for every hour its temporary and contract employees work for a specific client, it will donate five cents to a Maine-based nonprofit organization in that client’s name. â€&Copy;

Eastern Book Company, headquartered in West­brook, recently chose Portland-based firm Thomas Hillman Design to rework its brand message. â€&Copy;

Emery-Waterhouse, a Portland-based hardware and building materials company, recently opened a new distribution center for its Emery Building Materials division in Pittston, Pa. â€&Copy;

Maine Built Boats, a nonprofit consortium of Maine boat builders, will attend the 17th annual WoodenBoat Show in Mystic, Conn.â€&Copy;

The Maine Cancer Society recently gave Edward Bilsky, an associate professor of pharmacology at UNE’s College of Osteopathic Medicine, an $82,000 grant to study pain in bone cancer patients. â€&Copy;

Marnee’s Cookies, based in Bath, recently was featured at the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade’s Fancy Food Show in New York City. Marnee’s Euphoria Marvelous Minis also were featured as the “snack of the day” on The Rachael Ray Show.â€&Copy;

Camden National Corp.’s board of directors recently declared a $0.25 per share dividend payable on July 31, 2008 for shareholders of record on July 15, 2008.â€&Copy;

David Hales, president of College of the Atlantic, moderated two days of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations’ recent weeklong annual Ministerial Development Forum in New York. The forum was initiated in 2007 to review progress made in the UN development agenda and the Millennium Development Goals.â€&Copy;

TD Banknorth’s Charitable Foundation has given a two-year, $20,000-per-year grant to Common Good Ventures in Brunswick to improve the efficiency, effectiveness and reach of Maine nonprofits’ programs and services and support greater collaboration among nonprofit, private and public entities across the state. â€&Copy;

Severin M. Beliveau, co-founder and senior partner of Preti Flaherty, attended a June 19-20 meeting of democratic governors with Sen. Barack Obama in Chicago. Gov. John Baldacci also attended. â€&Copy;

Friends of Casco Bay of South Portland has new signs on the backs of two natural gas-powered METRO buses with the message, “What a difference a Bay makes.” The ad was designed pro bono by Swardlick Marketing Group of Portland.â€&Copy;

Lapchick Creative in Portland has developed a new brand for the Maine Democratic Party that the company says aims to reflect the importance of Maine’s role in this year’s election and the youth movement among Maine Democrats.â€&Copy;

Maine YardScaping Partnership of Portland planted more than 1,000 trees, shrubs, and perennials at YardScaping’s demonstration site by Back Cove to show the range of plants available here that reduce the need for pesticides, fertilizers and water. The two-and-a-half-acre site was donated by the city.â€&Copy;

Katahdin Cedar Log Homes in Oakfield will design and manufacture a 20,000-square-foot restaurant called Eddie Montgomery’s Steakhouse near Harrodsburg, Ky. â€&Copy;

Jason J. Powell, P.E., of Wright-Pierce, a provider of water, wastewater and infrastructure engineering services based in Portland, has recently become an accredited professional under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). â€&Copy;

The Inn at Ocean’s Edge in Lincolnville recently was featured on NBC’s The Today Show. The inn was one of five “travel spots that you won’t want to miss.” Also, the inn was profiled in the July issue of Travel + Leisure, in the magazine’s “50 Reasons to Love the USA” feature. â€&Copy;

The Saltwater Grille in South Portland recently had a large solar hot water system installed to provide hot water for dishwashing, cooking and hand-washing, and to offset propane usage.â€&Copy;

The Appalachian Mountain Club, based in Gorham, N.H., has started a new program called the Moosehead Area Schools Project to offer hands-on outdoor learning opportunities to elementary, middle and high school students in Piscataquis County at least three times over the course of their school careers.â€&Copy;

Emilie Inc., a photography studio, has opened a new gallery at 227 Congress St. in Portland. 

The Maine Technology Institute’s board of directors has approved four development awards totaling nearly $1.4 million to Fraser Papers in Madawaska, AIKO Biotechnology of Portland, Maine Marine Manufacturing of Port­land and Eastman Industries of Portland, matched by almost $5.8 million.â€&Copy;

The Kiwanis Club of Brunswick awarded scholarships of $1000 each to two Mt. Ararat High School seniors: Keri West, of Bowdoin, and Courtney Ouellette, of Topsham.â€&Copy;

Karen Reed from the Allen Agency in Camden, has been certified as a construction risk and insurance specialist. This insurance designation recognizes specialized expertise in construction risk and insurance. â€&Copy;

Environments at Work, a Haworth office furniture dealer based in Boston, Mass., opened a Portland office and hired Amy Plummer to manage the office. â€&Copy;

LTC Financial Partners LLC in Portland recently launched a video program to help people evaluate long-term care insurance specialists online.â€&Copy;

A Maine urologist who has been leading a study of Viet­nam veterans has shown that troops exposed to Agent Orange are at a much greater risk of developing prostate cancer. Dr. Lars Ellison, who is based at Penobscot Bay Medical Center in Rockport, presented his findings at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Urological Association in May.â€&Copy;

Camden National Corp. in Camden recently was listed by the Russell Investment Group on the small-cap Russell 2000 Index and the Russell 3000 Index, which reflect companies’ market capitalization. Russell rebalances the Russell family of indexes annually to maintain indices representative of the U.S. equity market.â€&Copy;

The Maine Department of Marine Resources and the Land for Maine’s Future Program recently conserved three working waterfront projects along the Maine coast for $785,000. The projects are located in York Harbor, Pemaquid Harbor and Goose Cove on Mount Desert Island. The three properties are valued at nearly $3 million.â€&Copy;

Maine will host the 2009 EnergyOcean Conference, which focuses on renewable and sustainable energy from the oceans. More than 300 technologists, financiers and policy makers from around the world will gather in June 2009 to share and discuss opportunities for the renewable market of ocean-based energy.â€&Copy;

Accoladesâ€&Copy;

KG Partners, an advertising and PR agency in Portland, recently received six awards from the Transportation Marketing & Communications Association for advertisements created for Con-way Inc., a freight transportation and logistics services company in San Mateo, Calif.â€&Copy;

Michael A. Viner, surety bond account executive with HRH Northern New England in Auburn, recently received the Tiger Trust Award from the National Association of Surety Bond Producers. The award is given to professional surety producers for excellence in surety bond promotion.â€&Copy;

The Maine Potato Board recently gave the Farm Family of the Year award to the Robert Roope family of Presque Isle. The Roope family farm has operated in Aroostook County since the 1920s and currently is run by brothers Brandon and Bruce Roope.â€&Copy;

The Maine Downtown Center, a program of the Maine Development Foundation, recently handed out Downtown Achievement Awards to 33 recipients. Among them, the Downtown Visionary Award was given to Roxanne Eflin, a resident of Buxton and the former executive director of Maine Preservation.â€&Copy;

Nell Minow, editor and co-founder of The Corporate Library in Portland, recently received the 2008 award for achievement from the International Corporate Governance Network.â€&Copy;

Maine Audubon recently handed out awards to four Maine residents for their commitment to wildlife conservation. Maine Audubon named William Plouffe of Freeport its 2008 Conservationist of the Year; Mary Evans of Clifton its 2008 Educator of the Year and John Tatko of Willimantic its 2008 Volunteer of the Year. Falmouth resident Horace A. “Hoddy” Hildreth received the organization’s Distinguished Contribution Award. â€&Copy;

Portland resident Celeste Viger, director of economic development for U. S. Represen­­tative Tom Allen, recently was named Alumna of the Year for Saint Michael’s College, a liberal arts Catholic college near Burlington, Vt. Viger is a 1993 graduate of Saint Michael’s.â€&Copy;

Janice Wood, an obstetrics nurse at Miles Memorial Hospital in Augusta, recently received the Caregiver of the Year award from the Maine Hospital Association. The award recognizes Wood’s commitment to care and support of mothers and babies. Thanks to Wood, Miles Memorial recently became the first hospital in Maine, and only the fifth hospital in the United States, to achieve Baby Friendly status from the World Health Organization and UNICEF. â€&Copy;

Gawron Turgeon Architects in Scarborough recently received an honorable mention in the health care category for the International Interior Design Assocation’s New England Interior Design Awards for its design of Gosnell Memorial Hospice House in Scarborough. Sharing the spotlight was Hospice of Southern Maine, the hospice’s owner; South Portland-based Ledgewood Construction, the project’s construction manager; Yarmouth-based Project Resources, the owner’s representative; and Huston & Company, a Kennebunkport-based hardwood furniture designer.â€&Copy;

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R - ME) recently received the Legislator of the Year Award from the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. Collins received the award for her continued support of nurses and their patients.â€&Copy;

Bethany M. Hays, a founding practitioner of True North, a nonprofit health care organization in Falmouth, recently received the Linus Pauling Award from the Institute for Functional Medicine. The award is presented to an individual whose research or clinical expertise has contributed substantially to the advancement of knowledge in functional medicine.â€&Copy;