In short from Jan. 25, 2010 | A roundup of new hires, promotions, accolades and appointments from Maine's business community

New Hires

Piper Shores in Scarborough, a nonprofit retirement community, recently hired Michael Bierley as executive director. Previously, Bierley was senior vice president at Sea Coast Management Co. in Topsham.

Maine Mental Health Partners in South Portland recently hired Donna Murphy as communications manager. Previously, Murphy was director of communications for Spurwink Services in Portland.

Down East Insurance Agency, an affiliate of Down East Credit Union in Baileyville, recently hired Stacey Chenevert as senior commercial lines producer and Veronica Mower as senior employee benefits producer.

Law firm Lipman, Katz and McKee in Augusta recently hired Jim Billings as a partner.

Penobscot Bay Medical Center in Rockport recently hired Paul Barresi, an anesthesiologist.

The Maine Heritage Policy Center in Portland recently hired Chris Cinquemani as director of communications. Previously, Cinquemani was public affairs director for Maine Leads in Augusta.

Weatherization Wizards Inc., a home and business weatherization company in Auburn, recently hired Eben Breton as a master wizard and John Castonguay as an associate wizard.

CompuPay Inc., a payroll provider in Freeport, recently hired Travis Bogan as a district sales manager for the greater Bangor and coastal regions of Maine.

AlliedCook Construction, a Scarborough-based commercial construction management firm, recently hired J.P. Schwartz as an engineering technician and Catherine MacDonald as records manager.

Opus Consulting Group, a management consulting firm in Portland, recently hired Ethan Gamage as a senior consultant.

Northeast Bank in Lewiston recently hired Julie Poulin as a loan officer.

North Yarmouth Academy in Yarmouth recently hired Holly Dana as assistant director of admissions. Previously, Dana was a consultant to the Melmac Education Foundation in Augusta.

The Woodlands Club, a private, member-owned, recreational, athletic and dining club in Falmouth, recently hired Ryan Minzner as superintendent.

South Portland engineering and architecture firm OEST Associates Inc. recently hired Jacob Martin as a mechanical engineer. Previously, Martin was a mechanical engineer for Turner Building Science and Design in Harrison.

Peoples Securities Inc. in Portland, a subsidiary of People’s United Bank, recently hired Robert MacMath as a financial adviser. Previously, MacMath worked at BancNorth Investment Group in Portland.

Camden National Corp. recently hired Chance Farago as public relations officer. Previously, Farago was director of marketing and communications at Bay Chamber Concerts in Camden.

Portland-based Weichert, Realtors - Waterglen Group recently hired Donna Gagne, a licensed broker, to its Old Orchard Beach branch.

emilie inc. photography, a boutique photojournalism studio in Portland, recently hired Erin Whelan as a studio manager and Christina Wnek as a designer.

Washington Hancock Community Agency, a community service provider in Milbridge, recently hired Carla Britton as a loan officer.

The Allen Agency, an insurance company in Camden, recently hired Ben Williams as a personal lines insurance producer.

Bangor Savings Bank recently hired Nick Mamula as a mortgage development officer.

Disability RMS, a reinsurance provider in Westbrook, recently hired Richard Allen as a renewal specialist and Betty Roberge-Haskell as a claims support specialist.

Pen Bay Internal Medicine in Rockport recently hired Denise Anderson as an internist. Previously, Anderson worked at Northern Maine Medical Center in Fort Kent.

Preti Flaherty, a law firm in Portland, recently hired Wayne Keown as of counsel in its intellectual property group.

The Biddeford Saco Chamber of Commerce recently hired Craig Pendleton as its new executive director.

Northeast Bank in Bangor recently hired Cathy Viel as a mortgage loan officer.

Synernet in Portland, a support-service organization to the health care industry, recently hired Troy Murphy as director of sales and marketing.

Promotions

St.Germain and Associates Inc. in Westbrook, an engineering and consulting firm, recently promoted Patrick Coughlin to a principal of the firm.

Bangor Savings Bank in Bangor recently promoted Susan Coleman and Robert Burgess to senior vice presidents.

Downeast Energy and Building Supply in Brunswick recently promoted Mike McCormack to vice president of energy sales.

Baker Newman Noyes, an accounting firm in Portland, recently promoted Joan Smith and Stuart Lyons to tax principals.

Scottrade, a branch-supported online investing firm headquartered in St. Louis, recently promoted Ryan Morrison to manage its Portland branch office.

Disability RMS, a reinsurance provider in Westbrook, recently promoted Amanda Murphy to renewal specialist, Paulette Kisko to underwriting technician, Rhonda Landry to premium services supervisor, Amanda Irish to claim support specialist, Nate Carr to technical claims analyst, Jessica Hargreaves to short-term disability consultant, Tanya Grigsby to senior renewal specialist, Lorie Hicks as renewal specialist and Nancy Thompson as renewal workflow coordinator.

Spotlight

The Office of Naval Research recently awarded a $600,000 software development contract to Maine Marine Composites, a research and development and engineering firm in Portland, according to a press release from the company.

Maine Marine Composites will enhance software tools that predict the power requirements and motion of high-speed planing boats used by naval special operations units. With improved design tools, navy boat designers and builders can build safer boats that withstand extreme speed, “slamming shock” and vibration.

Maine Marine Composites engineers in Portland will make major enhancements to a software system called POWERSEA developed by Richard Akers of Maine Marine Composites in collaboration with the University of Michigan and with the Navy’s Carderock Research Facility in Bethesda, Md.

Appointments

Consumers for Affordable Health Care in Augusta recently appointed Becky Martins and Mitchell Stein to its board.

The Maine Beer and Wine Distributors Association recently appointed the following to its board: Nick Alberding, managing partner at Pine State Beverage Co. in Gardiner, as president; Michael Barriault, operations manager at Central Distributors in Lewiston, as vice president; Cheryl Timberlake, owner of Capitol Insights in Augusta, as executive vice president and secretary; and Bill Fitch, operations manager at Valley Distributors in Oakland, as treasurer.

Company News

The Royal Bank of Canada recently awarded Friends of Casco Bay in Portland a $5,000 Blue Water Project grant to support the environmental organization’s water quality monitoring work.

Tranzon Auction Properties in Portland recently announced the release of its iPhone app, which allows users to search Tranzon’s real estate auctions.

Anna Welch, an immigration attorney at Portland-based law firm Verrill Dana, was recently offered a fellowship by Mapendo International to spend two months in Kenya, working in Mapendo’s Protection Unit in an office in Nairobi.

The People’s United Community Foundation recently awarded grants to the following nonprofit organizations: 32 Degree Masonic Learning Centers for Children Inc. in Bangor; Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Maine in Portland; Boys and Girls Clubs of Southern Maine in Portland; Camp CaPella in Holden; Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor; Four Directions Development Corp. in Orono; Gulf of Maine Research Institute in Portland; ITN America in Westbrook; Maine Historical Society in Portland; Pine Tree Council Boy Scouts of America in Portland; Ronald McDonald House of Bangor in Bangor; the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter in Bangor; and the River Coalition Inc. in Old Town.

Southern Maine Medical Center in York recently received a $40,000 grant from Universal American and its family of companies, which offer Medicare Advantage health plans and Medicare prescription drug plans.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal agency that oversees Medicare and Medicaid, recently rescinded the termination date of Dec. 31, 2009, for Down East Community Hospital in Machias.

The Maine Arts Commission recently announced that the following 12 nonprofit cultural organizations will receive a share of $130,100 in the second and final round of the Maine Arts Recovery program: Company of Girls in Portland; $10,000; Association Culturelle et Historique du Mont-Carmel in Lille, $10,000; Bangor Symphony Orchestra in Bangor, $12,802.50; Eastport Arts Center in Eastport, $10,000; Fiddlehead Center for the Arts-Gray Village in Gray, $10,000; Figures of Speech Theatre in Freeport, $12,802; Five Rivers Arts Alliance in Brunswick, $10,000; Maine Alliance for Arts Education in Augusta, $10,000; Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance in Portland, $12,802; Penobscot Theatre Co. in Bangor, $12,802.50; Portland Stage Co. in Portland, $12,802.50; and Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts in Newcastle, $8,890.

Saddleback ski resort in Rangeley recently celebrated the grand opening of its new yurt at the base of the Kennebago Quad lift, called Kennebago Station.

PowerPay, an electronic payments company in Portland, recently announced a partnership with Transaction Wireless, a mobile commerce payment and marketing company in San Diego, Calif., enabling PowerPay to offer Transaction Wireless’ wCharge Credit Card Terminal to its customers.

Camden National Corp. recently declared a $0.25 per share dividend payable on Jan. 29, 2010, for shareholders of record on Jan. 15.

Discovery Place Child Care, a preschool and childcare center, recently opened for business at 65 Mast Hill Road in Saco.

Sunday River ski resort in Newry recently donated $13,685 to the Sunday River Region Charitable Fund, a fund at the Maine Community Foundation that allocates money in April and October to cultural, community service and other organizations that request grants.

Tilson Technology Management recently relocated to 245 Commercial St. in Portland.

Fiber Materials Inc. in Biddeford recently announced that a high-temperature material designed and manufactured by the company performed successfully in a Dec. 15 ground test of the launch abort system motor for NASA’s Orion crew exploration vehicle.

Mahoney Internet Marketing, a strategic Internet marketing provider in Portland, recently announced that it is donating services to the Keeping Kids Safe organization.

The Good Shepherd Food-Bank in Auburn recently received a $5,000 grant from the UPS Foundation, the charitable arm of UPS. The grant will be used to link each of the food bank’s delivery trucks to the UPS Roadnet System.

The board of Maine Businesses for Social Responsibility in Portland recently voted to change the organization’s name to Maine Businesses for Sustainability.

The cardiologists of Maine Cardiology Associates and Cardiovascular Consultants of Maine recently announced a plan to join MaineHealth and enter into an employment arrangement with the system.

The National Endowment for the Arts recently awarded PORTopera a $10,000 Access to Artistic Excellence grant to support its production of Engelbert Humperdinck’s “Hansel and Gretel.”

Employees of Farmington-based Franklin Community Health Network recently contributed more than $43,000 to the United Way of the Tri-Valley campaign.

Webber Energy Fuels in Bangor recently announced it is the new corporate sponsor for Buddy2Buddy, WLBZ 2’s campaign aimed at urging women to take appropriate steps toward early detection of breast cancer.

The U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology recently announced that the University of Maine in Orono will receive a $12.5 million Recovery Act grant to construct the new Advanced Nanocomposites in Renewable Energy Laboratory at the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center.

Maine College of Art in Portland recently received three grants to complete the restoration of the Porteous Building.

VetSource, a veterinarian-focused specialty pharmacy and home delivery company in Portland, Ore., recently announced a partnership with Putney Inc., a pharmaceutical company focused on the development and sale of generic and specialty prescription drugs for dogs and cats in Portland, and VetSource now offers Putney’s FDA-approved generic Carprofen Caplets.

Franklin Health Women’s Care in Farmington recently announced that Daisy Goodman, a certified nurse practitioner/midwife, received her doctor of nursing practice degree from Massachusetts General Hospital’s Institute for Health Professions.

Accolades

Weichert, Realtors – Waterglen Group in Portland recently recognized Andrew Snyder, a broker, as its top producer for November.

KG Partners, an advertising, public relations and interactive agency in Portland, recently announced that it has won four Davey Awards from the International Academy of the Visual Arts.

Harbor Candy in Ogunquit recently received a Proggy Award from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals in the category of Best Vegan Chocolates 2009.

The Maine Development Foundation and its Maine Employers’ Initiative recently recognized the following employers for their efforts in supporting employee higher education: the Androscoggin Chamber of Commerce; Androscoggin Home Health and Hospice; Auburn Savings Bank; Bates College; Central Maine Community College; Central Maine Healthcare; City of Lewiston; Employment Times; FISC Solutions; Lewiston Adult Education; Maine Public Broadcasting Network; St. Mary’s Health System; Tambrands; and University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston-Auburn College.

The Sunrise County Economic Council in Machias recently presented former board members Dick Fickett and Gary Willey with plaques commemorating their service to the organization.

James Belleau, an attorney at law firm Skelton Taintor and Abbott in Auburn, recently received an AV rating by his professional peers through the Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating system.

Weatherization Wizards Inc. in Auburn recently received the 2009 Community Teamwork Award from the Kennebec Valley Community Action Program in recognition of its quality performance in the weatherization of homes located in Kennebec County.