In short from May 16, 2011 | A roundup of new hires, promotions, accolades and appointments from Maine's business community

New Hires

The Cromwell Center for Disabilities Awareness in Portland recently hired Juliana L’Heureux as executive director.

The Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland in Westbrook recently hired Lynne McGhee as community relations manager and Kathy Flemming as visitor guest services manager.

iBec Creative, a design firm in Portland, recently hired Joe Cardella as a web developer.

The Portland Water District recently hired Joyce Beckley as director of employee services.

Town & Country Federal Credit Union in South Portland recently hired Nicole Green as a human resources representative.

Berry Dunn McNeil & Parker, an accounting firm in Portland, recently hired Bill Richardson as a senior consultant.

The Portland Museum of Art recently hired Sally Struever as manager of the museum store.

Mend-A-Body Solutions, a wellness and weight management company in Lewiston, recently hired Katie Greenlaw as director of marketing and public relations and Patrick Forgue as inventory control manger.

Berman & Simmons, a law firm in Lewiston, recently hired attorney Miriam Johnson.

Norton Lamb & Co., an IT firm in Yarmouth, recently hired Ann Beckwith as help desk support specialist.

Eastland Shoe Corp. in Freeport recently hired Marc Gold as director of business development of its men’s footwear division.

Portland’s Cosmetic Enhancement Center of New England recently hired Geri Ollila, a doctor of osteopathic medicine.

Career Management Associates in Portland recently hired Daniel Collins as a project manager.

Friends of Maine’s Mountains, a nonprofit educational organization in Kingfield, recently hired Susan Davis as executive director.

Agren Appliance & Television in Auburn recently hired Greg Beckwith to its sales team.

CBE Technologies, an IT firm in Portland, recently hired Kevin Rheaume as an account executive.

Skowhegan Savings in Skowhegan recently hired John Kimball as vice president and indirect lending manager.

Putney Inc., a pet pharmaceutical company in Portland, recently hired Patrick Powell as vice president of sales. Previously, Powell was director of sales, east region for Bayer Animal Health.

Unum, a provider of employee benefits in Portland, recently hired Nigel Moodley as vice president of risk modeling and financial planning.

Eco-story, an LED lighting provider in Portland, recently hired Tom Jacques as inventory manager and Heidi Mahoney as marketing manager.

RE/MAX By The Bay in Portland recently hired real estate brokers John Chase and Chase Caprio.

Maine Island Trail Association in Portland recently hired Greg Field as director of finance and operation. Previously, Field was executive vice president at Sustainable Harvest International in Surry.

Promotions

Upscale Group Inc., a furniture reseller in Portland, recently promoted Chelsea Locke to executive vice president of residential brokerage.

Reliv International, a maker of nutritional supplements based in Chesterfield, Mo., recently promoted Kristen Quirk to director responsible for the Freeport market.

Tilson Fiber Technology in Portland recently promoted Amy Hayes to project manager of Maine Fiber Co. Inc.’s Three Ring Binder broadband expansion project.

Oxford Networks, a telecommunications company in Lewiston, recently promoted Shawn Martin to competitive local exchange carrier central office supervisor.

Wright-Ryan Homes, a custom home building firm in Portland, recently promoted Andy Seymour to project manager and Lee Proscia to preconstruction manager. Previously, Seymour was an assistant project manager and Proscia was a cabinetmaker.

The city of Portland Fire Department recently promoted David Pendleton to deputy fire chief, Christopher Goodall to fire captain and Christopher Alves to fire lieutenant.

Appointments

The Maine Insurance Agents Association in Augusta recently elected David Millar as president.

The Marginal Way Preservation Fund, a nonprofit organization in Ogunquit, recently elected the following officers: Paul Breen, president; Peter Griswold, vice president; and David Barton, secretary/treasurer for two-year terms. The organization also appointed Bernadine Speers, Charles Hindmarsh, Philip Cavaretta and Kerry Ellen Enright to one-year terms.

Gov. Paul LePage recently appointed Darryl Brown to director of the State Planning Office.

Preti Flaherty, a law firm in Portland, recently announced bankruptcy attorney Joshua Menard has been appointed to the panel of private bankruptcy trustees by the U.S. Trustee’s Office, a division of the U.S. Department of Justice, and will serve as a Chapter 7 trustee for the District of New Hampshire.

Spotlight

The Finance Authority of Maine recently approved commercial loan insurance to help Woodland Pulp convert its Baileyville mill from oil to natural gas and help retain hundreds of jobs in Washington and Aroostook counties, according to a press release from the finance authority.

FAME approved 90% pro-rata insurance coverage on a $5.2 million Machias Savings Bank term loan for Woodland Pulp to provide longer-term financing after completion of a natural gas pipeline connector and the conversion of the mill from oil to natural gas. The project will take advantage of the Maritimes & Northeast natural gas transmission main that originates at Sable Island in Nova Scotia and crosses New Brunswick into Maine.

The Baileyville mill employs 310 people directly and is estimated to support another 1,800 jobs in Washington and Aroostook counties related to logging, trucking and other products and services.

Company News

Linekin Bay Resort in Boothbay Harbor recently announced it has completed its renovations for the 2011 season.

InterSpec Inc., a document management and service provider in Portland, recently announced the release of its Microsoft Word-based specification master updating and auto-updates for all document masters in e-SPECS.

Baker Newman & Noyes, an accounting firm based in Portland, recently announced the opening of an office in Boston.

Tove Rasmussen recently announced the opening of THRIVE Business Coaching and Consulting in Portland, a global social enterprise aimed at reducing poverty while helping to grow business profits.

Melinda Caterine, a partner at Portland-based law firm Fisher & Phillips, recently took part in the American Bar Association Section of Labor and Employment Law’s 2011 midwinter meeting in Puerto Rico, where she participated in a panel discussing emotional distress claims.

HighTower, a national financial services company serving high net-worth and institutional clients based in Chicago, recently expanded with a new adviser team, Simmons Wilkes Investment Advisors in Portland. HighTower also named Edward Simmons, Gibson Wilkes, Blake Wilkes and Michael Simmons as managing directors and partners.

Lawrence Barrett was recently sworn in as the sixth president of Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor.

The University of Maine in Orono recently announced it has met its Campaign Maine goal by raising more than $150 million from private sources since 2005.

The Southern Maine Medical Center Saco Health Center in Biddeford recently announced it is open for business.

Michele Higgins recently announced the launch of Local Lawn and Landscape in Brunswick

Nicole Ditata, a program coordinator for Healthy Community Coalition in Farmington, recently earned certification as a master health education specialist.

Winxnet, an IT firm in Portland, recently announced the opening of its office in Waltham, Mass. The town of Wells also recently chose Winxnet to provide IT managed services.

The Maine Technology Institute Board of Directors recently approved the following development awards: WindFloat Maine in Camden, $500,000 for its wind turbine platform; and Abierto Networks in Eliot, $398,826 for its digital marketing platform.

The TD Charitable Foundation, the charitable arm of TD Bank, recently donated $25,500 to the following statewide organizations: March of Dimes; SCORE, Maine District 0172; Maine Children’s Cancer Program; and LifeFlight.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Rural Development announced the town of Bingham will receive a $627,000 loan and a $943,000 grant to improve its wastewater service.

Yes! Marketing Group in Yarmouth was recently named agency of record for the health care industry social network developer, WellTok.

Jewelry Ninja, a Waterville based e-commerce store, recently announced the launch of a gold-plated version of its Posh Mommy pendants.

St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Lewiston recently completed renovations of its operating rooms. Allied Engineering provided mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection engineering design services for the $25 million project.

The Maine Composites Alliance recently announced it has been selected by the Maine Technology Institute to receive an award of $489,468 in collaboration with the Maine Wind Industry Initiative and the E2Tech Council to organize, promote and expand Maine’s ocean and wind energy cluster.

Friends of Casco Bay in Portland recently announced that its Quality Assurance Project Plan was approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This means that all the data collected by staff scientists and nearly 100 volunteer water-quality monitors can be used with confidence by regulators at the EPA and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, as well as by scientists at universities and oceanographic institutions.

Blue Marble Geographics in Gardiner, a developer and provider of geographic software products, recently exhibited at the Esri Petroleum User Group Conference in Houston, Texas.

The Maine Children’s Home for Little Wanderers, the nonprofit agency that operates an adoption program in Waterville, recently announced it has completed a $35,000 energy conservation project funded in part by a grant from Efficiency Maine and a matching donation from The S. Douglas and Rita C. Sukeforth Charitable Foundation. The recent project will better control heating costs by saving the organization as much as $10,000 per year.

Day One, an adolescent substance abuse treatment provider in South Portland, recently announced it has been awarded a one-year grant totaling $26,500 by United Way of York County. This investment will support the prevention and treatment of adolescent substance abuse in southern Maine.

BioDiversity Research Institute in Gorham recently announced the installation of a video webcam, provided by NextEra Energy, to monitor the nest of a pair of bald eagles in Maine’s midcoast region.

Sebago Brewing Co. in Gorham recently announced the release of its summertime seasonal, Hefeweizen.

Yarmouth Boat Yard recently announced its designation as a gold flagship dealer by Pursuit Boats. The flagship dealer program recognizes and rewards exceptional performance in the areas of dealership sales, marketing and service.

Alexandra Heseltine, virtual marketing manager and designer at Gray Cat Marketing & Design in Portland, recently announced the company is providing marketing and graphic design services to Brown & Meyers, an e-transcription and records management company in Portland.

CreativeMind Search Marketing in South Berwick, an inbound marketing agency, recently expanded its search marketing practice by adding nine new clients in the first quarter of 2011.

Accolades

The Association of Small Business Development Centers recently honored Tom Gallant, a certified business counselor and director of the Maine Small Business Development Centers at Coastal Enterprises Inc. in Bangor, as the 2010 State Star.

Mike Walsh, SQL server practice lead at Portland-based IT firm Winxnet, was recently awarded the 2011-2012 Microsoft SQL Server Most Valuable Professional award.

Allen Insurance and Financial in Camden recently announced that Michael Pierce, chief financial officer, Rick Bagnall, voluntary benefits specialist, and Peter VanAlstine, vice president, achieved membership in the Million Dollar Round Table, an association of financial professionals.

LINE-X Protective Coatings, a national developer and provider of high-performance protective coatings, recently presented LINE-X of Portland with its 2011 Excellence Award for best exemplifying the company’s community involvement ideals. LINE-X of Portland was recognized for volunteering with ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition on a project in Hampton Roads, Va.

Preti Flaherty, a law firm in Augusta, recently announced that attorney Charles Dingman was named a 2011 Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers in America for his work in administrative/regulatory law.

Norway Savings Bank recently presented Jessica LeConte, customer service representative, with the employee of the year award, and Mary Hewett, vice president, employee development and training manager, with the president’s award.

Bowman Constructors in Newport recently received the Celebration of Partnerships award from Women Unlimited, a program that provides training and access to jobs that pay livable wages for Maine women, minorities and disadvantaged workers. The company received the award for giving job opportunities to ex-offenders during work on the recently completed Volunteers of America senior housing facility in Bangor.

USA WEEKEND recently honored Kevin Mitchell and Laura Davis, employees at Rinck Advertising in Auburn, as Make a Difference Day winners for organizing five service projects across the state benefiting Ronald McDonald Houses.

The Society for Human Resource Management recently awarded the Human Resources Association of Southern Maine the EXCEL Gold Award for 2010.

Maine Maritime Museum in Bath recently achieved accreditation from the American Association of Museums.

Building Solutions, a plan/design/build firm of commercial and industrial facilities in Oxford, recently had its Bedard Medical Campus project featured at the national 2011 Brownfields Conference in Philadelphia.

Consigli Construction Co. Inc. in Portland was recently awarded the 2011 Build Maine Award for the conversion of a former Sears building into a new corporate headquarters for MaineHealth in Portland from the Associated General Contractors of Maine.

The University of Maine at Farmington was recently named one of the most environmentally responsible colleges in the United States and Canada in the Princeton Review’s Guide to 311 Green Colleges: 2011 Edition.

WMTW-TV and WMTW.com in Portland recently received two Regional Edward R. Murrow awards from the Radio-Television News Directors Association.

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Watershed Management was recently named the 2010 Conservation Partner of the Year by the Cumberland County Soil & Water Conservation District for contributing to the stewardship of that county’s natural resources.

Hancock Gourmet Lobster Co. in Cundy’s Harbor was recently named a finalist for three Sofi awards from the National Association of the Specialty Food Trade presented at its International Fancy Food Show in July.

York County Shelter Programs in Alfred was recently recognized by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection for proactive efforts in reducing the impact the organization’s southern Maine facilities have on the environment.

Tim Bryant, a partner at Portland-based law firm Preti Flaherty, was recently chosen for inclusion on the 2011 list of Legal Eagles by Franchise Times magazine, a Minneapolis-based national trade publication.

Four University of Maine professors were recognized for outstanding contributions to the university’s mission of teaching, research and public service. Alfred Bushway, John Mahon, Kathleen March and Douglas Nangle received UMaine’s top annual faculty awards.

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