Newsworthy people and performances

New hires

Norton Financial Services in Cumberland Foreside hired Nick Corrow as a service representative for retirement plans. Corrow was most recently a tax specialist with BerryDunn.

The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association in Maine hired Towle Tompkins as executive director.

Diversified Communications, an international media company in Portland, hired Nicole Garland as a sales coordinator, Jeff Anderson as a sales representative, Christopher Littlefield as a support analyst, Jason Robinson as a database analyst, Samantha Schulte as a membership and customer service administrator and Shawna Weitz as an accounts receivable clerk. Anderson was previously with Maine Today Media/Portland Press Herald, Littlefield with iVantage Health Analytics, Robinson with Sappi Fine Paper, Schulte with L.L.Bean and Weitz with Unum.

Maine Savings in Hampden hired Jim Silsby as a compliance specialist and Felicia Russell as a part-time, seasonal teller at its Bangor locations. Silsby was most recently with Security Title.

Baker Newman Noyes, an accounting and consulting firm in Portland, hired Santa Allaire as a manager in the health care consulting practice; Joanna Brinker as an administrative assistant in the operations department; and Danielle Laverriere as a staff member in the audit practice. In the tax practice, Christopher Underwood was hired as a senior and Jay McCormick and Natasha Nuttall as staff members.

Sebago Technics, an engineering consulting firm in South Portland, hired Stephen Harding as senior project manager.

Target Marketing Maine, a direct and digital marketing company in Rockland, hired Sasha Robinson-Neff as an inside sales representative.

Maine Audubon in Falmouth hired Leslie Taylor as digital media manager. Taylor was previously with Diversified Communications.

Penobscot Community Health Care in Bangor hired Gary Degen, Rosemary Dougherty and Stanley Pettegrow as providers at its Helen Hunt Health Center in Old Town. Degen will provide podiatry services, Dougherty family medical services and Pettegrow integrated mental health services.

The Winthrop Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce hired Barbara Walsh as part-time executive director.

Hospice of Southern Maine in Portland hired Heidi Farber as its annual fund and events coordinator. Farber was previously development director with ITN America.

Patrons Oxford Insurance Co. in Auburn hired Denise Hall as an IT coordinator/programmer and Steve Lycette as a commercial lines senior underwriter.

Promotions

Clark Insurance in Portland promoted Melissa Trepanier to account manager in the employee benefits group.

Baker Newman Noyes, an accounting and consulting firm in Portland, announced several promotions. Christopher Allinson was promoted to help desk analyst II and Matthew Dionne to junior systems administrator in the operations department; Adam Aucoin, Kayla Bartlett, Drew Blaney, Kelly Bristol, Daniel Gayer and Remy Vazquez to supervising seniors in the tax practice; John Hadwen IV, Nicholas Porto and Natalie Solotoff to senior managers in the tax practice; Gib Foltz and Jaclyn Johnson to managers in the tax practice; Jessica Metros to senior in the tax practice; Ally Brophy to senior marketing coordinator in the marketing department; Jason Emery, Craig Frey and Julie Paquette to senior managers in the audit practice; and Jennifer Horton to senior human resources specialist.

The First NA and its parent company, The First Bancorp, in Damariscotta promoted Matt Mattson to vice president/senior business relationship officer, Justin Laverriere to assistant vice president/business relationship officer, Angie Sabins to branch manager for Rockport and Camden and Brenda Fernald to branch manager for Northeast Harbor and Bar Harbor.

Maine Savings in Hampden promoted Vicki Strout to teller and member service representative at its Corinth branch. Strout was previously a teller.

The board of Friends of Casco Bay announced that Executive Director Cathy Ramsdell will also serve as interim Casco Baykeeper. She steps in after the retirement of Joe Payne, who was baykeeper since 1991. The nonprofit plans to define the responsibilities of the baykeeper job and will post the position later this spring, the organization says.

TD Bank in Falmouth promoted Wendy Blackwell-Moore to retail market president for northern New England and upstate New York. Blackwell-Moore was previously senior vice president, director of sales effectiveness, systems and support in the retail sales strategy group.

The Portland Public Library promoted Sarah Campbell to executive director. Campbell, who will start her new job on July 11, is currently the library's associate director.

KeyBank promoted Andrew Cook to assistant vice president and manager of its Falmouth branch. Previously, Cook was manager for the bank's Gorham branch.

Katahdin Trust Co. in Houlton promoted Krista Putnam to vice president of marketing. Putnam was previously assistant vice president of marketing.

Acadia Hospital in Bangor promoted Dilek Avci to associate medical director of Pediatric Outpatient Services. Avci is a child and adolescent psychiatrist.

MaineHealth promoted Al Swallow to executive vice president and treasurer and Christine Irish as the medical director of Telehealth at MaineHealth/Maine Medical Center. Swallow was previously senior vice president of finance and Irish was medical director of emergency medicine and director of organization's Center Peer Support Program.

Appointments

The Maine Real Estate Commission elected Adam Shub as its chairman. Shub, who was appointed to the commission by Gov. Paul LePage in 2013, is an attorney at Preti Flaherty.

Rita Breton was elected to the board of directors at Scarborough Land Trust. Breton is retired.

Friends of Casco Bay in South Portland added George Higgins III to its board. Higgins, who previously served as the board president, is chief medical officer and vice president for medical affairs at Maine Medical Center and a professor at Tufts University School of Medicine.

The Portland Water District elected Guy Cote to a third term as president and Duane Dreger to vice president of its board of trustees. Cote is president of Sevee & Maher Engineers and Dreger is a patent lawyer at the Boston law firm Cesari and McKenna. In addition, David Kane was reelected as treasurer and Donna Katsiaficas was reelected as clerk.

Maine Municipal Association in Augusta elected Stephan Bunker, vice chair of the Farmington Board of Selectmen, to president and Laurie Smith, town manager in Kennebunkport, to vice president.

Achievements

CPM Constructors in Freeport was awarded first place in the member project category and was one of five organizations nationwide to win the Associated General Contractors of America in the Community Award from the charitable arm of the association, AGC Charities Inc. The company was recognized for its effort in rebuilding Turkey Ridge Lane in Freeport that included a new bridge and roadway.

Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, a Department of Defense office, announced 18 Maine employers of Guard and Reserve employees were nominated for the 2015 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award. The nominees are Maine State Police, Kennebec County Sheriff's Office, Bath Iron Works, Maine Savings Federal Credit Union, Redington-Fairview General Hospital, Advance Technology Inc., Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems, General Electric Energy, Granite Bay Care Inc., Portland Water District, New Balance Athletic Shoe Inc., Mountain Ltd., On Target Utility Services, Hampden Electrical, BREX Corp., Peavey Manufacturing Co., Paris Public Library and Dirigo Management Co.

The Maine Republican Party announced it was awarded a “Pollie” Award for Best Get-Out-The-Vote Program for work in the 2014 Maine elections.

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in New England was named a Platinum Award winner by the Cartus Broker Network and one of five finalists for the Cartus Broker Network Masters Cup.

The American Folk Festival on the Bangor Waterfront was named as one of the country's “15 Best Small-Town Festivals” by Fodor's Travel, a publisher of English language travel and tourism information.

Pen Bay Vascular Lab in Rockport was granted a three-year term of accreditation in Vascular Testing in the areas of Peripheral Venous Testing, Extracranial Cerebrovascular Testing and Peripheral Arterial Testing by the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission.

Harlan, McGillvray, Kallem, & Hackmann, a firm of financial advisors in Orono, announced that Justin Harlan became an Ameriprise Financial private wealth advisor.

Portland Water District announced that Steve Sloan was presented with the William D. Hatfield Award, recognizing performance and professionalism, by the New England Water Environment Association and James Galasyn was inducted into the association's Crystal Crucible Society based on his contributions to the wastewater laboratory profession. Sloan is the plant manager of the East End Wastewater Treatment Facility and Galasyn is the organization's lead environmental scientist.

Pen Bay Medical Center in Rockport received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's “Get with the Guidelines-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award.” The award recognizes the hospital's commitment in ensuring stroke patients receive appropriate treatment according to nationally recognized, research-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence.

Bernstein Shur, a law firm in Portland, announced that Robert Keach was named lawyer of the year in bankruptcy and restructuring for the state of Maine by Corporate LiveWire, a global news resource for business professionals and individuals covering the corporate finance sector. Keach is a shareholder and is co-chair of the firm's business restructuring and insolvency practice group.

Berman & Simmons, a law firm in Lewiston, announced that attorney Michael Bigos was recognized as “AV Preeminent,” the highest peer rating in personal injury, litigation and business law, from Martindale-Hubbell.

Allen Insurance and Financial in Camden announced that Jennifer Wadsworth obtained her state of Maine insurance license. Wadsworth is a customer service representative at the firm.

Robert Allen, senior vice president, wealth management at UBS Financial Services in Bangor, was named on Barron's Top-1,200 Financial Advisors by state list. Allen was listed No. 2 in Maine.

SymQuest Group Inc., an information technology company in Westbrook, was ranked Northern New England's No. 1 Managed Services Provider in Penton Technology's eighth annual MSPmentor 501 Global Edition. The list and report identified the world's top 501 managed service providers.

cPort Credit Union in Portland and Midcoast Federal Credit Union in Bath were named a “Category's Best Diamond Award” winner by the Credit Union National Association Marketing & Business Development Council, a national network comprised of over 1,200 credit union marketing and business development professionals. cPort was recognized in the community event category for its “College Aspirations Scholarship Program” while Midcoast won in the brand/corporate identity category.

Carl Smith of Virtual Managed Solutions LLC, a technology services firm in Caribou, was selected by the U.S. Small Business Administration to receive its 2015 Veteran Small Business Owner of the Year Award for Maine and Deborah Gustin of Pie Nana Inc., doing business as Irish Setter Pub, was selected to receive the 2015 Women in Business Champion Award for Maine.

CouponsDaily.com named the town of Skowhegan one of its 15 Budget-Friendly Destinations in the Northeast.

Bryan Dench, an attorney at Skelton Taintor & Abbott in Auburn, presented a continuing legal education seminar on conflict of interest issues that arise after acquisitions to the Bermuda Bar Association in Hamilton, Bermuda.

Bernstein Shur, a law firm in Portland, announced that attorney Asha Echeverria received a Martindale-Hubbell “AV Preeminent” rating.

Comfort Keepers, an in-home care organization in Scarborough, was named a “Leader in Excellence” for 2015 by Home Care Pulse, a research firm providing satisfaction and quality assurance surveys for the private duty home-care sector. It also attained “Provider of Choice” and “Employer of Choice” recognition, based on survey results.

Argo Marketing Group in Lewiston was recently announced as a bronze winner of the 2015 MVP Quality Award, presented by CUSTOMER magazine.