Newsworthy people and performances

New hires

Central Maine Growth Council in Waterville hired Garvan Donegan as economic development specialist.

GEI Consultants Inc., a geotechnical, environmental, water resources and ecological science and engineering firm in Portland, hired Sam Merrill as senior practice leader and Alexander Gray as adaptation specialist/GIS analyst. Merrill and Gray were previously with Catalysis Adaptation Partners.

United Way of York County hired Chiara Ferrante as manager of resource development. Ferrante was previously a staff assistant and caseworker to U.S. Sen. Susan Collins.

Waynflete School in Portland hired Rand Ardell as director of marketing and communications. Ardell was previously a principal at Simmons Ardell.

HeadInvest LLC, an investment advisory firm in Portland, hired Felicia Garant as vice president, client services. Garant was previously with Pierce Atwood LLP.

Nancy Marshall Communications in Augusta hired John Van Pelt as digital marketing manager. Previously, Van Pelt was the principal user interface designer for Oracle Corp.

Penobscot Community Health Care in Bangor announced that Nancy German joined the medical staff of Jackman Community Health Center in Jackman. German's practice centers on all aspects of mental health care.

Baker Newman Noyes, an accounting and consulting firm in Portland, hired Megan Elliott as a staff member in the tax practice, Christopher Lee as a staff member in the risk and business advisory practice and Justin St. John as a staff member in the audit practice. The firm also announced that Brad Coletta was hired as a staff member in the tax practice and Ashley Reynolds as a human resources specialist in the operations department in its Manchester, N.H., office.

Allen Insurance and Financial in Camden hired Heidi Swiderek as a commercial lines account manager in the company's Rockland office. Swiderek was previously senior underwriter in risk management services for the Maine Municipal Association.

Michelle Raber State Farm Insurance Agency in Scarborough hired Carrie Dyer as an account representative. Dyer was most recently at the Inn By the Sea in Cape Elizabeth.

TD Bank in Falmouth hired Andrew Watt as senior vice president, senior change director in change management. Watt was previously president of Common Good Ventures in Portland.

University of New England in Biddeford hired Kevin Swallow as men's ice hockey head coach. Swallow was previously with Nichols College in Dudley, Mass.

Gawron Turgeon Architects in Scarborough hired Eric Rasmussen as an architectural designer. Rasmussen was previously an architectural designer at PDT Architects in Portland.

Ocean Communities Federal Credit Union in Biddeford hired Karen Kelly as branch manager in Kennebunk. Kelly most was with Bank of America in Biddeford.

Sewall, a consulting organization in Old Town specializing in natural resources, energy and infrastructure, hired Joshua O'Neill as natural resource analyst and forester in its forestry and natural resource consulting group.

Spinnaker Trust, a financial planning firm in Portland, hired Robert Gould as principal and executive vice president. Gould was previously with Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.

The American Red Cross in Maine hired Eric Gates as service to the armed forces manager. Gates is a retired Air Force colonel.

McKee Billings, a law firm in Augusta, hired Attorney Melissa Reynolds O'Dea.

Evergreen Behavioral Services in Farmington hired Nicholas Citriglia. Most recently Citriglia was a dual-diagnosis outpatient counselor for Kennebec Behavioral Health in Skowhegan.

Simon Property Group Inc. hired Kathy Akopov as director of marketing and business development at Kittery Premium Outlets in Kittery. Akopov previously served as director of marketing and development at PAWS Atlanta.

The Maine Health Access Foundation, a private health foundation based in Augusta, hired Margo Beland as finance manager. Beland was previously with the Maine Development Foundation.

Penobscot Community Health Care in Bangor hired Erin Barker as a medical staff member at Community Care and Geriatrics.

AARP Maine hired David Torresen as senior operations associate. Torresen was previously with the Center for Advancing Health in Washington, D.C.

Diversified Communications, an international media company in Portland, hired Kirk Moore as an associate editor and Jonathan Butland as junior web developer.

CBRE|Boulos Asset Management, a real estate asset management company in Portland, hired Danielle Faulkner as customer service representative and Christena Amuzzini as assistant property manager.

Promotions

Ocean Communities Federal Credit Union in Biddeford promoted Stephanie Koch to BSA officer and internal control specialist.

Clark Insurance in Portland promoted Chad Cote to senior account executive in its employee benefits group. Cote was previously an account executive.

Patrons Oxford Insurance Co. in Auburn promoted Marie Ouellette to commercial lines assistant underwriter for personal and commercial lines. Ouellette was previously in the personal lines department.

Woodard & Curran, an engineering, science and operations company in Portland, promoted John Brockington, design-build service line leader, and Andy Fitzpatrick, electrical service line leader, to principal; and Kristy Bishop, project manager; Diane Dudkiewicz, human resources manager; Ross Elliott, senior graphic design specialist; Julian Marks, senior content marketing specialist; Kris McAlpine, project technical specialist; Karen Townsend, technical manager; and Andy Walker, facilities manager, to associate principals.

Rinck Advertising in Auburn promoted Karly Eretzian to vice president of creative services and Kathleen de Silva to chief operating officer and vice president of account services.

Katahdin Trust Co. promoted Rebecca Smith to branch manager and retail services officer at its Bangor branch. Smith most recently served as customer service representative in Hampden.

CBRE|Boulos Asset Management, a real estate asset management company in Portland, promoted Nicole Shaffer to assistant property manager.

Appointments

James Donovan, president and CEO of Lincoln County Healthcare in Damariscotta, was appointed as chair of the Maine Hospital Association board of directors.

OHI, a nonprofit organization in Hermon that provides supports and services to people with intellectual disabilities, autism and mental illness, elected Tim Lo to its board of directors. Lo is self-employed in business development and marketing.

Preti Flaherty, a law firm in Portland, said that Chelsea Tryder was appointed as the 2015-2016 vice chair for the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division. Tryder is a member of the firm's business law group practicing from the Portland office.

Saco & Biddeford Savings Institution elected Eric Purvis to its board of directors. Purvis is a founding principal of Dawson, Smith, Purvis & Bassett in Portland.

The Ski Museum of Maine in Kingfield announced it board officers including Wende Gray, president; Gerry Thompson, vice president; Russ Murley, secretary; and Vito Courtney, treasurer.

Nicki Bean, director of marketing for The Nonantum Resort in Kennebunkport, was appointed to the Kennebunk-Kennebunkport-Arundel Chamber of Commerce board of directors.

Saint Joseph's College in Standish announced Matthew Monaghan will serve as chair, Kenneth Lemanski as vice chair and Sister Mary Morey as secretary of its board of trustees. The college also added Andrew Kovach and Carol Strobeck to the board.

The Maine Bankers Association elected Bradford Paige as association chairman. Paige is president and CEO of Kennebunk Savings Bank.

Achievements

Verrill Dana, a law firm in Portland, was named as a leading firm in all six Maine categories and three sub-categories evaluated by London-based Chambers & Partners, an international legal research and publishing firm. Thirty-one Maine-based attorneys and 39 attorneys from the firm overall were recognized as “leading lawyers” in the fields of corporate/mergers and acquisitions; bankruptcy; energy and natural resources; environment; health care; labor and employment; employee benefits and compensation; litigation (general commercial and medical malpractice/insurance); real estate; and timberland/conservation. The firm also announced that Tony Calcagni was elected a fellow of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers, admitted in the class of 2015. Calcagni is chair of the firm's real estate group.

College-matching platform College Raptor Inc. named the University of New England in Biddeford as the “best hidden gem” institution in the state of Maine. The recognition highlights colleges and universities that are sometimes overlooked by students but stand out in terms of academic rigor and student success.

The Society for Human Resource Management Maine State Council named Giovani Twigge, chief human resources officer for Idexx Laboratories Inc., its Human Resource Leader of the Year for 2015.

Bernstein Shur shareholder Josh Silver recently spoke at the American Bankers Association Risk Management Forum addressing bank cyber governance programs from a lifecycle perspective and risk mitigation in vendor and outsourcing transactions. The firm also announced it earned top ratings from Chambers USA, a directory of the nation's top law firms and leading business lawyers. The firm received top ranking in corporate mergers and acquisitions, energy and natural resources and real estate. In addition, 28 of the firm's attorneys were recognized and 12 ranked at the top of their areas of practice.

Chimani, a national park mobile travel app developer in Portland, was recognized by Google during the “Get your app into the Google index” developer session at Google I/O 2015, a conference held in May in San Francisco. The company's app for Yosemite National Park was highlighted as an example of how mobile-first app publishers can integrate Google's app indexing technology so content can be discovered during search queries.

The Inns at Blackberry Common in Camden was recognized as a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence Hall of Fame winner by earning its fifth consecutive Certificate of Excellence Award.

The town of Camden recently made a BedandBreakfast.com list of the top 15 most popular, new destination getaways.

Grizacca, Oxbow Brewing Co., Portland; Lunch, Maine Beer Co., Freeport; Pepperell Pilsner, Banded Horn Brewing Co., Biddeford; Maine Island Trail Ale, Rising Tide Brewing Co., Portland; and Allagash White, Allagash Brewing Co., Portland, were named the five essential Maine summer beers by Down East magazine.

The Maine State House Dome restoration, by Consigli Construction Co. Inc., was awarded a 2015 North American Copper in Architecture Award at this year's American Institute of Architects Convention held in Atlanta, Ga.

BerryDunn, a CPA and consulting firm in Portland, was selected as a Gold Award winner in the Professional Services Group for its 40th anniversary logo in the 12th annual Service Industry Advertising Awards.

Wright-Pierce, an engineering consulting firm in Portland, was selected as one of Engineering News Record 2014 Top-500 design firms in the country.

The University of Maine at Farmington announced that Chris O'Brien, associate professor of history, was named to the list of Hoover Scholars by the Herbert Hoover Presidential Foundation. O'Brien was awarded a travel grant to help fund his summer visit to the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library in West Branch, Iowa, where he will conduct research on Iowa politician Bourke Hickenlooper and the northern resistance to civil rights from 1957-1965.

Andrew Radford, Augusta; Charles Young, Farmington; Victoria Boone, Macias; Kasandra Foster, Presque Isle; Alexandra Courtney, Orono; and Travis Powers, Fort Kent, were recognized as the 2015 University of Maine class of Maine Policy Scholars.

Casco Bay Create Awareness Now Coalition received a Greater Portland Council of Governments Regional ReCOGnition Award. The coalition is a regional initiative serving Falmouth, Cumberland, Freeport, Yarmouth, Pownal, North Yarmouth, Gray and New Gloucester based on volunteer participation, including a law enforcement subcommittee, resulting in successful youth substance prevention and intervention services.

Northeast Civil Solutions Inc., a civil engineering and land surveying firm in Scarborough, announced that Travis Letellier, project engineer, passed the Professional Engineers exam.

Mike's and Sons, an outdoor equipment store in Fort Kent, received a May 2015 Customer Service Recognition Award from the Central Aroostook Chamber of Commerce.

Paul Greene, founder of Global Sports Advocates in Portland, was selected as a noted practitioner of sports law in a national ranking conducted by Chambers USA.

Eaton Peabody, a law firm in Bangor, announced that eight of its attorneys and five of its practice areas have been included in the 2015 edition of Chambers USA for the state of Maine.

The Bennett Law Firm in Portland was recognized by Corporate LiveWire 2015 in the field of litigation and dispute resolution.

Pierce Atwood LLP, a law firm in Portland, announced it received No. 1 rankings in all six practice areas evaluated in the state by Chambers USA and were the only firm in Maine with an international presence and ranking in Chambers' Global Guide.

Bernstein Shur attorney Roma Desai was selected to participate in the fifth annual Next Generation Program of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges being held in Miami, Fla., in September.

Maine Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, a Department of Defense office, announced that Brent Libby, fire chief of Windham Fire Rescue Department, was honored with a Patriot Award in recognition of his support of employees serving in the Maine Guard and Reserve.

Roland Narofsky, Maine Savings regional vice president of Bangor and Brewer, was recognized with the credit union's Cecil C. Porter Extraordinary Service Award.