🔒Newsworthy people and performances

New hires

Franklin Health Pediatrics in Farmington hired pediatrician Erika Schumacher. Schumacher previously practiced at Meriden Pediatric Associates in Meriden, Conn.

Enables IT, an IT managed services and professional services provider in Brunswick, hired Andrew Hill as senior account manager, business development. Hill was previously with Hewlett Packard.

Clark Insurance in Portland hired Angela Duran and Tiffany Richards as account managers in its personal insurance department.

KMA Human Resources Consulting in Falmouth hired Debby Olken and Christina Carter. Olken was previously human resources director for both the Maine Judicial Branch and the Maine Legislature while Carter has human resources experience in the financial services and lending industries.

Axiom Technologies, a broadband Internet company in Machias, hired Mark Ouellette as president and COO. Ouellette was most recently the executive director of Mobilize Maine.

Wright-Pierce, an engineering firm in Portland specializing in water, wastewater and civil/ infrastructure services, hired Thomas Farmer as a landscape architect and Christopher Cronin as an engineer-in-training in its civil infrastructure practice group.

Trafton & Matzen, a law firm in Auburn, added James Belleau and Marc Frenette as partners to the general legal practice now known as Trafton, Matzen, Belleau & Frenette LLP.

Final Draft CAD LLC, a building information modeling and computer aided drafting firm in Portland, hired Frank Merrifield as BIM/CAD manager. Merrifield was previously with Johnson & Jordan in Scarborough.

Legacy Properties Sotheby's International Realty, a luxury property company in Portland, hired Pete Molloy as a vice president in Portland and Linda Painter as a vice president in Damariscotta.

Landry/French Construction in Scarborough hired Tony Bragalone as a site superintendent. Bragalone was previously with Robins & Morton in Birmingham, Ala.

Consumer Title in Portland hired Kim Chilton as director of sales and marketing in southern Maine.

Bangor Savings Bank hired Linda Cohen as branch manager of its South Portland Mill Creek branch.

Androscoggin Bank hired Neil Kiely as executive vice president, chief strategy officer and general counsel. Kiely was most recently director of development/New England for First Wind LLC.

Diversified Communications, an international media company in Portland, hired Jennifer Carter as a marketing coordinator, Ian Talmage as a lead web designer and Chris Bournakis as a senior web designer. Carter was previously with The Smithers Group in Falmouth, while Talmage was with Maine Information Network/NIC in Augusta and Bournakis was with Bates College in Lewiston.

PeoplesChoice Credit Union in Saco hired Deborah McPhail as a mortgage loan originator in Sanford and Wells. McPhail was previously with PMAC Lending Services.

Maine Initiatives in Brunswick hired Philip Walsh as executive director. Walsh was most recently director of the office for external grants at Bates College.

The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry's Maine Forest Service hired Terri Coolong and Sandy Walczyk as district foresters in Washington, Hancock and Penobscot counties.

The Inn at Cuckolds Lighthouse in Southport announced that Mark Zinkiewicz and Heather Graham were selected as resident keepers and Ruth Reighley as lighthouse captain and director, maritime operations, based at the Cuckolds Welcome Center, for the 2015 season.

Deirdre Heersink was hired as a primary care provider at Mid Coast Medical Group-Topsham Family Practice and joined the active medical staff of Mid Coast Hospital. Heersink most recently was a hospitalist at Maine General Medical Center in Augusta.

Promotions

The board of directors at Clark Insurance in Portland promoted Tony Payne to vice president of business development. Payne was previously director of business development.

Jamie St. Clair has been named KeyBank's retail leader for the coastal area, including 11 branch offices in the counties of Knox, Lincoln, Sagadahoc and Cumberland. He will be responsible for sales, service and financial leadership. He has been with KeyBank for a decade, most recently serving as area retail leader of Bangor.

The city of Bangor promoted Philip Drew to city assessor. Drew was previously appraiser for the city.

Jensen Baird Gardner & Henry, a law firm in Portland, promoted Kathleen Konkoly and Mark Bower to directors. Konkoly is a member of the firm's business services practice group while Bower is a member of the government services practice group.

MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta promoted Benjamin Brown to medical director at Thayer Center for Health in Waterville. Brown had been a physician in the Hospitalist Service at the center.

Appointments

Avesta Housing in Portland appointed Tony Cipollone to its board of directors. Cipollone is the president and CEO of the John T. Gorman Foundation.

Achievements

Eastern Maine Development Corp. in Bangor honored Cianbro, Penobscot Theatre Co., Katahdin Region Transition Team, UMaine Cooperative Extension and U.S. Small Business Administration of Maine with its Champion Awards. In addition, Jon Farley, the corporation's director of business and workforce development was named the employee champion.

Melvin Williams, a retired dairy farmer from Waldoboro, received the Friend of Maine Farm Bureau Award for outstanding and dedicated service to Maine Farm Bureau. Williams has served on the state board for 12 years.

The International Business Brokers Association designated Nicholas Jewczyn, an assistant professor of business at Thomas College in Waterville, as a Certified Business Intermediary.

Karin Cole, a surgeon at Mercy Hospital's Portland Surgical Associates, was among 1,640 initiates from around the world who became fellows of the American College of Surgeons at the college's 2014 annual Clinical Congress.

MaineGeneral Medical Center's Alfond Center for Health in Augusta received best project accolades in the category of health care at the Engineering News-Record New England awards.

Saint Joseph's College in Standish was named to the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for its commitment to volunteering, service-learning and civic engagement.

Hospice of Southern Maine in Scarborough presented its Pope Leadership Award to Elaine Brady, a board member, former chair and former interim CEO for the organization.

The Land Trust Accreditation Commission, a program promoting public trust and ensuring permanence in the conservation of American lands, announced Boothbay Region Land Trust in Boothbay Harbor and Georges River Land Trust in Rockland received first-time accreditation and Forest Society of Maine in Bangor received renewed accreditation.

The Knox Center for Long Term Care in Rockland was recognized by the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living for achieving “tier 4” recognition by reaching all four of the national quality goals.

Auburn Savings Bank received an outstanding rating following a 2014 examination of the institution's lending practices as required by the Community Reinvestment Act. The bank was also listed as the 84th community bank nationwide by the Independent Community Bankers Association as a result of a new measure of lending success based on a ratio of the amount of originated loans versus the total assets of the institution.

Pen Bay Healthcare in Rockport named David Stoneman as its employee of the year.

Bernstein Shur, a law firm in Portland, announced Asha Echeverria co-authored the Green Property Insurance chapter in Green Building and the Construction Lawyer, A Practical Guide to Transactional and Litigation Issues, published by the American Bar Association. Echeverria is a member of the firm's construction law practice group and energy and environmental practice group.

The Portland Water District was awarded the certificate of achievement for excellence in financial reporting by the Government Finance Officers Association for its comprehensive annual financial report.

Camden National Bank named Ryan Smith, senior vice president, commercial regional manager based in Auburn, as its officer of the year for 2014.

The Maine Public Relations Council in Augusta awarded Nancy Marshall Communications in Augusta gold awards for its Facebook campaign for Maine Lakes & Mountains Tourism Council and for the Summit Natural Gas of Maine groundbreaking ceremony press conference. The firm also received a silver award for branding development for The Maine Beer & Wine Distributors Association's responsibility initiative.

Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington announced that Vicki Adams, a cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation nurse, passed the Certified Cardiac Rehabilitation Professional exam from the American Academy of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation.

The Associated General Contractors of America honored its Maine Chapter with a safety award based on the overall incident rate of its general membership. The association also recognized CA Newcomb and Sons Fence & Guardrail, Carmel; CCB Inc., Westbrook; HE Callahan Construction Co., Auburn; Knowles Industrial Services Corp., Gorham; Nickerson & O'Day Inc., Bangor; NS Giles Foundations Inc., Bangor; Sargent Corp., Stillwater; Shaw Brothers Construction, Gorham; Environmental Trenchless Technologies Inc., Lisbon Falls; and Main Line Fence Co. Inc., Cumberland for their safety records over the past three years.

CES Inc., a firm of engineers, environmental scientists and land surveyors in Brewer, announced that Chris Snowdeal and Brett Deyling became licensed professional engineers.

Maine Medical Center in Portland announced that 101 of its physicians were chosen for inclusion in Down East Magazine's “Maine TopDocs Physician Survey 2015” as the top specialists in their field. Of those, 34 were rated at the top of their category.

American Infrastructure Magazine selected the Rangeley Line Railway project as its rail project of the year.

Avesta Housing in Portland awarded the 2014 Mike Yandell Award to Jess Maurer, executive director of the Maine Association of Area Agencies on Aging. The award recognizes an individual for work in the field of affordable housing.

The University of New England in Biddeford ranked 100th and the University of Southern Maine in Portland 157th in U.S. News & World Report's 2015 rankings for Best Online Graduate Education Programs. A total of 250 public and private colleges and universities were rated.

The Maine Department of Labor in Augusta announced that the town of Scarborough earned the safety and health award for public employers. Scarborough is the seventh municipal employer to receive the award, which recognizes public-sector organizations that voluntary undertake the safety achievement program.

Wright-Pierce, an engineering firm in Portland specializing in water, wastewater, storm water and infrastructure services, received PSMJ's Circle of Excellence Platinum Award at the 2014 A/E/C (architecture/engineering/construction) Industry Summit held in Orlando in December. The firm was one of six in North America to receive this award for sustained business excellence.

Maine Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, a Department of Defense agency, announced that Mike Saucier of Cary Medical Center in Caribou was honored with a Patriot Award in recognition of the center's support of its employee serving in the Maine Guard and Reserve.

Mike Vaillancourt, an attorney and shareholder with the South Portland law firm of Ainsworth, Thelin & Raftice PA, was elected president of the Cumberland County Bar Association. The association's mission is to enhance the professional lives of its members and to improve the administration of the law by promoting civility, collegiality, education and justice.