Newsworthy people and performances

New hires

Maine Adaptive, a nonprofit in Newry that provides and promotes year-round adaptive recreation for people with physical disabilities, hired Barbara Schneider as executive director. Schneider, who is an avid skier, had been a lawyer at the the law firm Murray, Plumb & Murray and has extensive experience in the nonprofit field. She succeeds Peter Adams, who led Maine Adaptive for six years.

James W. Sewall Co., a natural resources, energy and infrastructure consulting firm in Old Town, hired Brian Lippold as director of broadband and telecommunications consulting. Lippold was previously a principal of Casco Bay Advisors LLC.

Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors magazine in Rockland hired Tom Morse as a sales and development representative in southern Maine. Morse was previously with Body & Co. Advertising in Portland.

The Portland Chapter of SCORE hired Kathleen O'Donnell and Susan deGrandpre as certified SCORE volunteer mentors.

KMA Human Resources Consulting in Falmouth hired Jane Bopp and Lauren Klibansky as consultants.

H.M. Payson, a registered investment advisor and Maine Trust Co. in Portland, hired Jay Flower as portfolio manager. Flower was with Old Port Advisors.

Eastern Maine Development Corp., a business and workforce development organization in Bangor, hired Cody Gilks as a business development specialist, Kenneth Bloch as Maine PTAC program manager and Bob Alexander as director of administration and finance. Gilks was previously with Penobscot County Federal Credit Union, Bloch was with Auburn Manufacturing Inc. and Alexander was with Eastern Maine Health Care Systems.

Pen Bay Medical Center and Waldo County General Hospital hired Kerry Lavigne. Lavigne, a board certified dermatologist, was previously with Dermatology Associates in Portland.

Biddeford Savings hired Joe Nelson as assistant vice president, branch manager and loan officer in Waterboro.

Atlantic Comfort Systems Inc., a mechanical contractor in Biddeford, hired Mike Darling as a residential HVAC salesman. Darling was with Avery Services.

PDT Architects in Portland hired Adam McKinnon as a project manager for multi-family housing and K-12 school projects. McKinnon was previously with Blackney Hayes Architects in Philadelphia.

Brentwood Center for Health and Rehabilitation in Yarmouth hired Dieuwertje Thonet as director of nursing services.

Spare Time Entertainment in Portland hired Kylie Sebert as event planner.

Broadreach Public Relations, a strategic communications firm in Portland, hired Jason Sulham as senior strategist. Previously, Sulham was the founder of North Public Affairs.

Rinck Advertising, an advertising, media and public relations agency in Auburn, hired Lawrence Rinck as chief inspiration officer.

Skelton Taintor & Abbott, a law firm in Auburn, hired Jordan Payne as an associate attorney practicing in the areas of employment law, labor law, family law, commercial litigation and civil rights litigation.

Maine Medical Center in Portland hired Michael Ferguson as a physician in the department of pediatrics, Kelley Conroy as a physician with Maine Medical Partners - Women's Health Maternal-Fetal Medicine and Genevieve London as a physician with Westbrook Pediatrics. Ferguson was most recently with The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Conroy was at Tufts Medical Center and London was at Central Maine Medical Center.

Katahdin Trust Co. in Houlton hired Benjamin McQuade as commercial services officer in Presque Isle. McQuade was previously with Norstate Federal Credit Union.

Preti Flaherty, a law firm in Portland, hired Ethan Anderson to practice business law.

Woodfords Family Services, a Westbrook nonprofit serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families, hired Mark Eves as development officer and Benjamin Crocker as medical director, psychiatry services.

Tidestone Solutions, an accounting software and consulting firm in Portland, hired Patrick Murray as business development director.

Promotions

Norton Financial Services in Cumberland Foreside promoted Britt McMahon to employee benefit group marketing coordinator. McMahon was previously an account representative at Norton Insurance Agency.

Eastern Maine Development Corp., a nonprofit business and workforce development organization in Bangor, promoted Vicki Rusbult to director of re-engineering the region and planning and Jeff Whalen to community affairs manager.

Maine Medical Center in Portland promoted Baird Mallory to surgical specialty medical director and associate service line physician leader. Mallory was most recently division director of Maine Medical Partners – Pediatric Surgery.

TD Bank promoted Christina Davis assistant vice president, store manager in Brunswick. Davis was a coaching effectiveness manager in the bank's phone channel.

PeoplesChoice Credit Union in Saco promoted Amanda Whittier to residential mortgage loan processor.

Competitive Energy Services, a strategic energy advisory firm in Portland, promoted Andrew Price to president and COO, Zac Bloom to director of sustainability and renewables, Sarah Snyder to project coordinator and Linda Hyatt to procurement and client services manager. Price was senior vice president overseeing the analytical department, Bloom was a business development associate and account manager, Snyder was a pricing associate and Hyatt was pricing and products manager.

Appointments

MaineGeneral Health in Augusta elected David Flanagan and Matthew Tardiff to its board of directors. Flanagan was most recently president of the University of Southern Maine while Tardiff is the owner and controller of J.S. McCarthy Printers in Augusta.

Woodfords Family Services, a Westbrook nonprofit serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families, appointed Richard Begin and Phillip Potenziano to its board of trustees. Begin is director of development for Westbrook Housing and Potenziano is assistant superintendent of schools, RSU 21-Arundel, Kennebunk, Kennebunkport.

The board of directors of Camden National Corp. elected David J. Ott and Carl Soderberg to the board. Ott has served in senior leadership roles with Fleet Financial Group and Banknorth Inc., while Soderberg is president of Soderberg Co. Inc., a construction company in Caribou.

Achievements

Michelle Raber, owner of Raber State Farm Insurance Agency in Scarborough, earned a Chartered Financial Consultant designation awarded by the American College of Financial Services.

Xuron Corp., a manufacturer of ergonomic, electronics grade hand tools in Saco, was the recipient of the 2015 Maine Manufacturing Extension Partnership Manufacturing Excellence Award.

The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program recognized Maine Medical Center as one of 52 participating hospitals that have achieved meritorious outcomes for surgical patient care.

The Maine Health Care Association in Camden selected Quarry Hill, an assisted living facility in Camden, as its “excellence in innovation” award winner and presented Ellen Wood, a daytime charge nurse at Quarry Hill, an “excellence in caregiving” award during its “2015 Celebrating Excellence in Caregiving Awards” event.

Adele Nichols, senior account manager at Clark Insurance in Portland, was named Insurance Professional of the Year at the Maine State Council annual meeting of the International Association of Insurance Professionals.

The Nature Conservancy in Maine presented U.S. Sen. Susan Collins with its Leadership Award in recognition of her ongoing work on the Land and Water Conservation Fund, global conservation and efforts to combat climate change.

Bangor Savings Bank announced it received the highest numerical score among retail banks in the New England region in the proprietary J.D. Power 2015 Retail Banking Satisfaction Study.

The Society for Human Resource Management's Maine State Council in Portland announced its Best Places to Work in Maine winners. Edward Jones was first in the large company category (250-plus U.S. employees), Patriot Subaru took top honors in the medium company category (50 to 249 U.S. employees) and Sage Data Security LLC topped the list among small companies (15 to 49 U.S. employees).

Jeffrey Lind, executive vice president at Clark Insurance in Portland, received the Cyber Risk Management Leadership Award from INSUREtrust, a national insurance wholesaler that pioneered cyber liability, technology errors and omissions and miscellaneous professional liability insurance coverage.

Healthy Portland, a Local Healthy Maine Partnership and a program of the city of Portland's Public Health Division, honored nine local organizations for their commitment to improving the health and wellness of their employees. The University of New England, MaineHealth, Maine Medical Center, Oakhurst Dairy and Cumberland County Government earned Platinum Level recognition; the city of Portland, cPort Credit Union and the University of Southern Maine completed the Gold Level recognition category; and The Cedars achieved Silver Level recognition.

The Maine Department of Labor announced that the St. Agatha Fire Department and the towns of Mapleton, Chapman and Castle Hill earned the Safety and Health Award for Public Employers Award in recognition of their safety achievement program.

Aroostook Aspirations Initiative named Amy White, business technology instructor at Presque Isle Regional Career and Technical Center, as its 2015 Mentor of the Year; Jennifer Bourassa, an English teacher at Presque Isle High School, as its Innovative Educator award winner; and Pineland Farms as its Business of the Year.

Moose Alley/Inner Eye, Rangeley; Horch Roofing, Warren; Lucas Tree Experts, Falmouth; Rangeley Lakes Builders Supply, Rangeley; Apothecary by Design, Portland; and Plum Creek were presented a 2015 Governor's Award for Business Excellence.

The Maine Department of Environmental Protection presented an environmental excellence award to Paris Autobarn in South Paris.

Machias Savings Bank announced it was named one of the “Best banks to work for” by American Banker. The bank was listed 17th in the nation.

Bloomberg Markets listed R.M. Davis, an investment advisor in Portland, fifth nationally in its annual ranking of the nation's top-50 registered investment advisors.

Kate Shaffer, co-owner of Black Dinah Chocolatiers in Westbrook, was profiled in the October issue of Vegetarian Times.

The Wellness Council of Maine, a program of the Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce, announced Hussey Seating Co. in North Berwick; city of Portland, City Fit! Wellness Committee; The County Fit & Fun! Series in Aroostook County; and Brewer School Wellness Team were recognized for contributions to improving employee wellness in their regions of Maine.

Maine Children's Cancer Program, the pediatric oncology program of The Barbara Bush Children's Hospital at Maine Medical Center, announced that Rick Drouin was awarded the 2015 WCSH6 “6 Who Care” Award. Drouin is a program board member and volunteer who has helped raise nearly $2 million during his 23 years of involvement.

Penquis, a social and health services agency in Bangor, was recognized as a NeighborWorks Green Organization for its commitment to sustainable operations.

The municipalities of Freeport, Vassalboro, Mount Desert, Islesboro and Cranberry Isles were recognized for producing the highest quality annual reports in the Maine Municipal Association's annual report competition.

The Lewiston-Auburn Water Pollution Control Authority and CDM Smith were honored with an Engineering Excellence Award by the American Council of Engineering Companies for the new anaerobic digestion and energy recovery facility in Lewiston.

Bernstein Shur, a law firm in Portland, announced that 14 of its attorneys were named to 2015 New England Super Lawyers and 13 were named to “Rising Stars.”

Thompson & Bowie LLP, a Portland law firm, announced that four of its lawyers were named to 2015 New England Super Lawyers and five were named to Rising Stars.