Newsworthy people and performances

New hires

GAC Chemical Corp., a manufacturer and distributor of industrial, specialty and fine organic and inorganic chemicals in Searsport, hired Darryl Coombs as regional sales manager.

The Environmental & Energy Technology Council of Maine hired Bonnie Frye Hemphill as Maine innovation and cleantech connector and Brianna Courneya as project associate. Hemphill was previously with Maine Businesses for Climate Action, a project of the Natural Resources Council of Maine, while Courneya was with STRIVE, a nonprofit that serves young adults with developmental disabilities.

Onpoint Health Data, a health data and analytics firm in Portland, hired Melanie Pinette and Joanna Duncan as health data analysts. Pinette previously worked as an internal auditor for Macpage while Duncan was a senior scientist at Powerspan Corp.

Health Affiliates Maine, a statewide substance abuse and mental health agency in Portland, hired Melissa Bowker-Kinley as medical director. Bowker-Kinley was previously with Spring Harbor Hospital in Westbrook.

The Natural Gas Conversion Co. in Augusta hired David Bartholomew as director of conversions. Bartholomew was previously president of Rock Coast Personnel in Portland.

Maine Medical Partners Primary Care practice at Falmouth Pediatrics hired Abby Markham. Markham recently completed her residency at Maine Medical Center.

Norton Insurance Agency in Cumberland Foreside hired Cathy Smith as personal lines customer service representative. Smith was with NEEE Ltd. as personal lines underwriter.

Results Physical Therapy in Brewer hired David Jantti as wellness director and physical therapy aide.

American Loggers Insurance in Bangor hired Donald Curtis as senior loss-control consultant.

Murray Plumb & Murray, a law firm in Portland, hired Caroline Jova and Kaitlyn Wright.

Bar Harbor Bank & Trust hired Richard Maltz as executive vice president/chief risk officer. Maltz previously held the same position at Bangor Savings Bank.

Enables IT, an IT managed services and professional services provider in Brunswick, hired Peter Fortunato as a senior technical engineer focused on networking, virtualization and security and Armand Cloutier as a technical engineer in professional services as well as Sean Campbell and Steven Thomas as tier one support in managed services.

MaineHealth in Portland hired Kathleen Taggersell as system director of marketing and communications. Taggersell was with the University of New England as director of marketing and communications.

Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington hired Andrew Lackoff as a hospitalist. Lackoff most recently was at Pen Bay Medical Center in Rockport.

Dawson, Smith, Purvis & Bassett, a CPA and business advisor firm in Portland, hired Lacy McMoarn and Benjamin Gosselin.

The Maine Health Management Coalition in Topsham hired Rebecca Marcisso as manager of data member services. Marcisso was previously with Health Dialog in Portland.

Katahdin Financial Services in Presque Isle hired Betty Buzzell as a Cetera Investment Services consultant.

NBT Bank in Portland hired Joe Delano as vice president and senior commercial banking relationship manager.

Pen Bay Health System in Rockport hired Eve Hadley and Erin Monberg as certified nurse midwives in its OB/GYN program.

Community Credit Union in Lewiston hired Jessica Blackwell as a member representative.

Maine Employers for Safety and Health Excellence in Camden hired Edwin Morong as executive director of the volunteer, nonprofit organization comprised of safety professionals and SHARP/SHAPE-designated employers in the state of Maine. Morong is vice president of Yachting Solutions in Rockport.

Eaton Peabody, a law firm in Bangor, hired Matt Worthen as a member of the firm's real estate and corporate practice groups.

Maine Medical Partners–MaineHealth Cardiology in Waterville hired Kevin White and Lakshman Subrahmanyan as physicians.

Rudman Winchell, Counselors at Law in Bangor hired Joy Trueworthy. She will practice at the Maine Elder Law Firm, an affiliate of Rudman Winchell in Bangor.

Promotions

Community Credit Union in Lewiston promoted Catherine Ouellette to card services coordinator. Ouellette was previously new accounts representative/operations support.

Gorham Savings Bank announced several promotions. Susan Laliberte was promoted to vice president, retail loan processing and underwriting manager; Julie Viola to vice president, business banking manager; Jane Cirone to vice president, finance and accounting manager; Katherine Damon to vice president, regional senior business officer; Lisa Thomas to assistant vice president, employee development officer; Lisa Hughes to assistant vice president, senior business officer; and Jessica Burbank to assistant vice president, regional banking center manager.

Diversified Communications, an international media company in Portland, announced several promotions. Bill Springer, Mary Larkin and Mike Lodato were promoted to executive vice presidents; Vicki Hennin to senior vice president, marketing and eMedia; Amelia Bolduc to operations manager; Anthony Martin to vice president, business operations; Bob Callahan to group vice president; Chris Dimmerling to sales director and event manager; Christine Salmon to event manager; Denielle Christensen to event director; Eric Wagner to vice president, IT and project management office; Imani Clark to director of operations and customer service; Janice Rogers to corporate vice president, human resources; Joanne Leonard to vice president, operations; Liz Plizga to group vice president; Oakley Dyer to corporate vice president, strategy and corporate development; RD Whitney to group vice president; and Wynter Courmont to events manager.

Appointments

Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Maine added four members to its board of directors, including Janet Britton, Christopher Cimino, David Sherman Jr. and Melissa Stryer. Britton is an attorney at Verrill Dana, Cimino is executive vice president of C.M. Cimino Inc., Sherman is a partner at Drummond Woodsum and Stryer is director of operations for Hannaford Supermarkets.

The Penobscot Bay Regional Chamber of Commerce named Mike Hall of Hall Funeral Home as president. The chamber also announced Dick McGee, Fresh Catch; Erik Frederick, Pen Bay Healthcare; Fletcher Hall, SummerMaine; Bob Fernald, Down East Magazine; Sarah McLean, Global Packing and Shipping; Stacey Palmer, Maine, Boats, Homes and Harbors; Sam Hill, Hill's Seafood; and Sarah Gilbert, Elliot & MacLean, as new board members.

The Maine Public Relations Council announced its board officers, including president, Kelly Barden, communications production manager, MEMIC; vice president, Charlene Williams, president of Nancy Marshall Communications; secretary, Jordan Rowe, assistant account executive at Kemp Goldberg Partners; and treasurer, Amy Fickett, public information officer for Cumberland County.

The Mahoosuc Arts Council in Bethel elected Kathy Hodsdon as vice chair of its board of directors. In addition, Edison Quinatoa and Dennis Camire were elected as board members.

Achievements

Allen Insurance and Financial in Belfast announced that Amy Bowen, a commercial insurance account manager, earned an accredited adviser in insurance designation from the American Institute for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters.

Maine Maritime Academy in Castine announced professor of engineering Paul Wlodkowski received a Fulbright Scholarship to advance international exchange in engineering education. Wlodkowski will conduct research and teach engineering courses in both English and Russian at the Admiral Makarov State University of Maritime and Inland Shipping in St. Petersburg, Russia, for six months.

The Marc Gup Real Estate Group at Keller Williams Realty in Portland announced that Marc Gup and Lori Norris completed a luxury home marketing training course offered by the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing. The course is a step towards earning a certified luxury home marketing specialist designation.

R.J. Grondin & Sons, an earth-moving business in Gorham, announced that Julie Turner, assistant controller, earned the certified construction industry financial professional title from the Construction Financial Management Association.

Bernstein Shur, a law firm in Portland, was recognized in the 2015 Best Law Firms directory by U.S. News — Best Lawyers. The firm was ranked in 120 metropolitan-area practice categories and received 45 tier-one distinctions based on client and peer reviews. The firm was also named to Fortune magazine's Top Ranked Law Firms in the United States for 2014.

Brann & Isaacson, a law firm in Lewiston, announced that George Isaacson, Martin Eisenstein, Martha Greene, Peter Lowe, Benjamin Lund and Peter Brann were listed in The Best Lawyers in America 2015.

Skelton Taintor & Abbott, a law firm in Auburn, received a tier-one ranking for the Portland metropolitan region in the 2015 Best Law Firms directory by U.S. News — Best Lawyers.

Eaton Peabody, a law firm in Bangor, received two tier-one rankings in both Bangor and Portland in the 2015 Best Law Firms directory by U.S. News — Best Lawyers. The firm also had 14 attorneys listed as top rated by Super Lawyers New England Magazine.

Verrill Dana, a law firm in Portland, announced nine of its attorneys were recognized in Benchmark Litigation's 2015 edition and that Karen Frink Wolf and Martha Gaythwaite were named to the national list of top 250 women in litigation. The publication also ranked the firm as a “highly recommended firm” in Maine. The firm also announced that 17 of its attorneys received Maine Supreme Judicial Court Katahdin Counsel Recognition for their pro bono service and the 2014 edition of New England Super Lawyers and Rising Stars, lists 31 of its attorneys, including 10 as rising stars.

Down East Magazine in Rockport was named 2014 magazine of the year in the category for publications with a circulation of more than 35,000 at the 34th Annual International Regional Magazine Association Awards. In all, the publication won 13 awards from a total of 21 categories for its work in 2013, including six gold awards for excellence in feature writing, public issues and art direction.

Patrons Oxford Insurance Co. in Auburn was named the Maine Insurance Agents Association's company of the year.

Preti Flaherty, a law firm in Portland, announced it received 15 tier-one rankings for its offices in Augusta, Portland and Concord, N.H., as named by the 2015 Best Law Firms directory by U.S. News — Best Lawyers.

The Maine State Bar Association board of governors named the selections for the inaugural class of its leadership academy: Nathaniel Bessy, Brann & Isaacson LLP; Devin Deane, Norman Hanson & DeTroy LLC; Lindsay Dickerson, U.S. District Court, District of Maine; Amy Dieterich, Skelton Taintor & Abbott; Meredith Eilers, Bernstein Shur; Ben Fowler, Fowler Law Office; Sarah Irving Gilbert, Elliott & MacLean LLP; Allison Gardiner Gray, Johnson Webbert & Young LLP; Erica Johanson, Eaton Peabody; Sean O'Mara, Sean S. O'Mara, Attorney-at-Law; Robert Van Horn, Law Office of Robert Van Horn; and Ezra Willey, Willey Law Offices.

Platz Associates, a design and construction management firm in Auburn, announced that Travis Nadeau attained his Maine architectural license.

Cellardoor Winery in Lincolnville announced that all eight of its entries in the American Wine Society's 2014 commercial wine competition were awarded medals.

Rebecca Arsenault, president and CEO of Franklin Community Health Network and Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington, received the 2014 American College of Healthcare Executives Senior-Level Healthcare Executive Regent's Award.

The Maine Public Relations Council presented its Rising Star Award to Jordan Rowe of Kemp Goldberg; the president's award to Susan Tompkins of Rising Tide PR; and the Midge Vreeland public service award to The Spannocchia Foundation.

The Atlantic Salmon Federation announced that Ralph Keef was chosen as the 2014 recipient of the Lee Wulff Atlantic salmon conservation award. Keef served as president of the Maine council of the federation and as a director for many years.

Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington and Maine Medical Center in Portland were recognized as a 2013 top performer on key quality measures by The Joint Commission, a national accreditor of health care organizations.

The Medical Group Management Association, an association for medical practice administrators and executives, identified DFD Russell Medical Centers in Leeds as a “better performer” in its Performance and Practices of Successful Medical Groups: 2014 Report, based on 2013 data.

The Mahoosuc Arts Council in Bethel presented its outstanding service awards to Kathy Hodsdon, Melanie Ellsworth and Linda Stowell.

The Saco/Old Orchard Beach KOA Holiday Campground was awarded the 2015 KOA president's and founder's awards by Kampgrounds of America Inc., a system of family-friendly campgrounds.