🔒Newsworthy people and performances for April 6, 2026

One Longfellow Square, a nonprofit music venue in Portland, hired Doug Welch as director of advancement. Welch has more than 25 years of nonprofit leadership experience, including 17 years as executive director of the Maine Island Trail Association. Opus Consulting in Portland hired James Kepler as a consultant. Kepler was previously with Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope. Fisher Phillips, a law firm in Portland, hired Sara Hellstedt as an attorney in the firm’s higher education, K-12 education and workplace investigations practices. Hellstedt was previously a senior director at Aleta Law. Marshall Communications, a marketing and public relations firm in Portland, hired Elaine Theriault-Currier as tourism account executive. Previously, Theriault-Currier was founder of Pen Name. Sheridan Construction in Fairfield hired Josh Kervin as re-roof and maintenance division manager.

The Portland Housing Authority promoted Leah Bruns to executive director. Bruns had been serving as interim executive director since July 2025. Developers Collaborative in Portland hired Eric Boucher, CFO and COO. Boucher most recently served as executive vice president and chief finance and operations officer at Avesta Housing.

Rinck Advertising in Lewiston hired Liz Romano as account director. John Bapst Memorial High School in Bangor hired Sally Maxwell as head of school, effective July 1.

Promotions

ProSearch, an employee-owned recruitment and staffing firm in Portland, promoted Dave Vasconcelos to president. Vasconcelos most recently served as director of client success. Patrons Oxford Insurance in Portland promoted Sonja Clark to assistant vice president, personal lines underwriting.

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins announced updates to her senior leadership team for the remainder of the 119th Congress. Steve Abbott, previously chief of staff, will manage Collin’s reelection campaign; Katie Brown, the Senator’s legislative director and chief counsel, will serve as chief of staff; and Annie Clark, the Senator’s former communications director, will return to serve as deputy chief of staff. UCU, a credit union in Bangor, promoted Shauna Baker to vice president of member experience and Martha Ward to senior vice president of technology and digital experience.

Appointments

The TD Beach to Beacon 10K board of directors selected Laurie Mitchell as president and Margaret Angell as vice president. Drummond Woodsum, a law firm in Portland, added Michael-Corey Hinton, Joanna Brown Tourangeau and Elek Miller to its board of directors. Hinton is the co-chair of the firm’s tribal nations practice group, Tourangeau is a member of the firm’s environmental and natural resources practice group and Miller is board chair of Drummond Woodsum Enterprises, a subsidiary of the firm, and leads the firm’s privacy and data security and artificial intelligence practice groups. JA Maine added Dale Winchenbach, president and senior commercial relationship manager at Bangor Savings Bank, to its board of directors. Avesta Housing, a nonprofit affordable housing provider based in Portland, appointed Atiim Boykin, Diane Donaldson, Ben Frost and Spencer Thibodeau to its board of directors. Boykin is a clinical liaison for the Maine State Forensic Service in the Office of Behavioral Health/Department of Health and Human Services, Donaldson is senior vice president and team lead of southern Maine commercial lending for Bangor Savings Bank, Frost is president of proactive development at Rhode Island Housing and Thibodeau is assistant vice president and legal counsel at Unum. Biddeford Gazette Inc., the parent company of the Biddeford Gazette, announced that Craig Pendleton joined its board of directors as the corporation’s treasurer and chair of its community advisory council. Pendleton is a retired commercial fisherman and founder and coordinating director of the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance. The American Heart Association named Denise McDonough, president of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Maine, as the 2026 volunteer chair for Maine’s Go Red for Women movement.

Achievements

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins was recognized by Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy for her leadership in supporting rare disease research. In addition, the Sea Grant Association presented Collins with its “Association Award,” the U.S. Business Action to End HIV named her its “2025 Champion Award” winner and she shared the “John D. Dingell Award,” presented by the Edison Electric Institute and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, with U.S. Sen. Jack Reed. Morgan Stanley announced that Lance Prichard and Tammy Weston of the Prichard Weston Group at Morgan Stanley, financial advisors at the firm’s wealth management office in Portland, earned the Certified Private Wealth Advisor designation. Town & Shore Real Estate in Portland received a “Diamond Award” from Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, the network’s highest recognition for performance and engagement among member brokerages. REMAX Shoreline in Portland announced Andy Yau, Debra Bateman, Glenn Thibodeau, Harper Lee Collins, Jess Paladino, JoAnn Paladino, Maria Shute, Nick Guerrette, Terri Golter and Tom Ranello earned REMAX’s national platinum award for their 2025 performance. During its “2026 WE Rock! Awards,” the Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce named Colleen Croteau, COO of Maine Beer Co., its “She Inspires” award winner; Jennifer Hutchins, executive director of the Maine Association of Nonprofits, its “She Unites” award recipient; Victoria Morales, executive director of Project Home, its “She Empowers” winner; and Lynn Tillotson, president and CEO of Visit Portland, its “She Rises” award winner. Back Cove Financial in Falmouth said it was recognized by Forbes as a “Best-In-State Wealth Management Team.” The American Heart Association named Linda Varrell, founder and president of Broadreach Public Relations LLC, as is “2026 Crystal Heart Award” winner.

recreative + co, a branding, web and photo studio in Kittery, said it won one gold and two silver “MUSE Photography Awards” for its work with Salty Spirits, Anju Noodle Bar and the Wallingford Dram. The firm also won a “Graphic Design USA Award” for its web design for The Wilder. Sappi North America announced that President and CEO Mike Haws was named the “2026 Executive Papermaker of the Year” by PaperAge magazine.