Newsworthy people and performances for July 8, 2019

New hires

Androscoggin Bank in Lewiston hired Jim Woolverton as senior vice president, director of technology. Woolverton was previously director of IT delivery for Unum.

Bar Harbor Bank & Trust hired Caitlin Dunston as vice president, corporate counsel working out of the bank’s Ellsworth branch. Dunston is licensed in Maine, New Jersey and Pennsylvania and is a member of the Maine State Bar Association.

The Animal Welfare Society in Kennebunk hired Kate Gollon as a staff veterinarian.

Katahdin Trust in Houlton hired Karyn MacLeod as vice president, commercial services officer in Scarborough. MacLeod was previously vice president, commercial relationship manager at Bangor Savings Bank in Portland.

Northern Maine Development Commission in Caribou hired Kerrigan Arnett as portfolio manager in the business finance division. Arnett is a recent graduate from the University of Maine at Presque Isle.

Sebago Technics, an employee-owned engineering consulting firm in South Portland, hired Donna Larson as community planner. Larson was previously town planner in Freeport.

Franklin Savings Bank in Farmington hired Morgan Allarie as vice president, director of branch administration and deposit services.

OTELCO, a wireline telecommunications company in New Gloucester, hired Rebecca Cote as a customer service representative and Spencer Parks as an OSP field technician in Bangor.

Insurance Trust in Westbrook hired Pam Huntington as employee benefits specialist. Huntington has 15 years of experience in the health insurance and voluntary benefits field.

Finance Authority of Maine, a quasi-independent state agency that provides financial solutions that help Maine people achieve their business and higher education goals, hired Karen Kunesh as commercial loan and workout officer and Kim Getchell as commercial loan officer.

HM Payson, an investment advisory firm in Portland, hired Noah Petrucci as a portfolio manager and research analyst. Petrucci has 25 years of investment management experience, most recently as co-lead manager of Lord Abbett’s $2 billion mid-cap stock fund.

First National Bank and its parent company, First Bancorp in Damariscotta, hired Andrew Pooler as business relationship officer in Bar Harbor.

Maine Department of Health and Human Services hired Amy Belisle as chief pediatrician. Belisle, an Air Force veteran who has collaborated with partners throughout the state to improve the health of Maine children, formerly served as senior medical director and director of child health quality improvement at Quality Counts, a Qualidigm Co., a regional nonprofit dedicated to transforming health care.

Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington hired Karly Bishop as a provider at Franklin Health Farmington Family Practice.

Coastal Enterprises Inc. hired Lorri Brown as women’s business center program director and advisor based in Farmington. Brown was most recently program director for Healthy Community Coalition of Greater Franklin County.

U.S. Cellular hired Delan Fulgham as sales manager at its Auburn store. Fulgham was previously a supervisor at St. Mary’s Hospital.

Promotions

Androscoggin Bank in Lewiston promoted Melissa Farinas to vice president, bank technology and business support manager; Mary Michaud to assistant vice president, controller; and Denise Tabet to vice president, retail service manager. Farinas was head of the bank’s employee innovation group, Michaud previously served as assistant vice president, financial analyst and Tabet was assistant vice president, retail service manager.

OTELCO, a wireline telecommunications company in New Gloucester, promoted Kendra Carter to digital marketing strategist and Jermey Bennett to voice engineering manager in Bangor.

Bar Harbor Bank & Trust promoted Chelsea Sawyer to assistant vice president, branch relationship manager in Ellsworth. Sawyer was previously branch relationship manager.

The Finance Authority of Maine, a quasi-independent state agency that provides financial solutions that help Maine people achieve their business and higher education goals, promoted Jennifer Cummings to director of business programs. Cummings was senior workout officer.

The city of Portland promoted Kristen Dow to health and human services director. Dow previously served as interim director.

Franklin Savings Bank in Farmington promoted Beckie Bowering to business solutions officer. Bowering, who has been with the bank since 2000, was previously business solutions manager.

Diversified Communications, an international media company in Portland, promoted Ashley Bigda to registration team coordinator. Bigda was previously registration team administrator.

Appointments

Gov. Janet Mills nominated Guy Langevin to serve as chair of the state Workforce Investment Board. Langevin is chief administrative officer for Dead River Co. overseeing human resources, information technology, legal, safety and risk management, strategic planning and business optimization.

United Way of Androscoggin County in Lewiston added Michelle Bulley, Oxford Casino; Rachel McKinley, Mechanics Savings Bank; and Michele Talka, Central Maine Healthcare, to its board of directors. The organization also announced its board officers for 2019: Mike Barriault, Central Distributors, chair; Matt Madden, TD Bank, vice chair; and Steve Bosinger, Austin Associates, treasurer.

Maine Community Foundation in Ellsworth appointed Karen Stanley to chair and Gregg Collins to vice chair of its board of directors. Stanley retired as chair of Camden National Bank in September 2017 while Collins is vice president of S.W. Collins Co., which is based in Caribou.

John Ronan, president of Northern Light Blue Hill Hospital in Blue Hill and Northern Light Maine Coast Hospital in Ellsworth, was elected chair of the Maine Hospital Association board of directors. Additional officers include Charlie Therrien, president of Northern Light Mercy Hospital in Portland, immediate past chair; Steve Diaz, chief medical officer at MaineGeneral Health in Augusta, chair-elect; Mark Fourre, president of Pen Bay Medical Center in Rockport and Waldo County General Hospital in Belfast, treasurer; and Terri Vieira, president of Northern Light Charles A. Dean Hospital in Greenville and Northern Light Sebasticook Valley Hospital in Pittsfield, secretary and incoming board member. Other new board members include Chuck Hays, president and CEO of MaineGeneral Medical Center; Jeffery Sanders, president of Maine Medical Center in Portland; Mike Hendrix, CFO at St. Joseph Hospital in Bangor and St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Lewiston and chair of the Healthcare Finance Council; Scott Oxley, president of Northern Light Acadia Hospital in Bangor, as chair of the Behavioral Health Council; and Lois Skillings, president and CEO of Mid Coast Hospital in Brunswick, as chair of the Public Policy Council.

United Way of Greater Portland added Dudley Davis, founder of the YES! Program; John Moran, associate at Bernstein Shur; Hilary Rapkin, chief legal officer at WEX Inc.; Meredith Rousseau, senior vice president, head of strategy and operational excellence at TD Bank; Giovani Twigge, chief human resources officer at IDEXX Laboratories; and Ben Waxman, co-founder of American Roots Wear, to its board of directors.

The Junior League of Portland elected Eliza Warren Giberson as president; Jessica Nason, president-elect; Laura Hellen, recording secretary; Kayla Tierney, treasurer; Rachel Donlon, community impact council vice president; Monica Dambach, fund development council vice president; Alex Carrier Hitchcox, membership council vice president; Katie Clark, public relations council vice president; and Liz Smith and Kristen Crean, sustainer co-directors.

Achievements

Tranzon Auction Properties in Portland was recognized among top real estate marketing companies by the National Auctioneers Association 2019 Marketing Competition. Samantha Kelley’s luxury listing in Nyack, N.Y., took runner-up in the “Residential Real Estate: Luxury” category while Sophia Rosendo’s work on a property in Belgrade Lakes took runner-up in the “Residential Real Estate: Traditional” category.

CES Inc., a firm of engineers, environmental scientists and land surveyors in Brewer, said Alfred Haskell III was honored as the “Maine Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers Young Civil Engineer of the Year for 2019.” Haskell is a licensed professional engineer in the state of Maine and a project manager at the firm.

Casco Bay Creamery in Portland took the top prize at Gorham Savings Bank’s LaunchPad competition and its corresponding $50,000 cash prize. Finalists included CourseStorm, GO Lab, Sidewalk Buttler and Vintage Maine Kitchen. Additionally, MyBodyModel captured the “Emerging Idea Award” that included a $10,000 cash prize and $10,000 worth of marketing, business development and public relations services from iBec Creative, Creative Imaging Group, Grove Marketing, Philbrook Public Relations and Pro-voke.

Maine Institute for Family-Owned Business recognized Geiger, a promotional products distributor in Lewiston, with its “Environmental Leadership Award” for the company’s 100% carbon neutral shipping and its offsetting paper usage by planting trees.

American Association for Justice honored one of its governors, Berman & Simmons attorney Daniel Kagan, with a “Certificate of Recognition” for 2019. The certificate acknowledges members for their outstanding service to the organization. The Lewiston law firm also said it was ranked by Chambers USA as the best law firm in Maine for the representation of plaintiffs and five of its attorneys received individual awards in 2019.

Lee Kantar, a moose biologist with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, was honored with the “Distinguished Moose Biologist Award” at the 53rd North American Moose Conference.

United Way of Mid-Maine in Waterville named its “Community Impact Award” winners including Colby College, “Spirit of Partnership;” Nate Towne, Waterville Creates!, “Spirit of Mid-Maine;” Wanda Steward, KVCAP, “Volunteer of the Year;” Buffy Higgins, MaineGeneral Health, “Women’s Leadership;” and Abby Williams, Waterville Jr. High School, “Young Leader Award.”

Karen Rumo, a psychiatric technician at Spring Harbor Hospital in Westbrook, was selected as the “2019 Maine Hospital Association Caregiver of the Year.”

Allen Financial in Topsham said Abraham Dugal and Sarah Ruef-Lindquist, advisors and wealth managers, were speakers for a session at the Maine Land Trust Network’s conference on land conservation. The firm also announced that Ruef-Lindquist was the featured speaker at the June monthly meeting of the Mount Desert Island Nonprofit Alliance.

Skelton, Taintor & Abbott, a law firm in Auburn, announced that attorneys William Skelton and Darcie Beaudin became members of ElderCounsel, a national organization of elder law and special needs planning attorneys.

Norway Savings Bank said it received Avesta Housing’s 14th annual “Mike Yandell Award.” The award recognizes an individual or organization for service and dedication to the affordable housing industry.

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins received the “2019 Trailblazers in Aging Champion Award” from the National Council on Aging. Collins was recognized for her leadership as the chairman of the Senate Aging Committee and her work in areas such as Medicaid, Alzheimer’s disease, falls prevention and diabetes.

Linda Beck, associate dean of experiential and global education at University of Maine at Farmington, was awarded a Fulbright grant to study in Japan this summer. Beck is one of only 10 participants in the 2019 International Education Administrators program.

Good Food Council of Lewiston-Auburn honored the Lewiston Schools Nutrition Summer Food Service Program (Charter Principle: Food Security); the Lewiston Farmers’ Market (Charter Principle: Local and Sustainable Agriculture); Healthy Neighborhoods (Charter Principle: Leadership); the Auburn Conservation Commission (Charter Principle: Good Food Policy); and Blue Ox Malt House (Charter Principle: Working Landscapes & Community Infrastructure) with its “2019 Food Charter Awards.”

MaineGeneral Health in Augusta said it was one of three health systems in the U.S. to be named “2019 Patient Financing Top Performers” by patient financing service provider ClearBalance in conjunction with the Healthcare Financial Management Association.