Peter Cianchette, a 2002 gubernatorial candidate and former U.S. ambassador to Costa Rica, has returned to Maine and the Cianbro payroll.

Cianchette ended his yearlong ambassadorship a few weeks ago and will now serve as the Pittsfield-based construction company's vice president of business development, the Bangor Daily News reported. Cianchette worked for the company, founded by his father and uncles in 1949, during high school and after college before departing in 1985 to become a South Portland businessman. He then served two terms in the state Legislature and ran unsuccessfully as a Republican candidate for governor in 2002. In 2004, he led the Bush-Cheney campaign in Maine.

Cianchette's father, Bud Cianchette, is chairman emeritus of the Cianbro Cos. board of directors, the paper reported.