File photo / Tim Greenway
Matt Lewis served as president and CEO of HospitalityMaine for two years.
Updated: June 30, 2025
Newsworthy people and performances for June 30, 2025
New hires
Island Institute in Rockland hired Erin Quetell as public policy director and Rosemary Price as director of philanthropy.
Keller Williams Realty in Portland hired Misty Coolidge. Coolidge was previously in the legal and real estate department at Dead River Co.
Manufacturers Association of Maine in Augusta hired John Lewis as executive director.
TEMPO Employment Services in Presque Isle hired Sherry Locke as chief workforce and strategy officer.
Biddeford+Saco Chamber of Commerce hired Matt Lewis as executive director. Lewis was previously executive director of Hospitality Maine.
Machias Savings Bank hired Alex Lopes as senior vice president, Southern Maine regional market manager.
Maine Coast Heritage Trust in Topsham hired Linda Lidov as director of communications, Hannah Whalen as director of development and Rebecca Kurtz as annual fund officer.
The Center for Maine Contemporary Art in Rockland hired Grant Wahlquist as curator. Wahlquist previously ran the Grant Wahlquist Gallery in Portland.
Allen Insurance and Financial in Camden hired Ines Cross as an assistant in the accounts payable area.
Franklin Savings Bank in Farmington hired David Stolt as senior vice president and director of residential and consumer lending.
The Western Foothills Land Trust in Norway hired Korey Morgan as executive director. Morgan most recently served as a lead communicator for the U.S. Forest Service in Washington, D.C.
Perkins Thompson, a law firm in Portland, hired Jacob Bowie as a shareholder and a member of the firm’s real estate, banking and financial services, business, and construction law practice groups.
Promotions
Maine Coast Heritage Trust in Topsham promoted Sarah Hale to director of institutional giving.
Island Institute in Rockland promoted Peter Rand to chief operating officer. Rand was previously CFO.
The Portland Water District promoted Scott Firmin to general manager. Firmin was previously director of wastewater services.
Maine Savings Federal Credit Union in Hampden promoted Amanda Gray to vice president of digital services. Gray was previously assistant vice president of the member service center.
Franklin Savings Bank in Farmington promoted Sarah Baker to vice president, loan servicing and collections officer and Joanna Champagne to vice president, operations officer.
Appointments
Evergreen Credit Union in Portland added Glen Holmes, Nick McCrillis, Andrew Bourgoin, Florence Williams and Skyler Redford to its board of directors. Holmes is director of business and community development at the city of Auburn, McCrillis is an attorney with CaseiroBurke, Bourgoin is founder and principal at Bourgoin Insights Group and Williams and Redford are heads of transformation at UNUM.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced John Butera was appointed by President Donald Trump to serve as the USDA Rural Development state director for the state of Maine. Most recently Butera was vice president, commercial loan officer at Skowhegan Savings Bank.
FocusMaine, a private-sector organization working to create jobs in the food economy and bioeconomy, added Liz Cotter Schlax to its board. Schlax is the former president and CEO of United Way of Southern Maine.
The Maine Bankers Association in Westbrook elected its officers for a one-year term starting July 1: chair, Niel Kiely, president and CEO, Androscoggin Bank; vice chair, Dan Walsh, president and CEO, Norway Savings Bank; and immediate past chair, Larry Barker, president and CEO, Machias Savings Bank. The association also added Mark Jones, president and CEO, Saco & Biddeford Savings Institution, and Lex Meagher, president and CEO, Kennebunk Savings, as executive committee members.
Saint Joseph’s College of Maine in Standish announced the appointment of several individuals to its board of trustees including Bernice Bradin, retired vice president and CFO, Lesley University; Mark Duval, business executive; Margaret Hourigan, retired educator and administrator; Alan Lapoint, president and CEO, the Strainrite Cos.; Dan Marques, chief digital officer, HeyDude; Nate Martell, executive vice president, chief risk officer and general counsel, Machias Savings Bank; and Sally White, principal and owner, SAW Consulting Services.
Achievements
Haley Ward Inc., an employee-owned engineering, environmental, architecture, planning, and surveying consulting firm in Bangor, announced it was listed by the Zweig Group as No. 34 on its “2025 Hot Firm” and ranked No. 47 in the Multidiscipline category and No. 27 in the 200-plus employees category on the group’s “2025 Best Firm to Work For” list.
The Aroostook Partnership, in conjunction with Husson University’s Institute for Strategic Leadership and Workforce Development, announced that 13 professionals completed Leadership Aroostook, a professional development initiative. Graduates included Jenna Burress, NorState Federal Credit Union; Wendy Burtchell, MMG Insurance; Jennifer Cadigan, Katahdin Trust Co.; Collin Darrell, Ignite PI; Justin Dyer and Julie Tutt, Northern Light Health AR Gould; Chelsea Henderson, F.A. Peabody Insurance Co.; Brad Kinney, Columbia Forest Products; Jennifer Howe, Maine Woods Co.; Katie Putnam, McCain Foods; Shelby Raymond, United Insurance; Kendyl Reis, The County Federal Credit Union; and Madison Staples, Thompson Financial.
Bar Harbor Bank & Trust recognized 10 employees for leadership at the bank’s annual Chairman’s Dinner and Celebration. Dawn Anderson, vice president director of internal audit; Peter Brockelman, senior vice president CRE/hospitality relationship manager; Mark Giordano, senior vice president enterprise architect; and Maureen Kimball, senior vice president senior wealth manager at Bar Harbor Wealth Management, received the “2025 Chairman’s Award.” The “2025 Emerging Leader Award” was presented to Olivia Erickson, vice president SEC manager; Kevin Gendreau, vice president director of real estate management; Jessica Hooper, vice president human resources business partner; Nikos Kalampalikis, assistant vice president branch relationship manager in Manchester, N.H.; Lauren Mersereau, vice president senior wealth manager at Bar Harbor Wealth Management; and Andrew Switzer, vice president credit administration officer.
Photo / Courtesy Piper Shores
Philip Jean
Piper Shores, a nonprofit life plan retirement community in Scarborough, said that Fitch Ratings upgraded its credit rating from ‘A-’ to ‘A’ with a Stable Outlook.
The Kraft Family and New England Patriots Foundation named 26 volunteers as “2025 Myra Kraft Community MVP Award Winners” including Marisa Paraschak, New England Breast Cancer Alliance in Naples, and Cheryl Ramsay, NAMI Maine in Hallowell. Each organization received $10,000.
Portside Real Estate Group announced that Catie Seavey was named the “2025 Realtor of the Year” by the York County Council of Realtors.
Seascale, an aquaculture startup in Thomaston, won all three prize categories, and $25,000, at Dirigo Labs fourth annual pitch competition for the company’s core innovation, the Maine Scallop Pot, a modular aquaculture system designed to integrate seamlessly into the daily routines of working fishermen, offering a low-touch, low-labor way to diversify income without disrupting traditional lobstering operations.
Pierce Atwood LLP, a law firm in Portland, was listed “Band One” in the 2024 Chambers and Partners rankings for the firm’s commercial litigation and environmental law practices and its intellectual property group and three of its partners were ranked “Band 1.” The firm was said it was the only law firm in Maine to be ranked No. 1 in six of the 10 practices that Chambers ranks in Maine.
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