Newsworthy people and performances for May 27

New hires

Fluid Imaging Technologies, a biotechnology company in Scarborough, hired Dominic Benfatta as a customer care associate.

Bangor Savings Bank hired Cindy Fogg as a mortgage loan officer at the bank’s State Street branch in Bangor. Fogg most recently was a vice president and mortgage loan officer at First National Bank in Bangor.

Bar Harbor Bank & Trust hired Josh Yarbrough as vice president, community banking relationship manager in Bar Harbor and Sally Garand as vice president, community banking relationship manager in South China. Yarbrough was vice president, commercial banker II at Synovus Financial in Columbus, Ga., while Garand was a commercial loan officer at Finance Authority of Maine.

The Bangor Nursing & Rehabilitation Center hired Brett Seekins as CEO and administrator. Seekins is a former Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services auditor and reimbursement administrator specializing in long-term care.

Greater Portland Landmarks hired Sarah Hansen as executive director. Hansen was previously with Maine Preservation.

Eaton Peabody, a law firm in Bangor, hired Jeff Joyce as a patent and intellectual property attorney and Harry Bee as paralegal, both working out of its Portland office. Joyce was previously the managing attorney of Bohan Mathers, an intellectual property firm, while Bee has served the intellectual property needs of clients for 25 years.

The Harlow, home of the Kennebec Valley Art Association in Hallowell, hired Gretchen Marion as executive director. Marion, who has 20 years of experience in management, marketing, fundraising and finance, is former executive director of the Submarine Force Library and Museum Association in Groton, Conn.

The Maine Community Foundation in Ellsworth hired Jackie Doar as data entry associate. Doar previously worked in staff development at KidsPeace.

St. Mary’s Health System Foundation in Lewiston hired Stephen Costello as major gifts officer. Costello was previously with the Sun Media Group.

Freeport Metrics, a software development company in Portland, hired Kate Thomas as product design lead, Tim Ziobro as business architect and Robbie Woodsum as a business analyst.

Waterfall Arts, a nonprofit community arts center in Belfast, hired Kim Fleming as executive director. Fleming has 15 years of experience in nonprofit development, fundraising and management.

Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington hired Marcy Lawless as clinical dietitian covering both inpatient and outpatient nutrition services. Lawless has worked in the field of nutrition for 20 years.

Drummond Woodsum, a law firm in Portland, hired Kellie Fisher as an attorney in its bankruptcy, restructuring and creditors’ rights practice.

Diversified Communications, an international media company in Portland, hired Anne Gray as an event director and Candace Letizia as a marketing manager. Gray was previously a senior manager for CIEE Annual Conference while Letizia was a marketing project manager for PTC.

Allen Insurance and Financial in Camden hired Nikki Castellano as an assistant in its benefits division.

CES Inc., a firm of engineers, environmental scientists and land surveyors in Brewer, hired Dan Livingstone as senior project manager, Dee Lizotte as an accounting and payroll specialist and Jon Whitten Jr. as project manager.

Final Draft CAD LLC, a Portland consulting firm that specializes in building information modeling and computer-aided design, hired Shirley Holt as BIM/CAD designer. Holt was formerly principal at SEHolt Architect LLC.

Bernstein Shur, a law firm in Portland, hired David Littell as a shareholder in the firm’s energy and environmental practice group. Littell, who is considered an expert and innovator on energy and environmental regulation, market rules, and compliance, was previously a principal at the Regulatory Assistance Project.

M&R Holdings, the parent company behind The Downs redevelopment project in Scarborough, hired Dan Bacon as development director. Bacon was most recently a project manager at Gorrill Palmer.

Maine Department of Economic and Community Development hired Charlotte Mace as director of the new Office of Business Development and Innovation. Mace was executive director of Biobased Maine, a nonprofit trade association focused on creating high-paying manufacturing jobs in rural Maine.

Promotions

Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington promoted Jennifer Delker to nurse practitioner at Franklin Health Livermore Falls Family Practice. Delker was previously a clinical abstraction specialist.

Sevee & Maher Engineers in Cumberland promoted Erik Clapp to president and Daniel Diffin to vice president. Clapp, who is principal and has been a member of the firm’s senior management team for 10 years, heads its site investigation and remediation sector while Diffin joined the firm in 2012 to lead its civil engineering group and was promoted to principal in 2016.

Community Concepts, a housing, economic development and social services organization in South Paris, promoted Sadie Theriault to associate director of finance. Theriault was previously staff accountant for the housing improvement and community support departments.

CES Inc., a Brewer-based firm of engineers, environmental scientists and land surveyors, promoted Christopher Michaud and Nate Gustafson to senior project engineers. Michaud was previously project engineer while Gustafson handled civil and mechanical design responsibilities for many water, wastewater and utility projects throughout the state of Maine.

Catholic Charities Maine in Portland promoted Julie Allaire to director of strategy, program and business development and Karen Palleschi to director of oral health services at its Jessie Albert Dental & Orthodontic Center in Bath. Allaire was previously business development manager while Palleschi was most recently office manager.

The Boulos Co., a commercial real estate firm in Portland, promoted Nate Stevens to partner. Stevens joined the company in 2007 and was previously a broker.

The Downeast Group of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management in Portland promoted Brian McHugh to financial advisor.

Appointments

Milestone Recovery, an addiction recovery nonprofit in Portland, added Terry Hayes, John Kilbride, Bob MacKenzie and Bridget Rauscher to its board of directors. Hayes is director of workforce development for HospitalityMaine, Kilbride is chief of police for the Falmouth Police Department, MacKenzie is chief of police for the Kennebunk Police Department and Rauscher is substance use prevention program coordinator for the city of Portland.

The National Park Friends Alliance elected David MacDonald, president and CEO of Friends of Acadia, to serve as its volunteer president. Operating under the umbrella of the National Park Foundation, the alliance is an informal association of nonprofit organizations dedicated to the support of national parks.

Farm Credit East, a farmer-owned cooperative lender based in Enfield, Conn., elected James Robbins II as one of four members to serve four-year terms on its board of directors. Robbins is president of Robbins Lumber Inc., a sawmill in Searsmont that manages 27,000 acres of timberland.

Achievements

Legacy Properties Sotheby’s International Realty, a luxury property company in Portland, announced it was ranked in the “Swanepoel Mega 1,000 Real Estate Companies” for 2018 by T3 Sixty, the residential real estate brokerage industry’s leading consulting and research firm. The agency was ranked 674th in 2018, with a sales volume of $456 million, 818 transaction sides and more than 70 full time agents.

The Professional Logging Contractors of Maine named Kimball & Sons Logging in Poland as its “PLC Logger of the Year Award” winner at its annual meeting. Other award winners included: Maine State Reps. Nathan Wadsworth and Michelle Dunphy, “PLC Impact Awards;” Scott Hanington, “PLC Community Service Award;” Chopper One Inc. in Eagle Lake, “Acadia Insurance Safety Award;” Acadia Insurance, “PLC Supporting Member Award;” and Melanie Campbell of Cross Insurance, “PLC President’s Award.”

Amy Blackstone was named the “Feminist Activism Award” winner by the Sociologists for Women in Society. Blackstone is a professor with the University of Maine Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center and Department of Sociology who researches childlessness and the child-free choice, workplace harassment and civic engagement. The university also said it earned its first “STARS Silver Rating” from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education for recycling and composting nearly half of its waste; promoting student life opportunities, including a Green Living and Learning dorm floor; reducing water consumption by 20% per campus user; and more.

Maine Ad + Design hosted its biennial Broderson Awards ceremony honoring creative excellence in Maine. Winners included: “Best in Show (Corporate or Brand Identity),” Maine Ad + Design; “Annual Reports, Brochures and Corporate Collateral,” University of New England; “Digital Video,” L.L.Bean; “Package Design,” Hugh McCormick Design Co.; “Integrated Marketing,” Studio Linear; and “Student Work,” Kristen DeVico, Ozi Ozbicerler, Kiana Thayer, Bria Hughes and Ann Finkel.

Bernstein Shur, a law firm in Portland, said it received the highest possible ranking in three practice areas, corporate mergers and acquisitions, energy and natural resources and real estate, in Chambers USA, a directory of the nation’s top law firms and business lawyers. The firm also said 22 of its Maine-based attorneys were individually recognized. Additionally, the firm announced that attorney Ari Solotoff received the Maine Justice Foundation’s “New Lawyer Award” for exemplifying the foundation’s mission to ensure that all Maine people have access to the justice system.

Geiger, a promotional products distributor in Lewiston, presented its quarterly “Geiger Star Award” to Laura Bosse, who has been a health and wellness champion at the company.

Danielle Parent, director of crisis and adult residential services at Sweetser, was presented with the “Mental Health Leadership Award” at the 4th Annual NAMI Mental Health and Law Enforcement Recognition Banquet.

Eaton Peabody, a law firm in Bangor, said it received the highest possible ranking in four practice areas in Chambers USA, a directory of the nation’s top law firms and business lawyers. The firm also said 10 of its attorneys were individually recognized.

Sarah Bronson, executive director of Riding To The Top Therapeutic Riding Center in Windham, was named the “2019 Region 1 Credentialed Professional of the Year” by the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International, an international voice of the Equine Assisted Activities and Therapies industry.

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins was awarded the “2019 Polio Eradication Champion Award” at the Rotary International’s Congressional Reception.

The University of Maine at Augusta RN to BSN Program said it received continuing accreditation for eight years with no conditions from the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing. The accreditation is the culmination of self-study and written report by the academic program, a site visit by peer evaluators in fall of 2018, the recommendation of the commission’s Evaluation Review Panel and a final vote by the Board of Commissioners.

Scott Simons Architects in Portland took the top American Institute of Architects/Maine prize in the institutional/commercial category for its design of the new 34,000-square-foot Waynflete Lower School building in Portland’s Western Promenade Historic District. Other awardees included: Whitten Architects, Portland, Honor Award residential: Englishman Bay Retreat; Opal (the architecture division of GO Logic in Belfast), Merit Award institutional/commercial, Cornerspring Montessori School in Belfast; Platz Associates, Auburn, Merit Award institutional/commercial, Pub at Baxter Brewing Co. in Lewiston; and Barrett Made, Portland, Merit Award residential, House on a Ridge in Cape Elizabeth.

A team of University of Maine students won two awards at the 2019 International Collegiate Business Strategy Competition in California. The six Maine Business School students won first place in “Written Documents” and second place in “Overall Performance” in one of five “worlds.” The yearlong simulation required teams to manage all aspects of a company for 20 quarters — from writing a strategic business plan and annual report to presenting to a board of directors. Team participants included Eduardo Anzurez, vice president of production; Alison Berube, COO; Thomas Giggey, CEO and president; Casco Haley, CFO and vice president of finance; Megan Howes, vice president of marketing; and Samuel Varga, vice president of human resources.

The Comfort Inn & Suites hotel of Wilton was recognized with a “2019 Gold Award” from Choice Hotels International Inc., franchisor of the Comfort Inn brand. The award designation goes only to the top 10% of hotels within the brand.