NEW FACES

• Kim O’Grady recently rejoined Pro Search Inc., as a senior recruiter for Internet technology. O’Grady had worked at Pro Search from 1996 to 2000 and has more than 15 years of recruiting experience. 

• Sue Till joined Guiding Stars Licensing Co. in Scarborough as a client services manager. Till has more than 20 years of experience and previously served as marketing director in the food and wellness group at Swardlick Marketing Group. 

• The following individuals joined Creative Work Systems in Portland: Timothy True of Saco as a regional program manager; Robanna Aybay of Lewiston, Amy LeBlanc of Saco, Luke Ballenger of Yarmouth and Cera Catron of Biddeford as life skills coaches. 

• Donna Jackman and Michelle Pettis have joined Patriot Insurance Co. Jackman will be a senior commercial lines underwriter, and Pettis will be a senior personal lines underwriter. Jackman has several years of underwriting and agency experience. Pettis has completed the API designation and has more than 20 years of experience in the insurance industry. 

• Stephanie Love joined Vreeland Marketing as traffic manager and office coordinator. Love, of Windham, was previously a marketing manager for Alaska USA Federal Credit Union. Her new role will including public and media relations, personnel and project management, copy writing, editing, graphic design, and event planning. 

• James DeWachter joined Woodard & Curran as a senior project manager in the firm’s Portland office. DeWachter has 33 years of experience in electrical, controls, and instrumentation engineering for the power and utilities, industrial, pulp and paper, manufacturing and other commercial industries. 

• Lauralee Raymond joined the Environmental Health Strategy Center as its sustainable economy program manager. 

• Tim King was hired by the United Way of York County as communications and community relations manager. King, of Scarborough, was previously with Fendler Communications and Ethos Marketing and Design, two Maine-based marketing and public relations firms. 

• Chris Smith joined Winxnet as a technical support specialist on its managed services team. Smith has more than four years of professional internet technology experience. 

• Aaron M. Harris joined Verrill Dana LLP as a marketing assistant. Harris moved to Maine from Illinois in 2001 and is a graduate of the University of Southern Maine’s Marketing and Business Administration Program. 

• Greg Gilbertson was named store manager for Day’s Jewelers in South Portland. Gilbertson has worked for Day’s for 10 years and was most recently manager at the Day’s store in Auburn. 

• Kenneth P. Giaquinto was named relationship manager for KeyBank’s Key@Work, which offers free and discounted banking services for companies to offer to employees as part of their overall benefits package. Giaquinto, of Portland, was previously a loaned executive for United Way of Greater Portland. 

• Christopher Robinson was named senior vice president and private client adviser for U.S. Trust in Portland. Robinson has nearly 18 years of private-wealth experience. He was previously with UBS, where he managed investments and portfolios for ultra-high-net worth clientele.

PROMOTIONS

• DeeDee Morse was promoted to a senior personal lines underwriter at Patriot Insurance Co. Morse has been with Patriot Insurance Co. for the past eight years and was previously an underwriter. 

• Margaret Ervin was promoted to account manager of Garrand’s experiential marketing division, InTouch. Ervin joined Garrand in January 2010 as an associate. She was previously a press assistant to former Sen. Joe Biden. 

• Jessica Stevens was promoted to website and social marketing manager at Vreeland Marketing. Stevens, of Freeport, was previously Vreeland’s social media strategist and public relations coordinator. 

• Gretchen Johnson was promoted to director of marketing at Verrill Dana LLP. Johnson joined the firm in 2006. 

• Matt Clement was promoted to store manager at Agren Appliance and Television in Auburn. Clement is responsible for all store operations including merchandising, product sales, and inventory management. He joined the Auburn sales team in April 2010.

GENERAL

• Mary Cathcart was named the 2011 recipient of the Merle Nelson Women Making a Difference Award by the Maine Centers for Women, Work, and Community. Cathcart, of Orono, is a senior policy associate at the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center at the University of Maine and previously served four terms in the Maine Senate and three terms in the Maine House. 

• FairPoint Communications recognized its sales leaders at its companywide sales gathering earlier this month. The following individuals were singled out for meeting customer needs and performing outstanding service: Bob Froberg and John Smart of Old Orchard Beach; Karen Romano and Barry Crommett of Yarmouth; LuAnn Moore of Buxton; James Graul of Falmouth; Paul Phillipps of Cape Elizabeth; and Jackie Beatty of Scarborough. 

• David R. Kerr, DDS, of Portland, was named a 2011 Oral Health Hero by the Maine Dental Access Coalition. Kerr was honored for his work on the Maine Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee, which found ways to save money by diverting dental patients from hospital emergency rooms to appropriate dental services. 

• Perkins Olson and Maine Coast Title has relocated to 30 and 32 Pleasant St. in Portland. The businesses are in the Joseph How House, which was built in 1818 and is on the National Historic Register.

• Diane Moyer was named the Top Selling RE/MAX Real Estate Broker in the State of Maine for 2010. Moyer has also earned membership in the RE/MAX International’s Platinum Club and was inducted into RE/MAX’s International Hall of Fame. 

• Josh Burns of Falmouth was ranked No. 1 for the state of Maine in Barrons magazine Top 1,000 Financial Advisor Annual Nationwide Survey. Burns is a senior vice president and senior portfolio manager of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in Portland. 

• Susan Shaw Hight, a home mortgage consultant with Wells Fargo Bank N.A. in Scarborough, was honored with the highest customer service satisfaction award in Northern New England. She was also awarded top producer and received another award for the highest customer service satisfaction in Cumberland County. 

• Jason Briggs, vice president of business development at VIP Tour & Charter Bus Co. in Portland, was presented with the Maine Tourism Award for Commitment to Community at the 2011 Maine Governor’s Conference on Tourism in Portland. Briggs leads VIP’s partnership with Shaw’s Supermarket to hold yearly Stuff-A-Bus food collection programs for the South Portland Food Cupboard and the Saco-Old Orchard Beach Food Pantry. He has donated transportation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the STRIVE Program and local schools. 

• Simmons Wilkes Investment Advisors in Portland has joined HighTower, a national, adviser-owned financial services company. Edward Simmons, Gibson Wilkes, Blake Wilkes and Michael Simmons were named managing directors and partners at HighTower. The team previously spent more than 30 years combined at Merrill Lynch. 

• John Osborne, general manager of Hollywood Slots Hotel and Raceway, was named chairman of the board of the Greater Bangor Convention & Visitors Bureau. Osborne has been general manager of Hollywood Slots since September of 2009. 

• Kelly Towle and Corey Hascall joined the board of directors at Ferry Beach Ecology School in Saco. Towle is an environmental educator at Maine Audubon in Falmouth and former staff naturalist at the school in 2003 and 2004. Hascall is a public relations consultant at Barton & Gingold. 

• Brentwood Farms Community Garden in Portland and Goodwill of Northern New England were recently honored with ecomaine’s 2011 eco-Excellence Award for their contributions in preserving local ecology. Goodwill also won the Best Business Award.

Joanna Basinger of Scarborough was the grand award winner for her free website, closestcloset.com. An additional award for “exemplary business practices” was presented to Paul Bell, president of Conversion Products in Biddeford.

Ecomaine is a nonprofit, municipally owned recycling and waste-to-energy operation. 

• Richard O’Meara, an attorney and director with the law firm Murray, Plumb & Murray, was recently admitted as a member of the New Hampshire State Bar. O’Meara joined Murray, Plumb & Murray in 1987. He is also a member of the Maine State Bar and the bars of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court.