NEW HIRES

• Lorie Olson recently joined Bearfoot Realty of Oxford as a broker.

Olson, of Oxford Hills, has more than 20 years of experience in the housing and real estate industries in western Maine. She owned and operated ERA Horizon real estate agency in Norway in the 1980s and 1990s. She also worked with Oxford Hills Realty, Oxford Homes and Schiavi Homes; and has invested in income property and flipped homes.

 

• Patricia Michaud recently joined the staff at Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce as a part-time customer service specialist/bookkeeper.

Michaud comes to Mid-Maine Chamber with over 30 years of experience in customer service and as an administrative assistant. For 32 years, she worked in the central Maine area for the cable industry.

PROMOTIONS

• The Maine Campground Owners Association has promoted Administrative Manager Kathy Dyer to executive director of the association.

Dyer will replace Rick Abare, who resigned in December. She has worked as MECOA’s administrative manager for the past 12 years.

 

• Critical Alert Systems in Westbrook promoted two of its employees.

Dan Shaw was promoted to senior vice president of paging operations. He has been with the company for 15 years.

Lynne Haley was named vice president of paging operations. She has been with the company for 18 years.

AWARDS

• Leonard Langer, a partner of Thompson & Bowie, LLP, was named by Chambers and Partners as a leader in the field of admiralty and maritime law.

 

• Benchmark Litigation named Preti Flaherty as the Maine Firm of the Year at its second annual U.S. Benchmark Awards on Jan. 29.

Preti Flaherty was listed as a “Highly Recommended Law Firm” by Benchmark. Five of its attorneys are currently listed as “Litigation Stars,” and another three as “Future Stars.”

 

• Joella Rossignol, of Allen Insurance and Financial, earned the Safeco Insurance Award of Excellence.

Rossignol has now earned the Award of Excellence four times. The award honors “outstanding agents, who have developed a solid underwriting relationship with Safeco and whose agencies have qualified for the Safeco Insurance Premier Partner Award, the company’s top recognition program,” a news release said.

 

• Norm Dinerman, M.D., emergency physician at Eastern Maine Medical Center and a founding medical director for LifeFlight of Maine, was recognized by the National Association of EMS Physicians with the Ronald D. Stewart Award.

Dr. Dinerman serves many roles at Eastern Maine Medical Center, including emergency medicine physician, medical director of EMMC’s Transfer Center, and medical director of LifeFlight of Maine. His career at EMMC has spanned more than 25 years.

 

• Sen. Susan Collins was named the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials Legislator of the Year.

The award honors federal legislators for their efforts in support of responsible policies impacting the provision of safe and affordable housing in quality communities.

According to a news release, Collins was selected for the award because, “she is and has been outspoken on efforts to end homelessness, has supported the Community Development Block Grant program, and is concerned with reducing the number of homeless veterans. She worked to help end the federal government shutdown, and supported finding alternatives to the across-the-board spending cuts enacted by sequestration in order to reduce the national deficit.”

• The Maine Center for Creativity recently announced the co-recipients of its 2014 Maine Creative Industries Award.

Actor and cancer activist Patrick Dempsey has accepted the honor along with The Jackson Laboratory, a leading-edge genetics research laboratory, led by Edison T. Liu, M.D.

Dempsey, who was born in Lewiston and raised in Buckfield and Turner, is best known for his role as Dr. Derek Shepherd on the long-running TV drama “Grey’s Anatomy.” Dempsey founded The Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing in Lewiston.

Liu is president and chief executive officer of The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor.

The award will be presented on Nov. 15 at a gala celebration in Portland.

 

• Dream Local Digital, a national digital marketing and communications agency based in Rockland, was named Small Business of the Year by the Penobscot Bay Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Dream Local Digital has created 26 local jobs over the last three years and is due to add another 25 jobs this year. Its portfolio continues to broaden nationally, as they currently have partners in 19 markets, with plans to expand to 30 additional markets in 2014.

BOARD APPOINTMENTS

• Kate Knox, shareholder of Bernstein Shur, was elected by her colleagues to serve on the firm’s board of directors.

Knox, a member of the Legislative and Political Law Practice Group, will join the seven other board members for a three-year term.

 

• Joan Benoit Samuelson, of Freeport; and Paul Gregory, of Portland; recently were elected to the Board of Directors of Friends of Casco Bay/Casco Baykeeper.

Samuelson is the founder and chair of the TD Bank Beach to Beacon 10K Road Race in Cape Elizabeth.

Gregory is an environmental specialist in the invasive species program of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.

GENERAL

• Funky Bow Brewery and Beer Co. has teamed up with Pine State Beverage Co. for the sales and distribution coverage offered by Pine State – the leading beer and wine distributor in Maine.

As of July 1, 12-ounce cans of Funky Bow’s End of the Line Pale Ale and So Folkin’ Hoppy IPA will be available to retailers and restaurateurs from Kittery to Fort Kent. Its seasonal beers will be added to the lineup as they are produced.

Funky Bow was launched a year ago by father and son team Paul and Abraham Lorrain at their family farm in Lyman, and has already experienced tremendous growth. Their first beer, End of the Line Pale Ale, was introduced last March at The Great Lost Bear in Portland.

 

• Cross Insurance, a subsidiary of Cross Financial Corp., has acquired The Driscoll Agency, Inc., an independent insurance agency based in Norwell, Mass., specializing in professional risk management services and surety bonding.

Jay Driscoll will continue as president of The Driscoll Agency, and all personnel affiliated with the agency will be retained by Cross Insurance.