PORTLAND – The Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram has hired two additional reporters following the recent investment by a new owner in MaineToday Media, the state’s largest media company.

Jessica Hall started Wednesday and will write business news. Gillian Graham will start April 30 and cover towns in Greater Portland.

“Jessica and Gillian bring tremendous expertise and energy to our newsroom team,” said City Editor Dieter Bradbury. “We’re looking forward to their contributions as we broaden our news report to better serve the community. We expect to announce additional hirings soon.”

Hall has been a business reporter since 1992. For the past 16 years, she worked at Reuters, covering a beat ranging from mergers and acquisitions to airlines and telecommunications. Prior to Reuters, Hall worked at business newspapers in Baltimore, including the Baltimore Business Journal and The Daily Record.

“I basically see everything as a business story,” Hall said. “I see the potential for business news in places most people wouldn’t expect.”

Hall grew up in suburban Philadelphia and graduated from Syracuse University, where she studied magazine journalism and psychology. She will be living in Nobleboro with her husband of six months, John Chasse, who operates the Chasse Marine Co. boat yard in Damariscotta. They have four dogs and she enjoys gardening.

Graham recently started reporting for The Forecaster in Falmouth. From 2008 to 2012, she covered Biddeford, Saco and Old Orchard Beach for the Courier, where her investigation of school standardized test scores won a first-place Right-to-Know Award from the New England Newspaper and Press Association. She also won NENPA awards for history and religion reporting.

Graham graduated from the University of Southern Maine, where she studied history. She lives in Bar Mills with her husband.

Maine Values LLC, owned by financier and North Haven resident S. Donald Sussman, purchased a 75 percent equity stake in MaineToday Media last month.

In addition to The Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram, MaineToday Media owns and operates the Kennebec Journal in Augusta, the Morning Sentinel in Waterville and the Coastal Journal in Bath, along with digital properties that include mainetoday.com, Maine Jobs and Raising Maine.

Sussman is one of the state’s leading philanthropists and political donors. He is married to U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District.

Staff Writer Kelley Bouchard can be contacted at 791-6328 or at:

kbouchard@pressherald.com