NEW HIRES

• Catholic Charities Maine has hired Dean Lachance as director of strategic growth and business development. Most recently, Lachance served as executive director for Bread of Life Ministries, a homeless services and housing provider in Augusta.

Tara Hajas was also hired as a payroll specialist. Hajas is a recent accountant graduate from the University of Southern Maine.

• Rita Heimes joined Verrill Dana as counsel in the firm’s intellectual property group.

Heimes is currently the associate dean for academic affairs at the University of Maine School of Law, where she also serves as the director of its center for law and innovation. She teaches courses on various intellectual property subjects including trademark and copyright law.

PROMOTIONS

• Acadia Insurance has promoted David LeBlanc to senior vice president, chief underwriting and marketing officer.

LeBlanc was previously the regional vice president for Acadia’s Massachusetts branch. He joined Acadia in 2005 as vice president, specialty marine. He will be based in Acadia’s Westbrook office.

• Dan Coyne was promoted to senior vice president of community impact at United Way of Greater Portland.

Coyne previously served as the director of financial stability and public policy. He is a graduate of the University of Maine School of Law and Bowdoin College, and is treasurer of the Great Schools Partnership.

BOARD APPOINTMENTS

• Lisa DeSisto, CEO of MaineToday Media and publisher of the Portland Press Herald, Maine Sunday Telegram, Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel, joined the board of directors for the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation.

The foundation serves communities in Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire through health-related programs, grants and service.

DeSisto has been CEO of MaineToday Media and publisher of its newspapers since November 2012. Previously, she was chief advertising officer for The Boston Globe and general manager of Boston.com. She also serves on the board of the Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Southern Maine. She lives in North Yarmouth.

• Michael Stevenson, provost and vice president for academic affairs at the University of Southern Maine, was elected to the inaugural board of directors of the Association of Chief Academic Officers.

Prior to joining USM in 2012, Stevenson served as dean at Northern Arizona University.

• Stephen Pollock, professor of geosciences at the University of Southern Maine, was recently elected to serve a four-year term on the board of directors of the Geological Society of America.

Pollock recently ended his 12-year tenure as secretary and chief accounting officer for the Geological Society of America’s Northeastern Section. During his tenure, the section endowment grew over tenfold from 2001-2013 with membership in the section increasing from slightly less than 2,000 to more than 4,700 in 2013.

AWARDS

• FairPoint Communications Inc. recently recognized its top sales performers for 2013. David Wittmer of Hermon; Joseph Bourgault of Windham; Lisa Enman of Ellsworth; Gregory Desjardin of Auburn; Elizabeth McCarthy of Sebago; Mark Doering of Cape Elizabeth; and Cynthia Tucci of Anson were recognized for their top performances in customer service.

• Seven attorneys from the law firm Lambert Coffin were named in the latest New England Super Lawyers publication. Those designated as super lawyers are: John Lambert Jr. for civil litigation; Samuel Rudman, Teresa Cloutier and Peter Del Bianco for general litigation; and Philip Coffin for medical malpractice defense. Associates Jeffrey Russell and Abigail Varga were named Rising Stars in the fields of medical malpractice defense and general litigation, respectively.

• Melinda Caterine, a partner in the New England and Boston offices of Fisher & Phillips, was recognized with the Client Choice Award for outstanding client service in the Employment & Labor Law category.

Caterine is the only Maine lawyer to receive the award, and has done so for the second consecutive year. A Bowdoin College graduate, she has practiced in the area of labor and employment law on behalf of management for over 20 years.

• Marcia Jansen, a longtime real estate broker with the Bean Group, will expand her business into the Cumberland County area. Jansen has been associated with Bean Group for two years and has 30 years of experience in the New Hampshire and Vermont markets.