People and Business

New Hires, Promotions and Appointments

At North Yarmouth Academy, Ben Jackson began work in July as the new head of school. Jackson was appointed to the position last fall after the private Yarmouth school completed a nationwide search to replace Brad Choyt, who stepped down in June 2014. Jackson previously headed Evergreen Country Day School in Colorado for 10 years, and served for seven years as assistant head of school at The Pennfield School in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. In addition, NYA has named Ashley Randlett as director of admission. She previously worked in admissions at Garrison Forest School in Maryland, and most recently at The Providence Country Day School in Rhode Island.

Dr. JoAnna Wawrzycki recently joined the staff of Mercy All About Women, an obstetrics and gynecology practice in Portland affiliated with Mercy Hospital. Wawrzycki was previously an obstetrician and gynecologist at Rutland Regional Medical Center in Vermont. She graduated from Stony Brook University School of Medicine in 2008, and completed an ob/gyn residency at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

The Portland office of Baker Newman Noyes, an accounting and consulting firm, has promoted the following staff members: Kevin Chase, audit manager; Shelley Duplisea, audit senior; Michelle Harvey, audit senior; Spencer Hathaway, audit senior; Stephanie Leary, tax manager; Nick Norton, tax senior; Chelsea Reynolds, audit manager; and J. Morgan Smith, audit manager. In addition, the office recently hired the following: Ryan Dubois, audit staff member; Elaine Levasseur, finance coordinator; Mike Meserve, audit senior; Anne-Marie Palmer, administrative assistant; Zachary Porter, risk and business advisory staff member; Casey Pyburn, helpdesk analyst; Tom Quentin, audit staff member; and Theresa Seekamp, file room administrator.

The MEMIC Group, a Portland-based workers’ compensation insurer, recently named Marcia Hartt as agency services administrator, a role in which she will work to enhance MEMIC’s relationship with insurance agencies. With 12 years of insurance experience, Hartt was a commercial lines account manager at United Insurance, and later, director of marketing. Recently, she served as vice president of membership and marketing at the Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Macpage LLC, a certified public accounting firm with offices in Portland and South Portland, has hired Alexandra Douston and Andrew Wells as tax associates. Douston previously worked with the firm as an intern, and holds both a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a master’s degree in business administration from Husson University. Wells, a Portland resident, worked as a construction superintendent and a Peace Corps volunteer before earning a law degree from the University of Maine and a master of laws degree in taxation from the University of Florida.

Grants

People’s United Community Foundation, the philanthropic arm of People’s United Bank, last month awarded $3,500 to Furniture Friends, a Portland-based volunteer group. It delivers basic furniture necessities to newly housed families and individuals in need, and in 2014 served 340 households, nearly triple the number served in 2012.

Recognition

Amistad, a Portland social-service agency that assists individuals with serious mental illness, recently presented it annual Andrews Award to Melissa Skahan, vice president of mission effectiveness at Mercy Hospital. The award recognizes an individual who has had a major impact on the community, is committed to serving people with mental health challenges, is a dedicated advocate, and demonstrates kindness. Among other achievements, Skahan was instrumental in bringing Amistad peer support to Mercy’s emergency room.

Laongdao Suppasettawat, of TAK Advisory LLC in Cape Elizabeth, has been admitted as a member of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, an organization of more than 2,400 fee-only financial consultants.

New Beginnings

Richard Connell, a licensed acupuncturist, has opened a practice at 12 School St., Bath, in a newly remodeled office on the second floor of the Halcyon Yarn building. Connell holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Maine, and is board-certified in oriental medicine. His practice provides acupuncture, manual therapy and, with his wife, Megan, massage therapy.

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