NEW HIRES

The Maine Community Foundation has hired Brendon Reay as its new vice president of investments. Reay is based in the Ellsworth office and directs all aspects of the foundation’s primary investment portfolio. Reay most recently co-founded HarborHouse Partners, a consulting and private equity firm based in Blue Hill.

Dawn Pahel has joined Thornton Academy as the human resources, payroll and benefits manager. Pahel brings more than 20 years of experience in human resources, business operations and finance. She previously worked for Ogunquit Playhouse as director of business operations.

Katahdin Trust has rehired Barrett Potter as vice president, information security and vendor risk administration. Potter held the role of vice president, commercial services officer with Katahdin Trust from 2006-16. He is a certified public accountant and internal auditor.

Opera House Arts has announced three new hires:

Jenn Adams has been hired as an education associate. Adams is a theater producer, educator and community engagement facilitator.

Tegan McGuire has been hired as an audience services manager. McGuire recently worked at local hospitality businesses including Fin and Fern in Stonington and 44 North Coffee in Deer Isle.

Cathy Planchart has been hired as a marketing and communications associate. Planchart brings several decades of experience in marketing and communications.

Insurance provider OneAmerica has hired Joe Ingream, of Scarborough, as senior vice president. Most recently, Ingream was vice president and head of operations for Prudential Financial’s group insurance segment. He served in multiple executive leadership roles there starting in 2013.

The Greater Portland Council of Governments has hired Paul Johnson as its new senior economic development manager. Johnson’s hire is part of the agency’s broadening role in economic development. Johnson served on the Scarborough Town Council for more than three years, including two as chair. He has been a local business owner for two decades.

Law firm Verrill has hired Anna Mikhaylina to join the employee benefits and executive compensation group in the firm’s Portland office. Mikhaylina was previously an associate at a veterans’ benefits law firm.

PROMOTIONS

Riley Getto has been promoted to development associate at Opera House Arts. She started her long working relationship with Opera House Arts in 2015 first as a front-of-house associate, then box office assistant, and most recently audience services manager.

BOARD APPOINTMENTS
Opera House Arts has announced the following new board members:

Michael Bloom, of Stonington, works for a biomedical research agency, administering the review of grant applications in molecular biology.

Galen Koch is an audio producer, sound artist and writer based in Portland. She has produced stories for the BBC World Service, NPR’s Morning Edition, The New York Times and various nationally syndicated podcasts. In 2021, she founded Maine Sound and Story, an online database of Maine oral histories.

Sarah Wilson is a Deer Isle native who began volunteering at Opera House Arts as a child. She took theater and dance classes at Bowdoin College, where she was a neuroscience major with an education minor. She currently plays for the Portland Women’s Rugby Team.

Berman & Simmons attorney Susan Faunce has been named president of the Maine Trial Lawyers Association. Faunce, who joined the Maine-based law firm in 2006, is an accomplished medical malpractice attorney and currently leads the firm’s mass tort practice.

GENERAL

Americas Best Value Inn Wells, a hotel located in Wells-Ogunquit, announced that it will operate under a new name and will be known as Anchor Inn & Cottages Wells-Ogunquit. The rebranding is not just cosmetic – the hotel said it has invested $1 million in capital improvements and renovations.

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION

Kenneth Carr, a Woolwich inventor, was recently selected to receive the prestigious 2022 Microwave Pioneer Award of the international IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society. Carr, 90, is actively working to develop microwave-based devices to improve medical care, including a virus inactivation system that has the potential to kill bloodborne viruses.

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