FINANCIAL SERVICES

Amherst-based HPM Insurance announced the acquisition of Elliot Insurance of Goffstown, joining HPM’s other offices in Amherst, Bedford, Bristol and Laconia. The firm provides personal, commercial, life, health and group benefits insurance. HPM also has announced the recent hiring of Kaitlyn Haines and Donna McLelland, who have joined the personal insurance team. Haines is a risk control specialist with nearly a decade of experience, and McLelland is a customer service representative who began her career in the 1980s.

Franklin Savings Bank has announced the election of Mary Heath, Christopher Kelly, Brian Lacerte, Mark MacLean and Robert Wilson III as new corporators of Franklin Bancorp, a mutual holding company and parent corporation of the bank. Heath recently retired from Merrimack County Nursing Home, where she served as director of administrative services for 20 years and also owns Kearsarge Concrete LLC in Salisbury. Kelly is an owner/broker for RE/MAX Bayside, with locations in Laconia and Meredith. Lacerte owns Lacerte General Contracting and Queen City Cabinetry, founded in 2019 and based in Manchester. MacLean is superintendent of the Merrimack Valley School District. And Wilson is executive vice president of Allegiant Travel Company.

Deanna Wilson of Grantham has joined NHTrust as senior vice president, senior trust officer based at the Concord office. Wilson, a certified trust and financial advisor and a certified financial planner, has more than 25 years of wealth management experience working with individuals, families and nonprofits. NHTrust also has added Loretta Gomes to its staff as a trust administrator in Concord.

First Seacoast Bank, Dover, has added two mortgage loan officers to its residential loan team. Kristen Peterson has joined Coralie O’Brien at the bank’s Portsmouth office, while Russell Nadeau has joined the Rochester office team.

Savings Bank of Walpole has announced that Chris Kebalka of Newbury has been promoted to senior vice president, commercial lender. Kebalka has been with the bank for 11 years. Before that, he worked as a commercial lender at Claremont Savings Bank.

Heather Buffington of Auburn has been promoted to assistant banking office manager at Bank of New Hampshire’s Concord Main Street office.

Financial Planning of Bedford has acquired Mosaic Financial Advisors of Westford, Mass. The acquisition is an extension of the longtime working relationship between Mosaic’s founder, Kathy Lund, and Milestone’s founders, Jennifer Climo and Jean Fullerton.

Northeast Credit Union, Portsmouth, has hired Steve Becker as vice president of financial planning and analysis.

Paul Beach of Canaan has joined Bar Harbor Bank & Trust as assistant vice president, branch relationship manager at the Bank’s Enfield and West Lebanon locations. Most recently, he served as branch manager for People’s United Bank in White River Junction, Vt.

NONPROFITS

The YMCA of Greater Nashua has announced its newly elected leadership of its board of directors: chief volunteer officer, Andy Whigham, financial advisor, Edward Jones; vice chair, Kyle Schneck, director of commercial banking, St. Mary’s Bank; treasurer, Joseph Thomas, retired CEO, Macom Technology Solutions; and secretary, Kelli Wholey, Lumina Portraits. Monadnock Humane Society was one of eight winners awarded a $5,000 grant by the fundraising platform Givebutter on Giving Tuesday. The MHS Giving Tuesday campaign, created by Jacques Du Preez, MHS director of development and marketing, included videos, photos and stories of recent animal surrenders and Animal Safety Net residents.

YMCA of Greater Nashua has announced that Kyle Morse of Amherst and Deborah Novotny of Nashua have joined its board of directors. Morse is vice president of provider services at Community Bridges in Concord, and Novotny is senior vice president of commercial lending at Enterprise Bank.

Organizational consulting firm PeopleSense has named Monadnock United Way as the winner of Graceful Giving 2021, a celebration that shines a spotlight on the critical work of nonprofits across the United States. As the selected nonprofit for 2021, MUW will receive a free, multi-session, team development workshop. The program is designed for nonprofit teams and work groups striving toward a common goal, and who demonstrate a strong commitment to each other.

Boothby Therapy Services, Laconia, has purchased $100,000 in Community Development Finance Authority business tax credits to support the redevelopment of the Gale School in Belmont. The project will transform the historic schoolhouse into a community facility that will include a new early learning center operated by the Boys & Girls Club and a new program center operated by Lakes Region Community Services. Construction on the Gale School, being developed by Lakes Region Community Developers, could begin in summer 2022 if all funds are secured as planned.

Bedford-based Absolute Title assisted local pantries in acquiring food and supplies for Thanks giving meals with donations of $1,000 cash and $1,000 worth of groceries to the New Hampshire Food Bank, Friends of Forgotten Children and Operation Blessing Food Pantry. Absolute Title was able to provide more than 600 pounds of food to each food bank, which, along with the cash donation, will provide approximately 7,500 meals between the three organizations. Eastern Bank Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Boston-based Eastern Bank, has announced an additional $280,000 in Covid-19 support to address issues of food insecurity across Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Fifty-six organizations working to break the cycle of hunger, community by community, are receiving this latest relief.

In New Hampshire, grant recipients serve communities in Dover, Concord, Manchester and Portsmouth.

The New Hampshire Children’s Health Foundation recently appointed Waypoint President and CEO Borja Alvarez de Toledo, health policy expert Dr. Trinidad Tellez and Foundation for Healthy Communities Executive Director Peter Ames to its board.

The foundation works to improve children’s health in the state.

Scot Ward, Joanne Rennie Angell and Kathy Settipane have joined the Monadnock Humane Society’s board of directors. Ward is a financial adviser for Edward Jones. Angell is a consultant in the learning and development field. And Settipane is customer resource center officer at New Hampshire Mutual Bancorp in Keene. Merrimack County Savings Bank has donated a total of $11,000 to several food pantries: the New Hampshire Food Bank, Capital Region Food Program, Hooksett Community Food Pantry, Hopkinton Food Pantry, Nashua Soup Kitchen & Shelter, and Twin Rivers Interfaith Food Pantry in Franklin ahead of the holiday season.

New Hampshire Humanities has received a $10,000 grant from the Couch Family Foundation to support its work of delivering public humanities programs throughout New Hampshire.

Franklin Savings Bank employees pledged over $10,300 as part of the bank’s annual Pacesetter campaign for Granite United Way. The bank also provided a dollarfor-dollar matching contribution, increasing the total donation to $20,600.

EDUCATION

New York City-based The College Board has added eight new trustees to its 31-member governing board, including Meredith Nadeau, superintendent of School Administrative Unit 21 in Hampton.

Lakes Region Community College has been awarded $48,073 through the state Department of Education’s Industry Recognized Credentials Grant competition to support skills development in its automotive technology program. With the funds, students get additional hands-on learning opportunities through the purchase of an electric vehicle kit and supporting curriculum for this growing industry.

MEDIA

NH Public Radio has announced the promotion of Rebecca Lavoie to the director of ondemand audio. Lavoie, who joined NHPR in 2010 to produce the daily magazine program, “Word of Mouth,” most recently served as director of audience and engagement, and has played a key role in establishing the newsroom as a multi-platform journalism outlet, said NHPR President Jim Schachter. In addition, NHPR announced that its “Pandemic Diaries: One Couple’s Story of Isolation and Love in a Nursing Home,” was among the 2021 winners of the Third Coast/Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Competition, which recognizes documentary work in the audio storytelling industry. The NHPR team behind the Pandemic Diaries includes reporter/producer Lauren Chooljian, producer Jason Moon and editor Dan Barrick.

LAW

The Manchester-based law firm of McLane Middleton has hired attorneys Renay C. Hamilton, Katie E. Hislop and Julia C. Royce. Hamilton, who was recently admitted to the Massachusetts State Bar, is an associate in the Corporate Department. Hislop joins the firm as an associate in the Trusts & Estates Department. Royce joins the firm as an associate in the Corporate Department.

The Manchester-based law firm of Hage Hodes has announced that Grayson M. Shephard has joined the firm’s litigation group. He will focus his practice on business and commercial litigation, personal injury and professional malpractice, labor and employment, insurance law, real estate and probate litigation matters.

TRANSPORTATION

Merchants Fleet CEO Brendan P. Keegan has been named 2021 Business Executive of the Year by the Business Intelligence Group in its BIG Awards for Business. Keegan joined Merchants as CEO in 2018, and since then has implemented a new strategy that increased the firm’s portfolio to 160,000 managed units, leading the 60-year-old company to its best year in 2021 with $1.9 billion in assets under management.

GOVERNMENT

Carollynn Lear’s reappointment as assistant commissioner of the state Department of Revenue Administration has been approved by the Executive Council. She has served in the role since 2018 and will serve a new, full, fouryear term. She joined NHDRA in 2013 as assistant revenue counsel and later became tax policy analyst.

HEALTHCARE

Dartmouth-Hitchcock and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health CEO Joanne M. Conroy was presented with the Steven Schroeder Award for Outstanding Healthcare CEO at The Leapfrog Group’s annual meeting. The award was created by Costs of Care, a nonprofit dedicated to building a pipeline of change agents to deliver more affordable healthcare to recognize a hospital or health system CEO who has demonstrated leadership addressing the twin issues of affordability and quality of healthcare in their community.

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