BUSINESS SERVICES

Hooksett-based directing marketing services firm Polaris Direct has promoted Olivia Cattabriga to graphic designer and Lindsay Wells to creative director of its Strategic Marketing Services department. Cattabriga began her career with Polaris as a marketing intern in 2020 and was then hired full-time as a junior graphic designer. Wells joined Polaris Direct as a graphic designer in 2015.

CONSTRUCTION

Wall and ceiling contractor Metro Walls has moved its Manchester headquarters to 160 Bouchard St., a new 18,000-square-foot office that it says will allow for additional space as the company grows. The new office will be home to all of Metro Walls’ New Hampshire project management, estimating and administrative departments and will provide space for in-house field training, team collaboration and future expansion.

North Branch Construction recently began renovations at the 25-unit Harvey Heights apartment complex in Meredith. Renovations include new kitchens, flooring, appliances, tubs, new bath fixtures, doors, electrical upgrades, attic insulation, a new sprinkler system, and patching and painting. Stewart Associates Architects of Laconia is the architectural design firm on the project.

EDUCATION

Meghan Doherty, most recently director of the Doris Ullman Galleries at Berea College in Kentucky, has been named the new director of the Museum of the White Mountains at Plymouth State University.

John Tuttle has been named director of Spark Academy of Advanced Technologies, succeeding Denis Mailloux who helped launch the tuition-free charter high school in 2019, and recently retired. Spark Academy, located on the campus of Manchester Community College, has a curriculum that is in concert with the college’s technical studies curriculum.

Ten Rivier University programs have been awarded top ranking status by Intelligent. com, an organization that evaluates degree programs to assist prospective college students. The university was recognized under the categories: Best MBA in Information Technology Degree Programs; Best MBA in Marketing Degree Programs; Best Online Colleges in New Hampshire; Best Colleges in New Hampshire; Best Online MBA in Information Technology Programs; Best Online Substance Abuse Counseling Programs; Best Online Nurse Practitioner Master’s Degree Programs; and Best Online Master’s in Information Systems and Technology Programs.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Mariner Wealth Advisors, a national wealth advisory firm, has acquired Granite Investment Advisors in Concord, the firm’s first office in the state. The firm has also added Martha Cottrill and Ed Taylor to its team, previously with Taylor, Cottrill, Erickson & Associates.

Bank of New Hampshire has added Kaitlin (Kaity) O’Neil to its board of directors. O’Neil is a partner at the Laconia-based law firm Normandin, Cheney & O’Neil.

Savings Bank of Walpole has promoted five long-time staff members to bank leadership positions: Michelle Howard, regional vice president and branch manager; Lisa Bierweiler-Franks, assistant vice president and branch manager; Kendra Carter, assistant vice president, retail operations officer; Kathy Hanks; assistant vice president and branch manager; and Danielle Ruffo, assistant vice president, community engagement and marketing. David Peterson has joined Merrimack County Savings Bank, Concord, as senior vice president and commercial lending team leader. Prior to joining the Merrimack, Peterson held senior leadership roles in commercial lending.

Franklin Savings Bank has provided $2.5 million in construction financing toward the renovations at Deer Run, a 25-unit apartment complex on Pleasant Street in Meredith. Construction, which is underway, includes improvements to the interior of the building, including installation of a sprinkler system and energy-efficiency improvements to include new windows, doors, insulation and siding. Construction is expected to last for 12 months.

St. Mary’s Bank has hired Auburn Zaudke as business development and retail sales manager at its new Portsmouth office. Most recently, she worked as a business development manager and a mortgage loan originator at Goldenwest Credit Union in Orem, Utah.

HEALTHCARE

Emily Bearse has joined Dartmouth-Hitchcock as division director of certified nurse midwives. She previously was group prenatal care director at Boston Medical Center and led the CenteringPregancy program, an interdisciplinary model of group prenatal care.

ARCHITECTURE

The H.L. Turner Group Inc., Concord, has added structural designer Elhadj “Boubacar” Bah and marketing manager Cindy Phillips to its team.” Bah, who recently moved to New Hampshire from Conakry, Guinea, has five years of experience working in project management and holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. Phillips has over a decade of experience in marketing as well as more than 15 years of experience as a graphic designer.

LAW

Attorneys Gregory A. Chakmakas and Andrew B. Eills have been named shareholders of the Sheehan Phinney firm. Chakmakas is a member of the firm’s Real Estate Group with a focus on advising nonprofit and for-profit owners and developers in the preservation and production of affordable housing. Eills is a member of the firm’s Healthcare Group. His practice includes contracts, mergers and acquisitions, and other transactional matters, federal and state regulatory issues, and corporate and nonprofit governance.

The Manchester-based law firm of McLane Middleton has announced that John E. Rich Jr. has been named to its management committee. He is a director and chair of McLane Middleton’s Tax Department and is a member of the firm’s Education, Employment and Family Law Practice Groups. The firm also has announced that attorneys Christopher M. Dube of the firm’s Corporate Department, Whitney A. Gagnon and Caitlin G. McCurdy, both of the Trusts and Estates Department, and John F. Weaver, a member of the firm’s Real Estate Practice Group and Cybersecurity and Privacy Group, have been named directors of the firm.

Orr & Reno attorney Lindsay Nadeau has been named the 2022 recipient of the Philip S. Hollman Award for Gender Equality. Nadeau, who joined Orr & Reno in 2016, is a member of the firm’s litigation and governmental relations departments. She serves as chair emeritus of the NH Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence and is a member of the board of trustees of the NH Institute for Civics Education. The award will be presented at the NH Bar Association’s Midyear Meeting, Feb. 18.

Katherine J. Morneau, 2005 graduate of the UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law, has received the annual Bruce E. Friedman Pro Bono Award, presented by the school’s Warren B. Rudman Center, and 603 Legal Aid’s Pro Bono Program. The founding attorney at Morneau Law, Morneau’s practice is dedicated to “helping good people through tough times.”

NONPROFITS

The nonprofit Girls at Work in Manchester was recently presented with a $5,000 grant from the Point32Health Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Recognition and Service Day. The organization, which provides girls the tools to overcome adversity and build confidence and develop leadership skills through construction projects, was honored for advancing King’s ideals of a just and equitable society.

NH LAKES recently added four new board members to the team working for clean and healthy lakes in New Hampshire: Jennifer King, co-president of the Three Ponds Protective Association in Milton; Mark Kosiba, who has worked with large companies including Ford Motor Company and smaller companies like Traeger Wood Pellet Grills; Renée Speltz, a retired mental health counselor and consultant; and Rob Tompkins, retired from research and development at P&G/Gillette.

The National Endowment for the Arts has approved a $15,000 Grants for Arts Projects award to MacDowell in Peterborough, the nation’s first artist residency program. The grant will provide a first-time fellowship to an artist, assisting MacDowell in meeting the challenges of the pandemic as it continues to offer artists from all over the United States workspace and time to expand their creative practices in 2022.

Nucar New Hampshire, the auto dealership chain founded by the Dagesse family, has announced a $100,000 gift to Court Appointed Special Advocates of New Hampshire in support of its work protecting and providing for at-risk New Hampshire youth. Nucar, with a portfolio of 16 dealership locations under the family-owned and -operated DCD Automotive Group, got its start when Dan Dagesse acquired Berlin City Ford in 1974.

Portsmouth-based GoodWork has added Kristin Jeffrey to its staff as community rentals coordinator, the organization’s first hire beyond the leadership team of CEO Molly Hodgson and Chief Operating Officer Maria Sillari. The mission of GoodWork is to support, develop and strengthen Seacoast area nonprofits by maximizing their capacity to deliver services, through customized strategic support and affordable live and work space.

Meredith Village Savings Bank has purchased $10,000 in tax credits through the New Hampshire Community Development Finance Authority to support the Southeast Land Trust of NH’s construction of the new Mathey Center for People and Nature, located at the 240-acre Burley Farms in Epping.

Merrimack County Savings Bank has purchased $25,000 in tax credits through the New Hampshire Community Development Finance Authority in support of the Kimball Jenkins Estate in Concord. Funds will help improve the accessibility and efficiency of their historic property, which serves as a cultural and economic hub for local artists and events. The bank also recently purchased $5,000 in CDFA tax credits in support of Nashua-based Family Promise of Southern NH’s Building Home, Building Hope capital campaign.

Girls Inc. of New Hampshire is taking part in a new collaboration with Harvard Pilgrim Health Care in support of Girls Inc.’s Sporting Chance Program, which enables young girls to participate in physical activities and explore healthy decisionmaking. Both the Nashua and Manchester Girls Inc. centers offer Sporting Chance programming, with activities ranging from basketball and volleyball to yoga, soccer and racquet sports.

Bank of America recently announced it invested over $745,000 in local nonprofits across New Hampshire in 2021. With a focus on closing the equity and wealth gaps in communities of color and other disadvantaged populations, the Bank’s local giving was directed to alleviate the impacts of youth unemployment, youth homelessness and lack of access to capital for minorityowned businesses, which were exacerbated by the pandemic.

GOVERNMENT

Newmarket-based Exeter Rent ALL, doing business as Sperry Tents Seacoast, has been granted a $940,000 term loan through the Business Finance Authority’s Loan Guarantee Program. Under the program, the BFA will provide an 80 percent guarantee on the Bank-Prov loan.

REAL ESTATE

First National Realty Partners, Red Bank, N.J., recently closed on its acquisition of Hooksett Village, a 248,959-squarefoot shopping center in Hooksett that is anchored by a 56,000-square-foot Shaw’s grocery store. Other stores in the center are including Tractor Supply, Jo-Ann Fabric and Ocean State Job Lots.

Kevin Shaw of Roche Realty Group’s Laconia office has been named the firm’s Top Producer of 2021. The firm said Shaw produced a closed sales volume of over $29.4 million involving 71 transaction sides for the year. His average selling price was $409,948.

Scott MacFarland, managing principal of Northern Properties Realty Group at eXp Realty, has been named to the NH Union Leader’s 21st annual 40 Under Forty list. MacFarland was selected for his work as a Granite State real estate agent, growing Northern Properties’ business by 250 percent while fighting a serious cancer diagnosis.

TECHNOLOGY

Lebanon-based programmatic recruitment, advertising technology and services firm Appcast, has launched its Gender Bias Decoder, what it calls an intuitive online tool designed to help hiring organizations eliminate unconscious gender bias in their job ads and develop more inclusive hiring processes. The Decoder, created by a team of linguists and data experts, detects and identifies genderbiased terms in job ads, highlights them and suggests alternative words where possible, according to Appcast. It is free to use.

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