LAW
Attorney Lauren Breda has joined Shaheen & Gordon’s criminal defense practice group. Breda, who has over a decade of legal experience, will work out of the firm’s Concord office.
Robert J. Kendall III has joined Hinckley Allen as an associate in the law firm’s construction and public contracts group in the firm’s Manchester office. His practice focuses on business litigation, land use litigation, insurance coverage litigation, employment law, administrative law, tax litigation, construction litigation and contract disputes.
Nicholas Blei has joined Drummond Woodsum’s labor and employment practice, working out of the firm’s Manchester office. His practice focuses on advising private and public entities on a full spectrum of employment matters, including collective bargaining negotiations, contract administration, and grievance and arbitration proceedings before state and federal administrative agencies.
Attorneys Alexandra Clauss and Sarah Butson have joined the northern New England law firm Downs Rachlin Martin as members of the firm’s Labor and Employment Group in Burlington, Vt. Having practiced as an employment attorney at Primmer Piper Eggleston & Cramer for 14 years, Clauss joins DRM as a director. Butson joins DRM after having practiced as an employment attorney at Morgan Lewis, an international law firm in Boston.
ACCOUNTING
Baker Newman Noyes has welcomed three new senior hires to its healthcare advisory practice to lead the firm’s new clinical advisory services unit. Jada Desmarais joins the firm as senior manager in the healthcare practice; Erica Napolitano has been hired as a senior advisor; and Dr. Myhanh Nguyen will work as a consultant in the role of medical director.
CONSTRUCTION
State Fire Marshal Sean Toomey of Warner has been named winner of the 26th annual NH Construction Industry Ethics Award, which honors the “individual, business or organization that, through words and deeds, best demonstrates a commitment to upholding the highest ethical standards in construction.” He will be presented with the honor at the Annual Plan NH Awards Evening, scheduled to take place Wednesday, June 22, at the Hotel Concord in Concord.
Manchester-based PC Construction has been named Southeast Contractor of the Year by ENR Southeast, a leading trade publication in the engineering and construction industry. PC Construction, which manages complex building and infrastructure projects along the Eastern Seaboard, recently completed two major award-winning water projects in the southeastern U.S.: the $321 million Atlanta Water Supply Program and the $93 million Richland Creek Water Supply Program in Dallas, Ga.
EDUCATION
Devin Bandurski has been named executive director of the Regional Services and Education Center, Amherst. She succeeds Judy Koch, who is retiring after 48 years with the nonprofit.
Nashua Community College is offering a Digital Marketing Boot Camp, a fully remote, part-time program that the college says prepares students for a career in marketing in 16 weeks. Boot camp students will receive individualized attention to support their goals during the program and through the job search process. Classes begin June 28. For more information, visit promineotech.com/nashua-digitalmarketing.
Nick Toumpas of Rye has been appointed to the Community College System of New Hampshire’s board of trustees. Toumpas, who served as commissioner of the NH Department of Health and Human Services for nine years, has prior leadership positions in technology and emergency response.
Great Bay Community College is expanding its homeland security certificate program, offering a two-year degree it says will provide emergency response professionals with the skills and expertise necessary to effectively plan for, prevent and respond to natural or humancaused disasters and emergencies. The Homeland Security and Emergency Management program expands on the college’s current certificate program. Course topics include homeland security, emergency management, terrorism, crisis planning and the National Incident Management System.
A $1 million gift from Harry Patten, a 1958 graduate of the University of New Hampshire, and the Patten Family Foundation will launch the Patten Family Sales and Funding Accelerator program at the University of New Hampshire’s Peter T. Paul Entrepreneurship Center this fall.
The program will provide sales coaching to startup founders and co-founders who studied at the so-called ECenter as students and after graduation as young alumni.
After three months of training, founders will be certified and eligible to apply for up to $50,000 in non-equity/non-recourse loans.
RETAIL
The Salt Cellar in Portsmouth, purveyor of curated salt products from around the world, is celebrating 10 years in business by establishing a new charitable giving program called Saturday’s Child. As part of its ongoing giving effort, the shop’s owners, Don and Judit Tydeman, will select an organization and run a fundraising campaign each quarter to raise funds for communities in need.
FINANCIAL SERVICES
Samantha Redman has been promoted to business banking relationship specialist for Meredith Village Savings Bank at the Laconia branch. She previously joined the bank as branch services representative in 2018, with five years before that in a similar role with Bank of New Hampshire. MVSB has also announced the promotion of Julie Clement to vice president, business development and small business lender, out of the firm’s Portsmouth office and supporting the newest branch in Rochester on Farmington Road.
One new board member and three new corporators have been elected at the Bank of New Hampshire. Dianne Peterson, senior vice president, client services at COCC, a financial technology company, has been elected to the board. Steve Duprey, owner/CEO of The Duprey Companies; David Jean, a principal at Albin, Randall & Bennett; and Timothy Naro, former executive vice president and chief operating officer of Granite State Credit Union were all elected corporators.
Meredith Village Savings Bank has named Melissa Clark as branch services supervisor for the bank’s new Rochester Branch, scheduled to open soon at 21 Farmington Rd. Clark served in the same position at the Bank’s Portsmouth branch since 2017. MVSB also added Kristina Ellis, a universal banker, and Traynor Cully, commercial loan officer, to the Rochester branch staff.
Monica O’Hara has been promoted to assistant vice president of support operations for Northeast Credit Union, where she’ll manage the Records Processing and Deposit Operation departments. The credit union also promoted Tatjana Simon to assistant vice president and regional sales manager.
Merrimack County Savings Bank has promoted Chelsea Gardner to mortgage loan officer. She is based in the bank’s Pembroke office. With the bank since 2015, she most recently was a mortgage loan processor. Merrimack County Savings Bank also has hired Fred Johnson as a mortgage loan officer.
Michelle Couch has been promoted to assistant vice president of project management at Northeast Credit Union. Waterstone Mortgage Corp. has chosen industry veteran Ray Tweedie to head up its new branch in Portsmouth. Tweedie has more than 25 years of experience in the banking industry, 20 of which have been in the mortgage business. Tweedie’s team consists of two senior loan officers, Keely Maguire and Mark Ranieri.
In the coming months, Tweedie is planning to be hiring loan originators. Headquartered in Pewaukee, Wis., Waterstone Mortgage is a subsidiary of WaterStone Bank.
Aaron Force, most recently manager of Service Credit Union’s branch in Grafenwoehr, Germany, has been promoted to assistant vice president of overseas member services. Force, who has been with Service Credit Union for nearly 10 years, began his career at the credit union in July 2013.
Nancy Silva has joined Bar Harbor Wealth Management, a subsidiary of Bar Harbor Bank & Trust, as vice president, wealth manager.
She began her 34-year career as an administrative assistant at the Bank of New Hampshire and later as an office administrator for WS Griffith Securities/Phoenix Life and most recently as wealth client partner, premier advisor at Citizens Bank.
Bar Harbor also has promoted Beth Zullo to branch relationship manager at the bank’s Sunapee branch. She has over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry.
BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS
The Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce presented its 17th annual Pinnacle Awards last month at The Barn at Bull Meadow. The winners were: Small Business of the Year, The Hotel Concord; Business of the Year, Bangor Savings Bank; Nonprofit Business of the Year, The Friendly Kitchen; Business Leader of the Year, Jonathan Halle of Warrenstreet Architects Inc.
MEDIA
New Hampshire Public Radio reporters and producers have been recognized for their work in the 2022 Edward R. Murrow Regional Awards, presented by the Radio Television Digital News Association. NHPR won awards for: journalism that advances the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion for its story, “The So-Called Mystery of Rapa Nui (Easter Island),” by Outside/In producer/reporter Felix Poon; local feature news reporting for “‘The Old Lady’ of Kensington, a Record-Holding Tree, Comes Down” by Todd Bookman; and the podcast “Death Resulting,” hosted and produced by Jason Moon.
HOSPITALITY
Winemaker Amy LaBelle and husband, Cesar Arboleda, coowners of LaBelle Winery, which has locations in Amherst, Portsmouth and Derry, have opened a sparkling wine production facility and tasting room at the winery’s Derry location. Construction of the new building began last fall under the direction of designer and architect Peter Niemitz of the Niemitz Design Group in Boston. Jennifer Bartholomay of Fulcrum Associates in Amherst managed the project.
Boston Billiard Club & Casino in Nashua has opened a “Container Bar,” a full-service outdoor bar built entirely from a retired 40-foot shipping container. Situated in the existing beer garden, it has two firepits, canopy umbrellas and table seating for dozens of customers, multiple TVs and eight rotating draft lines.
NONPROFITS
The Greater Lakes Region Children’s Auction recently presented a grant of $12,500 to the Lakes Region Community Developers’ Healthy Housing and Community Development program.
NH Audubon has added six members to its board of trustees, growing the size of the board from 11 to 14: Sylvia Bates, a former board chair and recently director of standards and education services at the Land Trust Alliance; Alexandra T. Breed, recently retired as an attorney at McLane Middleton; Nisa Marks, watershed coordinator at the NH Department of Environmental Services; Jason Morse, who works in the Sustainability Department of BAE Systems; Bev Shadley, deputy director of the Southeast Land Trust; and David Silk, treasurer of a healthcare technology firm.
CATCH Neighborhood Housing, Concord, has announced the addition of two new members to its board of directors: Greg Chakmakas, an attorney and shareholder at Sheehan Phinney and a member of the firm’s Real Estate Group; and Greg Lessard, director of housing initiatives for the Concord Coalition to End Homelessness. Newburyport Bank has continued its support of the American Independence Museum in Exeter with a $5,000 Partner Sponsorship for the museum’s annual American Independence Festival on July 16. The bank also has donated $1,000 to the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire in Dover.
SilverTech, a Manchester-based digital marketing agency, is teaming up with the American Red Cross in sponsoring a blood drive from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 28 at the American Legion in Manchester. The company said the drive is particularly important as the Red Cross deals with its most significant shortage of blood donations in years.
The Manchester Historic Association has announced that Mike Skelton, president and CEO of the Business & Industry Association of New Hampshire, will serve as honorary chair of the 30th annual Historic Preservation Awards, to be presented Sept. 8 at Manchester Community College. The awards recognize the efforts of individuals, businesses and organizations that have made significant contributions to the preservation of buildings, neighborhoods, traditions and other historic resources in our city.
NH Legal Assistance was recently awarded $447,000 from the NH Bar Foundation’s IOLTA Grants Program to provide civil legal aid to state residents hit hard by rising food and energy prices along with New Hampshire’s acute housing crisis. IOLTA (Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts) grants are funded by interest from bank accounts lawyers used to temporarily hold clients’ funds, such as escrow for real estate purchases.
Catherine Bardier, Ledyard National Bank’s senior vice president and human resources director, was recently honored with the Lilyan B. Wright Volunteer of the Year Award by the NH Governor’s Council on Physical Activity & Health, which is presented to an individual who has shown outstanding leadership in support of physical activity and health. Bardier is currently chair of the council.
The nonprofit Star Island Corporation has received two separate grants of $10,000 in support of historic preservation work being done this year on the circa-1800 Gosport Chapel, one of the iconic buildings located on Star Island in the Isles of Shoals and visited by thousands each summer. Star Island received a $10,000 grant from the 1772 Foundation in cooperation with the NH Preservation Alliance, and a separate $10,000 grant for the project provided by the Cogswell Benevolent Trust. The grants will help pay for preservation work on the exterior of the 222-year-old chapel.
Board members, capital campaign donors, community members, clients and staff took part in the recent Hope on Haven Hill’s recent groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate the next phase in construction of the Center for Hope and Wellness in Rochester. The center will be located on the site of the former St. Mary’s Catholic Church on Charles Street in Rochester. To date, $3.1 million has been raised toward a $3.25 million capital campaign goal.
Home health and hospice care provider Cornerstone VNA recognized Ann Vennard, assistant director of advancement, as the 2022 Governor’s Outstanding Volunteer Manager of the Year during the annual Governor’s Conference on Volunteerism in May.
REAL ESTATE
The sale of 75 E. Hollis St. in Nashua has been announced by James Prieto, director of real estate at Granite Commercial Real Estate, who represented the seller in the transaction. The 7,932-square-foot building has six drivein bays, three phase power and 35 parking spaces.
Brendan Battenfelder has been named Badger Peabody & Smith Realty’s new vice president of sales. He also will continue as managing broker of the firm’s North Conway office. In addition, Eric Turchon has joined the firm’s Holderness office.
GOVERNMENT
Ora LeMere of Nashua is taking over the role of assistant commissioner of the NH Department of Revenue Administration. LeMere, who has been director of the agency’s Collection Division since 2016, was confirmed by the Executive Council for a four-year term. She succeeds Carollynn Lear, who has served as assistant commissioner since 2018. NHDRA also has filled the role of Municipal and Property Division director, selecting Samuel Greene of Jaffrey, who also was confirmed by the Executive Council. Greene succeeds James Gerry, who had served in the role since 2019.
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