FINANCIAL SERVICES

Joseph Guyton, owner of Portsmouth-based firm The Guyton Group, has been named as a President’s Council qualifier by the Guardian Life Insurance Company of America. The President’s Council is one of the highest honors awarded each year by Guardian to financial professionals who demonstrate outstanding service and dedication to their clients. This is the 15th time Joseph has been recognized for this distinction.

Nathan Wechsler & Company recently named Kelli D’Amore as its new managing director. D’Amore succeeds Oreste “Rusty” Mosca, who has served as the firm’s managing director since 2014. D’Amore joined Nathan Wechsler in 1999 and served as the firm’s principal for many years.

Linda Lorden, president of Merrimack County Savings Bank, has been appointed as chair of the board for the NH Bankers Association. She initially joined the board in 2019, previously serving as treasurer and vice chair.

Danielle Ruffo has been promoted to vice president, community engagement and marketing, at Savings Bank of Walpole. Ruffo has been with the bank since 2007, most recently serving as assistant vice president, community engagement and marketing as well as the bank’s community reinvestment act officer.

Holy Rosary Credit Union has promoted Nicole Huntress to vice president of operations and compliance. Huntress is certified through the Credit Union National Association as Bank Secrecy Act Compliance Specialist, and has earned the designation of Credit Union Enterprise Risk Management Expert from CUNA.

Bank of New Hampshire promoted Charles Larcomb to banking officer manager of the Whitefield office. He initially joined the bank in 2017 as a bank services representative, and is an active-duty veteran of the Air Force.

Amy Hanna has joined First Seacoast Bank as the executive assistant to the president/CEO and the new assistant corporate secretary. Previously, she was the global communications director of Burton Corp., where she managed brand, athlete and principals’ presence at the Winter Olympics and oversaw internal and international communications teams in Burlington, Vt., Tokyo, Japan, and Innsbruck, Austria.

Merrimack County Savings Bank has appointed Jay Stewart, vice president and co-owner of Puritan Capital, to their Board of Directors after serving as a corporator for the past 18 years.

Cambridge Trust Company has welcomed four new banking professionals serving the Massachusetts and New Hampshire areas: Jason Rich, vice president, senior relationship manager; Ellen Soucy, vice president, relationship manager; Jerod Colley, vice president, relationship manager; and Edson Bueno, assistant vice president, relationship manager.

BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS

Planet Fitness franchise group CDM Fitness Holdings, a developer of fitness clubs under the Planet Fitness brand, has named Bruce Edwards chief executive officer. Edwards brings over 30 years’ experience to the role, including COO of CrossFit and president/CEO of Barre.

Aroma Joe’s, with over 40 locations in New Hampshire, is celebrating the opening of its 100th location in Waterbury, Conn, owned and operated by franchisees Mark MacGregor and Henry Laughlin. The Waterbury location is the second Aroma Joe’s in the state as the brand continues its expansion across the Northeast.

Federal insurance and benefits administrator FedPoint welcomes Kirk Jones as its new director of information risk management and information security officer. He most recently headed the cybersecurity, privacy and IT compliance functions for Workgrid Software in Dover.

ADVERTISING & MARKETING

Meet The People, has added Portsmouth-based digital agency Saltwater Collective to its roster. This expansion will allow the company to grow to 550 employees across North America.

wedü, a marketing agency, welcomed Josh Miller as project manager, who brings nearly 10 years of marketing experience to the role. Miller is a graduate of Southern New Hampshire University and Columbus College of Art & Design, with a bachelor’s in graphic design and media arts with a concentration in 3D animation and modeling.

RETAIL

Furniture retailer Circle Furniture has named Jonathan Boyle as its new president, having served as the VP of operations previously. As president, Boyle will oversee all daily operations and help lead future growth for the company.

Children’s furniture brand Whitney Brothers unveiled a redesign and repricing of its popular toddler and preschool kitchen furniture collections in response to changing customer preferences. The company also introduced the new Warm and Welcoming Fireplace hearth, mantel and bookshelf toy collection to support early-learning environments.

HEALTHCARE

Pediatrician Pam Udomprasert has begun practicing at Goodwin Community Health in Somersworth. Before joining the community health center, she was with Rochester Pediatric Associates.

Visiting Nurses Association of Manchester & Southern New Hampshire, part of Elliot Health System, has announced the election of two new members to its board of trustees: Charles Goodwin of Manchester, the retired former owner and president of the Goodwin Funeral Home, and Elaine Michaud, supervisor of the Neighborhood & Family Health Branch of the Manchester Health Department.

Wentworth-Douglass Hospital has received two 2023 “Get With The Guidelines” awards from the American Heart Association, for excellence in treating heart failure and stroke. The honors were given with “Gold Plus” distinction — the highest level of the award given by the organization. The National Association of Benefits and Insurance Professionals honored Thomas Harte as a recipient of the Harold R. Gordon Memorial Award at the association’s 93rd Annual Convention in New Orleans, Louisiana. Awarded annually to the industry’s “Person of the Year,” the award program’s winners are selected by a committee of past recipients based on the contributions they have made to the health insurance industry.

Veterinarians in Hopkinton are helping area dogs suffering from arthritis with long-lasting relief thanks to a new treatment. Synovetin OA is a single, targeted treatment that reduces inflammation for up to one full year. Clinical trials saw up to 90 percent of dogs with reduced pain and improved mobility.

Judy Franseen is the new director of admissions and marketing at Peabody Place. With more than 25 years in marketing, communications and admissions experience in senior living facilities, Judy offers a wealth of knowledge to the team. The State of New Hampshire has redesignated Concord Hospital as a Level II Trauma Center and Level III Pediatric Trauma Center. Additionally, the American College of Surgeons (ACS) reverified the Hospital’s Adult Level II designation. The reverification by the ACS recognizes that the Hospital can offer immediate, 24/7 emergency treatment for trauma patients. Concord Hospital is one of only three to receive the designation in New Hampshire by the ACS.

NONPROFIT

Granite VNA, Concord, has appointed Susan Houghton, principal scientist for Empowerment Solutions, and Christopher Parkinson, who recently retired as chief operating officer of CsONE Benefit Solutions, a subsidiary of Northeast Delta Dental, to its board of trustees.

The NH Bar Association Foundation has awarded $93,000 to the Disability Rights Center-NH to support the center’s legal advocacy for people with disabilities across New Hampshire. Funding for the grant comes from the Foundation’s Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts (IOLTA) Program.

Nikki Lyons Lahey of Laconia has been named vice president of community outreach at Make-A-Wish New Hampshire. She has been with the organization since 2012, first serving as director of volunteer programs. She takes over the role of development led from Donna Parker, former vice president of development, who retired after 19 years with the organization.

Dismas Home of New Hampshire, a residential treatment program for previously incarcerated women, has been awarded a grant of $20,000 by the Seacoast Women’ Giving Circle to support its comprehensive clinical services that address the underlying pain and trauma leading to addiction and incarceration. Step Up Parents has been awarded a $15,000 grant from the Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund of the NH Charitable Foundation to support its mission to provide assistance to grandparents and other relatives who step up to raise children whose parents struggle with substance misuse.

NH Public Radio has welcomed Emily Quirk as the new program director. She has been with the statewide public broadcaster for 11 years, and will now lead the organization’s live broadcast platforms and live events programming.

The Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts (FORE) has given $1,049,000 in new funding to seven community-based organizations in urban and rural areas across the country to combat the opioid use and overdose crisis by supporting different capacity building needs, including running programs, bolstering staffing, addressing technology needs, and establishing partnerships. The two NH funding grantees are: Addiction Recovery Coalition of New Hampshire, Milford; and Rust & Salt, LLC, Portsmouth, to fund the appointment of Frank Hwang as its executive vice president, head of marketing, primarily responsible for supporting one of its brands, Duckfeet USA.

Crotched Mountain Foundation recently completed a strategic planning process and unveiled its new mission: “Creating opportunities for children and adults with disabilities and chronic conditions to live, learn, and thrive in their own communities.” This mission identifies the nonprofit’s identity and encapsulates Crotched Mountain’s services, including the Crotched Mountain Community Care case management program serving adults with unique needs, as well as CMF Kids, the foundation’s newest initiative that partners with disadvantaged communities to support the education of students with complex disabilities. Additionally, the foundation recently appointed David Blaiklock, supervisor of research and program evaluation for Loudon County Public Schools in Ashburn, Va., to its Board of Trustees.

REAL ESTATE

Shanna Bekar of The Dow Group has been named to take on the role of lead luxury agent at the firm’s office in Meredith. Bekar, who has been with the company since 2016, focuses on customer service and has market expertise and strong negotiation skills, said Adam Dow, CEO of The Dow Group.

FedPoint, a federal benefits administrator, has signed a seven-year lease renewal for its 53,664 square feet of space at 100 Arboretum Drive in the Pease Tradeport in Newington. David Choate and Abigail Bachman of Colliers’ Portsmouth office, represented FedPoint in the renewal and Steve Horan of Farley White Interests represented the landlord.

TECHNOLOGY

Hudson-based Right Networks, which provides cloud services to accounting firms and professionals, has named Adam Collicelli as its general counsel, the firm’s first in-house general counsel. Collicelli most recently served as deputy general counsel and assistant secretary for Datto, a cybersecurity software company based in Norwalk, Conn.

Nashua-based Expansia, a digital strategy and integration consulting firm, has joined the U.S. Department of Defense’s Military Spouse Employment Partnership, bringing the number of participating employers to more than 660. The program connects military spouses with hundreds of partner employers who commit to recruiting, hiring, promoting and retaining military spouses. Since its inception in 2011, more than 250,000 military spouses employed by MSEP employers have been reported.

EDUCATION

Plymouth State University has named Lourdes Avilés the university’s associate provost. Avilés is an expert in atmospheric science, with an emphasis on light and color effects in the atmosphere, and she will maintain the title of professor of meteorology and continue her research, though she will take a step back from teaching.

The Crimes against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire has received $1.5 million from the U.S. Department of Justice to assess whether a national system could do a better job of tracking child abuse cases in youth-serving organizations, like schools, churches, sports and camps. The five-year study will assemble information about the strengths and weaknesses and how to apply criteria from other areas such as health, school, products and environmental safety.

UTILITIES

The Edison Electric Institute has awarded Liberty New Hampshire the EEI Emergency Response Award for recovery efforts associated with Winter Storm Elliott, a high wind and heavy rainstorm that left thousands of Granite Staters without power just two days before the Christmas holiday.

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Community Bank hires new regional executive for New Hampshire expansion

Community Bank has welcomed Albert Romero as commercial banking group manager and New Hampshire regional executive to lead the bank’s expansion into New Hampshire. He brings over 30 years of experience in the banking industry, specializing in C&I lending, CRE lending and cash management.

Romero will be responsible for helping Community Bank break into the New Hampshire market and forming a team of commercial lenders to lead the new establishment. He earned a bachelor’s in business administration with a focus in finance from the University of Notre Dame.