Faces&Places

October 2007

Junior’s Italian announced the hiring of Noel Allen, CWPC, as pastry chef. Allen has 32 years’ baking experience on land and sea. He was with Klinger’s Bread Co. for five years and was sous chef at Pauline’s Kitchen.

Roy Sokolowski, the founder of Sokolowski Investment Advisors, announced the move of the firm’s office from North Ferrisburgh to 77 Falls Road in Shelburne.

Hampton Direct, an importing and distribution firm in Williston, announced several staff additions. Katy Roy is an account executive. Roy was with Aegis Lending and Yellow Book USA. Aubree Clarke is a graphic designer. She has a bachelor of English and acquired her associate’s degree in multimedia and graphic design in May. Ann Wood-Ax is an accounts receivable/accounts payable coordinator. She was with Fletcher Allen Health Care. Ryan Killoy is a sales assistant. He is a recent graduate of the University of Vermont.

Larry Sudbay, president and chief executive officer of SymQuest Group Inc., announced that Veronica B. Monticolombi was hired as project coordination manager. Monticolombi has seven years’ experience in project management. William Littler Jr. was promoted to field service manager for central and southern Vermont. Littler was field service representative.

Vermont Public Television hired Michelle Parent as literacy coordinator for the Ready to Learn project, funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Vermont Department of Education, Verizon and community members. Parent was with Sylvan Learning Center.

Draker Solar Design announced the changing of its name to Draker Laboratories. The change was made to better express the nature of the company’s products and services, due to the growing demand for accurate and reliable monitoring systems. The name change precedes the launch of a line of high-performance monitoring systems.

KeyBank announced that Scott Allaire was named vice president and relationship manager, and Mathew Robitaille was named business sales officer for the Vermont district business banking team. Allaire was vice president of business development for a Minneapolis firm. Robitaille was a financial analyst for General Dynamics. They are based in Burlington. Joseph V. Tripodi was named mortgage adviser at KeyBank Mortgage for Key’s Vermont district. Tripodi, who was with Citizens Bank, works from the Rutland office.

Paul Phillips, music director of the Pioneer Valley Symphony & Chorus in Greenfield, Mass., announced the appointment of Lisa Jablow as chorus director. Jablow co-directs the musical theater program at Johnson State College, where she is the music department’s senior faculty member. She also has charge of music direction for shows by several theater companies, including Lost Nation, Lamoille County and Lyric Theatre.

John O’Brien, president of the Vermont Film Commission board of directors, announced the appointment of Joe Bookchin as director. Bookchin worked at Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. studios in Los Angeles and CBS News in New York. For the last 12 years, he was the director of film production at Burlington College, growing the program from its infancy. Search committee members were David Rocchio, an attorney and writer, chairman; Sue Kruthers of Central Vermont Medical Center; Bill Schubart of Resolution Inc.; Damien Saccani, film producer and president of production at Color Force film production company within DreamWorks; Alexander L. Aldrich of the Vermont Arts Council; Sen. Matt Dunne; and Loranne Turgeon, interim director, whom Bookchin succeeds.

Three Champlain College students spent the summer working at Kelliher Samets Volk in Burlington. They are, Grace Boyle of Fairfield, Iowa; Beth Schachter of Sharon, Mass.; and Dan Bergeron of Colchester. Schachter and Boyle are PR interns; Bergeron is a PR fellow.

Rob Barush joined Davis & Hodgdon Associates CPAs as a staff accountant. Barush is a graduate of St. Michael’s College with a double major in accounting and business administration and a minor in finance.

Vermont Mutual Insurance Group in Montpelier announced that Luanne V. McCarthy, CPIW, AIS, was promoted to the commercial lines understating supervisor in the state of New York. McCarthy has been a commercial lines underwriter for 15 years and has been with Vermont Mutual since 1986.

The Vermont Manufacturing Extension Center expanded its statewide field staff with the hiring of Brian Werneke as a professional manufacturing adviser. Werneke was with BlueCross BlueShield of Vermont and was an independent quality consultant for Whitetail Manufacturing in Williston.

David F. Finney, president of Champlain College, announced that Robert W. Bloch was named director of the college’s BYOBiz (Bring Your Own Business) program. Bloch was lead investor and CEO of Ricochet Manufacturing Co. Inc. and co-founder of Northeast DBS Enterprises LP, a distributor of DirecTV service. Champlain announced the appointment of Linda Rodd as director of its applied psychology program. The holder of a Ph.D. in social psychology, Rodd joined the faculty last year.

The Barre Partnership announced the departure of its executive director, Matt Lash. Lash, the first full-time leader of the organization, was with the organization for two years.

Women Writing for (a) Change announced its move to 12 Howard St. in Burlington. Facilitated by local poet Sarah Bartlett, classes provide time, space and a process for creating personal, community and social change through writing.

Jane Doherty was named public affairs officer for TD Banknorth in Vermont, New Hampshire and upstate New York. She joined the bank in 2005 and is based in Burlington. Heather Tremblay, general manager of University Mall and president of the Vermont Retail Association board of directors, announced that R. Tasha Wallis was named executive director of the organization. Wallis served in state government from 1995 to 2007 in the administrations of Gov. Howard Dean and Gov. James Douglas. She was commissioner of Labor and Industry, deputy secretary of Administration, and commissioner of Buildings and General Services.

Gallagher, Flynn & Co. LLP announced that Sarah E. Richards was promoted to manager in the firm’s A&A practice. Richards has more than seven years’ public accounting experience and has been with the firm for over three years. The company also announced several new hires. Melissa J. Vidal is a senior accountant in the tax practice. She recently earned her master’s degree in taxation from the University of Denver. Laura J. Bosley, Katherine M. Mulhern and Philip A. Woodburn are staff accountants. Pat F. Harirari is a senior accountant in the audit and accounting department.

High Mowing Seed Co. of Wolcott, a 100 percent certified organic farm and seed company selling vegetable, flower and herb seeds to commercial growers and home gardeners, hired John Grosvenor as controller. Grosvenor worked in finance positions with the Vermont League of Cities and Towns, Hunger Mountain Co-op and Cabot Creamery. John Hanf was named customer service and sales representative. Hanf was with Smugglers’ Notch Resort. Sam Huff is inventory procurement manager. He has more than 10 years’ business experience with companies such as Way Out Wax and Louis Garneau USA.

Arthur Cameron, a member of the maintenance staff at Neville Companies Inc. since 2005, was promoted to roving maintenance engineer.

Open Doors announced that Suzanne Skaflestad was named director of the award-winning after-school and summer programs in St. Albans. Skaflestad is a registered social worker and was with a youth and family services organization in Mineola, N.Y.

Union Bank announced the addition of Curtis Swan to the bank’s lending team. Swan, who has been appointed assistant vice president, will specialize in commercial lending, working from the Fairfax office.

Alisa Smith was hired by the National Council for Performance Excellence, a sister company of Vermont Council for Quality, as a software developer. Smith has 20 years’ experience, primarily in the financial sector.

Huber+Suhner AG announced the appointment of Drew Nixon as president and general of Huber+Suhner North America. Nixon joined the company in 2004 and has been leading the finance, information technology and human resources team in the United States.