Faces&Places

September 2008

The Vermont Employee Ownership Center completed the relocation of its offices to 41 Main St., Burlington. The new office is fully accessible and offers additional meeting space. The mailing address is P.O. Box 546, Burlington; 861-6611. www.veoc.org.

FiberMark, a Brattleboro producer of specialty papers for various applications, announced the opening of its Manhattan Design Center to showcase a library of the company’s textured and colored cover materials and the applications they have inspired. The center will serve as a collaborative location for designers to sample FiberMark materials and share ideas for integration into their projects. It is located in New York City’s Flatiron District at 20 W. 22nd St., Suite 703.

Randy Brock, president of the Vermont Alzheimer’s Association and a member of the Alzheimer’s Association national board, announced that the Vermont chapter named Jeff Maker executive director. Maker was president and executive director of the Institute for Retirement Security in Connecticut. 

Brian Jewell, president of Jewell Mortgage Corp., announced the hiring of two mortgage originators. Cynthia Champagne was a strategic account manager at Caleidoscope Communications Co. in Burlington. David Corliss was with Washington Mutual and First Horizon as loan officer and account executive. He is experienced in housing studies and homebuyer education.

Candle designer Heather Paine and jewelry designer Casey Webster announced the formation of Spirited Living Inc. to encompass their South Burlington store, Candles & Creations; Webster’s jewelry business, CW Creations; and Dragonfly Candles, Paine’s candle business. Fifty Vermont artisans and a growing number of wellness practitioners sell products and practice services at the store, located at 150 Dorset St. in the Blue Mall.

Joseph Bilodeau, a principal of Bilodeau, Wells & Co. PC, CPAs, announced that Brett Walker was elevated to firm principal and vice president. Walker joined the firm in 1996 after eight years in private accounting. The firm announced the addition of Claudia Brousseau to its team of accountants. Brousseau, a licensed CPA and EA, has a background in the corporate sector with a large insurance/trust company and public accounting corporate tax department experience.

Mary Powell was named chief executive officer at Green Mountain Power Co. She succeeds Chris Dutton, who retired. Powell has been with the company since 1998. She had been the company’s chief operating officer.

Ledyard National Bank announced that Bruce R. Stefany was hired as senior investment consultant and has joined Infinex Investments Inc. as a registered representative. Stefany will work with clients with investable assets of up to $500,000 and will collaborate with Dennis Mitchell in coordinating the services of Ledyard financial advisers for the over-$500,000 market. Ledyard has an office in Norwich and seven offices in New Hampshire.

The Greater Burlington YMCA announced the appointment of Nancy Cathcart to the newly created position of vice president for development and community relations. Cathcart has 30 years’ experience in fund development with dozens of local organizations, including Fletcher Allen Health Care, the former Trinity College of Vermont, and Vermont Public Television. She was the founder and director of the award-winning Champlain College Center for Service and Civic Engagement.

Physical Therapy Center of Vermont, an affiliate of Sports & Fitness Edge Inc., announced the hiring of Sally Druid Dye, a physical therapist. Dye was the executive director of Associates in Physical and Occupational Therapy. She has 26 years of clinical experience, having worked in hospital and outpatient settings. She was on the faculty of the University of Vermont division of health services.

David A. Warner joined Bancnorth Investment Group Inc. as a financial adviser in the TD Banknorth Barton branch. Warner has 10 years’ experience and was business development and sales manager at the bank’s St. Johnsbury branch. Austin M. Greenland II joined the investment group as an investment representative in the Woodstock branch. He has eight years’ experience and was an individual consultant with TIAA-CREF. Matt Villemaire was promoted to business development and sales manager at the TD Banknorth branch at 111 Main St. in Burlington. He joined the bank in 1994 as a teller. Susan Malick was hired as business development and sales manager in the St. Johnsbury branch. She was a vice president and branch manager at JPMorgan Chase in Connecticut.

Two members of Circus Smirkus and one former member have been signed to work as clowns with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The performers are Book Kennison, 18, who has appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman, the Tonight Show, and America’s Most Talented Kids; Eric Allen, 18; and Joy Powers, 19. Each has signed a one-year contract to travel with the Ringling “Red Unit,” one of two circuses that tour North America for 11 months each year.

After four years, Stephen Mease has left his post as communications director for the Champlain Valley Exposition to be news and public information director at Champlain College. Mease has for than 20 years’ experience as a journalist, reporter, columnist, editor, and photographer.

The New England Culinary Institute named Karen Nevin director of alumni relations. Nevin was executive assistant to the chancellor of the Vermont State Colleges for nine years. The Middlebury College graduate was a member of the 2008 graduating class of the Snelling Center’s Vermont Leadership Institute.

Chittenden Bank announced the promotion of Shari DeLatte, mortgage loan originator, to assistant vice president. She also recently received designation as a Certified Mortgage Professional from the Vermont Mortgage Bankers Association. DeLatte has been with the bank for 23 years. E. Victoria Moore, financial control supervisor of Chittenden Bank Services Group, was promoted to assistant vice president. She has been with Chittenden since 1989. Craig Arsenault of the asset management department was promoted to manager of the Rutland area asset management department. Arsenault joined Chittenden in 2003 as vice president and wealth management officer.

Community Capital of Vermont hired Kara Edson as loan administrator. Edson has years of experience with the Vermont State Housing Authority and Central Vermont Community Land Trust.

Peter H. Ross, head of Vermont Commons School, announced four full-time appointments. Sarah Bertucci joined the faculty as a member of the science and math departments. She is completing work at Skidmore College on her master’s degree in critical pedagogy in secondary math and science. She holds a job-share position with her husband, Jason Cushner, and will serve as coordinator of the adviser program. Cushner, who has a master of arts from Colorado College in teaching secondary math education, is co-founder of the Matt Innovators Forum. Conor Driscoll is a member of the social science department. He was a student teacher at the school last spring. He is licensed as a social science instructor and certified as an American Mountain Guide and SOLO Wilderness First Responder. Glenn Etter is a member of the language arts faculty. He holds a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from UC-Berkeley and a bachelor of arts in English with highest honors and math with highest honors from UNC-Chapel Hill. Jordan Romm is director of development and a member of the world language department. A graduate of Middlebury College, he has a master’s degree in educational leadership and interdisciplinary studies from the University of Vermont.

St. Michael’s College announced the promotion of nine faculty members. Promoted to full professor are Valerie Banschbach, biology, department chairwoman; Adrie Kusserow, sociology/anthropology, department chairwoman; Susan Ouellette, history, department chairwoman; and Patricia Siplon, political science. Promoted to associate professor are John Paul Devlin, fine arts/theater; Bret Findley, chemistry; Traci Griffith, journalism and mass communication; Nathaniel Lew, fine arts/music; and Declan McCabe, biology.

Jody Evans, director of programming for Vermont Public Radio, left the station to become program director at KUT Radio in Austin, Texas. 

Rick Milliken, general manager of the DoubleTree Hotel Burlington, announced the promotion of Jennifer Bober from guest service agent to sales and catering coordinator. Bober is president of the DoubleTree Green Team, which oversaw the certification of the hotel as a “Green Hotel in the Green Mountain State.”

Union Mutual of Vermont Companies announced three promotions and two additions to its staff. Lisa L. Keysar, executive assistant to the president since 2002, was promoted to director of customer support, where she will oversee a department of 17. Gary Ouellette was promoted to director of operations and enterprise planning. He is an 18-year veteran of the companies. Patti Austin is replacing Keysar as executive assistant to the chief executive officer, John Fitzhugh. Austin joined the companies in 1998. Joining the company are Richard Irwin and Barbara Mason. Irwin replaces Debbie Squairs as coordinator of the auto claims unit. He has 33 years of service, most recently with the Concord Insurance Group in its Berlin offices. Mason was named human resources manager. She was in human resources at Sugarbush Ski Resort and, from 1999 to 2004, owned and operated a bakery. She has more than 15 years of human resources experience.

Earth Turbines Inc., a manufacturer of home wind turbines, announced the addition of Christopher Johnson as a mechanical engineer. Johnson worked for yacht spar manufacturer Hall Spars & Rigging as a design engineer, and previously for Makai Ocean Engineering.

NRG Systems Inc. announced the addition of Maureen Deaner as quality engineer. Deaner was with Husky Injection Molding as a quality analyst, project manager, and engineer, and before that, she worked for Specialty Filaments Inc. as a paint application development manager.

KeyBank announced that Becky Beers was moved into the role of vice president, treasury relationship manager, responsible for cash management solutions to the bank’s commercial clients in the Vermont district. She was a financial adviser in Key’s private bank. Lisa Fergerson Burns was named senior underwriter/portfolio manager for the Vermont district. She works with commercial banking relationship managers to support existing loan clients. Burns was a senior finance manager with Merrill Lynch Business Services in New York. Philip C. Smith was named vice president, business banking in the Vermont district, responsible for commercial lending in central Vermont. He divides his time among the bank’s Barre, Middlebury, and Burlington offices. Smith was a commercial lender at Merchants Bank.

Kevin Spensley, a linguist, Russia expert, and international student recruitment specialist, was named director of international marketing, recruitment, and enrollment for St. Michael’s College. Spensley was running his own consulting company, Education Solutions International.

Northfield Savings Bank announced that Mary Gleason was elected to bank officer and promoted to branch manager of the Shelburne Road office. Gleason has been with NSB for four and a half years.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont announced the appointment of Dennis W. Cahill as director of sales and service. Cahill has more than 25 years’ experience in health insurance sales and account management, largely with BCBS plans in New England, most recently as vice president of sales and account management for Fallon Community Health Plan in Worcester, Mass.

Vermont Community Loan Fund in Montpelier announced that Lesley Russ was named staff accountant. Russ was controller at Lancaster National Bank in Littleton, N.H., and has more than 25 years in the nonprofit, financial, and banking industries. Kate Paine joined the organization as marketing and communications manager. She was promotions and events manager for Cabot Creamery. John Hooley joined Home Instead Senior Care as office operations manager. He was with the Visiting Nurse Association of Chittenden and Grand Isle Counties, where he was the private duty program coordinator for five years. Diane Gagnon was named director of client services.

Barry Lampke, the former development and communications director for Smart Growth Vermont, joined the Champlain Initiative as director. The Champlain Initiative is  a community partnership that is part of the United Way family. Lampke helped launch Efficiency Vermont and was executive director of the Association of Vermont Recyclers.

The Champlain Senior Center announced that Sandy Lewis was named executive director. Lewis has 20 years’ experience in leadership and organizational development and served on the board from 1996 to 2004. She was board president from 1998 to 2004, when she helped direct the development and opening of the McClure Multigenerational Center.

RE/MAX Preferred of South Burlington announced that Serena Baker has joined its team. A Morrisville native, she recently returned to Vermont from Florida, where she sold real estate for four years.

Data Systems Inc. software company announced the addition of two employees. Casey Lyon joined the software development team. He has 12 years’ experience with Unix Systems administration and programming. He is one of four partners of Ismael Imports, an essential oils company in Burlington. Aaron Desrochers was hired as a programmer and administrator. He was with Penro Specialty Compounding Pharmacy in Colchester. Katie Cultrera Ormiston was elected president of the company by the board of directors. Ormiston has been with Data Systems since 2000. 

William R. Heaslip, president and CEO of Community Financial Services Group, announced that Mark T. Frederick was named executive vice president and senior trust officer. Frederick has more than 25 years’ experience in the trust and investment business. He was a senior vice president and head of a $2 billion trust department in Vermont.

Steven Pouliot, executive director for the Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, announced that Roxane Leopold has joined the staff as a consultant. Leopold was executive director of the King Street Youth Center for 22 years. Brendan Robinson was named development coordinator. He is a recent University of Vermont graduate and was supervisor at Waterfront Video.

Maggie Grow was promoted to executive area manager with Arbonne International in Waterbury Center. She leads a team of women in Vermont, New York, and Massachusetts for the Swiss-based skin care company. Grow has more than 20 years of corporate consulting in the multimedia training industry.

Earth Turbines Inc., a manufacturer of home wind turbines, announced the addition of Keith Epstein as a mechanical design engineer. He was an inertial sensors applications engineer and mechanical design engineer with Kionix Inc.

Redstone commercial real estate company announced the promotion of Bruce Shepard to general manager. Shepard joined Redstone in January 2008 as chief financial officer. He was CFO and general manager at Fat Cat Inc.

Central Vermont Medical Center group practice announced that Julie A. Vogel, MD, joined the Associates in Gynecology and Obstetrics on the CVMC campus in Berlin. Vogel attended medical school at SUNY at Buffalo School of Medicine and completed her residency at Tufts Medical Center. She was in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the Cambridge Health Alliance in Massachusetts.

John H. Marshall, the managing partner of Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC, announced the addition of two attorneys in its Lebanon, N.H., office. N. Jonathan Peress, formerly the attorney for air quality issues, and later the chief counsel for administrative litigation in the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, joined DRM’s real estate and environmental law group. He was with the Albany firm of Dewey & LeBoeuf LLC. Sheila Renner Grace joined the public utilities group from the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, where she worked for nine years. Karen Butler, a DRM director and business law attorney who has been associated with both the Littleton and Lebanon offices of the firm, is now full time in Lebanon.

New England Financial Vermont announced that Christian K. Miner joined the firm as a financial representative. Miner has completed the Series 6 Investment Company and Variable Contracts exam. •