People and Business

Giving Back

Androscoggin Bank’s MainStreet Foundation, a philanthropic group helping at-risk Maine children to thrive, has awarded more than $22,000 in grants to nonprofit organizations to date in 2014. Grant recipients include:

• Camp Ketcha, which received a grant of $3,000 to support its Scarborough-based camp programs focused on creativity, self-discovery, experiential education, physical activity and environmental education

• Cromwell Center for Disabilities Awareness, a Portland-based organization that received $3,085 to support the disabilities awareness and sensitivity programs it provides in elementary school classrooms

• Mid-Coast Hunger Prevention, headquartered in Brunswick, which will use a $5,000 grant to expand its BackPack Program in Harpswell, providing local students with enough food to ensure they don’t go hungry over the weekend

• Tri-County Literacy, a Bath nonprofit that received $5,000 to support its “Read With Me” program, which is improving literacy among children and their families in local Head Start and preschool programs.

The Bowdoin College Museum of Art has been chosen to receive a minimum of $10,000 raised by Down East Magazine at its Art of Giving Gala on Thursday, Aug. 14. The fundraising event celebrates the magazine’s 60th anniversary, and all proceeds from the gala will be donated to charitable organizations. The museum was chosen as a recipient by Barbara Ernst Prey, an internationally acclaimed Maine artist whose work will be featured in Down East’s 60th anniversary issue.

New Hires, Promotions and Appointments

Matthew Rideout has joined iBec Creative, a Portland-based marketing company, as a web developer and digital marketing specialist. Most recently, Rideout was the lead developer and digital marketing manager for Nancy Marshall Communications.

The Maine Center for Creativity has named Jamie Morin, president of Portland-based Synchrony Point Consulting, as president of its board of directors, succeeding Katherine Greenleaf in the position. In addition, Joanne Bean has joined the board. Bean is vice president and chief advancement officer at Saint Joseph’s College, in Standish. Founded in 2005, the Maine Center for Creativity is a nonprofit organization supporting the growth of the state’s creative industries and arts.

Recognition

Bruce Thompson, associate professor of psychology at the University of Southern Maine, has received the school’s 2014-2015 Provost’s Research Fellowship Award. The fellowship provides a one-course release during two semesters to allow a tenured faculty member to concentrate on research. This year’s award will help support Thompson’s study of how socioeconomic factors such as poverty affect cognitive development.

The Maine Small Business Development Centers have selected Jennifer Sherwood as the 2014 State Star. The award, given annually, recognizes a member of the Maine SBDC staff who has shown exemplary performance and a strong commitment to small business success. Sherwood is a project assistant with the SBDC at the University of Southern Maine.

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