People & Business

New Location

Acapello Salons recently opened its fourth location in Freeport at 15 Main St. The Freeport location is home to an Aveda Lifestyles store on the first level where walk-in shoppers can experience complimentary mini services while the second floor features six operator style and color salon stations.

Swanson, Eshelman & Gamage, a new full-service CPA firm has selected South Portland for its headquarters. Their office is located at 324 Cummings Road, Suite 201, South Portland, ME 04106.

New Hires

Southern Maine EMS recently hired Marc A. Minkler as its new executive director. He brings with him more than 22 years of experience, beginning his career in Vermont and later moving to Maine to work for the Medcu division of the Portland Fire Department; there he served as a paramedic and firefighter, training officer, and Lieutenant. Minkler’s true passion is education, and over the years he has taught hundreds of EMS providers in Maine and New England.

Dr. Benjamin Branch recently joined the attending medical staff of New England Rehabilitation Hospital of Portland. Branch received his doctor of osteopathic medicine degree, with honors, from Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine and completed his internship in family medicine at Trident Hospital and Medical University of South Carolina. During his residency in physical medicine and rehabilitation at Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital in Wheaton, Ill., Branch served as chief resident. He is also on staff at Maine Medical Center.

Kelly Kerner was recently named Bowdoin’s senior vice president for development and alumni relations. Kerner is currently the vice president for college advancement at Bates and brings with her two decades of fundraising and strategic leadership experience to Bowdoin’s award-winning development team.

Gary’s House, an affiliate of Mercy Health System of Maine, recently named Debra Lavoie as executive director to oversee the facility’s management and carry out local outreach projects and initiatives in the community with health care providers. She previously served as the director of marketing and public relations at York County Community College and director of admissions and marketing at Catherine McAuley High School.

Junior Achievement of Maine Inc. recently announced the hire of Michael Stone as their new president. Stone comes to Junior Achievement after a 35 year Maine banking and business background. For the past 10 years he has been a volunteer with Junior Achievement and brings with him a strong nonprofit background, most recently serving as president of the board for Victoria Mansion and has volunteered with several greater Portland nonprofits over the years.

Peter F. Herzog recently joined the New England office of Fisher & Phillips LLP as an associate. His practice will focus on representing and advising management on various employment issues, including anti-discrimination laws, workplace harassment, FMLA leave, and FLSA issues. Herzog graduated from Boston University School of Law in 2008 and received his undergraduate degree from George Washington University’s Elliot School of International Affairs.

Preti Flaherty recently hired Robert “Benji” Borowski as an associate. Borowski will practice energy law from the firm’s Portland office. Prior to joining Preti Flaherty he was part of the firm’s summer associate program and a paralegal at Locke, Lord, Bissell, and Liddell in Boston where he researched and analyzed “Green” and “Cleantech” venture capitalist firms.

Good Deeds

Tim Haley and his TeamHeadstrong recently completed the Pan Massachusetts Challenge, a bike ride across Massachusetts to raise money for life-saving cancer research and treatment at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Haley and his team are considered one of the “Heavy Hitters” raising $45,000 this year for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, meeting their goal by beating last year’s total of $25,000.

Portland Pie Company’s Maine and New Hampshire locations recently raised $1,800 for two New England based nonprofits as a part of the annual Shipyard Prelude Special Ale Release Party. The event was held simultaneously Nov. 17 at all four Portland Pie Maine and New Hampshire restaurants. They raised a total of $1,400 for WinterKids and $400 for Northeast Passage.

A group of Portland Rotarians recently served Christmas lunch to a group of seniors at The Salvation Army’s Center for Healthy Aging in Portland.

The Cumberland/North Yarmouth Lions Club’s First Annual “Give Thanks” Apple Pie fundraiser to benefit the Cumberland Food Pantry was a great success. Through apple pie sales they were able to raise $914.85. An additional $700 in supermarket gift cards was received from an anonymous donor, making the total donation $1,614.

Gorham Savings Bank, along with Begelow Investment Advisors LLC, recently presented a $2,500 check to the Portland Youth Wrestling Boosters. The money will go toward purchasing wrestling equipment for young wrestlers in their program who otherwise would not be able to afford their own equipment. The Portland Youth Wrestling Boosters was established to raise money to expand wrestling in the Portland area. children from pre-kindergarten through grade 12 are eligible to participate in the program and can participate in free clinics and instruction classes.

TD Bank, through TD Charitable Foundation, recently donated a total of $10,000 to Goodwill Industries of Northern New England as part of the bank’s commitment to giving back to the community. Goodwill will use the funds to hire an AmeriCorps volunteer for the Maine Governor’s Children’s Cabinet in Augusta. The cabinet is committed to policies to ensure that every Maine child is safe, healthy, well-educated and productive. To align with the cabinet’s mission, the AmeriCorps volunteer will work for Great Strides Rural Education Corps, a Goodwill AmeriCorps program which places volunteers in rural schools throughout Maine to provide mentoring, academic support and service learning opportunities to at-risk youth.

The recent Sit with Santa event that was held at the Planet Dog Company Store in Portland raised $800 for the Planet Dog Foundation, Planet Dog’s nonprofit grant making organization.

The town of Scarborough and Project G.R.A.C.E. (Granting Resources and Assistance through Community Effort) teamed up to help raise funds for the Scarborough Fuel Assistance Program. The Board of Directors of the Scarborough Community Chamber of Commerce pledged $2,500 to the program and challenged chamber members to match an additional $2,500. A total of $7,000 was raised by the chamber and its members.

Sidebar Elements