Events

The Portland Regional Chamber is presenting its annual Greater Portland Business Expo April 24 at the Holiday Inn By the Bay, 88 Spring St., Portland, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Expo and educational seminars are free and open to the public. Admission to the keynote luncheon with Portland Mayor Michael Brennan at noon is $10. To view a list of exhibitors, pre-register for the Expo and sign up for the keynote luncheon, visit portlandregion.com.

Good Deeds

Schoolchildren, college students and community members in Greater Portland and Maine commenced the final stages of a project hand-crafting symbolic bones to raise awareness and money for displaced and vulnerable survivors of genocide. In partnership with the One Million Bones project and Students Rebuild, students ranging from pre-kindergarten to university level have made more than 2,000 bones so far, mainly out of clay, newspaper and tape. A statewide installation of  the bones was held at the University of Maine in Orono, at the Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King Memorial Plaza, on April 13.

Portland Harbor Hotel’s ninth annual Ice Bar raised $18,000 for local nonprofits in three evenings in late January, surpassing last year’s total of $15,000. These funds were shared between the Trauma Intervention Program of Portland, the Root Cellar and Share our Strength of Southern Maine.

The Law Offices of Joe Bornstein announced the start of its ninth annual Arrive Alive Creative Contest. The contest is open to graduating high school seniors who wish to send a message to their peers about the dangers of drinking and driving and the dangers of distracted driving. First place winners receive a new laptop computer and all entrants receive fun prizes from the law firm. Past winners have submitted essays, poems, paintings, videos, original songs, public service  announcements, T-shirt designs, drawings and more.

Two Maine Restaurant Week, the March 1 Incredible Breakfast Kickoff event at Sea Dog Brewing Company and the March 10 Signature Event at Prime Mercedes raised $6,000 for the United Way of Greater Portland. The money will be combined with investments from the more than 17,000 people in Greater Portland who support United Way, and strategically invested in research-based programs and partnerships such as the Cumberland County Food Security Council and Westbrook Children’s Project.

Recognition

Advantage Home Care, which provides non-medical home care services to individuals and families in southern Maine, was recognized with a Best of Home Care award from Home Care Pulse for the second year in a row. Home Care Pulse is a national company that measures client and employee satisfaction and identifies agencies in the private duty home care arena that show an exceptional commitment to quality.

Verrill Dana attorneys and staff celebrated Roger Putnam’s 55th anniversary of practicing law at the firm.

Ellie Baker and Tom Saturley were awarded the American Heart Association’s 2013 Crystal Heart Award at the eighth annual Go Red for Women Luncheon and Educational Forum at Holiday Inn By the Bay in Portland.

Enterprise Trenchless Technologies Inc. was named 2013 Contractor of the Year by Caterpillar Equipment and Equipment World Magazine.

Justin Hoenke, teen librarian at the Portland Public Library, has been named a Library Journal Mover & Shaker in its March 15 issue. Hoenke was recognized as one of 50 outstanding professionals committed to providing excellent service to meet the needs of the people they serve. He was selected because of his commitment to librarianship and work with Portland area teenagers. Hoenke is leader of the Teen Team at the library.

The Cultures Helping Everyone’s Environment at Riverton School Club, known by  its CHEERS acronym, and ReVision Energy have won the 2013 Community and Business Eco-Excellence Awards, respectively, for the City of Portland. The awards are presented annually for contributions in preserving local ecology by ecomaine, a nonprofit municipally-owned single-sort recycling and waste-to-energy operation. Student Darcy Lally and teacher Olga “Teddy” Valencia accepted the award for Riverton School. Phil Coupe, the co-founder and managing partner of ReVision Energy, accepted the award on behalf of the company.

Kathy Duca, manager of the Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage real estate office located in Cape Elizabeth, announced Jennifer DeSena has been recognized for outstanding achievement and was named February broker of the month. DeSena has been an active member of the school community, twice elected to the Cape Elizabeth School Board, and serving six years.

Relocations

Providence Service Corporation of Maine, a behavioral health provider working with children and their families struggling with mental health issues, autism and developmental disabilities, will be relocating four of its programs to Brunswick Landing in August. Providence is negotiating a deal with developer, Jim Howard, of Priority Group in Topsham, in which Providence would lease more than 26,000 square feet of space in two buildings, to create a state-of-the-art campus from which to better serve its clients in the Mid-Coast area.

Grants and Scholarships

Tide Creative, a tech development company based in Portland, was awarded a seed grant from the Maine Technology Institute to develop the iSpyLove mobile platform. The tool is a fully functioning photo and capture application with interactive online display and e-commerce platform. With the grant, to be matched by Tide Creative funds, the development company will design and launch the free app, which allows couples to download and curate images at their wedding celebration.

Mechanics Savings Bank will provide a $1,000 scholarship to a Brunswick High School senior bound for college or technical school in the fall. The Banking on the Future Scholarship Program awards $17,000 to high school graduates at 11 area high schools. Students interested in being considered for the scholarship should complete an application and submit it to the Brunswick High School guidance department by April 30. Applications are available at the Brunswick High School guidance office, at any Mechanics Savings Bank branch, or at www.mechanicssavings.com. The Brunswick branch is located at 16 Station Ave.

New Hires, Appointments and Promotions

Karen Dempsey Carney and Julie Sheehan have joined the Falmouth office of The Maine Real Estate Network. Carney moved to Maine in 2009 to begin her real estate business while also operating Alliance Reclocation Residential Real Estate and Alliance Home Mortgage out of Boston. Her move to the Falmouth office will allow her to focus more on her primary real estate business in Maine. Sheehan’s background includes significant achievements in product and business development for Maine products. She is now focused on her real estate business with a special emphasis in Cape Elizabeth.

Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department Public Safety, will be master of ceremonies for the Brunswick Rotary Club’s Hometown Idol on April 27 at the Orion Performance Center in Topsham. McCausland is a long-time Brunswick resident and is a past member of the Brunswick Rotary Club.

The Pejebscot Historical Society announced the appointment of Ann Frey, Spike Haible, Rob Jarratt, Benet Pols and Dana Smith as organization trustees.

Jay Menario has joined Martin’s Point as the new chief marketing officer and will be responsible for leading strategic marketing efforts for the organization. This includes program and business plan implementation and policy development that helps support the long term mission of Martin’s Point. Menario comes to Martin’s Point with more than 25 years of experience in the employee benefits insurance industry and had led strategic marketing efforts for companies including UNUM, CIGNA and The Hartford.

Openings and Groundbreakings

Piper Shores in Scarborough, Maine’s first and only nonprofit lifecare retirement community, held a March 9 ribbon cutting ceremony and grand opening of the Founders Room auditorium, fitness center, pool, salon and spa. The new amenities enable residents at Piper Shores and Holbrook to enjoy an expanded array of fitness classes, private training, relaxation and restorative massage treatments, onsite hair and nail services, as well as additional programs, lectures, and events in the Founders Room.

OceanView at Falmouth, a Maine-owned and managed retirement community, invited Habitat for Humanity volunteers to remove all usable materials from 10 small cottages that will be taken down to prepare for the groundbreaking of Blueberry Commons. More than 80 vinyl replacement windows, 10 kitchen cabinet sets, 51 interior doors, 53 bi-fold doors, two exterior doors, five vanities with sinks and 10 stainless steel sinks were taken from cottages built in the mid-1980s. Blueberry Commons will consist of three environmentally efficient, interconnected buildings, with water heated by solar power, attached via temperature-controlled, atrium-style, connectors to the existing Lodge buildings. Blueberry Commons residents will all-weather access to the main dining room and Gazebo Grille Café, and programs in the screening room, fitness studio, game room and library.

Outreach

Seth Page and Mike Davies, owners of Allspeed Cyclery & Snow, helped Memorial Middle School kick off its new bike club March 12. Students learned about bike maintenance, where to ride, and how to organize a school-based bike club. The school was also given a discount on a new bike rack.

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