Board of Directors

Board of Directors' Bios

Paul Boghossian serves as Chairman of Concordia Manufacturing, LLC, which has made notable advances in the research, development and manufacture of technical yarns, fibers, fabrics and composites for advanced end uses. He also founded the Manufacturers Comp Group of Rhode Island (MCGRI), a very successful self insurance group for workers compensation coverage that became a part of Beacon Mutual in 1999. On the development front, Paul has been involved with numerous rehab projects with the common theme of creative reuse of older buildings, and he is currently working on the Hathaway Creative Center, a 450,000 square foot mixed use and loft space development in Waterville, and the Eastern Mill, a 350,000 square foot mixed use and marina development in Brewer. A 1976 graduate of Colby College, Mr. Boghossian also holds a MBA from the University of Rhode Island. Paul, his wife Jennifer, and three children live in Jamestown, Rhode Island.

Michael Burgmaier is a partner at Clear Venture Partners, a venture capital firm based in Freeport, Maine. Michael sources deals, analyzes opportunities and works with portfolio companies. Current board seats include Rustic Crust, Be.Products Co., Natural Pasta Co. and Look's Gourmet Food Co.; observer seats include Juno Rising and NanoComp Technologies Inc.

Michael joined CCVI in 2004. Previous experience includes three years as a Consultant/Case Team Leader at the management consulting firm Bain & Co. in Boston. While at Bain, Michael worked with clients across several industries, including consumer products, biotechnology, durable goods and health care. Prior to joining Bain, Michael was the Acting Director/Senior Policy Associate at Children Now (nonprofit children's policy organization) where he led programs to improve the quality of health care. He also served as a fiscal policy analyst in the Executive Office for Administration and Finance under former Massachusetts' governor William Weld where he oversaw the Department of Mental Health and Elder Affairs. Michael began has career at a start-up socially-responsible tax-free municipal bond fund in California.

Michael is a member of the Social Venture Network; he holds an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, an MPP from Duke University and a BA in Economics from Boston College. Michael lives in Yarmouth, ME with his wife and two young children.

Deb Burd is the Executive Director of the National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture dedicated to educating the public on the importance of a sustainable food and agriculture system that is economically viable, environmentally sound, socially just, and humane. She has recently finished a decade of community based work in western Maine. She is a graduate of the University of Maine, with a background in education. She has worked primarily in the non-profit sector since 1991.

Since 1998 Deb has conducted trainings and studied in Central Europe. She is a founding member of the Maine Women's Agricultural Network, the Sustainable Development Working Group and GrowSmart Maine. Deb has served as the vice-chair of the Maine Rural Development Council, HealthReach Community Health Centers, and as a trustee of the Natural Resources Council of Maine. She has been appointed to and has sat on a variety of State boards and commissions.

Currently, Deb serves on the boards of Coastal Enterprises, Inc., and GrowSmart Maine. Deb is the mother of two grown children and has recently relocated to Portland Maine. She loves kayaking, skiing, snowshoeing, and long days in her garden.

John Cashwell. John is President of Seven Islands Land Company in Bangor, Maine. He has served the Maine Woods Company, Portage Wood Products, Maine Mutual Group, Maine Forest Service and Sustainable Forestry Board. John is a helicopter pilot who served in the U.S. Army from 1966-1969 and again from 1990-1991. John is the former mayor of Calais and Bangor, Maine. He participated in the development of the New England Standards for FSC certification in the New England Region. John also developed the High Conservation Value Forest policy as a member of the international community for FSC. He has a B.S. in Forestry from the University of Montana, and a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Maine. John resides in Bangor.

Daniel Daggett is a native of Maine born and raised in Bath. His parents raised him with traditional values, a strong work ethic, and the notion of supporting local business. His fondness for local business and downtowns was further strengthened during the 12 years he worked as a haberdasher at Shepard's Clothing on Front St. Dan graduated from Morse High School as a Business Vocations student, and attended University of Southern Maine earning an Associate's degree in Business Administration and a Bachelors degree in Political Science.

In 1993 Dan started with his current employer Bowdoinham Federal Credit Union and in 1995 took the reigns as CEO. Since that time he has helped craft many new programs and services for their members, and although one of the smaller institutions asset wise, they are one of the leaders in the State where service and product development come into play.

Dan's past board experience has included 5 years as a trustee for the Maine Credit Union League Insurance Trust, 3 years for Habitat for Humanity serving his last year as President, currently serving on the nominating committee. This year represents Dan's 5th year of service on the board for the Southern MidCoast Maine Chamber in which he serves as Chairman.

Dan and his wife Sue live in Woolwich with their 3 children (8 year old twin girls and a 3 year old son). They both consider themselves fortunate to live in this great State and are able to raise their children here. Dan is honored by the opportunity to serve on the GrowSmart board and be part of the movement to help perpetuate the "Quality of Place" we cherish, while at the same time helping the people of our state prosper.

Tom Doak has been a Licensed Professional Forester for more than 20 years. In the early part of career, he worked as a forester and land manager on Maine's state owned forestland at the Bureau of Public Lands (BPL). He then became Director of Planning for BPL and became involved in the consolidation of the state public lots, through trades and purchases, into large, manageable parcels. He also served as lead negotiator for the State on two of the first acquisitions under the Land For Maine's Future Program - the Cutler Coast and Dodge Point in Newcastle.

He became Director of the Maine Forest Service in 1999 and served in that capacity for nearly four years, capping his service with coordinating the Baldacci Administration's Forest Certification Initiative. He became Executive Director of the Small Woodland Owners Association of Maine (SWOAM) in April. Tom lives in Augusta.

Joseph Donnelly is currently a trustee and committee member of a variety of non-profit organizations, was a Co-Founder and Co-Director of the New England Consortium for Community College Leadership, a consultant to college presidents on strategic planning and community development, and a former Research Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. For several years he conducted a research project, entitled "College Presidents: Leadership and Longevity." Joey received a Doctorate of Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, concentrating in higher education, within the school's Administration, Planning and Social Policy Program. He previously received his Bachelor's degree in Economics from Tufts University, a Master's in Business Administration from Babson College, a Master's in Education from Harvard University, and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Joey has served schools, colleges, universities and other organizations for over thirty years in a variety of capacities: as a senior administrator, a member of a governing body, a consultant, a teacher, a case writer, and a leader of workshops. His specific interest is in how institutions establish, articulate, and implement their goals and objectives by developing the necessary plans and strategies required for successful implementation.

Joey's board experience includes the York County Community College Foundation, where he just completed serving as chair, and Maine's Working Waterfront Coalition. He previously served on the York Comprehensive Planning Committee, the board of United Community Planning Corporation in Boston and their program and evaluation committee.

Joey and his wife Carol have two children and live in York Harbor.

Jill M. Goldthwait. Jill is the Director of the Office of Government Relations at the Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor. She is also a weekly columnist for the Ellsworth American and Mt. Desert Islander. A former RN, she held the following civic positions: Maine State Senator, Senate Chair, Joint Standing Committee on Appropriations and Financial Affairs, and the Bar Harbor Town Council. Jill has a B.A. from the University of New Hampshire and R.N. from Cabrillo College in California. Her current board service includes Maine Sea Coast Mission, Maine Humanities Council and Acadia Capital Corporation.

Daniel Hildreth is a director and shareholder of Diversified Communications, a broadcasting and trade media company based in Portland. He has worked in business development, web development, and market research at Diversified. In the late 1980s, he worked on the staff of Congressman Joseph Brennan. He has served on Falmouth's Conservation Commission and led a project to identify, map, and assess the town's vernal pools, pursuant to the town's wetlands ordinance. Falmouth's work subsequently became an impetus for state legislation protecting this habitat. Daniel has also been a trustee of Maine Audubon and a member of GrowSmart's steering committee for the Brookings Institution report. He graduated from Bowdoin College and has an MA from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Tim Hussey is President and Chief Executive Officer of Hussey Seating Company, a 6th generation, family-owned business founded in 1835, specializing in seating for gymnasiums, auditoriums, stadiums, and arenas. Tim joined the company in 1982, and was named President and CEO in 1996. Tim received his bachelor’s degree from Colby College in 1978, and his master’s of business administration from Cornell University in 1982. He currently serves as a Trustee for Colby College, a member of the Maine Economic Growth Council, a Director of the MSAD 71 School Board, and on several private company boards. He previously served as chair of the Maine Development Foundation, is a member of the Federal Reserve Advisory Council, and chair of United Way of York County. Tim is also a member of the World President’s Organization. Tim lives in Kennebunk, Maine with his wife Marcia, and their children, Hannah, Philip, and Olivia.

Jack Kartez is Professor and Chair in the Community Planning and Development Program of the University of Southern Maine's Muskie School of Public Service. A planner who worked for Oregon's statewide program in its early years enforcing LCDC's statewide affordable housing rule, he has also worked as a local government planner in rural Washington State and North Idaho, and for the Wisconsin Secretary of Revenue's innovative policy analysis unit. He and his students have been recently assisting local planning and economic development planners with holding downtown participatory design workshops in several Maine service center cities, an example of the close relationship between practice, service and professional education at Muskie. Jack has a 1976 Masters in Planning from the University of Oregon, a Ph.D. from UNC-Chapel Hill (1990) and a bachelors from Middlebury College (1972).

Eleanor Kinney grew up in Washington D.C. but is a third generation summer resident of Northeast Harbor. She has a B.A. from Yale University and an M.S. in biological oceanography from the University of Rhode Island. While in Rhode Island she became involved in land conservation, leading the effort to save the last old growth forest in the state from development. She served both as a board member and as the director of the Aquidneck Island Land Trust, the largest land trust in Rhode Island.

Eleanor is president of the board of the Natural Resources Council of Maine. In 2005 she became actively engaged in battling sprawl when she co-founded a citizens group, Our Town, and led the fight to stop Wal-Mart from building a supercenter in Damariscotta. What started in one town quickly became a regional effort and to date, four adjacent towns have worked together to pass size caps limiting the scale of retail development. As a consequence of her activism in environmental issues and sprawl, Eleanor has become increasingly interested in sustainable economic development and in taking a more integrative approach to preserving what is best about Maine while growing its economy. Eleanor lives on a farm in Bremen with her children.

Valerie Landry has more than 20 years experience in senior executive positions in both public and nonprofit sectors. Valerie is the founder of Landry & Associates specializing in strategic planning, external relations and organizational development. Prior to this work, Valerie was Commissioner of Labor during the administration of Governor Angus King. Valerie was also appointed by Massachusetts Governor Jane Swift to review operations at MassPort, including Logan Airport, after the September 11 terrorist attacks. The Commission made sweeping recommendations to improve the organization's overall effectiveness, efficiency and credibility. Valerie has also served as Executive Director of Creative Work Systems, a nationally accredited nonprofit organization providing services to people with disabilities, and has served in municipal government.

Steve Lubelczyk is Senior Vice President of Commercial Lending at Citizens Bank. He manages the sixteen-member Commercial Bank Group covering Maine and Eastern New Hampshire and actively participates in the relationship team supporting all corporate clients. Steve began his twenty-six year career in commercial lending at The First National Bank of Chicago. He joined Citizens Bank in early 2002. Prior to his position at Citizens, Steve served twelve years at Key Bank; most recently as the Middle Market Commercial Banking Team Leader in Maine. Steve earned a dual B.A. in American Studies and Public Communications from Syracuse University and an MBA with a concentration in Finance from Duke University. Steve recently completed the Royal Bank of Scotland’s Executive Leadership program and the Advanced Leadership Development Program at Babson College. Steve serves on the Board of Directors of Sweetser Family Services as Chairman of the Audit Committee. He is an Incorporator at the Greater Portland Boys and Girls Club, a member of the Greater Portland United Way Financial Stability Partnership Council, and is the Treasurer of the Gorham Youth Soccer Association. Steve lives in Gorham with his wife and three sons.

Frank Miles is a founding board member and currently President of Maine Farmland Trust. After a thirty-five year career as a teacher, administrator, and principal in public education, he has pursued long-time interests in agriculture, in high quality and especially locally grown food, and in sustainable land use. He has served on the board and as president of a large food coop in New Hampshire that has grown to over 30,000 members. He also served on the board of the Maine college of Art. He is currently a representative to the Agricultural Council of Maine, a member of the steering committee of the Maine Land Trust Network, and works with the Eat Local Foods Coalition. Frank became particularly interested Maine land use planning after taking a Muskie School course with Evan Richert and participating in the Eco-Eco Civic Forum. He has degrees from Yale University and the University of New Hampshire. He and his wife Nancy are organic gardeners and live in Cape Elizabeth.

Rep. John Piotti is a self-described "community junkie". He chairs the Planning Board and Comprehensive Plan Committee in Unity. He also serves as volunteer Executive Director of Unity Barn Raisers, a local community improvement organization that won the 2003 Noyce Award for Non-Profit Excellence. John is the Executive Director of Maine Farmland Trust. Prior to that, John served as Director of the Maine Farms Project, a program of Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI), a statewide community development corporation with a national reputation for innovation and effectiveness. John is also a state legislator representing eight towns in western Waldo County. John has served in leadership positions on numerous boards, including time spent as President of the Kennebec Valley Council of Governments and Chair of RTAC 4. He holds three degrees from M.I.T., in engineering, public policy, and management.

Bonita Pothier. Bonnie is a single mother of three children and was born in Biddeford. After graduating from Biddeford High and the University of Maine in Farmington, Bonnie taught for 9 years at Biddeford Junior High. She left teaching to run her own business, a gift shop and hairstyling salon, for 10 years. During that time she helped reorganize the Biddeford-Saco Chamber of Commerce and Industry and served as its President. Bonnie was also elected and served as Biddeford's mayor in 1990. After selling her business, Bonnie worked as General Manager for I. Zaitlin & Sons, helping to expand that company into Massachusetts. She left that position to serve as Director of Saco Spirit, one of the original Main Street Maine 'downtown communities.' In 2004, she became manager of the Key Bank branch in Biddeford, where she continues to support Biddeford's community. Bonnie has been a strong advocate for economic development, having worked on a number of regional economic development initiatives and strategies, including the York County Economic Development Summit. Bonnie lives in Biddeford.

Patrice Putman is a nurse, an attorney, and an educator from Winthrop. She is a member of the Winthrop Town Council and also served on the Winthrop Planning Board. She is a former Chair and current member of the Board of Directors for the Southern Kennebec Healthy Communities and was a founding member of the Maine Network of Healthy Communities. She is on the Alumni Committee of Leadership Maine. Patrice left private practice to work as an attorney for the Maine Department of Transportation and coordinated and served as the MDOT's first Regional Transportation Advisory Committee (RTAC) Supervisor. She recently served on the Legislative Task Force on the Future of Maine's Youth. She is employed as Director of Employee Development at MaineGeneral Health. Patrice is active in a number of community health issues with a focus on land use planning as it impacts Maine's quality of life and the health of its citizens.

Rep. Christopher Rector, from Thomaston, is serving his first term in the Maine Senate, having served three terms in the House of Representatives. He serves on the Community Preservation Advisory Committee, the Maine Economic Growth Council, and the board of the Maine Compact for Higher Education. He is co-chair of Maine Solutions, a consensus building training and facilitation group for legislators and public officials. He helped to develop the Midcoast Leadership Academy which is currently offering its third class in leadership development. He was appointed to and has served on the Joint Select Committee on Research, Development and the Innovation Economy in the summer of 2006 and the Joint Select Committee on Prosperity in the summer of 2007.

Chris, who is an art publisher, attended Boston University College of General Studies. He received a BA in Economics from the University of Maine at Portland/Gorham (now USM). He also attended the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 2006. He is the former board chair of the Center for Maine Contemporary Art and former co-chair of the Camden Downtown Business Group. Chris is a member of Maine Businesses for Social Responsibility, the Rockland-Thomaston Area Chamber of Commerce and the Thomaston Fire Department. He also participates on the Thomaston Comprehensive Plan Committee.

Chris and his wife, Elisabeth (Betsy), have two children. His hobbies outside of art and public service include sailing, gardening, hiking and cooking.

Evan Richert is associate research professor in the Muskie School of Public Service, University of Southern Maine. In this capacity he directs the Gulf of Maine Program of the Census of Marine Life, teaches graduate courses in land use planning, and is a consultant to state and local governments.

From 1995 to 2002, Evan served as Director of the Maine State Planning Office under Governor Angus S. King. Evan also chaired the cabinet-level Land and Water Resources Council, the Land for Maine's Future Board, and represented Maine on the international Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment, which he chaired for two years. Prior to his appointment to the State Planning Office, Evan was co-owner and president of Market Decisions, Inc., a planning consulting firm, and was Planning Director for the City of South Portland, Maine.

He is the founding president of the Gulf of Maine Ocean Observing System and is on the boards of directors of Maine Coast Heritage Trust, the New England Forestry Foundation, and Grow Smart Maine.

Evan has a Master of Regional Planning degree from Syracuse University and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners.

Tom Rumpf is a former member of the Freeport Town Council; Tom previously served on the Freeport Planning Board, Residential Growth Management Committee and Solid Waste/Recycling Committee. While on the Growth Management Committee he spearheaded efforts to develop a new open space subdivision ordinance for the town. He is Associate State Director for The Nature Conservancy, Maine Chapter, where he has worked for the last eight years. Tom spent seven years in the recycling business for Browning Ferris Industries, most recently as District Manager for organics recycling. A licensed forester, he also spent nine years working for the Maine Forest Service in Augusta.

Paul Schumacher is the Executive Director at Southern Maine Regional Planning Commission. Prior to that he worked as a Town Planner in several southern Maine towns and also at an environmental consulting firm on Cape Cod. He has a B.A. from the University of New Hampshire and a Master's Degree in Urban/Environmental Policy from Tufts University. His professional interests revolve around creating sustainable communities and including all relevant interest groups from social service organizations to economic developers to environmentalists in the discussion of what that community should be. He makes it a point to visit Washington County with his wife Rachel, son Ryder and their kayaks every summer.

Lynne Seeley is a land use planner with experience in community land use planning, environmental assessment of transportation projects, and public participation. Lynne went to Colby College, and then got her M.A. in Urban and Environmental Policy at Tufts University. She has worked as a land use planning consultant since 1984, first in Boston, and then in Maine, where she opened and ran an office for the Boston consulting firm, Wallace, Floyd, Associates. She has recently taken time off to raise her two boys, but has been "on call" as a land use consultant for the engineering firm, Sebago Technics. In addition to her consulting work she served on the MDOT's Regional Transportation Advisory Committee (RTAC) for the Portland area for 6 years; she chaired the committee in 1995. She also served on MDOT's Sensible Transportation Policy Act Study Committee. Currently she is on the Greater Portland Landmarks Middle School Urban Planning Curriculum advisory committee. She is also on the board of the Maine Audubon Society.

George Smith is an outdoor writer, newspaper political columnist, television show host, and executive director of the Sportsman's Alliance of Maine, the state's largest sportsmen's organization. He writes a monthly column for The Maine Sportsman magazine and the Northwoods Sporting Journal, a weekly editorial-page column for central Maine's two daily newspapers, and the monthly SAM News. He is co-host of a unique weekly television show called Wildfire, a talk show focused on conservation and environmental issues and seen on commercial and cable stations throughout the state. Smith was part of the management team that successfully defended Maine's moose hunt in 1983, and managed a successful 1992 campaign that placed the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife in the Maine Constitution and protected its revenues. He also led a successful campaign in 2004 to defeat an animal rights referendum to stop Maine's bear hunt. Among his many ideas, Smith conceived the Maine Outdoor Heritage Program, funded by an instant lottery game, that has provided over $12 million for wildlife conservation and outdoor recreation projects in his state. He served on the MOHF Board for 10 years. George lives in Mount Vernon.

Anna Marie Thron serves on the boards of Maine Coast Heritage Trust, GrowSmart Maine, and Greater Portland Landmarks. She is a former trustee of The Maine Chapter of The Nature Conservancy (board chair), Friends of Casco Bay (board president), Natural Resources Council of Maine, Maine Community Foundation, Portland Stage Company (board president), the Institute for Civic Leadership, and the Boothbay Region Land Trust. She has also served as a member of the South Portland Conservation Commission and other South Portland civic committees. Now retired, she was a founder, co-owner, and vice-president of a computer software company in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She and her husband John live in Portland and Boothbay.