Maine State Credit Union promotes Plummer

Augusta’s Maine State Credit Union has promoted Paige Plummer to loan servicing clerk/member service representative of the Waterville branch. Plummer was previously a teller at the main office in Augusta.

Tree Spirits winery and distillery received the 2016 Down East magazine Editors' Choice award for Best Spirit for its absinthe verte. From left are Bruce Olson and Karen Heck. Contributed photo

Paige Plummer

Alyssa Russell

Plummer has worked at Maine State Credit Union for the past four years. She started her career as a teller and has also worked in loan processing and member services. She is a 2010 graduate of Erskine Academy.

Tree Spirits reaps award for its absinthe verte

Tree Spirits winery and distillery has received the 2016 Down East magazine Editors’ Choice award for Best Spirit for its absinthe verte.

Using locally sourced apple cider, pear cider and maple syrup, Tree Spirits’ wines and distilled apple, pear and maple spirits have been winning awards in international competitions since 2011 in New York and San Francisco. In 2014 it won the New York International Spirits Competition’s Maine distiller award and in 2015 received a bronze medal for its absinthe.

While it’s been legal to make in the United States since 2007, only a handful of distilleries are making the spirit, most of them small, boutique operations. Oakland-based Tree Spirits is the only producer of absinthe in New England, according to the company which is owned by Bruce Olson and Karen Heck, a former mayor of Waterville.

Crisis & Counseling appoints Russell to be crisis program manager

AUGUSTA — Alyssa Russell has been named Crisis & Counseling Centers’ new crisis program manager. An employee of the agency since 2009, Russell was promoted from her dual position as a mental health/substance abuse clinician and crisis team leader.

Russell started her career in the agency’s 24-hour Crisis Program as a crisis staff member. She advanced to the position of crisis team leader, advising staff members as they answered crisis calls and conducted mental health assessments in the field. In 2013, Russell shifted her focus to outpatient mental health and substance abuse services, which included providing family and individual therapy, substance abuse group treatment, counseling to state and federal probation clients, and contractual mental health treatment to youth in Day One’s residential treatment program in Hinckley.

Russell also served as the lead clinician when the agency launched its youth and family counseling program in 2014. The program continues to provide treatment to children and adolescents experiencing the full spectrum of behavioral health concerns, including trauma, anxiety, depression, self-injurious behavior and more.

A Skowhegan native, Russell studied psychology and criminal justice at Thomas College in Waterville and holds a master’s degree in social work from the University of Southern Maine.

Crisis & Counseling Centers is an Augusta-based nonprofit serving people with behavioral health needs, including mental health, substance abuse and co-occurring concerns. The nonprofit agency is the sole provider of crisis services for Kennebec and Somerset counties, administering 24-hour crisis services to those in need.

Camden National delivering donations of nearly $9,000 to food pantries

During June and July, employees from Camden National Bank are delivering donations, totaling close to $9,000, to 29 food pantries throughout the state of Maine, according to a news release from the bank.

The donations were raised by employees through the bank’s employee-run community outreach program, the Community Spirit of Giving, and will help provide meals and support to more than 208,000 people in Maine who turn to food pantries and meal service programs for food assistance every year.

The goal of Camden National’s Community Spirit of Giving program is to provide assistance to underprivileged children and families through work with local food pantries, as well as schools and community leaders, to help prevent hunger. According to the Good Shepherd Food Bank of Maine, the program’s current donation will help provide 34,800 meals to those facing food insecurity in the state. In addition, as food needs rise for children during the summer, the money can be used to support the 85,000 children in Maine who receive free or reduced-price lunch during the school year and help ensure that they have enough to eat throughout summer vacation.

Complementing Camden National Bank’s philanthropic efforts, the Community Spirit of Giving program was founded in 1991 by employees who wanted to create their own grass-roots effort to support local communities and people in need.

Inland Women’s Health Care attains safety certification

Inland Women’s Health Care, an obstetrics and gynecology practice in Waterville, is the first OB/GYN practice in northern New England to earn a special safety certification, according to the practice.

The practice has been awarded the Safety Certification in Outpatient Practice Excellence for Women’s Health. The certification is a patient safety-focused program of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Inland Women’s Health Care is among only 85 of 180,000 OB/GYN practices in the country to earn the safety credential.

The comprehensive patient safety review program assesses the use of patient safety concepts and techniques in the office setting. The professional association conducted an inspection and review of Inland Women’s Health Care in March as part of the certification process. Participation in the program is voluntary and involves a lengthy application process requiring documentation of patient safety policies and protocols.

Kennebec Savings’ Silsby elected bankers’ association vice chairman

Kennebec Savings Bank President and CEO Andrew Silsby was recently elected vice chairman of the Maine Bankers Association, according to a news release from the association.

The election was held June 9 during the 123rd Annual Meeting of the Maine Bankers Association at the Samoset Resort in Rockport.

Silsby became president & CEO of Kennebec Savings in 2014. He is a director on a number of local and regional boards, including those of the Travis Mills Foundation, Lithgow Public Library, the Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce, the Augusta Board of Trade and Augusta First. He is a past president of both the chamber and the library boards. Silsby also is on the University of Maine at Augusta board of visitors.

He received a bachelor of science degree in business administration from the University of Maine, in Orono, and he also attended the American Community Bankers National School of Banking.

Compiled from contributed releases

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