SKOWHEGAN — Hight Ford has been recognized with two of the highest awards given by Ford Motor Co. for the third consecutive year. The dealership was issued the President’s Award and the One Ford Elite Award for 2021, according to a news release from the dealership.

Hight won both awards in 2019 and 2020, and the President’s Award in 2016.

The President’s Award recognizes dealers who have achieved the highest levels of customer satisfaction and sales performance. The One Ford Elite Award is awarded to the top President Award winner in their respective areas. Few dealers are recognized with both awards. To put it into perspective, the President’s Award is given to 10% of Ford dealers nationwide, and the One Ford Elite Award goes to 160 dealerships nationwide. The release notes that puts Hight Ford in the top 1% of dealerships for three years in a row.

Hight is the only Ford dealer in Maine and New Hampshire to win One Ford Elite, and one of only three dealers to win both awards three times in a row in New England. “Ultimately the awards highlight our dealership’s greatest asset – its people,” said Sam Hight. “Our staff are family and treat customers as such. Although we care about customer service more than awards, the recognition proves that doing what’s right can be rewarded.”

The Hight Family of Dealerships operates the oldest family owned dealership in New England. In 2011, the National Automobile Association awarded Hight Family of Dealerships the Century Award, given to dealers that have owned and operated business in the industry continuously under one family for 100 years. Since 1947, only 52 dealers have earned the century award, and Hight is the only Century Award winner in New England.

Create My Site virtual workshop for small business owners coming April 27

New Ventures Maine will offer an online, tuition-free website development workshop, “Grow Your Business Online – Create My Site,” on April 27 from 6-7:30 p.m.

The class will cover three main topics:

• Design an effective website: Bring the best of your brand to your customers.
• Create site content: Make a great first impression.
• Create your eCommerce store: Prepare, manage, and grow an online store.

Tools and guidance for creating a small business website will be provided by Empower by GoDaddy in partnership with New Ventures Maine and are part of the in-depth course, “Grow Your Business Online,” designed to provide small business owners the tools, skills and mentorship to build a successful digital presence.

Pre-registration is required and accessible online at bit.ly/GYBO-CreateMySite. For more information and to register, contact Karin Petrin at 768-9468 or karin.petrin@maine.edu. There is no fee for the training.

Maine State Credit Union expands senior leadership team

AUGUSTA – Maine State Credit Union has announced the promotions of Brie-Anne Mellor and Shane Abbott.

Mellor is now the senior vice president, chief lending officer, and Abbott is the senior vice president, chief retail officer. In their new roles, they will work with the other senior leadership team members to drive the organization’s continued growth. Both will report to Stephen Wallace, incoming president and CEO, according to a news release from the credit union

“Brie and Shane have been key players in the organization’s growth over the past several years,” said Wallace. “They have stepped up to lead without any hesitation and demonstrated the ability to inspire and grow their teams simultaneously.”

Brie-Anne Mellor Submitted photo

Mellor began her career on the teller line 20 years ago. In 2018, Mellor led the project team on the introduction of Meridian Link, an online direct-to-the-member lending tool. She created the first online lending team responsible for helping members access the credit union’s products through digital banking. In addition, Mellor has also been a financial services representative, loan officer, assistant branch manager, and loan servicing supervisor before being promoted to vice president of lending in 2021.

Shane Abbott Submitted photo

Abbott started his career as a summer teller in 2007 and joined the finance team as an accounting clerk. He continued to move through the organization and worked as an indirect loan officer and teller supervisor. In 2018, Abbott built a new internal call center, the eBranch, which takes more than 300 calls a day. In 2021, he joined the operations team as vice president, where he led the project team to convert the credit union’s online and mobile banking system.

Mellor, a graduate of the University of Maine Augusta, lives in Windsor with her husband and two kids. Abbott, a graduate of the University of Maine, lives in Farmingdale with his wife and children.

Staff from several Maine organizations complete Building Better Caregivers Leader Training offered by Healthy Living for ME. In front, from left, are Jen Paquet, Melissa Sanborn, Janice Sabin and Jennifer Fortin; in back, are Cindy Blanchette, Jann Jackson, Elizabeth Singer, Hanna Bouchard, Tiffany Cifuni, Traci Littlefield, Teah Fowle, Diane Bertrand, Val Cole and Derek Bowen. Submitted photo

Staff from several organizations complete Building Better Caregivers Leader Training

Staff from SeniorsPlus, Spectrum Generations, Cary Medical Center, Northern Light Sebasticook Valley Hospital, and MaineGeneral’s Peter Alfond Prevention and Healthy Living Center participated in the Building Better Caregivers Leader Training in March offered by Healthy Living for ME. The training was held at the Muskie Center in Waterville, according to a news release from Healthy Living for ME.

By completing the training, the participants are now eligible to be leaders of the Building Better Caregivers workshop, helping to expand the availability of the workshop to more Mainers.

“With so many Mainers serving as caregivers for their loved ones, there is a great need for this workshop and the support and resources it provides,” said Jennifer Fortin, training and fidelity manager of Healthy Living for ME. “We are so pleased that our partners throughout the state are helping us expand access to it and that their staff is so dedicated to this effort. They will all be excellent workshop leaders.”

Maine Connectivity Authority names strategic partnership director

Maggie Drummond-Bahl Submitted photo

The Maine Connectivity Authority, a quasi-governmental agency charged with achieving universal access of affordable high-speed broadband in the state, officially named Maggie Drummond-Bahl as its new strategic partnership director.

Drummond-Bahl will start in the position in early May. A longtime coalition builder across multiple sectors in Maine, Drummond-Bahl will oversee the agency’s digital equity strategy, community capacity building, workforce development and help support the local partnerships needed to expand broadband access in the state, according to a news release from the agency.

With more than two decades of nonprofit experience, Drummond-Bahl grew up in western Maine and graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Colby College in 1998. For the last seven years, she worked for the Maine Community Foundation, first as a senior program officer and then director of philanthropy. Drummond-Bahl developed and led initiatives for the foundation to support entrepreneurship, address the impacts of climate change and pursue digital equity for all Mainers. She has also served as policy director and interim executive director at GrowSmart Maine and program director at the Maine Development Foundation.

Drummond-Bahl lives with her husband and three boys in Rockland.

For more business news, visit CentralMaine.com.