Maine Policy Institute appoints new board members
The Maine Policy Institute added three new members to its board of directors: Christopher A. Pierce, Debra Plowman and Amy Volk.
Christopher A. Pierce Contributed photo
Pierce is the chairman and owner of The Dingley Press in Lisbon. The company prints 330 million mail order catalogs every year, for 150 nationwide customers. The Dingley Press has 350 full-time employees. Pierce was the chief financial officer for the Department of Health and Human Services during the LePage administration.
Debra Plowman Contributed photo
Plowman was first elected to the Maine House of Representatives in 1992 and served for eight years on the Maine Legislature’s Judiciary Committee. She was elected to the Maine Senate in 2004, and served eight years on the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee while also being elected assistant majority leader.
Plowman and her husband are co-owners of P.D.Q. Door Company, which has 75 employees and six locations throughout Maine. She works part time at the law firm of Lanham, Blackwell & Baber in Bangor.
Amy Volk Contributed photo
Volk is a former four-term lawmaker, chair of the Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development Committee and assistant majority leader of the Maine Senate.
She was a charter member of the board of Maine Connections Academy and serves as a board member of the Maine Christian Civic League. She is the director of communications and public relations for Volk Packaging Corporation in Biddeford.
Music society hires new artistic director
The Lewiston-based Maine Music Society named Dr. Richard Nickerson as its new artistic director.
Richard Nickerson Contributed photo
Nickerson serves as director of Choral Activities at Windham High School in Windham, a position he has held for 34 years. He has degrees in choral conducting as well as experience in orchestral conducting. Nickerson has served as the artistic director of the Boy Singers of Maine (2001-2009) and, from 2007 to 2014, as chorus conductor for the “Magic of Christmas” with the Portland Symphony Orchestra. His choirs have performed for many dignitaries, including three U.S. presidents.
Among Nickerson’s accolades are Maine Music Educator of the Year, Maine Distinguished Choral Director of the Year and runner up for Maine Teacher of the Year. In 2016, he was a top-10 finalist for the Music Educator Grammy Award. He served two terms as president of the Maine chapter of the American Choral Directors Association.
Nickerson’s opening concert will be “A Season of Celebration,” to be performed in December at Lewiston’s Gendron Franco Center.
Kennebec Behavioral Health staff members include, from left, Carla Stockdale, Tom McAdam and Tina Chapman. Contributed photo
Kennebec Behavioral Health receives $3.4M grant
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has awarded a $3.4 million grant to Kennebec Behavioral Health. KBH was founded in 1960 and operates clinics in Waterville, Skowhegan, Winthrop, Augusta and Farmington.
With the new federal funding, KBH — along with its partners Crisis & Counseling, MaineGeneral Health, Hart Consulting and several others — will expand services to serve as a one-stop shop for mental health, substance use treatment and other health care services.
The goal is to ensure access to 24/7/365 crisis care, care coordination with hospitals, primary care, law enforcement and schools, as well as access to high-quality services, including medication-assisted treatment to help stop the overdose crisis.
The initiative will be led by Tina Chapman, KBH’s senior engagement officer, and Carla Stockdale, the group’s clinical director.
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