About and Contact Us

Kimberly Lindlof

President & CEO
Kimberly@midmainechamber.com
Photo credit Bowdoin Photography

Kelly Smith

Program Assistant
programs@midmainechamber.com

Patricia Michaud

Office Manager
customerservice@midmainechamber.com

Brittnae DeRoche

Marketing Director
marketing@midmainechamber.com

Gary Levesque

Chair
glevesque@ft.newyorklife.com

Gary Levesque grew up in Jay, Maine and earned his Bachelors L.S. from University of Maine, Orono. He’s a financial service professional with New York Life Insurance Co. and has worked there for 20 years. Gary is a past board member of the Hospice volunteers of Waterville Area, and Past Trustee of Oakland United Baptist Church. He is a Member of Kennebec Valley Elks Club and is a Mason. He’s Past chair of the Mid-Maine Chamber Golf Committee. Gary joined the board to create a better economic environment to attract businesses to the area as well as to help businesses that are already here to prosper and to be able to hire and retain more employees. Gary is married, has two children, and enjoys golfing when he can.

Dan Bernier

1st Vice Chair
dan@bernierlawoffice.com

My family has lived in Waterville for three (3) generations. I want to see the Waterville Area grow, prosper, and be an area with a high quality of life for future generations. Dan is past president of the Waterville Bar Association and a past member of the Maine State Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices. Dan is Dedimus Justice, a member of the Waterville Housing Board, and Cubmaster for Cub Scout Pack 436. He practices law in Waterville where he lives with his wife and children.

Joy McKenna

2nd Vice Chair
joy.mckenna@mainegeneral.org

Growing up in Bangor, Joy developed a passion for volunteering and participated in a wide variety of activities in school and in the community. Her desire to work in all aspects of community improvement and personal empowerment led her to government. She served as a staff person in the U.S. Congress and for two health care-related nonprofits during her 10 years in Washington, D.C. Joy returned to Maine to join the communications office of Governor Baldacci. Since 2011, Joy has served at MaineGeneral Health, the largest private employer in the Kennebec Valley. She became director of Marketing & Communications in 2014.

Brandi Meisner

Director At Large
brandi@higginsandbolduc.com

Brandi, a native of Skowhegan, is a successful insurance producer at the Higgins & Bolduc Agency, Inc. in Oakland, where she provides her clients with personal and commercial lines insurance expertise that she has gained in her 10+ years in the insurance industry. After graduating from Skowhegan High School, Brandi went on to study locally, at Thomas College earning her BS in Business Management and MBA. Brandi serves as Vice-President of Main Street Skowhegan’s Board of Directors as well as Chair of the Wine, Beer & Food Tasting Committee for the Skowhegan Rotary Club. Brandi also Chairs the Marketing & Membership Committee, Chairs the Annual Awards Ceremony Committee and sits on the Executive Board for Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce.

Gary Zemrak

Treasurer
gzemrak@johnnyseeds.com

Gary Zemrak is the controller at Johnny’s Selected Seeds in Winslow. Before working at Johnny’s, he worked for the Morning Sentinel/Kennebec Journal for 30 years. Gary holds a Bachelors of Science degree in Business Administration with a major in Accounting from the University of Maine, Orono. In the Chamber, Gary is on the Information Services Committee and serves as treasurer on the Executive Board.

Bruce Harrington

Past Chair
Bharrington@mainestatecu.org

Bruce is a commercial loan officer at Maine State Credit Union. Bruce is responsible for commercial lending in the greater Waterville and Augusta Areas. He is board chair, chairs Business to Business Showcase and Business Expansion & Retention Committees, and serves on the Bass Fishing Subcommittee, and Marketing Committee. Bruce earned his undergraduate finance degree and his MBA at the University of Maine in Orono, and is currently pursuing his Doctorate in Business Administration. Bruce was born and raised in Fairfield, where he now lives with his wife, two daughters, and two sons.

Rick Whalen

gwhalen@investorscapital.com

Rick is part of the Choice Investment management team. Rick works with individuals, families and small businesses primarily in the central Maine region. He is a Waterville Elks Lodge member, Maine Association of Realtors Foundation board member and Hospice Volunteers of Waterville Area member. Mr. Whalen resides in Skowhegan, Maine with his longtime companion Deborah Dow and his two stepchildren, Trever and Linsey. He enjoys spending summer weekends with his family at his camp on North Pond located in Mercer, Maine.

Tom Davis

tom@areyoureadytoparty.net

Tom owns Are You Ready to Party??. He attended University of Maine, Orono where he received his Civil Engineering Technology degree. He currently serves on the Inland Hospital Trustee Board, Community Benefit Co-Chair and Governance Committee Chair. He has been involved with the Chamber for close to 25 years in many roles.

Shawn Michaud

smichaud@cunninghamsecurity.com

Shawn is a Sales Representative at Seacoast Security. He currently serves on many boards including, Board of Director for Pen Bay Chamber of Commerce and multiple committees, Member of Waterville Elks, multiple committees Bangor Chamber of Commerce, Member Rock Coast Networkers. He has been involved with the Chamber for over 13 years.

Ken Hoehlein

khoehlein@fairpoint.net

Ken Hoehlein grew up in Franklin Square, New York He attended St. Louis University and earned his B.A. He works for FairPoint Communications as an account executive and has been there for 7 years. Ken is a past director of the Skowhegan Chamber of Commerce and was previously on the Membership committee with the Kennebec Valley Chamber. He’s a member of the Bass Fishing Advisory Committee for DIF&W, president of the Bangor Bass Club and a part time columnist for Northeast Sporting Journal. He’s on the Chamber’s Business Expansion & Retention committee.

Sabra Hayden

sireland@surette-realestate.com

Sabra Hayden has been with Century 21 Surette Real Estate as an Associate Broker for 5 years and works part time for the State of Maine, Bureau of Motor Vehicles. Sabra attended Maine State Academy of Hair Design and Maine Real Estate Training Academy. She was named Rookie of the Year 2011 by the Century 21 Maine Broker Council. She is in year 2 of a 3 year term on the Board of Directors for Hospice Volunteers of Waterville area and chair for 3 years of the Hospice Shamrock Shake Dance. Sabra has 3 sons, 2 daughter’s in-laws and 1 grandson. Sabra is engaged to Steve Hayden with a July 2017 wedding date planned. Sabra & Steve reside in Oakland with their dog Twinkhi and a Thomas College student.

Mary Carpinito

mary@amiciscucina.com

Mary Carpinito is the owner and manager of Amici’s Cucina, which opened in 2010. In addition to serving on the board of directors, Mary also works to plan Mid-Maine Chamber’s largest event on the Taste of Waterville planning committee. Born in Lynn, Massachusetts, she now resides in Winslow and has two children and two grandchildren. Mary looks forward to continuing her involvement with Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce.

Beth Gibbs

gibbsb@thomas.edu

Beth Gibbs grew up in Caribou, Maine. She received her BS in Accounting from Husson College, her MBA from Thomas College and did her doctorate work at North Central University. Beth is the senior vice president of Financial Affairs at Thomas College and has worked there for 26 years. Beth is currently the Central Maine Growth Council’s treasurer, a Inland Hospital board member and has been involved with the Waterville Opera House Nominating Committee. Getting involved with the Chamber allows Beth to stay in touch with area businesses, promote the Chamber benefits and programs, partner on the business breakfasts bringing useful information to small business owners, chairs the business breakfast series committee and helps with the financial and the management of the organization.

Dr. Richard R. Hopper

president@kvcc.me.edu

Dr. Hopper has 31 years of professional experience in teaching, higher education administration, economics of education, and international development. His formal academic training is in economics (George Washington University), international affairs (Geneva, Switzerland), and education policy (Harvard University). In addition to a 15-year career at the World Bank as a Senior Education Specialist, he has managed US higher education programs abroad, assisted in the establishment of new universities abroad, and advised governments and individual institutions on investments, reforms, and labor market linkages.

Charlie Gaunce

chas@cmautogroup.net

Central Maine Motors Auto Group
54 Years in Automotive Retailing, Central Maine Motors, Inc. Chevrolet-Buick,Central Maine Chrysler- Dodge-Jeep,Central Maine Toyota-Scion
Director and Past Chairman of the Maine Automobile Dealers Association (MADA),Trustee of NADA Workers Compensation Trust,Member, Maine Motor Vehicle Franchise Board, Director of the National Automobile Dealers Association, Member, Waterville Rotary Club having served as Director and Past President, Honorary Trustee, Inland Hospital serving for 47 years as Board Chair, Director and on many committees. Past Chair, Inland Foundation.

Heather MacKenzie Thorne

hmackenzie@cbplourde.com

Heather is a realtor at Coldwell Banker Plourde Real Estate and has been in the industry since 2011. She is a Waterville native, and currently resides in Winslow with her husband Nick and Chocolate Lab, Duke. She received her bachelors in mental health and human services from the University of Maine, August in 2013. Heather is involved in many civic organizations and serves on many committees and boards including Marketing and Membership committee for Mid-Maine Chamber, KV Connect steering committee, co-chair for Mid-Maine Chambers Super Raffle committee, board member for Central Maine Apartment Owners Association and active landlord, Kennebec Valley Board of Realtors, Auction Committee for Mount Merici Academy, Co-volunteer coordinator for Sukeforth Family Festival of Trees, and Professional Member with USA Gymnastics. She has also served with the National Association of Women’s Gymnastics Judges. In her spare time, she enjoys going on road trips with her husband, hosting dinner parties, going to the beach, taking spa days, and taking yoga classes.

Sara Barry

sbarry@emhs.org

Sara, originally from Seattle, has a BA in Communications from Washington State University. She has been the director of Community Relations at Inland Hospital in Waterville since 2004. Part of her role is to lead community health outreach initiatives and events, including Inland’s popular Family Fun Series, which encourages families with children to be active and eat healthy. Promoting the mission of local educational institutions is important to Sara and it’s why she continues to proudly serve on the planning committee for Kennebec Valley Community College’s annual Gala for Scholarships event. Sara also participates on the Chamber marketing and golf event committees. As a former TV news reporter, Sara enjoys learning new things and writing. In her spare time, she likes to golf, walk and snowshoe the region’s trails, play ping pong, and watch movies. Sara and her husband, Rick, love to travel and are on a mission to play every golf course in the state of Maine.