Front Porch Forum is on the move again! FPF expanded into new headquarters this week, still on Burlington’s waterfront, and has hired a new software engineer. Since 2006, FPF has been helping neighbors connect and build community by hosting a statewide network of online local forums. Our strong tech team plays a crucial role in this work.

Fernando Cresta from Nedde Real Estate represented the landlord and Peter Yee from Yellow Sign Commercial represented tenant Movement Mortgage in the leasing of 2,505 +/- square feet of office space at 1889 Williston Road South Burlington, VT. The lease began February 1st, 2017. Photo (left to right): Jay Vallieres (Movement Mortgage) and Fernando Cresta (Nedde Real Estate).

Nedde Real Estate is a full service commercial real estate firm specializing in acquisitions, development and brokerage.

Freeman French Freeman, a full-service architecture, planning, and interior design firm based in Burlington, Vermont, welcomes Catherine Lange as Intern Architect. With a degree in design from Cornell University and a Masters in Architecture from the Rochester Institute of Technology, Catherine brings an exceptionally strong skill set to our 20-person firm. She joins several other architects finalizing the design for Burlington City Place, a new mixed-use development in the heart of downtown Burlington.

Award-winning journalist Taylor Dobbs is joining the news team at Vermont’s independent newsweekly, Seven Days. Since September 2013, he’s been a digital reporter at Vermont Public Radio, where he has distinguished himself online and on-air. Dobbs, 27, has won regional Edward R Murrow Awards for his coverage of the opiate crisis, a quadruple homicide and Green Mountain Power’s failure to document expenses. Earlier this month, he won a national Murrow Award for a video illustrating how the Iowa Democratic caucus works — using Legos.

Four Seasons Sotheby’s International Realty is pleased to announce that Stephanie Douglas has joined the company’s South Burlington, VT, office as a sales associate. Stephanie brings over 20 years of business experience to her passion for real estate. Prior to joining Four Seasons Sotheby’s International Realty, she owned several successful boutiques in Burlington and Montpelier, where reliability, respect and attention to her clients were her guiding principles.

Austin Nava will join Allen, Brooks & Minor as a Commercial Real Estate Appraiser Trainee. He brings over six years of commercial lending experience, as well as a background in operations management in the construction and property management industries. His experience with multiple facets of commercial real estate will provide a good foundation for his new role as an appraiser.

Vesta Bovair, an insurance industry veteran, has joined National Life Group as executive vice president and head of the company’s operations division. Bovair is in charge of National Life’s Customer Innovation Group, which includes processing policies, paying claims and answering agent and client questions, among many other responsibilities, for the company’s life insurance and annuity policy businesses.

John Spencer has been with Inntopia, the Stowe-based tech company since 2006 and has over twenty-five years of experience in Information Technology. He was promoted to Vice President, Onboarding and Implementation in October 2017, where he is responsible for leading and ensuring continuity and communication between the Commerce Implementation team, the Commerce Continuing Engineering team, and the Sales team. He has years of management, business, and technology experience in financial services, legal services, health care, and higher education.