Shawn Leene has joined Davis & Hodgdon Associates CPAs as an Associate Accountant. Shawn recently graduated from the University of Vermont with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with an accounting focus. Shawn’s prior experience includes accounting and bookkeeping services for a Vermont-based family business.

Shawn will be operating from the firm’s Williston location and servicing the firm’s clients throughout Vermont. He currently resides in Burlington.

Element Real Estate VT has opened its inaugural office at 139 Bank Street, Burlington. Linda Letourneau of V/T Commercial represented the landlord, First Baptist Church of Burlington, in the lease. Element Real Estate specializes in the sale of residential real estate throughout the Greater Burlington Area.

Photo: Left to right-- Sarah Dopp, First Baptist Church of Burlington, Linda Letourneau, V/T Commercial, Chris Thompson, First Baptist Church of Burlington, Jessica Bridge, Element Real Estate, Dan Cypress, Element Real Estate).

Darn Tough Vermont, the American manufacturer of the fastest growing collection of performance outdoor and lifestyle socks, has announced that Mark Yardley has joined the brand as Vice President of Sales. Yardley joins Darn Tough from W.L Gore & Associates where he was tasked with strategic business development for 15 years.

Alan DeForest ’75 has been named chairman of the Board of Trustees at Norwich University.

DeForest has served on the board since 2000. He replaces former Army Chief of Staff General Gordon R. Sullivan ’59, who joined the board in 1995, served as chairman since 2003 and stepped down at last week’s board meeting.

SW Cole Engineering, Inc. (SW COLE) welcomes Matthew T. Taylor, PG, back to the firm as a senior geologist. Taylor, who previously worked for SW COLE as a project manager from 1998 until 2007, returns in a senior position as the firm looks to strengthen its geoenvironmental capabilities.

Internal Medicine practice at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC) is pleased to welcome Diane E. Smith, MD. With this appointment, Smith also joins the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Putnam Medical Group.

Renewable Energy Vermont’s Board of Directors has announced that after an extensive nationwide search, Olivia Campbell Andersen will lead the diverse and growing, clean energy organization as its new Executive Director.

“We are incredibly excited to have Olivia on board, during an especially critical time for renewable energy in our state, and nationwide” said Jeff Forward, Chairman of the REV Board of Directors and President of Forward Thinking Consultants.

The 189th annual meeting of Vermont Mutual Insurance Group® was held on April 20, 2016, where current President & CEO, Daniel C. Bridge, was also elected Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Barb Watters of Alan Ashe Insurance in Essex, VT recently competed in and won the Region 1 Confidence While Communicating Speak-Off in South Portland, Me. Region 1 is made up of the 6 New England States, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

President Ara Hagan has announced that Hagan Associates is honored to have won two of the 22nd Annual Communicator Awards, the largest and most competitive awards program honoring creative excellence for communications professionals. The awards were presented by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts on April 26th.

Hagan Associates’ design and execution for Vermont Original’s Bag Balm website was given an Award of Excellence in the Websites: Consumer Goods category, and an Award of Distinction in the Websites: Beauty and Cosmetics category.