Secretary of State Jim Condos has announced the appointment of Will Senning as the new Director of Elections and Campaign Finance for the office of the Secretary of State. Will replaces Kathy Scheele, who is retiring at the end of this month, after more than 13 years of dedicated service to this agency and to the state of Vermont.

“Will brings with him a solid commitment to ensuring fair, accurate, and transparent elections across the state,” stated Condos.

Jeffrey J. Morse, president and chief executive officer of River Valley Credit Union, has been elected to serve as the new Chair of the Brattleboro Retreat’s Board of Trustees. Jeff has served on the Retreat’s board since 2009, and is past chair of the Finance Committee. His tenure as Board Chair will run through 2016.

The Vermont Natural Resources Council is pleased to announce that Mari Zagarins of Montpelier has joined the staff as Membership and Outreach Coordinator.

Zagarins comes to VNRC from the Green Mountain Club, where she was the Director of Membership and Volunteer Services. At GMC, she was instrumental in significantly increasing the Club’s membership to over 10,000 – the largest number of members in the club’s history.

Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA), a national center for education in the arts, announced today the appointment of Terence Nance (Feature Films), Dan Schrecker (Animation & Visual Effects), and Tammy Marie Dudman (Animation), as founding faculty of its new film school. This unique film school joins a distinguished portfolio of fine arts graduate degree programs. The first class will be admitted to the inaugural class that begins in October 2013 on VCFA’s historic Montpelier, Vermont campus.

Ian Hommel has been named the executive chef at Maple Leaf Farm. Ian has been involved in the food industry as a culinary trained chef for over 20 years, and has worked in a variety of food venues, from five star restaurants and resorts to simply creating interesting foods at home and writing a food blog. Ian is passionate about food and takes pride in creating nutritious and interesting meals.

PEN New England announced the winners of their 2013 awards celebrating the best works of fiction, poetry and nonfiction by New England authors with University of Vermont faculty receiving the honor in two of the three categories.

Paul Frank + Collins Of Counsel, Allen D. Webster, CPA, has recently been appointed Vermont State Chair by the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) for the 2013-14 College year. ACTEC is a national organization of approximately 2,600 lawyers elected to membership by demonstrating the highest level of integrity, commitment to the profession, competence and experience as trust and estate counselors. As Vermont State Chair, Mr.

The Department of Economic, Housing and Community Development announced today that Lars Hasselblad Torres has been hired as Director of the Agency’s Office of the Creative Economy (OCE).

The OCE was created in 2011 by the Vermont Legislature in recognition of the growing role of the creative sector in Vermont’s economy. The office works with independent creatives, businesses and other partners to identify specific needs and prioritize initiatives for economic growth in areas of film, new media, marketing, graphic design, advertising, software and game development.