People in the news

NRG Systems, Inc., a manufacturer of wind measurement equipment, announces the addition of Abdou Tahirou as electronics technician. Tahirou comes to NRG Systems from Alstrom Transport Telecite in Williston where he assembled electrical communication systems and tested printed circuit boards.

The Board of Directors at Yestermorrow Design/Build School has announced Kate Stephenson as the School’s new Executive Director. Stephenson has a long history with Yestermorrow. She first came to the School in 2002 as a design/build intern and has held a variety of positions within the organization. She has served as an Associate Director and then Director of Operations.

St. Johnsbury Academy Headmaster, Tom Lovett has announced that Ron Steen has been elected as a new member of the St. Johnsbury Academy Board of Trustees. The election took place during a January meeting of the Board. In addition to the appointment of a new Trustee, the meeting included the naming of Trustee John Garey as Trustee Emeritus. Garey has served as an Academy Trustee since 1981.

Employment and Labor attorney Peter B. Robb, who practices from DRM’s Brattleboro Office, will serve as deputy managing partner and chief operating officer. Robb is nationally known for his representation of management in employment and labor law, and has been the chair of the Employment and Labor Practice Group at the firm for many years.

Business law attorney Paul H. Ode, Jr. of Burlington has been elected managing partner and chief executive officer of the law firm Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC. Ode took over on January 1 for John H. Marshall, who has held the post since the firm first adopted a managing partner governance model in 2002. Ode was elected by the firm’s directors in December.

Burlington attorney Thomas D. Kohler, an intellectual property litigator and patent prosecutor, was elected to membership in the firm as a director after first joining DRM in the fall. Most recently, Kohler was a partner in the San Francisco office of Morgan Lewis & Bockius.

Vermont College of Fine Arts announces that two members of its arts community have won national honors for their writing for young adults. Faculty member Kathi Appelt’s middle grade novel The Underneath (Atheneum, 2008) has won a Newbery Honor, presented by the American Library Association, and VCFA Board of Trustees member and former faculty member Tobin (M.

Eric D. Jones, who practices in both the Burlington and Lebanon, N.H. offices, will be the new chair of the Employment and Labor Practice Group. Jones represents regional and national employers in a broad range of matters, including the defense of employment disputes before state and federal courts and enforcement agencies.

Jennifer Smith was recently voted 2008 Employee of the Year at Otter Creek Awnings, Sunrooms & Custom Closets of Williston, Vermont. Smith, a resident of Jericho, joined Otter Creek in 1997 in the role of Office Manager.

Michael Burak, a member of Burak, Anderson & Melloni, has been named by Super Lawyers magazine as one of the top attorneys in Vermont. Only 5% of the lawyers in New England received this peer recognition and professional achievement award. Anja Freiburg and Shane McCormack were also named as “Rising Stars” by Super Lawyers magazine.

Dinse, Knapp & McAndrew, P.C. a business and litigation law firm with offices in Burlington, Vermont and Plattsburgh, New York announced today that two attorneys have joined the firm. Andy MacIlwaine joined the firm as an associate in September, 2008. MacIlwaine practices litigation with emphases on civil cases, including professional malpractice defense and commercial litigation.

A native Vermonter with 20 years of experience in family care is making the Chelsea Health Center his workplace and town of Washington his home. Dr Brian Sargent has returned to Vermont and Gifford Medical Center after a career in the US Navy that spanned 32 years. Born in Northfield, Sargent grew up in Bradford and Underhill.