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V O L . X X V I I N O. X V I 60 Fact Book / Doing Business in Maine B U S I N E S S R E S O U R C E S Group. She also has been a member of the Island Heritage & Artifacts and Property Standards Committees of the Star Island Corp. She holds a master's degree in historic preservation from the Pratt Institute and a bachelor of science in lin- guistics from Georgetown University. Maine Preservation, chartered in 1972, is the state's only statewide, non- profit historic preservation organization. The Roux Institute's Techstars division hires Silicon Valley vet Lars Perkins, a former software entre- preneur, angel investor and consul- tant for startups in California, was named managing director of a key Portland's new Roux Institute Techstars Accelerator. He started April 12. Roux Institute, which was estab- lished two years ago with $200 million in funding and is part of Northeastern University, is based in Portland. e institute's Techstars Accelerator is designed to gather and train entrepre- neurs working in artificial intelligence, life sciences and health, as well as data and analytics. Perkins comes to the position after a career in software dating back to an enterprise company he took public in the 1990s. Since then, Perkins has served as the founding partner and managing partner of Idealab's Boston incubator, where he launched Picasa, a well-known company that produced software for digital photography. After selling Picasa to Google in 2004, he joined the Menlo Park, Calif.- based Google for two years, including a year as director of product management, according to his LinkedIn profile. He is also a certified flight instructor. More recently, Perkins has been angel investing and consulting for startups including Community.com, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based company that manages direct messaging with large audiences on behalf of celebri- ties and other public figures, as a way of "monetizing" their social networks without direct involvement. Perkins lives in Camden, and for his new job will commute between the midcoast town and Portland. INTERIM LEADERS A seasoned leader at Maine Community Foundation Sterling Speirn, Maine Community Foundation's interim president and CEO, is a seasoned foundation executive. He led the W.K. Kellogg Foundation from 2005-13, and most recently has served as a senior fellow for the National Conference on Citizenship. Speirn, who started in June, stepped in for Steve Rowe, who will retire after six years at the helm. Speirn, who has degrees from Stanford University and the University of Michigan Law School, has also led other foundations and even worked at Apple Computer Inc. in the late 1980s, according to his LinkedIn profile. A search for a new president and CEO will start this fall. Maine Community Foundation ranked No. 2 on the list of Maine's top 15 foundations, published last September in the annual Giving Guide. It had annual giving of $27.18 million for fiscal-year 2018, the most recent year available, and assets of $524 million. A veteran officer tagged as Finance Authority of Maine's interim leader When Bruce Wagner, longtime CEO of the Finance Authority of Maine, retired on Feb. 5, the board called on a seasoned FAME executive to lead in the interim. Acting CEO Carlos Mello, who is chief risk officer at the quasi- independent state agency, has been at the agency for nearly nine years. He is former president and CEO of Prudential Bank and Trust in Hartford, Conn., and is a certified financial planner. He holds a bach- elor's degree in accounting from Boston College. Wagner had been CEO since 2014, led FAME through two strategic planning exercises and guided FAME through COVID-relief efforts, offering clients loan deferrals, modified terms and interest rates and other special programs. Overall, FAME is a key part of Maine's financing infrastructure, step- ping in to guarantee loans. According to the most recent Mainebiz Book of Lists, FAME's largest loan in 2019 went to Gallery Leather Manufacturing Inc. in Trenton. Of the $2.1 million loan, FAME's exposure was $999,000. In December, the FAME board approved up to $1.9 million in loan insurance and a $1 million direct loan to help support increased access to broad- band in Belfast and South Portland. In essence, the agency insured 20% of the overall $9.5 million needed to construct a fiber network. FAME was also an investor helping bring back the Saddleback ski area, in November approving issuance of a tax credit certificate related to $1.5 mil- lion in investments through the New Markets Capital Investment program. It had previously approved leveraged loan insurance of 17% (or $2.5 million) on a $14.1 million loan. A search for Wagner's successor is underway. FAME expects to fill the CEO position by late year or early next, subject to approval by Gov. Janet Mills and the state Legislature. STILL TO BE FILLED Central Maine Power Co. As of press time, Central Maine Power Co.'s president and CEO, Doug Herling, retired at the end of June. He had been at CMP for 36 years, including three as CEO. CMP has not named a successor. » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E M ANAGI NG DI R EC TOR Roux Institute's Techstar Accelerator Lars Perkins I NTER I M PR ES I DENT AND C EO Maine Community Foundation Sterling Speirn P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F T H E RO U X I N S T I T U T E P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F T H E F I N A N C E A U T H O R I T Y O F M A I N E P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F T H E M A I N E C O M M U N I T Y F O U N DAT I O N When [startups] get to the commercialization stage, looking to accelerate, they come to Maine Venture Fund. We are doing equity investment, for the next five to 10 years. — Joe Powers Maine Venture Fund I NTER I M C EO AND C H I EF R I S K OFFI C ER Finance Authority of Maine Carlos Mello

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