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V O L . X X I I N O. V I M A R C H 2 1 , 2 0 1 6 6 Community college system hires new president e Maine Community College System announced on March 8 that Derek Langhauser, who has been serv- ing as interim president of the MCCS and its seven campuses for the past year, has been hired to permanently serve as the system's president. e hiring of Langhauser comes after a yearlong search by the system to fi nd a replacement after previous MCCS President John Fitzsimmons resigned following Gov. Paul LePage's criti- cisms that he was too slow in acting on the governor's higher education agenda. According to MCCS spokes- woman Helen Pelletier, 14 other applicants from across the country showed interest in the position after extending the system's search in June in an attempt to draw more applicants, according to the Bangor Daily News. Langhauser has worked for MCCS since 1994, serving as its lawyer for 20 years before taking over as interim president in January 2015. As the sys- tem's president he will earn $175,000 per year. "From the start of his service as interim president, the board has rec- ognized and been deeply grateful for the strength of President Langhauser's leadership," Robert Clark, chair of the MCCS board of trustees and presi- dential search committee, said in a statement announcing Langhauser's appointment. "Nevertheless, we were committed to conducting a full and impartial national search in order to ensure that we identifi ed the right person to lead the system into the future. We are confi dent that we have achieved that goal." N O T E W O R T H Y S T A T E W I D E The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded a total of $5.3 million in grant funding to sup- port health centers across Maine. Recipients included Katahdin Valley Health Center, Patten, $3.1 million; St. Croix Regional Family Health Center, Princeton, $1.1 million; and Maine Migrant Programs Inc., Augusta, $1.1 million. The department also awarded over $1.2 million to community health centers in Maine to help fi ght the opioid epidemic. These recipients in- cluded Health Access Network Inc. in Lincoln, Penobscot Community Health Center Inc. in Bangor and Portland Community Health Center each re- ceived $325,000 and Healthreach Community Health Centers in Waterville received $250,000. The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded $217,935 to Caribou Municipal Airport to support the construction of a 200-foot taxi lane to provide access to aircraft hangars and $78,325 to Dexter Regional Airport to support an updated master plan for the airport that will outline objectives for its future development, including a wildlife hazard assessment study. More condos planned for India Street neighborhood Portland's India Street neighbor- hood continues to attract investors. A Boston developer has sought approval for a four-story building that would B U S I N E S S M A I N E Business news from around the state S T A T E W I D E S O U T H E R N 14_261_3131. oo George Casey Discover what thousands of CEOs already know. Vistage works. Get answers. Take action. Like you, the members of a Vistage Advisory Board are proven business leaders and critical thinkers. They have smart ideas and insightful opinions and this is the forum to express them. At our monthly meetings, you'll encounter lively discussions where business leaders tell it like it is. If you are a CEO, key executive or business owner who is interested in finding out more about our Vistage group in Southern Maine, call 207.869.5491 or visit vistage.com/portlandme. CEI's new CEO is a familiar face in Maine Coastal Enterprises Inc. announced that its board of directors has unanimously chosen Betsy Biemann as the organiza- tion's next CEO. It also promoted Keith Bisson to the position of president. Biemann is the former president of the Maine Technology Institute and led the Maine Food Cluster Project at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. She currently serves as a consultant to the nonprofi t FocusMaine, a nonpartisan, private-sector effort. She has served on CEI's board of directors, including as vice chair, before stepping down at the end of 2015. Bisson is senior vice president of program management and development at CEI, in addition to managing the Brunswick-based nonprofi t's small business counseling, natural resources and workforce development programs. The appointment of Biemann and Bisson follows a year-long transition and search process to fi nd a replacement for CEI's founder, President and CEO Ron Phillips, who will retire this spring after founding the nonprofi t 38 years ago. He announced plans to step down in June 2015. The introduction of the new executives came a week before the nonprofi t's March 15 annual meeting. "With Betsy and Keith, CEI will have the leadership strength to continue and grow CEI's impact in communities in Maine and across the rural United States," said Ellen Seidman, chair of CEI's board of directors. "Both Betsy and Keith share a deep commitment to rural community and economic devel- opment and to social justice, and they have the talent, imagination and net- works — in Maine and nationally — as well as the management and fi nancial skills that are needed to lead this dynamic organization in an increasingly challenging world." CEI was founded in 1977 to "develop job-creating natural resources and small business ventures in rural regions of Maine," according to its website. It now serves Maine, areas of northern New England and upstate New York. One of its programs, run by CEI Capital Management LLC, manages a $683 million allocation under the New Markets Tax Credit program, a federal invest- ment fund. Another subsidiary, CEI Investment Notes Inc., provides a way for individuals to invest in the local economy. CEI Ventures Inc. and CEI Community Ventures Inc. invest venture capital "in promising job-generating businesses." The nonprofi t has total assets of $120 million and a net worth of $43 million, according to its most recent annual report. It has $770 million in capital under investment. Since its inception nearly four decades ago, CEI has facilitated $1.2 billion in fi nancing for 2,555 businesses and community development projects. Its strategy has been to "anticipate and mitigate the impacts of a changing world that has not always been kind to the communities we serve," according to the annual report. — M a i n e b i z S t a f f P H O T O S / C O U R T E S Y C E I Betsy Biemann Keith Bisson