BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Coleen Marsh, Chair
Coleen was born in Belfast, and has lived in Waldo County most of her life. Her education is diverse: AA in Liberal Studies from UMA, coursework at UMO, Unity College and a certificate in Fluid Power from Kennebec Valley Technical College. She has worked at a wide variety of jobs including the Maine Dept. of Human Services, Coastal Economic Development, Stinson’s Canning, farm labor and retail management. For the past ten years she has managed Out of the Woods, a retail store on Main Street that offers Maine-made wood products and more.
Additionally, she works as an election worker at the polls in Belfast. She is widowed and has five grown children.

Mallory Banks Harnden, Secretary
A native of Belfast, Mallory has strong ties to the community and a long family history in the area. She graduated from Bowdoin College with honors in 2008 with a BA in English and a minor in Teaching. She received a Surdna Research Fellowship to plan and executed a yearlong, self-directed study of historic local architecture and worked as a research assistant for an author writing a book on a Maine architect, as an intern for Maine Preservation, and worked on site on the Damariscotta Baptist Church steeple restoration project. Outside of her architectural history/preservation work, Mallory teaches at Helping Hands Family School in Belfast.
Mallory says “I have a passion for Belfast – its history, present, and future. With several small business owners in my family, I am aware of the challenges that we face in this economic climate, and I am dedicated to helping business owners overcome these challenges and capitalize on their amazing strengths and individuality in this city. And through my prior work at Sutherland Conservation & Consulting, I am eager to share my knowledge of Federal and State tax credit projects as a tool to preserve Belfast’s remarkable architecture.

Amy Bowen, TreasurerAmy has lived in the Belfast area for the last 31 years and started her banking career 11 years ago at a small local bank. She is currently an Assistant Branch Manager at Bangor Savings Bank in Belfast and was involved in the start-up of the bank’s downtown branch. Over the past three years she has been on the board of three organizations in the downtown area. Amy currently sits as Our Town Belfast’s treasurer and serves on its organization committee. She also sits on the board of the Belfast Area Lions Club as its vice president.
Megan Cullen, Design Chair
As a National Trust for Historic Preservation certified architectural historian, and community development consultant, Megan has work on revitalization projects that promote restoration and adaptive reuse of local cultural resources. She has worked with grant-funding agencies to secure monetary support for such projects. Megan has worked with private property owners and developers, as well as municipal, state and federal agencies in design, engineering and construction projects. In this role, Megan has created design review guidelines and served as a member of a design review committee. She has successfully coordinated efforts to gain community support for implementing smart growth and historic preservation policies. She is well versed in resource identification surveys, property evaluation and assessment reports as well as the development of building conservation maintenance plans. She is currently working at Waterfall Arts and is Chair of the Design Committee.
Stephen Racioppi, Promotions Chair
Steve is a Maine native brought up in Western Maine in the town of Hebron. He graduated from Oxford Hills High School before attending the University of Maine in Orono where he majored in Business Management. Steve is currently a Regional Sales manager for the Northeast region for Bank of America supporting four sites (Cleveland OH, Utica NY, Scranton PA and Newark NJ) developing sales goals and strategic plans to achieve key corporate revenue targets.
He is actively involved in the community. He spends time coaching several athletic programs including youth wrestling, Little League baseball and pee-wee football. He was also recently selected to the Board of Directors for the Waldo County Little League.
Stephen volunteers time to speak to high school seniors on the importance of maintaining good credit once they are out of school. He resides in Northport with his wife Kirsten and their two children.
Thomas Kittredge, Economic Restructuring Chair
Anne Sagesse, Organization Chair
Although Anne’s educational background and initial career was in speech pathology and working with special needs children, Anne has evolved into a farmer. Currently, Anne runs Sweet Henry’s, a small bakery that uses locally-sourced foodstuffs to create sweet and savory treats for sale at the Belfast and Camden Farmers’ Markets and select retail locations. She also serves as Secretary of the Camden Farmers’ Market and Community Coordinator/Vice-President of the Belfast Farmers’ Market. She is also a founder and board member of the Maine Federation of Farmers’ Markets.
Anne is active at her son’s school doing a variety of volunteer work. She helps organize the annual scholarship auction and teaches a weekly class on food history and science.
Anne believes that the future of strong communities lies in strengthening local networks. After over a year of research and talking to people around the country, she believes the NTHP Main Street program is the best method for promoting a truly locally sourced economic and cultural platform for a community.
Anne currently serves as Chair of Our Town Belfast’s Organization Committee.

MEMBERS AT LARGE

Paul Doody
Paul graduated from Husson College with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management. He has been in Banking for 26 years, and currently is a Vice President, Commercial Lending for Camden National Bank. Community Involvement – currently President of the Belfast Area Chamber of Commerce, Board Member and past President & Treasurer for the Northport Golf Club, Member and past President for Belfast Rotary, Board Member & Secretary for the Prospect Community Club.

Bryant Hall
Bryant is a Belfast native who graduated from the University of Vermont in 2010 with a degree in Entrepreneurship. He is the owner of SCOOPS, an ice cream parlor in downtown Belfast He is a member of the Promotion and Economic Restructuring committees and has worked for several years at a downtown business.

Erin Herbig
Erin Herbig is Representative for House District 43 which includes Belfast, Belmont, and Northport. The granddaughter of a poultry farmer, Erin Herbig has deep local roots. Her family reaches back five generations in Waldo County. A graduate of Belfast Area High School, and Boston College, where she graduated with a degree in English and Studio Art. Erin currently works as the Outreach Coordinator for Maine Farmland Trust. MFT is Maine’s only statewide land trust focused exclusively on farmland. She works hard to protect and preserve Maine’s farmland, keep agricultural lands working, and support the future of farming in Maine.
Erin works with the Maine Women’s Lobby as a volunteer for the ‘Girls Day’ Program which brings eighth grade girls from across Maine to the State House to learn about the legislative process. Erin serves on the board at the Waterfall Arts Center as an advocate for the growing art community in Belfast.

Jeannie Hurd
Cindy Lloyd
Rebecca Miller
Jamie Oates
Jamie Oates is a graduate of Boston University and Massachusetts College of Art. He’s been making handmade pottery for 35 years and still likes getting his hands in clay. When he moved to Waldo County in 1980, there were three hardware stores in Belfast and chicken feathers along Main Street.In 1988, Jamie and his wife, Jeannette Faunce, established Mainely Pottery, a showcase for many of Maine’s finest potters. Jamie has served as president of the Belfast Curling Club and president of the Maine Crafts Guild. He thinks Belfast has a great downtown and expects that there is potential to make the downtown even more alive.

STAFF

Breanna Pinkham Bebb, Executive Director
Originally from a bit further up the coast, Breanna now makes her home in the heart of downtown Belfast, a short walk away from the Our Town office. A recent graduate of the University of Maine at Machias, with a degree in interdisciplinary fine arts, Breanna worked her way through college as assistant to the director at an arts nonprofit, Schoodic Arts for All. She has performed as a vocalist and on steel drums and ukulele in community and college ensembles throughout the state. A lover of all things Maine, Breanna is thrilled to be an integral part of the Our Town Belfast effort to boost business and celebrate community in her own downtown, and serves additionally as a board member with the Belfast Area Chamber of Commerce, as an executive committee member with the Belfast Creative Coalition, and on the Downtown Revitalization Grant design committee for the City of Belfast.

The OUR TOWN BELFAST Board of Directors meets regularly on the first Wednesday of the month, at the OTB office in the Mall on High Street;  171 High Street, Suite #6.