New business? Expansion? Promotions? E-mail information to weekly@bangordailynews.net or mail it to The Weekly, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, ME 04402; or drop it off at the front desk of the Buck Street entrance of the Bangor Daily News, 491 Main St., Bangor.

Bangor

President’s Club Award

Paul Cary of Bangor, loan officer at Downeast Mortgage Corp. in Bangor, has received the President’s Club Award for outstanding performance. Cary, who is a 25-year veteran of the mortgage industry, was honored for the volume of home loans closed in 2002. His territory is Greater Bangor.

Downeast, with headquarters in South Portland, opened its Bangor office last year. To obtain information about the company, call 985-3256.

Personal trainer

Jaime Call, a certified personal trainer with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology, has become vice president of clinical operations for Innovative Fitness in Bangor. She will oversee personal training staff in exercise kinesiology and physiology, review client programming and saftey, and provide assistance to the company president of Innovative Fitness. Call will continue to work directly with clients.

Call joined Innovative Fitness in September 2000 while finishing her education at the University of Maine, where she graduated with high honors. She also attended Northeastern University in Boston where she was employed at Healthworks for Women. She has expertise in rehabilitation for athletes and the general population, and holds several certifications.

To obtain information about Innovative Fitness programs, call 942-3200.

Grand opening

Vintage Threads will hold a grand opening 10 a.m.-4p.m. Friday, March 21, at 130 Hammond St. Mayor Nichi Farnham will participate in ribbon cutting ceremonies. Owners Trudy Darling and Susan Chase will give away special prizes every hour all day.

Vintage Threads offers wearable and collectible vintage clothing, designer resale, one-of-a-kind creations and accessories both old and new.

The store is located in the restored Clark House. For information, call 992-2677.

Brewer

Loan officer

John Hess of Brewer has joined the staff of Downeast Mortgage Corp. in Bangor as a loan officer. A seven-year veteran in the mortgage industry, his territory covers Greater Bangor and Hancock County.

Hampden

SBA Success Award

Richard J. Larkin and Nancy B. Larkin of Hampden, owners of Larkin Enterprises Inc., won the 2003 SBA Entrepreneurial Success Award for Maine. Elwood “Skip” Foye, vice president for Peoples Heritage Bank, nominated the Larkins for the award.

The Entrepreneurial Success Award is presented annually to a firm initially launched as a small business that has since grown to a large company with the assistance of the SBA. The enterprise must have demonstrated creativity, imagination and the ability to remain competitive. In addition, the company must have been active in civic projects.

In 1994 the Larkins formed a staffing company serving the energy industry. While Nancy Larkin handled payroll administration and bookkeeping, Richard Larkin located, placed, and supervised personnel on job sites from Maine to China. In 1995, with assistance from the SBA, the Larkins continued to expand the business.

From 1999 to 2001, growth in the energy industry propelled the company’s tenfold growth. Larkin Enterprises Inc. now is a professional and technical personnel firm specializing in the power generation, mechanical and electrical industries.

The company supplies technical and support personnel on a contract basis to power generation and utility industries in the United States and internationally. It now employs 30 corporate employees in its new 10,000 square foot office building in the Ammo Industrial Park in Hampden.

Richard and Nancy Larkin will be honored at the award celebration May 8 in Portland.

Orono

Governor’s breakfast

ORONO – Economic growth through Canadian partnerships is the theme of the eighth annual Governor’s International Community Breakfast to be hosted by the University of Maine on March 31.

At the breakfast, organized by the World Affairs Council of Maine, Gov. John Baldacci will discuss the key components of his economic plan for the state of Maine, which includes the creation of an international trade zone to take advantage of the business opportunities between Maine, the Maritime Provinces and Quebec.

The trade zone will promote joint efforts in trade, transportation and tourism. Baldacci will discuss his vision for the initiative and the expansion of economic opportunities in northern Maine, the Maritimes and Quebec.

Baldacci will be joined by Richard Coyle, president of the Maine International Trade Center, who will update the audience on “The State of International Trade.” He will talk about where Maine is trading, the direction of international trade, and upcoming trade events and opportunities.

The breakfast is sponsored by UMaine’s college of business, public policy and health, the Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce, Bangor Savings Bank, Fairchild Semiconductor and Guilford Transportation Industries.

A breakfast buffet will be served at 7 a.m. in the Wells Conference Center. The program begins at 7:40 a.m. The cost of breakfast is $5 for students, $15 for members of the World Affairs Council or cooperating organizations, $20 for others.

Cooperation organizations are: Maine International Trade Center, Eastern Maine Development Corp., Eastern Maine Technical College, Husson College, Greater Fort Kent Chamber of Commerce, Madawaska Chamber of Commerce, Maine Development Foundation, Maine State Chamber of Commerce, Mid-Maine Chamber of Commerce, Presque Isle Area Chamber of Commerce and the UMaine Office of International Programs.

The World Affairs Council is a nonprofit, nonpartisan group aimed at promoting a broader understanding of international affairs through educational programming for students, business leaders and the public.

For more information or registration, call the World Affairs Council at 780-5383 or e-mail triffin@wacmaine.org.

Compiled by Ardeana Hamlin