Raymond J. Cota Jr. of Orono is the new president of the Maine Real Estate & Development Association, a statewide organization of commercial real estate owners, developers and related service providers. Cota is vice president of Webber Oil Co., where he has worked for the past 24 years. He served as town manager of Orono from 1979 to 1984. Cota succeeds Roxane Cole, a commercial real estate broker and principal in Ram Harnden Commercial Real Services in Portland, who has led MEREDA for the past two years. Cota, who has served on MEREDA’s board of directors for the past 22 years, most recently as president-elect, said Maine’s commercial real estate sector remains strong, but the overall economic downtown, coupled with the rising costs of fuel and materials, means that developers and owners will have to work smarter and be more creative in putting projects together. Cota is a graduate of Husson College and a U.S. Army veteran who served in Vietnam. He is a member of Orono Library Foundation and chairman of the building committee. He also serves on the board of Target Industrial Corp., is a member of the Maine Overseers of the Bar Grievance Panel A, and is a past president of the Action Committee of 50. Cota is married with two grown children. For information, visit

www.mereda.org.