AUGUSTA, Maine, July 30 -- Gov. John Baldacci, D-Maine, issued the following news release:

Governor John E. Baldacci today announced nominations for the Finance Authority of Maine, the Maine State Housing Authority and the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority.

Finance Authority of Maine

Anthony Armstrong of Cape Elizabeth is being nominated for appointment to the Board of Directors for the Finance Authority of Maine. Armstrong is the owner and President of Maine Home Mortgage Corp. and the owner and President of Properties Northeast Inc. In addition, he has been the Director and Deputy Director of Operations for the Maine Office of Energy Resources. He also was a Development Officer for the Maine State Housing Authority and the Executive Director of the Downeast Housing Development Corporation. He has a master's degree in city planning form Harvard University and a J.D. from the University of Maine School of Law.

The Governor is also nominating four members for reappointment to the Board: Brent Cross of Bangor, Glenn Lamarr of Fort Kent, Patrick Murphy of Portland and Cheri Walker of Falmouth.

Cross is Vice President of Cross Insurance and an adjunct professor at Husson Colllege where he teaches insurance and risk management. Cross received both his M.S. and B.S. degrees from Husson.

Lamarr is the Vice President of Commercial Lending for TD Bank where he is responsible for underwriting and developing new commercial business while servicing the existing customer base. Before joining TD Bank, Lamarr held several positions with Casco Northern Bank, where he served as a Vice President, Manager and District Commercial Lender. He is a graduate of Bates College.

Murphy is the founder and President of Pan Atlantic SMS Group, a market research, management and strategic planning company in Portland. Before that, he worked for nine years with the Irish Trade Board. He has a master's degree in economics from Trinity College, Dublin University.

Walker is the managing principal in the firm Albin, Randall and Bennett, and has extensive experience working with closely held companies. Before joining her current company, she worked at Coopers and Lybrand. She is a Certified Public Accountant. She is a graduate of Bentley College.

Maine State Housing Authority

Sheryl Gregory of Litchfield is being nominated for reappointment to the Maine State Housing Authority Board of Commissioners. She is a real estate broker with Homestead Realty in Winthrop and is a past president of the Maine Association of Realtors. She attended Salem State College in Salem, Mass.

Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority

Sande Updegraph of Brunswick is being nominated for reappointment to the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority Board of Trustees. She is the Executive Director of the Freeport Economic Development Corp. She is a member of the Economic Development Council of Maine and has served in numerous tourism and business development organizations.

The nominations will be considered by the Joint Committee on Business, Research and Economic Development.

A Senate confirmation session has been scheduled for Aug. 25.

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