Donnelly elected to Maine MEP board
AUGUSTA — Officials with the Maine Manufacturing Extension Partnership (Maine MEP) have announced that Carl Spang and James Donnelly have been elected to its board of directors. Spang brings more than 20 years of manufacturing experience to the board, while Donnelly possesses more than 20 years of banking and commercial finance expertise.
“Maine MEP is pleased to announce that Jim Donnelly and Carl Spang have agreed to serve on our board of directors. Their breadth of experience, community leadership and accomplishments in their respective businesses will serve Maine MEP well,” said Bruce Pulkkinen, chairman of the Maine MEP board of directors.
Spang serves as president of Falcon Performance Footwear in Auburn, which he purchased with partners in 2007. Falcon has flourished under Spang’s leadership. The company, which traditionally manufactured work boots and traditional footwear, has developed highly-engineered footwear for firefighters throughout North America and expanded into other industrial footwear markets.
Spang holds a B.A. from Boston University and an M.A. and M.B.A. from the University of New Hampshire.
Donnelly serves as executive vice president at Machias Savings Bank, where he is responsible for the business and commercial banking teams, as well as the business services (cash management) units, which generate and manage the business loan and deposits for the bank. He is a member of the bank’s Senior Management Committee, Loan Committee and Strategic Planning Committee, among other responsibilities.
As a seasoned executive with more than 21 years of banking experience, Donnelly is also active in the industry’s professional associations, having served as chairman of the Maine Bankers Association Legislative Committee and as a member of the Independent Community of Bankers of America-Mutual Bank Council.
Donnelly has a long record of public service and has served in leadership roles on organizations throughout the state. He is the former chairman of the Maine State Ethics Commission, an independent state agency that administers the state’s campaign finance laws, and has served as chairman of the Loring Development Authority, the United Way of Eastern Maine’s campaign, the finance committee of the Bangor Symphony Orchestra and the finance committee of Eastern Maine Development Corporation. He currently serves on the boards of Penquis Development, Inc., and Penquis Housing, Inc.
Donnelly also has a distinguished record of legislative service. He served four terms in the Maine Legislature, where he led his caucus as House Minority Leader in the 118th Maine Legislature. At the time, he was the youngest elected minority leader in the country.
Donnelly is a graduate of the University of Maine Presque Isle, as well as the New England School of Banking at Williams College and American Community Banker’s National School for Senior Management at Villanova University.
For information on the Maine MEP program, visit www.mainemep.org, or phone 1-800-MEP-4MFG.
