Maine Bytes 'N Pieces, Spring 2021

Bytes 'N Pieces provides updates on the "comings and goings" of planners in Maine. Recent moves and news include:

Nicole Briand, former Director of Planning & Development in Bowdoinham, was hired as the town's Town Manager. Read more.

Jenn Curtis was hired as the Director of Planning and Development for the Town of Bowdoinham. 

Kevin Kraft joined the City of Portland Planning & Urban Development Office as the Deputy Director in September 2020. Prior to his role in Portland, he was a Senior Planner & Borough Certification Manager for the NYC Department of City Planning where he was responsible for overseeing the Brooklyn office’s pipeline of applications, lead large-scale development projects, and worked on neighborhood studies including the North Brooklyn Industrial Study and Gowanus neighborhood study.  He is an AICP certified planner and earned his Master’s in City & Regional Planning from the Pratt Institute and a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies from Rutgers University-Camden.

Samantha (Sam) Peikes has joined North Star Planning this spring as an Associate Planner. Sam is a Planner with experience in open space and recreation planning and public park planning and design. Before coming to North Star Planning, Sam was a planning intern for the Central Vermont Regional Planning Commission where she assisted in transportation planning projects and field research. She is a graduate of the Conway School of Landscape Design and Planning in Northampton, MA where she worked on both residential and urban design and planning projects.

Erin Zwirko joined the Town of Yarmouth as Director of Planning & Development in April 2021.  Erin has 17 years of experience.  She was previously the Assistant Director of Planning and Community Development for the City of Arlington, MA.  Before that she served as the Assistant Director for the City of Melrose, MA, and as planner in the Town of Wellesley.  She has prior experience as both an Environmental Planner and Staff Scientist with engineering firms in the private sector.  She earned an MA from Tufts University in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning and a BA in Human Ecology from College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor.