Dan Andrews is the General Manager, of InforME. InforME is a collaborative effort between the State of Maine and the Maine Information Network, responsible for the Maine.gov portal and hundreds of online services, including popular municipal services, such as Rapid Renewal, Boat Registration Renewal and PayPort. Dan has been a member of the InforME team for nearly ten years. Prior to his role as General Manager, Dan filled the roles of application developer, project manager, and Director of Operations.

Chris Boudreau is a Data Governance Coordinator with the Office of Information Technology at the State of Maine. He was formerly the Director of the Center for Workforce Research and Information at the Department of Labor and brings with him 27 years of experience developing and reporting data. His background areas of expertise include developing labor market data, data sharing, business analytics and system development. Chris was nationally recognized by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics for the development a statistical data application used in 14 states and has represented MDOL on several BLS National Policy Committees. He is a frequent contributor to the State Government IT Executive Steering Team and in his new role he is supporting all State agencies in developing data governance and data sharing policy and procedures.

Alison coordinates and manages Connecticut’s statewide effort to promote a culture of continuous improvement through the Office of Policy and Management (OPM). In this capacity, she guides and supports state agencies in using process improvement tools such as Lean to become more efficient, work together, improve services to state residents, and enable staff at all levels to be involved in decision making. With the help of a fourteen-member Steering Committee, including representation from all programmatic areas of government, Alison arranges for trainings, data collection and reporting, Kaizen facilitation, and interagency support and collaboration to achieve results. She also works on various special projects at the request of the Secretary of OPM.
Alison joined Connecticut state service in 2010, when she was an analyst in the state budget office. Prior to her time in Connecticut, Alison held positions with the City of Springfield, MA and the state of New York. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy and a Master of Public Administration both from the University at Albany. Originally hailing from Long Island, she now resides in Southington, CT.
For more information on Connecticut’s Lean journey, please visit www.ct.gov/leanct

Rick Hayward, Application Director for the Office of Information Technologies, State of Maine supporting the technology needs for nine state agencies. Agencies business functions include licensing, law enforcement, labor/unemployment and natural resources. Some very large agencies with significant budgets and the majority smaller agencies with small budgets yet significant technology challenges. Rick has been with the state for 20+ years supporting application development.

For over 20 years, Chris has been working to help customers have a better experience. From implementing modern applications and business processes around the world to introducing organizations to new CX strategies, Chris employs methodologies like Journey Mapping and Roadmap to Modern workshops, driving the transformation that improves the engagement between an organization and its customers.

Jason became the Project>Login Program Director in March of 2016. He has worked for the last 12 years in a variety of educational roles including as a teacher, college and career counselor, director of studies, and academic dean at Maine Central Institute (MCI), a town academy in Pittsfield. Jason has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maine at Farmington in Secondary Education English, a master’s degree from the University of Southern Maine in Educational Leadership, and is currently pursuing his doctorate in Organizational Leadership Studies at Northeastern University. His dissertation is focused on how school leaders foster and support innovation at their schools.

Joshua Karstens is currently Director of the Project Management Office (PMO) and Business Process Management (BPM) for the State of Maine. As PMO Director, he develops and implements PMO processes and policies and directs project management staff. He works with other State Agency leaders to define, prioritize and develop projects and programs and helps ensure they meet organization goals and requirements. As BPM Director, he leads a team responsible for business process optimization throughout State Agencies allowing for greater efficiencies, effectiveness and adaptive to change. Prior to working for the State of Maine, Josh served 20 years in the U.S. Air Force in various positions in the communications field, retiring from service in 2012. He holds a MBA and Masters in Project Management.

Col Leclair retired from the US Air Force in 1992 after 20 years of active duty service. He currently serves as a pilot in the US Air Force Auxiliary, The Civil Air Patrol, acting as the Northeast Region Commander for the six New England States, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. Col Leclair also served as the Maine Wing commander for the previous four years. He has been involved with National UAS programs for the past 3 1/2 years.
He is a part time Consultant to UMA managing the systems and programs to create a UAS Pilot Training Center on the UMA Campus. UMA is focused on business and professional “drone” applications the will enhance and expand Maine’s economy. Sample areas expected to see developing applications include using UAVs to conduct engineering or insurance inspections; monitoring power transmission lines and pipelines; examining crop and forest health; using infrared technology for search and rescue, among many more.
Commercial remote pilot training will be offered at two major levels: for the citizen planning to open a business service using drones; and as a new option in the UMA Bachelor of Science in Aviation.
Col Leclair is a Senior US Air Force Auxiliary Search and Rescue Pilot and holds an FAA Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) rating as well as an FAA Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) rating.

Joanne Lester is the Technical and Customer Services Coordinator for the City of Portland. Born and raised in New Hampshire, moved to Maine in 1989 and began working for the City of Portland in June of 1989. Joanne received a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Technology from the University of Southern Maine in 2006. She has been serving the internal and external customers of the City of Portland for over 27 years. Although her career at the City of Portland began in the Public Works Department, where she worked in finance and customer service, Joanne is now a member of the Information Technology Department and has been since 2004. She is mainly responsible for managing the Help Desk staff, all technology purchases in the City of Portland and administering the FixIt! Portland application which serves the citizens of the City of Portland. She worked with her colleagues to select and implement the FixIt! Portland application in January of 2015. Since its inception, Portland has received over 6,400 requests through the FixIt! Portland application.

Andy Manca is a Chief of Program Development in the Rhode Island Office of Management and Budget (OMB). For the last year he has been the Lean Government implementation leader for Rhode Island state government’s Lean Government Initiative. He is responsible for implementing and managing process improvement efforts across state government, including the deployment of training and other duties that will enhance organizational efficiency and support a culture of continuous improvement and customer satisfaction. Prior to joining OMB, Andy worked at the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM) for six years. Andy’s responsibilities at RIDEM included supervising the process improvement efforts of the Department Lean Team. Prior to joining RIDEM, Andy was a supply chain manager at The Home Depot and served for ten years in the US Army. Andy graduated from Providence College with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science, and earned a Master of Public Administration from Roger Williams University. In addition to his job at OMB, Andy currently serves in the 143rd Logistics Readiness Squadron, Rhode Island Air National Guard.

Kevin Mergruen is the vice president of vertical solutions at Information Builders. With over 30 years of software industry experience, Mr. Mergruen has held management positions in product development, sales, and marketing. He is currently responsible for the following industry sectors: state and local government, education, and healthcare across North America. The solutions his team drives address the vertical sector needs for enterprise system integration and operational business intelligence, enhancing overall efficiency, modernization of legacy systems, and improved quality of care. Mr. Mergruen is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and executive briefings.
Prior to his current position, Mr. Mergruen was vice president of the company’s ERP Solution Division. His previous experience includes SAP America where he was the North American sales director of SAP’s Business Information Warehouse, as well as positions at Informix, Cognos, and Britton Lee.
Mr. Mergruen graduated from Hofstra University with a dual degree in finance and computer science.

Glenn Mills is the chief economist in the Maine Department of Labor’s Center for Workforce Research, which collects workforce data on employment, unemployment, and wages. He develops workforce forecasts, provides staff support to the Consensus Economic Forecasting Commission, and works with a wide range of customers to provide context to the dynamics of the economy in light of often-contradictory indicators.

Patel is an IoT industry veteran of 8 years. As a Senior Manager of Product Management for US Cellular IoT products, Patel is responsible for driving innovation and developing an extensive IoT product portfolio and building a solid IoT business. In this role, he manages the overall IoT business, product portfolio and building an eco-system to deliver innovative customer solutions

Prior to joining US Cellular in 2015, Patel held a variety of executive, technical and leadership positions with industry pioneers that included Sixnet, Redlion, ADC, Motorola, T-Systems, and Lucent Technologies. In these positions, he managed large teams who worked closely with customers and product divisions to define business needs and requirements, resulting in the development of new business initiatives, revenues and markets via end-to-end customer solutions and broader market leading product portfolios.

Patel holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electronics Engineering Technology from DeVry Institute of Technology, a Master of Science in Computer Science degree from the Illinois Institute of Technology, and an MBA from DePaul University.

Kelly is the Director of Workforce Innovations for Office of Information Technology, and has been instrumental in leading strategies to address the technical workforce needs. Her oversight includes a robust intern and mentorship program, social media programs, learning and development for the IT growing needs and skills, strategic workforce planning and developing best practices for recruitment, retention, and succession planning. She is also an adjunct professor in the doctoral program in leadership and research, at the University of New England. Kelly, has a background in strategic human resource management and workforce development in business strategies with large corporate environments, k-12, high education, and government, specializing in workforce and organizational leadership around all generational needs. She is experienced in qualitative and quantitative research, with a high-level of research concentration in the areas of: generations in the workplace, and 21st Century skills, attributes, and competencies relating to career life cycle planning.
Kelly is certified as a senior professional human resource manager by both SHRM and HRCI. She is on several boards and completes volunteer work as time permits.

John Scott has been working for State Government in Information Technology for almost 20 years. Starting as a Desktop Support Specialist, John has held several position with Maine State Government – including Enterprise DNS & DHCP Administrator, Enterprise AD Forest Administrator and most recently, Enterprise Infrastructure Architect.
John holds numerous industry recognized certifications including: CISSP, MCSE, MCDBA, MCT, CTT+ and has been interviewed by Network World Magazine.
Currently, John’s focus has shifted more towards cyber security, and offering his expertise to help better secure Maine’s I.T. environment.

Project Director, Maine Center for Business and Economic Research, Muskie School of Public Service,
University of Southern Maine
Ryan is a regional economist with the Maine Center for Business and Economic Research where he manages the daily operations of the Center as its Project Director. He holds a BS in Finance from Bentley College and a Master’s in Regional Planning with a focus on economic development from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Ryan is a National Science Foundation IGERT fellow working with engineers, wildlife ecologists, and other policy researchers on renewable energy challenges, particularly offshore wind. His other research has focused on rural development, entrepreneurship, workforce development, small business finance, and a variety of industry studies. He is in the process of completing a PhD from UMass where his research is geared towards understanding regional economic resilience and the emergence of new, related industries.

As Employee #1 and Engagement Director, Nate focuses on building partnerships with employers and promoting engagement with job seekers to ultimately increase the number of people who choose to Live and Work in Maine.
Live and Work in Maine is a career network that serves as the leading resource for those looking to relocate, keep, or start their careers in Maine. We share the news, information, and personal stories that showcase Maine’s employment opportunities and the rich and balanced lifestyle enjoyed by those who live and work in Maine.