September 2, 2020 (Brunswick, ME) – CEI recently hired six new professionals to join their accounting, lending and business advice teams. They include: Molly Gerencer, loan and investment officer; Mary Cay Harrington, fund accountant; Grace Mo-Phillips, business advisor; John Michael Nadeau, senior accountant; Nikki Yanok, associate loan and investment officer; and Jenn Stein, business advisor & food systems specialist with our Small Business Development advising team.

As a loan and investment officer, Molly Gerencer brings breadth and depth of retail, commercial banking, and State of Maine financial expertise to CEI’s lending and investment team. Molly has held a variety of retail banking roles at Maine National, Fleet Bank, Cushnoc Bank and Trust, Key Bank and Bangor Savings Bank. She also held several positions with the State of Maine, including the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation, the Bureau of Insurance, and the Office of Securities. Most recently, Molly held the role of Program Fiscal Officer, Division of Program and Fiscal Coordination for the Department of Health and Human Services in Augusta. Molly holds a Bachelor of Arts in Financial Economics from Saint Anslem College.  

As fund accountant, Mary Cay Harrington adds knowledge and expertise in grant management and fund accounting to CEI’s accounting department. She previously held a variety of accounting positions at Parkview Hospital, Bowdoin College and The Gulf of Maine Research Institute. She holds a master’s degree in Pastoral Studies and recently served as the hospital chaplain for Mercy Hospital in Portland. Mary Cay earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and Accounting from the College of Saint Elizabeth (Morristown, NJ).  

Grace Mo-Phillips is the new Small Business Development Center business advisor for the Midcoast region. Grace has 20 years of international business experience in product development, product marketing, and business development. She previously worked in the consumer goods industry, where she developed and marketed products that were sold at major national retailers. As an entrepreneur, in 2014 Grace started an exporting company, Belle Cove, LLC, that focuses on selling frozen seafood from the Americas to Asia Pacific countries. Grace holds an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing and International Business from Minnesota State University. 

John Michael Nadeau joins the accounting department as a senior accountant. He started his career as a bookkeeper for Sunrise Opportunities, a non-profit social services agency in Machias that serves people with disabilities, and progressively grew in responsibility. After that he was a financial reporting supervisor at Jasper Wyman & Son in Milbridge. John Michael holds a B.S. in Accounting from Thomas College in Waterville.  

Nikki Yanok joins as associate loan and investment officer, with experience in the financial services sector having held roles as at Cambridge Associates, H.M. Payson, and most recently as an Analyst at Harpswell Capital Advisors. Nikki first learned about CEI at Cambridge Associates while conducting due diligence on CEI Ventures, Inc. Nikki holds a Bachelor of Arts in Government from Colby College.  

Jenn Stein joins as a Business Advisor – Food Systems Specialist with CEI’s Small Business Development advising team. In this role, Jenn will be advising small business owners in the food sector in Maine; facilitating start-up, survival and business expansion. Jenn began her professional career in the web design and ecommerce space and previously held positions as the Director of Marketing Communications at Diversified Communications in Portland and the General Manager of Food Fork Lab in Portland. Jenn holds a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Graphic Communications at California Polytechnic State University and is nearly finished with her E-MBA from the Quantic School of Business and Technology.

About CEI 

Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI) helps to grow good jobs, environmentally sustainable enterprises and shared prosperity in Maine and in rural regions across the country by integrating financing, business and industry expertise, and policy solutions. CEI envisions a world in which communities are economically and environmentally healthy, enabling all people, especially those with low incomes, to reach their full potential. More at www.ceimaine.org