Speakers:
Tawny Alvarez, Partner, Verrill
Tawny prides herself on helping clients comply with the law while simultaneously creating an amazing place to work. She centers her practice on the understanding that the employment landscape is ever-changing and organizations do not have the time or resources to keep abreast of all these changes—from medical (and recreational) marijuana’s effect on drug testing to the effect of social networking in the workplace, including the effect of the use of mobile devices on wage and hour issues. In this evolving landscape, Tawny recognizes that for companies to remain profitable and successful they must be proactive, not merely reactive to these issues.
Mari O'Neill, Recruitment Specialist, Retail Association of Maine
Mari is the Workforce Development Director for the Retail Association of Maine as well as overseeing and managing their 501 (c) (3) organization, Maine Business Education Partnership. Mari’s role has allowed her to work closely with both businesses in the retail sector and partners within the education realm, regarding the training, recruiting, and retention of workers.
Mari has more than 30 years of retail, training, and educational experience. Mari has worked in a variety of retail sectors, including store & district management, training & development,
loss prevention, specialty leasing, marketing, and shopping center management.
Roger Diffin, General Manager, L.L.Bean Flagship Store
Roger is a 22-year employee of L.L.Bean with most of those years in the corporate environment supporting the Stores division as the Sr. Manager of Store Operations. He has been leading the Flagship Store for the past 7 years where he maintains a year-round staff of 210 employees and hires up to 600 for the summer and holiday peak seasons. Starting with the company as a seasonal employee himself, Roger knows how to guide new talent through the many opportunities at L.L.Bean.
Danielle R. Hansen, JD, Chief Executive Officer, P&A Bookkeeping and Business Services
Danielle joined P&A Bookkeeping in 2019 and brought with her a wide array of professional expertise, ranging from finance to public accounting to legal services. Danielle’s original focus at P&A was improving the customer experience, but she quickly took over the role of CEO and received a crash course on managing business operations, developing client relationships, and improving staff development and retention. In 2020, Danielle led the charge
to turn their local in-person business into a fully remote operation, all while continuing to grow the company and provide the same high-level of customer service their clients were accustomed to.
