Meet 10 To Watch finalists for 2022. Tickets on sale for awards event.

PORTSMOUTH — Judges have narrowed the field of the 2022 10 To Watch Seacoast young professionals contest nominees to 20 finalists.

The 10 winners will be announced at an awards ceremony and reception presented by Catapult Seacoast and Seacoast Media Group on Tuesday, Nov. 1 at 3S Artspace in Portsmouth. The contest recognizes young professionals (40 and under) who live and/or work in the Seacoast and contribute to the community in addition to their career accomplishments.

This year’s contest is sponsored by Bank of America, Heritage Home Service and Eversource. Keynote speaker for the awards ceremony will be entrepreneur Al Fleury, a past 10 To Watch winner.

The awards ceremony will run from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. There’ll be a taco buffet by Barrio and a cash bar for attendees to enjoy before the ceremony begins. The public is invited to attend. 

Tickets are $20 each and can be found on eventbrite.com.

The 2022 10 To Watch finalists, with information from their nominations, are:

Calvin Akers

Calvin Akers of Kittery is the owner of Wisely Cannabis Maine and a commercial real estate owners and developer. He has grown the business from a basement to an operation with a 25,000-square-foot production facility and two retain stores. In addition to being a licensed medical cannabis provider, which will soon be entering the adult use market, Akers helped develop cannabis policy and licensing at the state and local level. He helped craft in policy in Sanford, Maine. Prior to entering the cannabis industry, he held positions in the campaigns of George Pataki for president, Scott Brown for U.S. Senate and Charlie Baker for governor. He also spent a number of years in brand development working on market strategies for companies such as Proctor and Gamble, Kellogg’s, Unilever, NBA, MLS, MLB and NFL. He created a youth flag football league in York County, Maine, organized cannabis businesses to contribute more than $40,000 in donations to local organizations. and is a volunteer youth coach and youth diversion program mentor.

Leif Becker

Leif Becker of Hooksett is a litigation attorney and principal of Becker Legal PLLC with offices in Portsmouth and Concord. As a member of the DOVE Project, he provides free legal services to victims of domestic violence, stalking and sexual violence. He is a former board member of Portsmouth Public Television and the CCSNH Board of Trustees, and a current member of the Board of Governors for the New Hampshire Association for Justice. He worked with New Hampshire state Rep. Sherry Frost to rewrite a portion of RSA 540 to protect victims of household violence. Becker is the 2020 winner of Haven NH’s Life Changer Award for work with victims of domestic and sexual violence, and the 2021 winner of the New Hampshire Bar Association’s Rising Star Award for pro bono services.

Mark Broderick

Mark Broderick of Portsmouth is a vice president in relationship management at TD Bank in Portsmouth. He supports the growth of small businesses and real estate investors on the Seacoast. He was a key player in the origination of PPP loans to local businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic and assisted 100-plus local businesses with getting relief funding. He is a board member of the United Way of the Greater Seacoast, a graduate of Leadership Seacoast Class of 2019 and volunteers for several nonprofits, including the Special Olympics of NH and Southeast NH Habitat for Humanity.

Torey Lee Brooks

Torey Lee Brooks of Portsmouth is an engineer and sustainability coordinator at Oak Point Associates of Portsmouth and Biddeford, Maine. She is a volunteer member of the City of Portsmouth Sustainable Practices Committee and serves on the Green Buildings, GHG Inventory and Climate Action Plan subcommittees. She is an associate member of the Structural Engineers of New Hampshire and on the Sustainability Committee. She is an Athlete Alliance member of Protect Our Winters, an alpine skiing coach in hometown of Wolfeboro and a volunteer guide for Inclusive Ski Touring.

Jayde Cherico

Jayde Cherico of Exeter is a National Certified Guardian in the Office of Public Guardian, a private nonprofit corporation organized in 1979 to provide guardianship and advocacy services to citizens of New Hampshire. Her work with the Seacoast Suicide Prevention Coalition has been featured in articles in the Portsmouth Herald and Foster’s Daily Democrat. She was recognized with a World AIDS Day distinguishing honor for AIDS awareness by Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, N.J.

Patrick Cotter

Patrick Cotter of Hampton is the manager of Coed Naked clothing company in Newfields. He co-founded a clothing company, Koastal Kooks, while studying in the business program at the University of New Hampshire. He helped re-launch Coed Naked and continues to run it. He gives motivational speeches and free merchandise to at-risk kids and also helps coach youth teams. At 22, he was recently featured on “New Hampshire Chronicle” on WMUR.

Kevin Dwyer

Kevin Dwyer of Portsmouth is the owner of Dwyer’s Pub on Bridge Street in Portsmouth. When his restaurant shutdown in March of 2020 because of the pandemic, just a few months after opening, he became a tireless advocate for the small businesses of Portsmouth with the City of Portsmouth for outdoor dining through direct advocacy and through the Chamber of Commerce. He researched other communities and provided information to the City Council. He employs local staff, many of whom have lived in Portsmouth their entire lives. He has established a business with a local clientele during hard economic times when other local businesses like his were closing.

Ian Frederick

Ian Frederick of Hampton is a partner and financial planner at Commonwealth Financial Group. He volunteers with and serves on the Board of Directors for Special Olympics of New Hampshire. He was recognized as a Rising Leader by the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company in 2010. He qualified for MassMutual’s prestigious annual Leaders Conference in 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019. He received the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors’ Four Under 40 Award in 2020.

Matthew Gallant

Matthew Gallant of Barrington is a vice president and retail lending market manager at Bank of New Hampshire. Through his work on real estate industry boards, with Habitat for Humanity, on food drives, with the N.H. Mortgage Bankers & Brokers Association, and teaching homebuying classes for low to moderate income buyers, he gives many days and hours of his time to help build and develop his community.

Kat Howland

Kat Howland of Dover is vice president of employer brand and talent at Jewett Construction. She is focused on revolutionizing the candidate experience and developing an industry-leading internship program as Jewett celebrates 50 years in business. She volunteers with multiple community organizations. She loves empowering girls to feel confident and capable through Girls At Work, Inc. She was a collegiate figure skater at Miami University of Ohio and love to cheer on the Ice Dance International performances at Labrie Family Skate at Puddle Dock Pond. She was recently recognized as an Inspirational Solo Talent Brander by the Talent Brand Alliance.

Reed Maerder

Reed Maerder of Dover is a barber and the founder, owner and operator of The Groomsmith in Portsmouth. He opened the business in 2018 at the age of 25, after working in the hair industry since he was 15 years old. Since opening four years ago, the shop as grown to eight barbers and to a point where he is considering franchise models to enxpand his business. He serves on the Board of Ambassadors for The Chase Home For Children in Portsmouth and helps organize and volunteers its fundraisers.

Erin McNulty

Erin McNulty of Seabrook holds a doctorate of chiropractic and opened her practice in Hampton in March 2022. A Seacoast native, she volunteers as a wellness resource at teacher appreciation days, provides free informational sessions to the community and offers free monthly health events at her practice. She has served on many mission trips to Haiti, Dominican Republic and Colombia. She held positions in SORSI (Sacro Occipital Research Society International) and was an active member in MLS, International Chiropractic Pediatric Club, Gonstead Club, League of Chiropractic Women, Functional Neurology. Before coming home to New Hampshire to open Spine by Design Chiropractic, she served patients through chiropractic for five years in Lima and Chiclayo, Peru. and Greenville, South Carolina.

Wayne Moulton

Wayne Moulton of Portsmouth is the owner of Sages Entertainment along with his wife, Kali. Born and raised in Portsmouth, he became involved with the Seacoast community at an early age. For over 20 years, he has been an educator and mentor to Seacoast youth. Along with now being an entertainer, he creates and implements curriculum-aligned STEAM programs at Seacoast schools and mentors award-winning FIRST robotics and Destination Imagination teams. At Sages Entertainment, he works to build a network of programs that will allow people of all ages to learn 21st-century skills, increase their confidence, and be creative.

Will Murphy

Will Murphy of Somersworth is a co-founder of Everlasting Capital and a co-founder of Equipment Broker School. While working to provide jobs for local residents, he also coaches community sports teams including baseball, football and basketball. His companies sponsor and donate to many community events from golf tournaments to youth leagues. He has been a member of the Triangle Club in Dover for the last 13 years. His company made Fastest Growing Company in NH 2017 (Inc 500) list and he has been named to the Entrepreneur 360 list. He is a motivational speaker and starred on the reality show “Equipping The Dream,” which was filmed in Rochester.

Ian Oneail

Ian Oneail of Raymond is an associate vice president and a wealth management relationship manager at Bangor Savings Bank. He is a member of the Portsmouth Rotary, the Dover Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, Dover Chamber Ambassador, member of the Government Affairs Committee in Dover, and a recent graduate of Leadership Seacoast.

Matthew Paul

Matthew Paul of Dover is the co-founder and COO of Picture This Wedding located in Dover. When the pandemic shut down his business, losing 95% of its revenue, he left his home and moved into his office for over a year to save his business. During this time, he worked on building his business and by 2021 the company hit $1 million in revenue for the first time. He has run the Boston Marathon, and he gives back to the community by donating the use of photo booths, and photography and videography services to many community organizations.

Ellen Roy

Ellen Roy of Somersworth is the administrator of Harbour Women’s Health in Portsmouth. She is the vice president of the New Hampshire chapter of Medical Group Management Assocition. She is also a candidate for the public member position for the Medical Review Subcommittee for the state of New Hampshire. She volunteers fora domestic violence advocacy program Her Voice Foundation to assist in creating a list of emergency shelters for all 50 state to better serve female domestic violence victimes and survivors.

Andrew Samonas

Andrew Samonas of Portsmouth is a co-owner and real estate agent at Samonas Realty in Portsmouth, licensed in New Hampshire and Maine. He sold $25 million-plus in real estate sales in 2021 and has sold $30 million-plus so far in 2022. He is also co-owner and operator of The Davenport Inn. He is a member of the Seacoast Outreach Committee and the Professional Development Committee, Seacoast Board of Realtors, the Portsmouth Planning Board and Big Brothers Big Sisters, Young Philanthropists for Mentoring.

Chrissy Swenson

Chrissy Swenson of Dover is a communications and outreach coordinator for Great Bay Services. She works with mentally and physically disabled adults in the community in Seacoast New Hampshire and southern Maine. After four years as a direct support professional, she was promoted this year to communications and outreach coordinator. She works to spread awareness in the community that Great Bay Services participants are more than their disabilities.

Jaime Yates

Jaime Yates of Strafford is the manager of community relations at Service Credit Union, where she is the steward of a $1.5 million community giving budget. She works to advance and elevate Service Credit Union’s community involvement and works many hours running events that support the community, veterans, health and wellness, music and arts and youth sports organizations among many others. She is a member of the board of the Portsmouth Music and Arts Center. With help from the credit union’s tuition assistance program, she earned her master’s degree in marketing this fall and was one of a select few chosen as a Defense Credit Union Council “Crasher” for its 2022 conference that honors winners who epitomize determination, drive and initiative, identifying her as a rising star in the industry.