SOAR - Portland (ME) Chapter
Portland (ME) joined the SOAR family in April 2018. The Portland Armenian Settlement began in 1896 with the arrival of the Yeghoian family from Turkey. They had fled the country to escape a massacre of Armenians ordered by Abdul Hamid II. With the assistance of his fellow Portland Armenians, Mr. Yeghoian erected a building at 166 Lancaster Street – an Armenian grocery store with two apartments over it. By 1908 there were 25 families in Portland’s Armenian community. In 1910, an Armenian school was organized at 159 Lancaster Street. It had 22 students in 1922.
For the past 100 years, the Armenians of Maine have been prosperous, hard-working, and successful. Many of their children went into the field of education. Some served in government as city councilors, mayors, court commissioners and state legislators. Several went into medicine, law, and insurance. In 2003, the Armenian Cultural Association of Maine was founded. In conjunction with the City of Portland, the group erected a monument honoring the state’s original Armenian settlers as well as those lost in the Genocide. The monument is located at the Armenian Plaza at the corner of Cumberland Avenue and Franklin Street, in the heart of Maine’s original Armenian settlement.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS:
Garabed Hagopian (Guddy)
President
Guddy was born and raised in Massachusetts and involved in its various Armenian communities before moving to Maine in the fall of 2024 with his wife and kids. He holds a B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering and a M.S. and Systems Engineering from WPI, as well as an MBA from UMass Amherst. Guddy spent close to a decade employed by Raytheon in the aerospace industry, working on the design and test of air traffic control automation systems and open road tolling systems. He has worked for Aptitude Software since 2017. With Aptitude, Guddy works as a Principal Project Manager, overseeing finance transformation implementations for Aptitude’s clients.
Guddy joined SOAR Portland in the fall of 2025 and is particularly drawn to SOAR’s mission given his ancestral background and family’s experience during the Armenian Genocide.