I'm wondering if there is a way to specify in Maven which collection of JUnit tests run based on package names. An 'exclude' would be ideal, since I have fewer that I need not run than I have those that need to run.
Yes you can configure surefire plugin to include certain tests only
<build>
<plugins>
<plugin>
<groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
<artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
<version>2.17</version>
<configuration>
<includes>
<include>com/abc/*Test.java</include>
</includes>
</configuration>
</plugin>
</plugins>
</build>
http://maven.apache.org/surefire/maven-surefire-plugin/examples/inclusion-exclusion.html