The Business Journal March 2017 by Shay R

ISSUE 2 VOLUME 2 MARCH 2017

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL

TRENDSETTERS

PUBLISHED BY

COMPLIMENTARY PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE

PAID

KEENE SENTINEL PERMIT #63

r br an

rep

u tat i

Retire on your terms. Retire on your terms.

Since 1894, Ameriprise Financial has worked for our clients’ Since helping 1894, Ameriprise Financial has worked retire for our clients’ futures, millions of Americans on their terms. futures, helping millions of Americans retire on their terms. Doing what they want. When they want. Let’s talk about how Doing what they want. When they want. Let’s talk about how you Since cancan begin to confident more you begin to put put aaconfident retirement more within 1894, Ameriprise Financial hasretirement worked for our our clients’within Since 1894, Ameriprise Financial has worked for clients’ reach, call metoday today atat603.499.4454. futures, helping millions of Americans retire on their terms. reach, call me 603.499.4454. futures, helping millions of Americans retire on their terms.

Retire on your terms.

Doing what what they they want. want.TRENDELL, When they they want. Let’s Let’s talk talk about about how how SCOTT AAMS® Doing When want. SCOTT TRENDELL, AAMS® more within Financial Advisor you can begin to put a confident retirement you can begin to put a confident retirement more within Financial Advisor Trendell Financial Management reach, call call me me today today at 603.499.4454. 603.499.4454. reach, at A financial advisory practice of

Trendell Management Ameriprise Financial Financial Services, Inc. SCOTT TRENDELL, AAMS® SCOTT TRENDELL, AAMS® A financial advisory practice of 117 West St, Ste 2 Financial Advisor Financial Advisor Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. Keene, NH 03431 Trendell Financial Management Trendell Financial Management 603.499.4454 A financial advisory practice of West St, Ste 2 of A117 financial advisory practice scott.trendell@ampf.com Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. Keene, NH 03431 ameripriseadvisors.com/ 117 West St, Ste 2 scott.trendell 117 West St, Ste 2 603.499.4454 Keene, NH 03431 Keene, NH 03431 scott.trendell@ampf.com 603.499.4454 603.499.4454 scott.trendell@ampf.com ameripriseadvisors.com/ scott.trendell@ampf.com ameripriseadvisors.com/ scott.trendell ameripriseadvisors.com/ Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC. scott.trendell scott.trendell © 2015 Ameriprise Financial, Inc. All rights reserved. (7/15) Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC.

Ameriprise FinancialServices, Services, Inc. Member FINRAFINRA and SIPC. Ameriprise Financial Inc. Member and SIPC. © 2015 Ameriprise Financial, Inc. All rights reserved. (7/15) © 2015 Ameriprise Financial, Inc. All rights reserved. (7/15)

Fine Suits FOR EVERY MAN. At Miller Bros.-Newton, we carry suits for every taste and every budget. The fit, the drape, the look you want, perfectly-tailored for your body.

Miller Bros. - NewtoN

Fine Men’s Clothing

105 Main Street, Keene, NH (603) 352-3039

www.mbnmenswear.com 2

109 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT (802) 254-2287

On-Site Alterations Included • Suit/Tuxedo Rentals & Sales • Big & Tall Always Available

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

Supporting young profressionals in NH through

Learn more at paragondigital.com Digital Advertising Search Engine Optimization Social Media Marketing Website Development Marketing Automation Reputation Management

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

Editor’s Note “(They) love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority, disrespect their elders, and love chatter instead of exercise.”

hile you could easily imagine this quote coming from the mouth of an exasperated baby boomer lamenting today’s millennials, it is actually a quote from Socrates in the 4th century. Indeed, the perception of today’s young adults is no different than in Socrates’ day. According to an article in Forbes, one survey found that 71 percent of Americans say that millennials — those born between the years 1981 and 2000, that’s 81.1 million people in the U.S. — are selfish; another 65 percent say they are entitled. They’ve also been pigeonholed as lazy, arrogant, financially illiterate, naïve, unmotivated and disloyal. But when I think back to my own young adulthood in the early 1980s (if you take away the internet, smart phones and texting) I could point to many (myself included!) who embodied these descriptions. Could it be that these attitudes are all part of growing up? Could it be that given time and life experience, these annoyingly self-absorbed habits of youth will fade away, and give rise to altruistic behaviors? (Okay, not always. There are baby boomers who are still struggling to get out of the navel-gazing stage!) I must say, that the young adults that I have come across lately have made quite an impression on me. They are tech and social media savvy. They are also incredibly articulate, worldly, aware and confident — attributes I sorely lacked when coming out of college, and even well into my late 20s. Perhaps millennials give the impression of arrogance because of the “entitled” opportunities afforded to them by our affluent society. Or because baby boomers poured their all into raising these kids. We cared. We watched over them. We tried to give them experiences we never had. Some may not have appreciated what we gave them; some may have taken it for granted. But not all. I have run into young adults who are well aware of the advantages they have had in life, and are finding ways to make a difference in society. I’ve also seen millennials who have not had it so easy and have fallen into the trap of easily available drugs and despair. But, as in generations past, there are those exceptional individuals who overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles and manage to give back in profound ways. In this issue of The Business Journal we look at 11 young adults we have been selected as “trendsetters” who are making a difference in the organizations they are in, in the business community, and to the people they serve. We applaud them. Because they are not only role models for their own generation, but for all of us.

— Marcia Passos Duffy 4

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL of Greater Keene, Brattleboro & Peterborough

PUBLISHER EDITOR

Keene Publishing Corporation Marcia Passos Duffy

CONTRIBUTORS

Nicole Colson Nancy DuBosque Ross Ewing Meghan Foley Steve Gilbert Callie Ginter Susan Hay Helaine Iris

ADVERTISING

Maria Adolphson Rick Battista Shelly Bergeron Michael Breshears Lorraine Ellis Lyn Falcone Diane Farmer Heather Harada Polly Knowles Roland McNary Brad Palonen Joe Warhall Christie Wright Leigh Zehnbauer

PHOTOGRAPHY DESIGN

Bill Gnade Michael Moore Shay Riley

AD LAYOUT DESIGN

Jeremy Burger

WEB DESIGN

Jessica Garcia

CIRCULATION

Kelvin Parker

DELIVERY

Xander Landen John McGauley Paul Miller Tony Paradiso Melanie Plenda Kendall Pope Isaac Stein C S Wurzberger

If you would like to have The Business Journal delivered to your business, please contact the Circulation Department at 603-283-0797. Mail: PO Box 546, Keene, NH 03431 Telephone: 603-352-1234 Fax: 603-352-9700 Web: www.thebusinessjournal.net Editorial: editor@thebusinessjournal.net Advertising: sales@thebusinessjournal.net

The business columns printed in The Business Journal represent the opinions and views of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors or the advertisers. Likewise, the appearance of advertisements does not necessarily reflect an endorsement of the product or service by the editors. © Keene Publishing Corporation.

Contents

Let Jeff Saari

Editor’s Note Talk of the Town Business Directory Business After Hours Advertiser Index Calendar

Coaching increase your productivity and morale in your workplace.

4 6 66 70 70 71

FEATURES

• Management Training • Team Productivity • Customer Service Training

Contact Jeff for a FREE 45-minute consultation to assess whether business coaching is right for you!

Pull Up a Chair: Local Furniture Stores in for the Long Haul

Filtrine: Always in Search of a Better Way

Unity Homes: On the Cutting Edge

Call 603-762-4866. Or sign-up now at: www.ZeroStressLeadership.com/FreeSession

Monadnock Community Hospital: The Changing Landscape 60

TRENDSETTERS COLUMNS

ISSUE 2 VOLUME 2 MARCH 2017

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL

TRENDSETTERS

EARLY CHILDHOOD . ELEMENTARY . HIGH SCHOOL

16-39

Minding Your Business: Our Future is Green Hints From Helaine The Business Next Door: PeopleSense Consulting The Green Scene: Give Back to Your Community Main Street 2.0 Hancock: An Authentic New England Experience Young Entrepreneur: Justin Budd Expert Tips: Millennials: Playing to Their Strengths Bootstrapping Your Start Up THE BUSINESS

JOURNAL

– Jeff Saari, Organization and Leadership Coach/ Consultant, author of Zero Stress Leadership

10 11 42 44 45 46 48

For a lifelong love of learning. NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS TO FIRST GRADE 603-357-4442 x105 | admissions@monadnockwaldorf.org

Ryan M Goodell Voted #1 Best Local Realtor®

62 64

Residential & Commercial Real Estate Broker

603-313-7541 RyanGoodell@masiello.com www.RyanGoodell.masiello.com Exceptional Client Service Experience you can Trust!

ON THE COVER ECONOMIC

OUTLOOK Pictured, this year’s Trendsetters winners. See profiles on 16-39.

Thank you for your business! Region’s most successful marketing plan!

What will 2017 bring for our region? A look at manufacturing, retail, workforce pipeline and more!

EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY

Each office independently owned & operated.

603.352.5433 • 888.337.0037 • 69A Island St, Suite 3, KEENE, NH

Photo by Bill Gnade

NEW ENGLAND FABRICS PUBLISHED BY

COMPLIMENTARY PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE

PAID

KEENE SENTINEL PERMIT #63

Central New England’s Largest Fabric Center Fabrics - Sewing Machines - Blinds - Yarn Made To Order: Draperies - Slipcovers - Upholstery

NEXT TIME IN THE BUSINESS JOURNAL: THE CHANGING FACE OF HISTORICAL SOCIETIES BUSINESS COACHES/CONSULTANTS & MORE!

A Keene Tradition Since 1934

N EW E NGLAND

FABRICS & Decorating Center 55 Ralston St.

Keene NH

603/352-8683

www.newenglandfabrics.com THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

Talk of the Town

Business News from Greater Keene, Brattleboro & Peterborough • Compiled by Marcia Passos Duffy

T THE LOCAL the CROWD MONADNOCK LAUNCH PARTY KEENE, N.H. — Stonewall Farm will host The Local Crowd Monadnock’s Launch Party on Saturday, March 18, 2017, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The event includes food samples, children’s activity stations and hayrides. This event is free and open to the public. Stonewall Farm is located at 242 ChesCommunity. Connection. Capital. The Local Crowd Monadnockʼs crowdfunding platform is about us — our terfield Road in Keene. The Local region, our community — and the goals weʼve created around economic development and prosperity. Crowd (TLC) Monadnock is a Learn more at monadnocklocal.or g/tlc locally-based crowdfunding platform that empowers individuals to support the businesses, organizations and initiatives that grow wealthier and healthier communities in the region. Crowdfunding, or the practice of raising funds to support a project from a large number of people, is a viable alternative to recruiting businesses from outside the region to boost economic activity. This project is part of a two-year research study funded by a USDA Small Business Innovation Research grant to gauge this platform’s effectiveness in rural areas. During its pilot phase, TLC Monadnock will only accept campaign proposals from businesses, organizations or community initiatives based in Keene, Chesterfield, Hinsdale, Swanzey or Winchester. TLC Monadnock will give preference to campaigns from these communities that also align with their respective city or town’s master plan and contribute to a local, green and fair economy. TLC Monadnock will officially launch online on March 15, 2017, with two campaigns focused on sustainable agriculture: Archway Farm’s “Farm to Table on Wheels” project and Stonewall Farm’s “Barn Raising” project. Supporting sustainable agriculture is a prominent part of Keene’s Comprehensive Master Plan. “TLC Monadnock is about us — our region, our community — and the goals we’ve created around economic development and prosperity,” says Jen Risley, executive director, Monadnock Buy Local. “We invite everyone to become a campaign supporter — it doesn’t matter where you live.” TLC Monadnock is a collaboration of regional economic development organizations working to cultivate a stronger ecosystem of investors, service providers and local economy champions. A team of community leaders from Southwest Region Planning Commission, Monadnock Buy Local, New Hampshire Small Business Development Center, Greater Keene Chamber of Commerce, Monadnock Economic Development Corporation and Hannah Grimes Center manages this crowdfunding platform. Discover more details and updates at monadnocklocal.org/tlclaunch or contact Jen Risley at jen@monadnocklocal.org or 603-499-7950.

d Local Crowk

Monadnoc

T FUTURE OF FARMING CONFERENCE PETERBOROUGH, N.H. — The Monadnock Center for History and Culture will host a conference on the future of farming on March 25, 2017, 8:45 a.m.-4:30 p.m. The conference, Future of Farming in a Changing World: Young Farmers + Land + Climate, will cover the future of farming in the Northeast through the eyes of young farmers. The keynote speaker is Philip Ackerman-Leist, professor of sustainable agriculture and food systems, Green Mountain College, Vermont, farmer and author of Rebuilding the Foodshed: How to Create Local, Sustainable & Secure Food Systems. The conference will also explore issues of building a robust and sustainable local food economy, land availability/affordability, and the impact of climate change on farming practices through engaging talks and panel discussion. A light local lunch is included. Seats are limited. Registration: $25/per person; $15/student rate. To learn more or make a reservation, 6

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

contact Joyce Carroll, Cornucopia Project, 603-784-5069, admin@cornucopiaproject.org. T R.H. THACKSTON & COMPANY UPDATES KEENE, N.H. — Dick Thackston, Richard Thackston and Emily K. Lagerberg-Desrosiers recently attended a management leadership conference at the invitation of BLB Resources in Newark, New Jersey. BLB Resources is a Californiabased asset management company that has been responsible for the marketing and sales of HUD properties throughout the United States and recently added New England to the geographic areas served by BLB Resources. The conference attended by the Thackston team covered a wide range of topics including HUD home financing types, advertising HUD homes, submitting and completing contracts to HUD, first time home buyer information, how to find and bid on HUD homes and much more. The goal of the conference was to upgrade and solidify the level of service offered to consumers by local listing Brokers selling HUD homes for BLB Resources, such as R. H. Thackston & Company. In addition, Emily K. Lagerberg-Desrosiers has been named Salesperson of the Year for 2016 by R.H. Thackston & Company. In making the announcement, the company noted that in 2016 Lagerberg-Desrosiers not only met or exceeded production goals and norms but was responsible for solving challenging transaction issues for the benefit of customers reflecting a unique level of skill and customer service. Lagerberg-Desrosiers has been associated with R.H. Thackston & Company Realtors for more than 15 years, initially as part of the company’s administrative team and subsequently as a Realtor as well. T HEALTHY MONADNOCK CHAMPIONS EARN BADGES KEENE, N.H. — Healthy Monadnock Champions who are engaged in the free worksite and school wellness programs have earned badges in recognition of their work to actively promote a culture of health for all. Local schools, businesses and organizations can earn healthy designation badges based on achievements in five areas of wellness: tobacco-free environments, access to physical activity, access to healthy food, family friendly policies and practices, and efforts to improve mental wellbeing. Organizations and schools who have received badges can use them as workplace recruitment tools, on Organizational and School Champion banners, in all marketing materials and throughout the office or school. “We currently have 45 organizations and 11 schools actively participating in our Champion Healthy Designation Badge Program,” says Brooke Ben-

Send your business news to editor@thebusinessjournal.net

nett, school wellness advisor. “We have created these badges as an incentive and recognition for those Champion organizations and schools that are making concrete changes in these five areas, and are making a positive impact on the lives of those they serve.” Eight area schools have received wellness badges, and the following local organizations and business were recognized as healthy worksites:

• R iverMead Lifecare Community (Peterborough) • S miths Medical (Keene) • S outhwestern Community Services (Keene) • T ed’s Shoe and Sport (Keene)

• ABTech (Swanzey) • Antioch University New England (Keene) • Baudelaire Fine Imported Soaps and Body Care (Swanzey) • Bragdon & Kossayda, PC (Keene) • Burlington Labs (Keene) • Cheshire County • Cheshire Medical Center/ Dartmouth-Hitchcock (Keene) • Clark-Mortenson Insurance (Keene) • Frazier and Son Furniture (Swanzey) • Global Round Table Leadership (Keene) • Greater Keene Chamber of Commerce (Keene)

Worksite Wellness is an initiative of the Organizational Champions Program and part of The Center for Population Health Strategy and Practice at Cheshire Medical Center/Dartmouth-Hitchcock Keene and a key partner of Healthy Monadnock, the healthiest community initiative. Schools and organizations interested in learning more about the Healthy Designation Badges through the Healthy Monadnock Champions Program can visit www.healthymonadnock.org.

• • • • • • • • • • • •

amblet Electric (Keene) H Hannah Grimes Center (Keene) Hillside Village Keene Keene Family YMCA Keene Housing Lynn Rust, CPA (Swanzey) The Melanson Company (Keene) Monadnock Collaborative, Service Link and Pilot Health (Keene) Monadnock Food Co-op (Keene) Monadnock Humane Society (Swanzey) Planned Parenthood of Northern New England (Keene) Ready 4 Kits (Keene)

• T he Timken Company (Keene) • T rue North Networks (Swanzey) • W elnak Dental (Keene) • W estside Animal Hospital (Keene)

T SARAH MASSIN SHORT EARNS LICENSE FITZWILLIAM, N.H. — Sarah Massin Short, of the Frank Massin Agency, recently earned her license to sell New Hampshire property and casualty insurance. Short works with her father, Charlie Massin, in the agency founded by her grandparents, Liz and Frank Massin, in 1963. A Fitzwilliam native, Short moved back to Fitzwilliam with her husband and two Talk of the Town continued on next page.

Live well with peace of mind

Prospect-Woodward

SIGNS • BANNERS • VEHICLE LETTERING • LABELS DIGITAL & OFFSET PRINTING • ARCHITECTURAL COPIES SCREENPRINTING • ENGRAVING • LOGO & GRAPHIC DESIGN

Choosing The Prospect-Woodward Home for assisted living means peace of mind for you and your family. We provide a warm, home-like environment where you can live with dignity, continue to enrich your life, and participate in your community. Come in for a complimentary luncheon tour and see if Prospect-Woodward is the place that makes you feel at home.

Friendly service, quality products, and reasonable prices...we are

Gracious Assisted Living

FIND US.

415 Marlboro Street Keene, NH 03431 www.gemgraphicsnh.com

RING US.

Phone: 603-352-7112 Fax: 603-352-7114

EMAIL US.

194-202 Court Street • Keene, N.H. 03431 • 603-352-3235 info@prospectwoodward.org • www.prospectwoodward.org

steve@gemgraphicsnh.com tammy@gemgraphicsnh.com

Set the TREND in Your Office. Commercial Art, Design & Installation

18 Main Street, Keene • 603-352-3724 • Mon-Fri 9-6, Sat 9-5

www.creative-encounters.com THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

Talk of the Town

Business News from Greater Keene, Brattleboro & Peterborough • Compiled by Marcia Passos Duffy

children during the summer. Short earned an undergraduate degree at St. Michael’s College in Burlington, Vermont, and a Master of Public Health from Boston University School of Public Health. She has worked with communities on a variety of public health concerns, including preparing for and responding to emergencies. Short can offer clients a range of products to cover both personal and commercial interests, ranging from home and auto coverage to a variety of business insurance coverages. Learn more: www.massin-ins.com. T LITTLE RIVER BED & BREAKFAST DONATES TO FOOD PANTRY PETERBOROUGH, N.H. — Rob and Paula Fox, innkeepers at Little River Bed & Breakfast, will be donating 10 percent of their guest room revenue for the months of February, March and April to the Peterborough Food Pantry. The donation is in celebration of the inn’s 10th year in business, according to a press release. “When we purchased the property with plans to renovate and operate as a B&B, we were thrilled to be part of such a welcoming community,” says Rob Fox. “Now, 10 years later, we want to take this opportunity to give back to the community in a meaningful way.” Paula Fox adds: “It just seemed natural to express our thanks to the community with a donation to the local food pantry that serves so many in the Monadnock Region.” For more information, please visit: www.littleriverbedandbreakfast.com, www.facebook. com/LittleRiverBB or call 603-924-3280. T CCCD AWARDED TWO GRANTS TO REDUCE FOOD INSECURITY WALPOLE, N.H. — The Cheshire County Conservation District (CCCD), and its partner, Monadnock Farm and Community Coalition (MFCC) — partners of Healthy Monadnock working on strategies to increase access to healthy local food — has been awarded two grants by the Healthy New Hampshire Foundation (HNH Foundation). The Foundation, in existence since 1997, operates exclusively for charitable purposes to improve the health and wellness of New Hampshire’s population with a focus on its most vulnerable children. GRANT 1: Food Security for Winchester, N.H. The first grant was awarded to CCCD for a project that aims to reduce food insecurity in the town of Winchester, New Hampshire. The $17,380 grant will focus on building capacity of businesses, farms, service organizations, and community and faith groups to increase food access for town residents, says Amanda J.C. Littleton, district manager for the Cheshire County Conservation District, in a press release. The grant will also allow MFCC to bring together stakeholders for a community celebration in April that will focus on healthy food access and education, as well as offer CSA shares from Winchester-based Picadilly Farm to food stamp eligible customers utilizing the SNAP and Granite State Market Match; and establishing a relationship between the Conservation District and the Winchester Farmers’ Market that will result in a plan for accepting EBT and the Market Match Program. The reason for concentrating on Winchester as a recipient of the benefits of the grant are multifold, notes Littleton. “Winchester has a large low-income population, and high level of readiness,” she says. “There is already a farmers’ market established, and CSA that already accepts EBT.” 8

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

GRANT 2: Help for Food Security for Region The second grant awarded will research and create a baseline of all the farms, farmers’ markets and CSA farms in the region that accept SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). “The goal is to develop and administer a survey to farms in Cheshire County to better understand which sites are accepting EBT cards (Electronic Benefits Transfer) that allow benefit recipients to receive money through a payment card. The grant will allow CCCD to reach out to farmers who are currently not accepting SNAP benefits and offer support for them to obtain an EBT machine. The $17,600 grant will also go toward increasing the “Farm to Family Buying Club” of Keene Housing and Monadnock Menus by 100 percent this year, adds Littleton. The program, which allows low-income people to purchase produce, meat and other food from local farmers at wholesale prices and have it delivered to Keene Housing locations for the elderly, will expand to include low-income family units throughout Keene, says Littleton. “We will use the money to do outreach and support to families who are interested in purchasing local food through the Farm to Family buying club,” says Littleton. The grant will also allow CCCD to create a workshop for social service agency staff to increase local awareness of food access opportunities for their clients. “The goal of this grant, ultimately is twofold: To help those in the region who need access to healthy food, and also to help our region’s farmers,” adds Littleton. “It is an important mission of Cheshire County Conservation District and its project, MFCC, to create new markets for our region’s farmers in order for them to remain viable and thrive.” T SBDC RELEASES GREATER KEENE NUMBERS DURHAM, N.H. — New Hampshire Small Business Development Center (SBDC) recently released numbers of business owners helped in the Keene Greater Keene in 2016. In Greater Keene region last year, small business owners achieved the following results with SBDC assistance: • • • •

Business Clients: 98 Hours of Advising: 1,268 Capital Infusion: $1,100,100 Client Sales: $11,807,726

• Client Sales Increase: $85,600 • New Business Starts: 6 • Jobs Created/Jobs Saved: 22/3

Each year, 3,000 small businesses in approximately 200 New Hampshire communities benefit from the advising and educational programs offered by the NH SBDC. Since 1984, the SBDC has helped more than 39,000 entrepreneurs representing 18,000 businesses. In the past 20 years, SBDCadvised clients have created more than 6,600 jobs in New Hampshire, attracted almost $300 million in capital, and 1,780 clients started their businesses. NH SBDC is an outreach program of the University of New Hampshire’s Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics, and a cooperative venture of the U.S. Small Business Administration, the State of New Hampshire (DRED), the University of New Hampshire, and the private sector. A part of 64 SBDC programs nationwide, the NH SBDC was fully accredited in 2015 by the Association of Small Business Development Centers. Learn more: www.nhsbdc.org. T KEENE HOUSING EXPANDS LOCAL FOOD BUYING CLUB KEENE, N.H. — Keene Housing and Monadnock Menus, which paired in 2015 to launch the pilot Farm to Family Buying Club, has expanded its local farm fresh fruits and vegetables buying program. There are now two market locations available for Keene Housing assisted households. The program, launched last year at Stone Arch Senior Housing on Court Street, has expanded its market location to include one more Keene Housing assisted apartment complex at Central Square Terrace in downtown Keene, a senior disabled property with 90 apartments. The buying

Send your business news to editor@thebusinessjournal.net

club allows Keene Housing families to buy fresh produce directly from the farm at discounted prices. Keene Housing residents and participants receiving housing assistance through the housing choice voucher program are eligible to participate in a Farm to Family Buying Club; ordering is held once a week and is delivered to the two Keene Housing complexes designated as a drop off points. In addition, Farm to Family members who receive SNAP benefits are eligible to use their EBT card and, beginning in 2017, can receive an uncapped Granite State Market Match towards their order each week. Prices at the buying club are below or at local grocery store or farmers’ market prices. “The biggest reason for the expansion was that transportation was an issue for people in other Keene Housing apartments who wanted to participate in the Farm to Family Buying Club,” says Jori Johnson, Keene Housing’s community garden coordinator and man-

ager for the Farm to Family Buying Club. “To take that barrier away, we decided to go where most of the people were ordering,” notes Johnson. People who live at Central Square Terrace were taking orders for the buying club and sending one person with a car to pick it up at the Stone Arch Senior Housing on Court Street. “We made a leap of faith to duplicate (on Central Square) what we had on Court Street,” she says. By adding the second drop off/ordering location, registries for Farm to Family have increased by 190 percent this year over last year, Johnson adds. In 2017 an additional pick up location will be available at Harper Acres for members of the buying club. “The goal is to take away the barriers to ordering and pick up, which is primarily transportation (to the pickup locations),” says Johnson. “Once that barrier is taken away, people are willing to buy local healthy foods from the club.” On average, Farm to Family Buying Club members spend $5-8 per week and get approximately $10-16 worth of wholesale fruits and vegetables. The Club also offers frozen vegetables in the winter, local cheese from Stonewall Farm and meat (sausage, chorizo, ground bulk pork and bacon) from Archway Farm in Keene. The Farm to Family Buying Club was created in partnership with the Cheshire County Conservation District (CCCD), Monadnock Menus, and Keene Housing. It is a member of the Wholesome Wave National Incentive Program Network. Additional funding is provided by the HNH Foundation and Healthy Monadnock. CCCD is a Healthy Monadnock partner that has received funds from CDC’s Partnerships to Improve Community Health initiative to increase access to healthy food. Learn more: www.harvesttomarket.com/farmers-market/Keene-Housing-Farm-to-Family-Buying-Club. T

Trusted convenient care

provided by Dartmouth-Hitchcock medical staff. W A L K - I N M E D I C A L C A R E F O R E V E R Y D AY I L L N E S S E S A N D M I N O R I N J U R I E S

Just walk in.

The Center at Colony Mill, 149 Emerald Street in Keene, NH Mon-Fri: 8 am to 8 pm | Sat-Sun: 10 am to 4 pm | Holidays: 10 am to 2 pm Our Pediatric Walk-In services remain an option at 590 Court St., Mon-Fri 8:30 to 11 am

Open every day, including holidays.

(603) 354-5484 | cheshiremedwalkin.org THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

Minding Your Business by Tony Paradiso

Our Future Is Green

closed last year with two columns that discussed regional development strategies, and this one will cap off that theme. The first column focused on process and highlighted how essential cooperation is among communities to the success of any effort. Regional development requires the ultimate team philosophy and effort. Egos must take a back seat to achieving the collective goal. In that column, I cited the New England Patriots as the quintessential analogy of how to approach it. The team has key personnel in Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, but its success revolves around every player working in unison with the entire coaching staff. Our region’s characteristics are similar. While the larger communities of Brattleboro and Keene are key to this kind of regional cooperation, success is elusive without the smaller communities pulling in the same direction. My second column focused on a potential regional positioning strategy. The concept was simple: accentuate our strengths and avoid trying to be something we’re not. Our region’s strengths include its natural beauty, a community-oriented small town lifestyle, and a vibrant array of arts and cultural offerings. The inclusion of arts and culture is what differentiates us from many other New England communities that also offer nature and small town benefits. And from a marketing perspective, arts and culture are synergistic with the region’s rural beauty. With new information garnered at last 10

year’s CONNECT event, and in the spirit of this issue’s trendsetting theme, I’d like to amend the previous columns by adding what I believe is the perfect last piece. That would be an effort called the Ecovation Hub. The previous strategy ideas — based on the combination of cooperation, natural beauty and manmade artistry — are further strengthened by “going green.” It was appropriate that I learned of the idea at CONNECT because it immediately connected with me. It was the classic “light bulb” moment. Ecovation Hub — born from the closure of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant and the resultant goal of identifying ways to compensate for the lost jobs — is the brainchild of the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation (BDCC) and the Southeast Vermont Economic Development Strategy (SeVEDS). In the spirit of cooperation, it encompasses the tristate region including Windham and Bennington Counties in Vermont, Franklin County in Massachusetts, and New Hampshire’s Cheshire County. An analysis was funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration and the State of Vermont Windham County Economic Development Program. That analysis discovered the existence of a nucleus of diverse green building assets within the region including leaders in research, product development, manufacturing, and in the design and construction of high-performance buildings and communities. The idea is to unite these assets into a “Green Economy Innovation

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

Hub” — lately renamed the Ecovation Hub. The Hub would serve as a centerpiece of sustainability and resilience and potentially become a model for rural communities far and wide. The effort is still in the planning stages. But thanks to the work of a dedicated group of volunteers, a foundation, structure and roadmap have been created. The foundation defines a five-prong strategy that includes ecoF.I.R.E. (finance, insurance, real estate), a knowledge center, research, products and services, international and regenerative agriculture and agroforestry. Representatives from organizations such as Building Green Inc., Bensonwood and its Unity Homes division, Green River Software, Brattleboro Savings and Loan, Antioch University and Keene State College, as well as the aforementioned BDCC and SeVEDS, have contributed their skills and passion to plot a course to attract both human and financial capital to establish the region as an epicenter for green building and sustainability. Rarely in my 40-year career have I encountered an idea that makes such perfect sense. Our region’s natural beauty and resources combined with a passionate and environmentally conscious culture make this area ideal for such an effort. I view the Ecovation Hub as an opportunity for the tristate region to become the Silicon Valley of green. Think about how that could reinvigorate population and job growth, not to mention set an example of environmental responsibility. Much work remains, and though the green movement is steadily moving toward critical mass, it remains in its early stages. It will be important to build on the momentum that has been established. Achieving this lofty goal will require the cooperation and contributions from all the tristate region’s stakeholders. But achievable it is. The details on the Ecovation Hub can be found at www.brattleborodevelopment. com/ecovationhub. I encourage readers to take a few minutes to visit the website. Doing so will provide a better understanding of the benefits the endeavor can provide the regional community. Hopefully, it will also spur ideas on ways you might contribute your skills and passion. T Tony Paradiso runs a Wilton, New Hampshire-based consulting firm.

Hints from Helaine

Answers to Your Vexing Business Problems • by Helaine Iris

“I am often called on to make hard decisions under time pressure in my small business. Do you have some tips on making decisions when stressed?” — Under Pressure Dear Under Pressure, Welcome to the reality of owning your own business. When all eyes are on you to make a decision, or to know what the “right” thing is to do is, this is when it feels lonely at the top. I get it. Regardless of how tempted you are to avoid, deflect, procrastinate, or run in the other direction when you have to make a decision — you can’t. Here are some strategies for building you decision-making muscle. 1. O ptimize your state of mind by calming your nervous system down before making a decision. Brain studies show we make better decisions when we’re not under stress. Take some deep breaths, take a walk or take a shower (if you are home). Anything that will help you switch your attention off the stressor and on to a more relaxed state will benefit the outcome. 2. T ake a time out. Go somewhere quiet, power down devices and listen to your gut. Here’s a trick I use: Think of a trusted mentor, business guru (that you know or not) or a supportive family member. Imagine a conversation with them. Ask yourself, “What

The Dublin Room

would they advise?” For me, I ask myself, “What would dad do?” Believe it or not, you probably know the answer — it’s just a matter of trusting what you know. 3. W eigh the pros and cons, look at the outcomes. Make two lists, get the swirling thoughts out of your head and down on paper. See the options in black and white. 4. D iscover what information might be missing from your ability to make a decision. Delineate the facts you know from what you don’t know. Gather the missing information. It’s likely when all the information is available, you can make an informed choice. T Helaine Iris is a life and business coach with Path of Purpose Coaching. Do you have a vexing business problem? Email Helaine at helaine@pathorpurpose.com. Your name will be kept confidential.

30 YEARS OF  SUSTAINABLE DESIGN ADAPTIVE REUSE

Business meetings events, parties with options for brunch, lunch, dinner or a cocktail party.

Book Now! 401 Winchester Street Keene, NH 03431 www.waxys.com 603-357-9299

WELLER & MICHAL ARCHITECTS www.wapm.com

603-827-3840

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

Matt Wilhelm, director and co-founder of Old Sol Music Hall, outside the Palace Theatre on Hanover Street in Manchester. He was the keynote speaker at the 2017 Business Journal Trendsetters Awards.

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

Blending Music and Community Service Hits the Right Notes for this NH Company BY TERRENCE WILLIAMS / PHOTOGRAPHY BY MICHAEL MOORE

att Wilhelm started linking community responsibility with innovation as a third-grader. The youngster, pulling a wagon once a week, trekked through his Nashua neighborhood collecting recyclables from about 20 households. “It was my first venture into social enterprise,” he chuckles, noting that the work generated front-page news in his hometown newspaper, under the banner headline, “Environmental Entrepreneur.” A photo accompanying the story shows the youngster kneeling behind “Matt’s Recyclemobile,” loaded with newspapers, bottles and plastics. The route didn’t pay much — $1 a month per customer — but Wilhelm’s reward system was — and is — a departure from most. Today, at Alpha Loft, a co-working space on Elm Street in Manchester, he and his partners work on a business concept with a soul that leverages the same civic interest he showed as an eight-year-old. *** Wilhelm’s focus on social service may only be matched by his love of music. He has continuously blended both. While a student at Plymouth State University, he landed an internship to do video and DVD production on a national tour with the band Dispatch in 2001. Dispatch featured as its front-man Chadwick Stokes, a figure who would play a prominent role in Wilhelm’s future. It was to be only the first of several musical relationships that fostered Wilhelm’s activism, including the innovative enterprise he pursues today. He talked about that venture — and the challenges it has presented — as the keynote speaker at The 2017 Business Journal Trendsetters Awards on March 9. “It was very do-it-yourself,” he recalls of the tour, saying he found himself in vaunted

music venues in Philadelphia, Boston, New York City, San Francisco and more. Dispatch broke up in 2004, but continues to occasionally perform, including three sold-out shows in 2007 in Madison Square Garden, a concert that raised money for Zimbabwe relief work. Dispatch has just announced another tour, again with a heavy focus on philanthropy. Wilhelm, stoking his own interest in community work, went on to join City Year and did work for the city of Somersworth. City Year, a program of AmeriCorps, deploys young people to school systems to help low-

er drop-out rates, increase school attendance and provide instruction and mentoring. Currently, the program is working in eight Manchester elementary schools, the city in which Wilhelm resides. During his two years at City Year, Wilhelm contacted the rock band Guster to explore possible collaborations. His connection was Guster’s manager, Dalton Sim, who he knew through Stokes. As it turned out, Guster was performing for Timberland, the well-known Seacoast shoe company. Timberland, also recognized for its community focus, housed City Year’s New Hampshire’s office. “It was pretty serendipitous,” Wilhelm says. “The meeting (with Guster) happened.” At the time, Guster was making a name for itself, not just with its music, but with advo-

cacy work centered on environmental matters. Through a nonprofit spinoff called REVERB, Guster organized pre-concert events promoting environmental awareness while making contributions to a variety of causes. The group found college campuses particularly receptive to such efforts, giving rise to the Campus Consciousness Tour in 2006. The band asked Wilhelm and City Year to take part. One of the tour stops was at Keene State College, and it was there that the guitar playing Stokes re-entered Wilhelm’s life, this time with Stokes’ band State Radio, which opened for Guster. Stokes and his wife, Sybil Gallagher, were already well-established in charity work, first through Dispatch, and then through State Radio. Just as Guster had formed REVERB, the couple would go on to create Calling All Crows in 2008, a similar community service effort with a portion of ticket sales to State Radio concerts going to combat gun violence, women’s issues and other concerns. This proved a dizzying time for Wilhelm. He had met his wife-to-be, Jody, that spring in Boston. She was working for AmeriCorps with City Year Boston and was with Wilhelm at the Keene concert. For the couple, the confluence of music and difference-making was firmly cemented as the space they wanted to occupy. “I was really passionate about music,” he recalls, and adds: “Music was more than just showing up for a concert. You had all that potential to do something more with the fans.” Wilhelm soon was helping to manage State Radio tours with a particular emphasis on pre-concert community work, set up in advance and nourished by the band’s desire to give back all along the road. In 2009, State Radio did some typical preevent work in Chico, California, removing invasive plants from a forest. Stokes, in a television interview, described those efforts as a “movement for service,” and that community work and much more like it was organized by Wilhelm ahead of each tour stop. “It’s all about musicians creating a positive impact,” says Wilhelm. “Doing something more than just music. It’s a way to do more than playing sound checks and after the show, going for beers.” And it was also a way to forge strong conContinued on page 40.

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

Don’t you want to do business with award winning agents?

Chris McIntosh, AAI 2015 Trendsetter Bryanne Kingsbury, CLCS 2014 Trendsetter

Let Bry & Chris help your business Be Ready! When you run a business, your success can depend on how well you control your risks and who you can to turn to for help identifying those risks. Business Insurance Advisors Bry and Chris can help you be ready for the unexpected by identifying your company’s specific needs and developing customized programs to manage your risk. They’ll work closely with you, offering value-added services like on-site compliance training and support, in addition to a choice of A-rated insurance companies for both your business insurance and employee benefits needs, as well as exceptional 24/7 claims service. They also draw on their experience in the community and the resources of the entire Clark-Mortenson team, a team that has protected businesses in this region since 1877. Come and see what sets them apart!

Congratulations to the 2017 recipients of the Business Journal Trendsetters Awards! Call today at 877-352-2121 or visit clarkmortenson.com

clarkmortenson.com 102 Main Street, Keene, NH 03431 4603-352-2121 Offices in Claremont & Keene, NH; Brattleboro, West Dover & Woodstock, VT

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

We have $24 million to lend to local businesses.

How can we help you? At Savings Bank of Walpole, we exist solely for people and businesses in our local communities. And our lending power is much bigger than you might assume! Whether your business—large or small—needs financing for equipment, your building or simply working capital, we’d love to chat. With local decision-making, plus technology that helps make banking easier, SBW is the truly local bank that’s here for you. Let’s talk. Give Steve Bianco a call at (603) 355-1676 or email him at sbianco@walpolebank.com.

The savings bank of you…and your business.

Equal Housing Lender | Member FDIC | walpolebank.com |

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

SELECTION PANEL 16

Jessica Gelter is the executive director of Arts Alive! and was a 2016 Trendsetter and Leadership Monadnock participant. She is also a performing artist and serves on her towns planning commission. She lives in Brattleboro with her husband Jay and daughter Evelyn.

Shannon Hundley was born and raised in Central Bucks, Pennsylvania. She relocated to Keene with her family and has never left. She received a Bachelorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Degree in Social Science from Keene State College and has set roots in the Monadnock Region with her husband, Curt and their three kids, Bailey, Buddy and Travis. Shannon has spent the last 16 years in the retail industry, eventually working as Store Manager of Your Kitchen Store. It was there that she discovered the need for individuals of the community to support their local businesses and work toward a stronger community. Shannon currently works as the Operations Director at the Hannah Grimes Center for Entrepreneurship. When she is not busy with her family or work, she enjoys serving at her church, Sturtevant Chapel, and establishing Monadnock Hope, which educates and raises awareness on the current domestic human trafficking issues. She also serves on the Hannah Grimes Marketplace Board of Directors, Wheelock School PTA and Grand Monadnock Youth Choir. Shannon was a Trendsetter winner in 2016. THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

Kelsey joined True North Networks in May of 2016 as the Business Development Manager. She has more than nine years of experience in the health and wellness field, community health improvement, marketing, communications, event planning and worksite wellness. A graduate of Keene State College with a degree in Nutrition, she is a people person who is extremely passionate about making meaningful connections and relationships, motivating others to make changes, listening, and ensuring peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s needs are met. Kelsey enjoys being outdoors running, skiing, hiking and spending time with friends and family. She was a Trendsetter winner in 2015. Elizabeth Cardine was born and raised in Keene and was recognized as a 2016 Trendsetter. She is the Lead Teacher/Advisor at the Monadnock Campus of the Making Community Connections Charter School, serving 90 students in the regionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s only charter high school. She also works as Coaching Director for the Q.E.D. Foundation, bringing competency-based, student-centered educational practices to schools around the state and country. Elizabeth has been deeply involved with local Destination Imagination initiatives, starting programs at both Keene High School while still a student, and at Saint Joseph Regional School as a parent. Elizabeth lives in Swanzey with her husband and three sons.

The 2017 Trendsetters Awards winners. From left, Ryan Bell, Andrew Madison, Roy Schlieben, Robert Parisi, Hunter Kirschner, Jennifer Alexander, Amanda Littleton, Natalie Neilson, Yves P. Gakunde, Nikki Sauber and Megan Straughen.

Susan Newcomer was the workforce development coordinator for the Greater Keene Chamber of Commerce prior to her retirement and is highly active in the community through volunteerism and civic engagement. She continues to be involved with the chamber through her facilitation of its Leadership Monadnock Program. THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017 17

NATALIE NEILSON

Natalie Neilson, Continuum of Care Facilitator for Behavioral Health Services and Supports at the Center for Population Health Strategy and Practice at Cheshire Medical Center.

Bringing Out the Resiliency of Those in Crisis BY ETHAN DEWITT / PHOTO BY MICHAEL MOORE

or years, Natalie Neilson worked within the mental health treatment system, coaching and counseling young people through tough transitions, lending a sympathetic ear even as she pushed through her own struggles. These days, she helps design that system. Working as the continuum of care facilitator for the Greater Monadnock Public Health Network, a program within Cheshire Medical Center/Dartmouth-Hitchcock Keene, Neilson creates pathways among local behavioral health services, taking a bird’s-eye view to the region’s more vexing problems. Perhaps it’s a patient at the Phoenix House rehabilitation center needing access to mental health counseling services. Perhaps it’s an inmate at the county jail looking to stay 18

clean when she gets out. Neilson looks for the weaknesses in the system — the gaps, the holes, the unevenness. Then she moves to smooth them over. “What we need to create is this tapestry of what addiction and recovery looks like,” she says of her role. “Addiction is ingrained in everyone in some way, and it’s not a scary thing if we have a system that’s able to support it.” It’s a big-picture job, driven by grand ideas. But it’s one that also requires legwork: continual check-ins on the people within the programs, and the areas that lag behind. And that’s where Neilson shines. The Keene resident spends many of her days out of the office, meeting with residents, treat-

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

ment centers and schools, keeping track of fears and disappointments, hopes and joys. It’s a skill she’s picked up through experience. Faced with her own anxiety in high school and into college, Neilson learned first-hand the benefit of listening with an open mind. Neilson, who grew up in San Francisco, says she had a community accepting and nurturing of her behavioral quirks. But when she moved to Wisconsin as a teenager, the atmosphere changed, and the mental health struggles began to exacerbate. The bad treatment programs, she recalled, were the ones that threw her mental health “problems” at her feet, as a responsibility for her to deal with. The good ones were the

ones that propped up her positive traits, that saw her as unique and impressive, someone to be championed. It wasn’t until she came to New Hampshire that Neilson experienced the latter. At 20, midway through a psychology degree at Keene State College, Neilson met Chris Cotton, a life coach who would become a mentor. His first words: “There is nothing wrong with you.” Cotton, whom Neilson met through Inner Connections, a local coaching program, “completely transformed my idea of what my own personal well-being could look like,” she says. By encouraging her strengths, he gave her a new outlook that turned her problems into challenges. “He believed that I could build something with my life,” says Neilson. “And I hadn’t felt like I had received that message before.” Neilson found her empowerment. Soon, she was helping others find theirs. She began volunteering with Inner Connections, helping young people working through crises. And her studies began to dovetail with her experiences in the field, strengthening her determination to pursue a career in behavioral healthcare and stay in Keene. Today, Neilson wears many hats within the Monadnock care world. In addition to her official role at the Greater Monadnock Public Health Network in Keene, she’s the co-coordinator of a behavioral health task force — “Be the Change” — operating out of Monadnock Community Hospital in Peterborough, interacting with local schools and communities to tackle the stigma of mental health care. She sits on the boards of the Keene Serenity Center, a function hall

for addiction recovery groups, as well as the Monadnock Restorative Community, an organization focused on female reintegration after incarceration. She spends her spare time offering trainings for Narcan administration — she’s given more than 30 by now. And she’s certified as a recovery coach for those in rehabilitation. It’s an armful to be sure. But if Neilson’s workload comes off as broad, even diffuse, it’s a reflection, she says, of the nature of the challenges. People are complicated; population health crises are, too. Entrenched problems require holistic solutions — the kinds that empower, not encroach. “That’s sort of the beauty of this work,” she says. “It’s helping people show how — not just as individuals but as communities — how resilient are you and what are your strengths that help you.” To her friends, Neilson is uniquely skilled at bringing that out. “She has a way of putting people at ease to ask their questions and share their stories,” writes Tricia Wadleigh, Neilson’s colleague, in her Trendsetter nomination letter. “She has many years of experience and has a way of asking open-ended questions that make people feel heard.” But to Neilson, it’s the people within the system that power it forward. “These folks knew what they needed and they needed to be given a voice,” she says. “And we haven’t always done that, but I think we are now.” T

THE THISTLES, DUBLIN

racious 5471 sq. ft. Country Estate near Dublin Lake designed by Henry Vaughn, gazing towards Mt. Monadnock. A thoughtfully updated shingle style Victorian, a converted Carriage Barn now a guest house, a studio, 2-story rental Cottage and a 3-car garage with tree-lined drive – all on 20+/- Acres abutting Conservation land. MLS #4485117 $1,390,000

Congratulations!

Natalie Neilson

atulations r g n o C

Realtors • Consultants

ASSOCIATES, INC.

NATALIE NEILSON

Keene 603-352-6030 Jaffrey 603-532-4486 www.hksassoc.com

tulations congra Natalie Neilson For all you do for the community.

Thank you to all the 2017 Trendsetters for their good work in our community.

Natalie Neilson is the Greater Monadnock Region’s Continuum of Care Facilitator for Monadnock Voices for Prevention, based out of Cheshire Medical Center/ Dartmouth-Hitchcock. In her role, Natalie is responsible for assessing barriers and community assets for substance misuse along the continuum of care which includes prevention, intervention, treatment and recovery. In addition, Natalie works with several initiatives in the region, including the Keene Serenity Center, Monadnock Restorative Community, Monadnock Area Peer Support and co-chairs the Behavioral Health Task Force, Be the Change, in Peterborough.

MONADNOCK RESTORATIVE COMMUNITY transforming lives together

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

ANDREW MADISON

Andrew Madison at the Stone Arch Bridge spanning the Ashuelot River in Keene.

A Water Watchdog BY MEGHAN FOLEY / PHOTO BY MICHAEL MOORE

ndrew Madison hasn’t been a resident of Keene for long, but the 31-year-old water expert is making more than a ripple. He is president of the Keene Young Professionals Network (KYPN) and a member of the city’s Conservation Commission. He is also involved in the Greater Keene Chamber of Commerce Programs Committee, the N.H. Natural Resource Conservation Service State Technical Committee, water clean-up programs, policy work and other initiatives seeking to bring clean drinking water to people across New Hampshire. And then there is Madison’s day job — studying and mapping water resources, which has him interacting with officials and residents across the Monadnock Region. It’s work he is passionate about, in part because of the awareness it raises about the 20

importance of having clean drinking water, he said. As a source water specialist for the Walpole-based Granite State Rural Water Association, he helps cities, towns, housing developments and mobile home parks determine where their drinking water comes from, or could come from, and helps develop plans to protect it. “I think water is something we take for granted and forget about until we don’t have it,” he says. “And when you look at the turmoil and chaos that happens when fresh water is not available, it’s frightening.” The water crisis in Flint, Michigan. where the city switched its water system to one that was later found to be lead-contaminated, is an example, he notes. Around the world, particularly in third world countries, strife and turmoil abound when access to clean water is limited or non-existent, he said.

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

Madison, who grew up in Monson, Massachusetts, studied natural resource management and geography with a specialty in geographic information systems at Salem State University in Salem, Massachusetts. He spent much of his childhood on his grandparents’ dairy farm, and developed an affection for the outdoors and the environment, he says. Hiking, camping and kayaking are among his favorite activities, he says. His first job after graduating from college was monitoring the water quality of the central Massachusetts Quabbin Reservoir, which is the drinking water supply for Boston. “That is where I became interested in the work of drinking water protection, and it came to be something I care about,” he says. After about a year working at the Quabbin, Madison joined AmeriCorps Vista, and he was sent to a community of about 800

people in Ridgway, Colorado, to help a small community organization craft a watershed management plan. The plan identified water quality issues within the watershed, and solutions to those problems.” The work is similar to what he does now, though, instead, his planning focuses more on identifying drinking water sources and ways those sources can be protected, he says. Madison served two years in AmeriCorps and then took a job with the National Park Service monitoring water quality at Black Canyon in Gunnison National Park in western Colorado. By then, he realized he needed to go to graduate school to further his career, and he enrolled at Indiana University to study water resource management. He was there for two years, graduated, and decided it was time to return to New England, he says. The job with Granite State Rural Water Association came about quickly, and it felt like a good fit. He has been at the company for about two and a half years, arriving in July 2014.

He settled in Keene. It was quaint and had a good number of things to do, he says. Since his arrival, his goals include buying a house and hiking the 48 New Hampshire mountains with elevations higher than 4,000 feet. He has already scaled 12. He is also committed to making sure there are opportunities and supports for young professional like him living in the area, and is working with other members of KYPN to make that happen. He has been president of the organization since January 2016. Nikki Sauber, an associate on KYPN, writes in her letter nominating Madison that he has taken on the group’s top position at a challenging time following much of its leadership leaving the region. Madison has been recruiting and managing a new team to reinvigorate the organization, to build stronger connections locally and to show others that the Monadnock Region is an attractive place for young professionals to stay, work and play, says Sauber. She described Madison as a “humble, but passionate leader,” and says she is “blown

away by his commitment to the organization.” Madison says that the during the last few years, KYPN has been pseudo-dormant. He wants to change that, moving toward a more community-minded focus, advocating for young professionals and connecting them with area resources. He had increased KYPN’s activity in The Trendsetters Awards this year. And he hopes such efforts will help encourage more young professionals to settle in the Monadnock Region. In addition, he would like to see city and state officials do more to provide incentives for young professionals and families to move to New Hampshire, particularly the southwestern corner, by making the cost of living more affordable and supporting workforce development, he says. Since coming to Keene, the opportunities Madison has had have come by chance and by meeting others. “Last year was a big year for me,” he says. “It wouldn’t have happened had I not met the people I did.” T

CONGRATULATIONS TRENDSETTER NIKKI SAUBER! Everyone at MUW is so proud of you and your many accomplishments!

Congratulations Andrew & all the 2017 Trendsetters

And a heartfelt congratulations to all of the 2017 Trendsetters.

www.granitestatewater.org Supporting NH’s Water & Wastewater Systems THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

Megan Straughen dumps a load of compostables into a bin at the Monadnock Food Co-op where she is the Events, Education & Sustainability Coordinator.

MEGAN STRAUGHEN

A Passion for Business and Environment Meet at the Co-op BY ISAAC STEIN / PHOTO BY MICHAEL MOORE

riginally from the plains of Shawnee Mission, Kansas, Megan Straughen never experienced the rolling, rock-strewn hills and backcountry streams of New Hampshire — until she enrolled in a master’s program at Antioch University New England. After that, she called Keene home. “I came to this area, and I just never wanted to leave; I fell in love with it,” says Straughen. But the 30-year-old’s journey to professional success wasn’t linear, and it wasn’t easy, either. Antioch provided her a master’s in environmental studies in 2013. She was interested in food systems, advocacy and environmental issues, but she also had acquired a background in banking and finance. Blending all of those skills into a single job wasn’t a simple mix, and, as she put it, she “spent a few years bouncing around, not finding my exact path.” Ultimately, she started working for the Monadnock Food Co-op, 22

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

where she is the events, education and sustainability coordinator. She says she likes the staff, and also thinks “it was the perfect platform for me.” Certainly, she’s used the platform to make career leaps. Straughen started as a cashier in the produce department and progressively took on more responsibility, looking for a dream job that would allow her to ply all of her skills. “A job opened up in the finance department, which was a really good segue for me, because my background is in finance,” she says. “So I was doing part-time in finance and part-time in produce, and then they created a sustainability coordinator position a year-and-ahalf ago, and I got that … and then a good friend left the Co-op who was doing outreach, (and) basically I took that part over. “I’m basically doing all community outreach and sustainability stuff now,” she says.

65 ROXBURY ST KEENE, NH 3431 603-352-4102

tional grocery stores. These offerings include beans, broth, pasta and paper towels, according to the Co-op website. Price is one of Straughen’s top concerns. “One of our end statements is to be an affordable downtown market; we want everyone to be able to afford to shop here,” she says. “We’re constantly trying to lower our prices while still being a viable business, and continuing to increase employee benefits, and wages … every day, I’m spreading this message.” To that end, she’s optimistic that once customers believe in the Co-op’s mission and how its structure benefits the community, and also understand “why, on certain items, our prices are higher,” they will increasingly want to support the business. When she’s not spreading the message about how co-ops work and why they benefit communities, Straughen likes to spend time with “an excellent network of friends here, (which I have) through Antioch.” She also enjoys hiking and the outdoors — running the gamut from Mount Monadnock, to Troy’s Gap Mountain, to Pisgah State Park, in Winchester — and yoga. She also makes time for reading, including her current book, All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy, and she’s re-reading Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States. Noting her Kansas roots, Straughen also finds time to watch football. “Watching football is probably my worst habit,” she says with a smile. T

TAXES ARE COMPLICATED. Getting your taxes done isn't enough - you need your taxes done right. That's where we come in. We hire and train the most qualified tax professionals to ensure you claim every credit and deduction you deserve so you get your maximum refund. Guaranteed.¶

YOUR LOCAL OFFICE(S): 65 ROXBURY ST KEENE, NH 03431 603-352-4102 149 EMERALD ST, UNIT D1 KEENE, NH 03431 603-352-4065

15-0105

N N

At her current post, Straughen is a jack-of-all trades in communications, marketing and finance, and the projects she works on reflect her versatile role, which falls under the marketing department. For instance, she coordinates and manages the Monadnock Region Earth Festival (held at the Co-op), testified at the New Hampshire Legislature on the labeling of genetically modified foods and found alternative outlets for the Co-op to recycle plastics and compost its organic waste. She says another part of her work is explaining why co-ops, and the Monadnock Food Co-op in particular, are both viable and worthy of community support. She says she believes in the model for a number of reasons, such as employees and suppliers sharing in profit to a greater degree than traditional models. Also, she says, working as a distributor for local products keeps money spent on those products local. “This business model is an alternative structure in a global economy, in a global world, where it really allows us to take the power back and keep more dollars here, and support our community members in a way that you don’t see happening with a lot of other business structures,” says Straughen. The diversity of Straughen’s professional background and her role at the Co-op were also focal points in her nomination for a Trendsetter award, which was submitted by Emerald Levick, the Co-op’s marketing and membership manager. “Megan Straughen inspires her coworkers with her passion for the cooperative business model and sustainability in every aspect of her work...,” writes Levick. “Her workplace engagement is exemplary, contributing considerably to our Co-op’s overall culture through trainings, presentations and every day actions that show she really cares about the people she works with as well as our mission.” She adds that Straughen “has worked in four different departments, as well as taking on the role of board administrator, but her deep engagement in our cooperative and her Master’s degree in environmental advocacy made her an obvious choice when we created the position of sustainability coordinator.” Straughen’s interests in co-ops also extends beyond the Monadnock Region. She says she looks up to another co-op for inspiration — Equal Exchange, a West Bridgewater, Massachusetts-based company that sells coffee, chocolate and bananas, among other products. Part of what Straughen says she likes about Equal Exchange is that the company “empowers” small farmers by cutting out middlemen and creating “alternate supply chains.” The effect, she says, is the farmers “have say over what they’re growing, how they’re growing it, how they’re paid, how they live.” Also, Straughen notes, co-ops don’t just have to be about food; Ace Hardware is an example of a co-op that’s made the national business scene. But, she says, marketing a food co-op can be a challenge at present time because supermarkets are increasingly carrying local and organic food. This used to be the niche of co-ops. Also, co-op prices can run higher than other supermarkets, she says. So, in an era when stores like hers have to “work harder to differentiate themselves,” Straughen is getting creative. One way is very direct: the co-op now offers a line of household staples, co-op basics, which she says are listed at the same as or lower prices than conven-

¶If you discover an H&R Block error on your return that entitles you to a larger refund (or smaller tax liability), we'll refund the tax prep fee for that return. Refund claims must be made during the calendar year in which the return was prepared. OBTP#B13696 ©2015 HRB Tax Group, Inc.

149 EMERALD ST UNIT D1 KEENE, NH 3431 603-352-4065

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

YVES P. GAKUNDE Rwanda Native Sees Consensus Where Others See Conflict BY ROSS EWING / PHOTO BY MICHAEL MOORE

here might not seem to be much common ground between the Monadnock Region and the African nation of Rwanda. But don’t tell that to Yves Gakunde. The desire to find and expand consensus is a powerful motivator for the 36-year-old. As a three-year veteran of the city of Keene’s purchasing department, Gakunde knows that identifying such space between disparate and often-competing stakeholders is essential to municipal operation. And, as a Ph.D. student in environmental science at Antioch University New England, Gakunde has dedicated himself to cultivating the common ground between environmental conservation and economic development. Gakunde arrived in the Elm City in 2010, seeking a master’s degree in sustainable development and climate change. The native of Huye — also known as Butare, Rwanda’s second-largest city — had no trouble making a home for himself in Mount Monadnock’s shadow. “I call it my home far from home” he says with a laugh. “It’s not small (enough) to be bored or big (enough) to drive you crazy,” Gakunde says when asked what first endeared the city to him. “I feel it’s the perfect size for me, and I feel like I have a family here.” After earning his master’s in 2012 and taking a year off to save 24

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

Yves P. Gakunde and a reflection of Central Square.

money, Gakunde dove back into studies in 2013, dedicating himself to a research topic he’d discovered during an internship in Rwanda. It was also an area of focus in his master’s studies: a program called payments for ecosystem services. The concept comprises paying locals — in cash or in the form of various services, such as health care or education — in exchange for their help conserving protected areas. Payments for ecosystem services have been used in several places around the globe, most successfully in Costa Rica, according to Gakunde, but also in China and Brazil. Gakunde says the idea of implementing the program in his home country struck him during an interview he conducted with a local man who admitted to cutting trees for charcoal in a protected forest. When asked why he flouted environmental laws, some of which carried stiff penalties, Gakunde says the man told him, “I would prefer to be killed in the forest, looking for food for my kids, instead of staying home and seeing my kids die of hunger.” The man’s candid answer intrigued Gakunde, so he inquired about incentives that would keep the man out of the forest and discovered that he was eager for access to health care and an alternative to charcoal as a source of income. When he dug a little deeper, Gakunde noticed that many of the protected areas in Rwanda were so designated in order to maintain their high value to the tourism industry, but that locals saw very little of the tourism revenue flowing into those regions. The question in his mind became “how can we make direct payments, how can we engage” with these locals to help get them invested in environmental conservation. The answer, in Gakunde’s estimation, are payments for ecosystem services. Gakunde is now busy researching how best to implement such a

program. The challenge, he says, lies in figuring out the most effective method of payment to incentivize conservation. “It does not have to be just money,” Gakunde insists. “If you figure out what they need, if you can make education free, if you can provide health care…because each community is different and has different needs.” The interest in conservation is not confined to Gakunde’s academic life. He brought the same passion to City Hall when he moved from a job at the Keene Public Library, where he’d worked since 2012, to the city’s purchasing department three years ago. Gakunde was one of the driving forces behind the revival of the city’s Environmental Preferred Purchasing program (EP3), which had slipped into obscurity after its creator left City Hall. The program focuses on environmental issues, he says, and exists to encourage the city to be as environmentally friendly as possible with each project it undertakes. As the unofficial coordinator of EP3, Gakunde says his “role is to bring people to the table and say, “OK, what can we do, how do we do it, and who can we talk to to get things done?’” “I’m the kind of person who likes to get things done,” he adds. EP3, with Gakunde on board, has also initiated internal programs to help the city reduce its environmental impact. One of these is what Gakunde terms a City Hall “swap shop,” wherein departments advertise their extra office supplies and equipment to one another, cutting down on waste and saving money for the city. Another initiative saw EP3 try to increase education on environmental issues within City Hall. Such education is vital, Gakunde says. “Being environmentally friendly is not something you do just once,” he says. “I still have to keep reminding myself, ‘Oh, you have to recycle this.’ … I feel like we have to keep educating people.” The work is far from over, but Gakunde says EP3 has reaped some results. After being inspired by EP3’s educational outreach, the facilities division reduced pressure in bathroom sinks in order to reduce the amount of water wasted when people wash their hands, he says. But not one to hoard credit, Gakunde is quick to defer praise to his EP3 colleagues. “We have an outstanding group here at City Hall, and everyone has really good ideas,” he says. Gakunde puts his collaborative nature on display in another setting as well: the Elm City Rotary Club.

Southwestern Community Services, Inc. would like to congratulate our Homeless Outreach Specialist

Ryan Bell

on his Trendsetters Award! Thank you for all that you do and congratulations Ryan!

Gakunde spoke about Rwanda at one of the club’s meetings and was a recipient of its Unsung Hero scholarship before being sponsored to join its ranks by Ann Henderson in 2014. He is effusive in his praise of the service club and its members. “This group is the group that motivated me to go into the community and do projects. … Everything I do in the community is because of these people,” he says. “It’s a group of 65 people who are very, very active.” Last year, Gakunde worked with Kim Abrams of the Keene Rotary Club and Cameron Tease of Monadnock United Way to create the Greater Keene Rotaract Club, a service organization for young professionals and college students. Though he has stepped into an advisory role since the club started to establish itself, Gakunde is still deeply involved. “They always tease me that I have dual citizenship,” Gakunde says of his Rotaract peers. He now regularly attends meetings and events for both Rotaract and Elm City Rotary. Through both groups, Gakunde volunteers his time at the Community Kitchen, which he describes as his favorite community service experience. “It’s just two hours of my time,” he says. “But those two hours can make a big difference in someone’s life. “I get a chance to interact with people,” he says. “I’m not just serving the food, but talking to people, and those kinds of small connections you make … It gives me a chance to not see homelessness or someone in need as just another challenge to the community; it shows anyone — myself or you — can go into hardship.” Ultimately, Gakunde sees himself returning to Rwanda, though he says a dream job would be working for an international organization that does work in both his home country and the United States. He doesn’t anticipate forgetting his newest home, wherever he ends up. “I don’t feel like I just need to finish school and be gone, just give up what I’ve started here. … My friends here are like my family,” he says. Wherever he resides, public service is sure to be in Gakunde’s future. After all, that’s where the greatest potential — and need — for common ground lies. And this search is Gakunde’s specialty. “I believe in talking to people; I believe in communication. If we have a chance to chat, to communicate, we can always find common ground.” T

congratulations to megan, our co-op’s

sustainability,

education & events coordinator,

on being a TRENDSETTER

and an all-around fantastic human being! www.monadnockfood.coop 603•355•8008 I 34 Cypress St, Keene THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

On the Hunt to Help the Homeless BY CALLIE GINTER / PHOTO BY MICHAEL MOORE

Ryan Bell, at a homeless encampment in a patch of Keene woods.

RYAN BELL

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

yan Bell might fit an Irishman stereotype: red-bearded, direct, burly, 240 pounds, more than six-feet tall. But as he rises early in the morning and searches nearby woods, he’s on tender mission, looking for Keene’s homeless population to get them housed. And he’s breaking down stereotypes on his search. Bell, 35, works at Southwestern Community Services as an emergency housing coordinator. He’s the organization’s homeless outreach intervention specialist, a job that often finds him in the woods, trying to locate a forgotten population. Within the past two years, Bell estimates he’s helped house nearly 600 individuals or families in the Monadnock Region. He isn’t one’s traditional social worker. Without a college degree, Bell’s uses his own life experiences to bring awareness to the homeless epidemic and debunk the perceived trajectory of how one becomes homeless. “I’m real, and I don’t b***s***,” Bell says explaining how he’s been successful at his job. “I can relate to these people, which is why I don’t find it difficult.” His past six years working with the homeless community has taught Bell that the typecast affixed to the homeless is often erroneous. “We’ve been taught that there’s a stereotype to a homeless person. It’s the person who’s pushing the shopping cart. They have beer cans and a bunch of coats and trash bags,” he says. “We think that’s the homeless person, and that’s far from it.” “Sure, the stereotype does exist to a degree, don’t get me wrong, but the majority are everyday people whose car broke down, they couldn’t get to work, they lost their job and bam! They’re stuck in this situation,” he says. “(The) majority of us live pay check to pay check, and you can easily find yourself homeless.” Bell himself has experienced similar circumstances. He suffers from Post-Traumatic

eno

Stress Disorder, which allows him to relate to homeless veterans. He also grew up poor and was constantly on the move. Bell enlisted in the U.S. Army in January of 2002 in response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and served in the initial stages of Operation Iraqi Freedom, leading a team responsible for securing airfields, critical infrastructure and financial institutions in northern Iraq in 2003. After serving in the Army for four years, Bell isolated himself when he returned to Keene. Eventually, he emerged to contribute in his own community, much the way he served his country. He began volunteering at Hundred Nights Shelter on Lamson Street in 2010, where he quickly became the drop-in resource manager. He utilized resources from government agencies and nonprofits to address the specific needs of clients. Additionally, he developed programs to help with everyday problems and managed the logistics of operating a cold-weather shelter and center.

“After I started there, I realized ‘I can relate to that individual,’” says Bell. He began working for Southwestern Community Services in 2013 after an outreach position opened, which he admitted he didn’t think he’d land considering he lacks a college education. Since then, Bell’s been “knocking down targets,” as he calls it and getting the homeless housed. He has two methods: Bringing his services to the woods; or having the homeless come into his office to make assessments. He says he mostly offers financial assistance, but also helps them find resources and mediates between clients and landlords. “I gain their trust, and I can be consistent and persistent. I tell them I’m not just BS’ing. I’m here to see you all the way through,” says Bell. And even when they do get housed, Bell says he’s still “on their side” and is there to help if needed. Bell credits the U.S. Army for giving him the skill set to do what he does. “The Army taught me I have to learn more

than everybody around me … I lead by example,” says Bell. Bell directs by example not only in the woods, but also on the field. He’s been the vice president and the president of the Monadnock Wolfpack Rugby Team. Bell recruits veterans onto the Monadnock Rugby Team to help them readjust to civilian life, and finds meaningful connections among other veterans and civilians alike. He says the most rewarding part of his job is to learn that his clients get housing, but he also hopes the community can learn that the stereotype behind the homelessness isn’t always true. “For me, I was taught what a homeless person was, but I’ve learned and they’re not easily identifiable … they’re not all drinking and drugging,” he says. “We walk past more homeless people than we know.” “My hope is that we can remove the stigma from the homeless community and give people a better understanding of what it actually means to be homeless,” he says . “Let’s work a little bit harder to make that happen.” T

llamS rol

Keene State College congratulates the recipients of the 2017 Trendsetter Awards. As New Hampshire’s public liberal arts college, we are giving people the power of a liberal arts education – to think critically, act creatively, and serve the greater good.

229 Main Street | Keene, New Hampshire 03435 | keene.edu

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

A pre-intermediate ESL class being taught by Lisa Abohatab is the backdrop for Jennifer Alexander at Keene Community Education.

JENNIFER ALEXANDER

A Devotion to Literacy BY STEVE GILBERT / PHOTO BY MICHAEL MOORE

ennifer Alexander spent two years with Florentine Films in Walpole, ensconced in photo research for a pair of acclaimed Ken Burns projects, “Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson,” and “Horatio’s Drive.” It suited her. The Long Island native was a history major at the University of Wisconsin — “I followed a guy” — and was originally introduced to Walpole as a youth when her grandfather built a house in the town of about 3,700. She’s not a huge city aficionado, though she admits she misses the beach, bagels and New York delis. Besides, the Monadnock Region tugged at her, even as she vacillated between city and country living, while weighing history and education as a career. “I always went back and forth between education and history, and I’m still a history buff. But I knew I had to go on to graduate school (for education),” Alexander says. Now 39, married, and the mother of two sons (Owen, 10, Carter, 8), she dove headlong into education and found her true call28

ing. After pursuing a Master’s in Education in literacy and language from Lesley College in Cambridge, Massachusetts, she moved to Keene for good 10 years ago, and was hired as a teacher by Keene Community Education. Alexander was promoted to assistant director in 2010 and the rest, as they say, is history. Her voyage of self-discovery has included several challenges, including a divorce and pregnancy issues, but ultimately led to an unassailable conclusion: “I’m passionate about literacy,” she says. Community education in the Keene School District offers adults a variety of academic, apprenticeship and enrichment programs, and Alexander is involved in a bevy of them. She is site coordinator in charge of curriculum development and staffing for Keene’s Project Keep, an afterschool program comprised of 110 children at Symonds, Fuller and Franklin elementary schools. She makes periodic visits to all three, working with the teachers and pupils.

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

She is chief HiSet Examiner for Cheshire County, which helps adults ages 16 and older work toward their high school equivalency degrees. She oversees 30 to 40 local adult volunteers who tutor individual learners, and is quick to deflect credit to them. “They’re people who care about our community and are interested in helping others,” she says. Alexander says the educational tutoring program at the Cheshire County jail is particularly satisfying. Reading programs there began in the 1980s when illiteracy among inmates was at an epidemic rate, and she runs a HiSet class at the jail. “The jail has ownership, and I feel that community education has some ownership,” Alexander says. “A big part of what I do is remove barriers. Sometimes it’s just as simple as a discussion with a student.” She’s on the Community Connections for Afterschool Networking Advisory Board and the Cheshire County Literacy Coalition. She developed a new office occupations program that began in January, a 10-week course that offers instruction in computer and basic office skills. Alexander deeply respects the dedication and discipline it takes for students to enter the community education program. Often,

they’ve been kicked around by life and are trying to escape dysfunctional environments. They may not always make it through the program — especially the first time — and that’s why one of its mottos is “stop out, not drop out.” “There may be a million reasons why you shouldn’t come back to school, and you want to make them want to come back,” Alexander says. “We always have an open door. When students come back, I remember them. It’s always a celebration when they walk through that door.” A majority of community education students are women, and Alexander understands most have endured meandering, often heartbreaking, journeys that led them back to school. She finds them to be “incredible” role models because they’re willing to restart and willing to take a chance on themselves. “I really think it takes a lot of courage and self-reflection — to say I really need it — and they’re doing it for themselves and their families,” she says. Not surprisingly, Alexander’s passion

for reading draws her to the library. She’s a Keene Public Library trustee, and chairwoman of its outreach committee. Much of her volunteer work there involves working with parents of young children in programs such as Reach Out and Read, and the library’s summer reading program. She’s also on the board of the nonprofit Children’s Literacy Foundation (CLiF), which promotes reading among kids, through age 12, in New Hampshire and Vermont. “She brings energy, enthusiasm, creative ideas and years of experience working on the important challenge of helping people become strong readers and writers,” writes Duncan McDougall, executive director of CLiF. The nationwide divide over immigration that erupted under President Donald Trump has had a direct effect on community education. In Keene, 80 students from 22 countries take classes, many in the English as a Second Language program. Alexander says she is amazed at their courage and is angered that rather than being embraced, multi-cul-

With our fine selection of superior quality furniture, we can help you

make your house a home

turalism and diversity are being attacked in so many quarters. “It’s not OK,” she says. Alexander’s sons are in grades 3 and 4 at Symonds School in Keene. They’re avid readers and are involved in afterschool programs including Project Keep and the ski club — she manages the shuttle that takes them to Crotched Mountain. Keene Community Education director Jan Barry hired Alexander 10 years ago. She says her warm personality and passion for adult education are valuable assets. “She’s a community doer for the kids and families and adults of our community, especially for those needing a voice,” Barry writes. Alexander still remembers the advice Barry offered when she was hired: We can’t fix it all, but our expertise is education. “I was finally able to compartmentalize; I can’t fix everything, but I’m helping to make things better,” Alexander says. “After that, the sleepless nights started to subside.” T

More than 30 years of protecting families, friends and neighbors. Cheryl Belair, President

Business Insurance. Do you know what your policies cover? I believe the best way to help is to sit down with you and talk about your business. I’ll provide affordable options that will give you the coverage you need to protect your business, now and in the future. Call today for a FREE consultation and review!

The source for all your insurance needs.

603-357-2219 82 Court Street, Keene • insurancesource.com THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

Hunter Kirschner flies the Pride flag along Appian Way at Keene State College.

HUNTER KIRSCHNER

He’s About Inclusivity and Equity BY PAUL MILLER / PHOTO BY MICHAEL MOORE

unter Kirschner is reflective by nature. He sees big picture and small. He sees obstacles and openings. He sees people, all people … undifferentiated, even against the pervasive and predictable tug of stereotype and cultural intolerance. Kirschner, 30, can see amid certain chaos and turbulence a better world. He is, after all, at his center, a most positive soul. To live a single day without such aspiration would be counter to his mission, professional and personal. “Things aren’t all good — or bad —just like people,” says Kirschner, the colorful, self-assured program support assistant for LGBTQ students at Keene State College. “The world is complicating … exhausting. I’d 30

be doing a disservice to try to simplify everything, especially one another.” Kirschner, to some degree, has been able to compress the ambition of his life work, these days at least, to elementary terms: “I’m about inclusivity and equity.” Those not-at-odds words allow him to find focus when it’s called for, he says, when he might feel a tinge of fading hope, or sense an unfavorable shifting tide. His work, it’s easy to imagine, is full of such potentially derailing flashpoints. His advantage, those who know him say, is an inner strength born from his own challenges growing up, to be sure, but more so from an innate “propensity to want to help people,” this unbroken and cloudless vision

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

of humanity and its possibilities, and a maturity that belies his years. Kirschner is a transgender adult. He grew up in Keene and attended Fuller School and later Keene High School. His father, Jim, and stepmom, Georgia, still live here. He has a younger sister, Sara, a stepbrother, Nick, and a half-sister, Jill. His hair is short cropped, but spiked in the front and dyed blue. He likes bow ties and often wears buttons in support of social causes important to him. He earned an associate’s degree in gender and women’s studies from Greenfield (Massachusetts) Community College and plans this fall to begin work on his bachelor’s in the same field. He said he’s looking at colleges around New England.

He feels fortunate, he says, to have the part-time job he does now, in higher education, in a field that is not only personally important to him, but that offers him the chance to work closely with students, staff and faculty. “Scary; my first professional job, unless you count being a chef,” he says, describing his position when he started. “Thankfully, a lot of people across campus were doing this work in addition to their own jobs, so in the beginning it was a lot of connecting me with students they were already working with.” Kirschner says his position originated after Keene State conducted a second in three years Campus Climate Survey in 2014. Among the results, he says, was a clear decrease among LGBTQ students of feeling welcome, safe and inclusive on campus. “Dottie Morris, my supervisor, asked ‘what would help? ‘How can we change these numbers?’ It was decided then that a dedicated staff member was the answer.” Kirschner took the job and ran with it. “He models possibilities,” Kelly Ricaurte, the college’s media relations manager, says, “as a transgender adult, as a non-traditional student, and as a community-builder. He supports LGBTQ students during their college career so they may succeed academically and thrive socially while navigating a heteronormative and cisnormative society.” In his Keene State role, Kirschner wasted no time establishing on-campus programs and workshops, more than a dozen, and has as part of his resume, too, a long list of community-related work and fresh initiatives. In one, he co-facilitates a group called the Elm Street Think Tank, in Greenfield, Massachusetts, for people who are incarcerated.

Established in December 2013, the group of community members and residents of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office meet weekly at the jail to work on collaborative projects. Kirschner came to Think Tank through a sociology class offered at the jail through Greenfield Community College. Crime and Punishment: A Sociological Overview was taught using the Inside-Out model, which brings college students and incarcerated people together to learn from inside a jail or prison. As its final project, a previous class had created the Think Tank to be able to continue its work together after the class ended. “In our greater culture,” Kirschner says, “the idea of deviance, of who is incarcerated, is very stereotypical; that is, how we’re supposed to think of these people, that they’re deserving of punishment, or being unsafe. A lot of it is due to addiction, or other extenuating circumstances; not having the opportunity to make other choices.” In the program, he says prisoners write poetry and prose, and have a print shop. “The structure of this jail is that there is a lot of programming,” he said. “We don’t get to hear the stories of these folks very often; they have very little power to be heard.” Kirschner calls higher education, and academia in general, as “inherently classist.” “Institutions,” he added, “and systems are built by those who have power, and so they are built for what the institution needs most.” To make the biggest impact possible, he said he’s not convinced that, as a profession, higher education offers him the most direct or profound opportunity. “There are a lot

RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL

802-384-1220 tcalljr@yahoo.com

• Demolition • Land Clearing • Site Prep • Roads • Stone Walls • Ponds • & MORE! Now taking on Residential & Commercial Snowplow Customers!

of things that would be open to me; I don’t know yet what that is, or what I will do.” For now, he says, “In terms of the work I’m doing, I tell my students, realize the power you have to effect change on certain levels — individual, interpersonal, institutional, cultural. Students have the most power of anyone in higher education, they just don’t know it — use your voice; be confident in your message; doing what you’re passionate about. But we’re not taught to be changemakers; we’re taught to maintain.” “We’re a small town,” he adds, “so we’re not seeing real hard experiences among marginalized populations.” Kirschner says real change will occur as it relates to a more inclusive society only when we can change individual relationships. “We can’t understand each other if we can’t even talk to each other.” The charged political climate, he believes, is not ideal, but he looks for positives amid it all. “I don’t think progress is linear,” he says. “It’s hard to assess in those kinds of terms. I worry about the big sweeping orders (by the president); it’s scary that he is undoing a lot of good work that has been done. At the same time, it’s allowing for people who are fine and complacent, to become active and be engaged citizens. It feels, to me, like a positive in the face of all the negative.” It’s that sense of hope, and example, that makes him so valuable and so approachable to a population of students looking for just that, Katelyn Franco, a Keene State student says. He is “not only an outstanding staff member,” she says “but a wonderful friend.” T

tulations, Jen! CongraFrom your friends at

B r i d g e

t o

y o u r

f u t u r e

227 Maple Ave., Keene, NH • (603) 357-0088 www.keenecommunityed.org

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

• Demolition • Complete Site Preparation

Community Service Champion BY KENDALL POPE / PHOTO BY MICHAEL MOORE

Nikki Sauber holds a plate of healthy food at the Keene Community KItchen where she volunteers.

“

guess I’m just a community service junkie, what can I say,” says Nikki Sauber. Sauber is the administrative specialist at Monadnock United Way in Keene, and although her title suggests she’s anchored to a desk, the work Sauber stretches far beyond MUW’s Center Street office. Between collaborating with local nonprofit organizations and organizing volunteer events, Sauber, of Keene, says the desire to help others and be involved is a birth trait, one she never wants to shake. “I guess I’ve always kind of been inclined to give back,” Sauber, 28, says. “I was a Girl Scout from when I was eight to age 14. My mom was a Girl Scout leader, so it was kind of instilled in me that this is how you should operate, this is how you give back to your community, and community service was just kind of in my DNA.” In high school in Millbury, Massachusetts, she served on a variety of clubs and councils, but holding a strong opinion on the environment sparked her interest in sustainability, 32

NIKKI SAUBER

she says. Sauber began to understand that sustainability was not just about the planet, but about people, too. As an undergrad at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts, she says she became the president of a group called the Social Justice League. “It sounds a little silly, but the work we did was really powerful,” she says. “We were able to get fair trade coffee on campus and stood up for the union workers on campus. That put a fire in my belly that community organizing is something that allows me to follow my passions but also use my skillsets.” In 2012, she arrived in Keene to pursue a Master’s degree in environmental studies with a focus on advocacy at Antioch University New England. She says she was able to, “really dig claws in the community.” Sauber says she was in awe at how much there was to do around Keene and the level of care people displayed for the community. “People are engaged a different way around here,” she says. “I think a lot of communities talk about collaboration and

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

supporting each other, but the Monadnock Region is almost isolated in a way (from) the rest of New Hampshire, and it’s not part of big cities, so we are kind of fend for ourselves around here in a way.” Although Antioch served as a gateway to her community ambitions, Sauber says the need she saw for collaboration was what made her eager to stay. “I jumped from job to job, as most graduates do, and about a year after, I saw an ad in the paper for Monadnock United Way (MUW), and I thought, ‘human services is a different approach to the kind of community organizing I have been involved in prior, but I think it’s a fundamental way to addressing social needs,’” Sauber says. While MUW isn’t a direct service provider, the agency is a facilitator and a community hub for collaboration, which Sauber says is, “really exciting to be at the heart of.” Sauber has led community initiatives with MUW, including the First Day Project, which supplies a new backpack filled with school supplies for each incoming student in a se-

lected elementary school. She took part in MUW’s strategic planning process in 2016, and is an active member of the Keene Young Professionals Network (KYPN). “I see that role as a way to show young people who are just getting out of school, college or graduate school, and moved here from an outside area (that) there are lots of ways to be involved and understand that the Monadnock Region is a unique place to live,” Sauber says. She says that often she hears people say that there’s, “nothing to do around here,” but that KYPN can demonstrate social, recreational and, most importantly, community service and advocacy opportunities. “For me, especially in light of recent political events, community involvement is my antidote for apathy,” she says. “It’s easy to want to crawl into a hole and ignore the current political scene and just binge watch Netflix all day. Which is OK; I do that sometimes. But rather than being mad at the world or ignoring all the political crap that’s

happening, I encourage people to get involved. It’s way better than being mad.” Sauber is one of the co-founders of the TEDx Keene’s event happening in April. TEDx is a localized spinoff of the national TED Talk forums, which feature a number of speakers giving 15 to 20 minute presentations on their thoughts revolving one theme. Keene’s theme? A tipping point. “I think that theme is so relevant to our region in a number of ways and not just for the region but for the world,” she says. “Being a part of this group has been really exciting. It’s a lot of work building it from the ground up, but it’s one of the many ways we are trying to make the region a little bit cooler. Bring a different perspective to the region that has never been done before.” Sauber’s activism doesn’t stop with young people. For a time, Sauber sat on the board for the Monadnock Time Exchange, which is an online platform, an “ebay” of services and tasks paid for by time. The concept honors the value of people using their skills and talents in exchange for someone else’s time

You’ll You’ll be be driving driving your your new new car car every every day after your purchase, right? day after your purchase, right? You’ll be driving your new car every That’s CJ Jack daywhy after your purchase, right? That’s why CJ Jack & Durand Toyota & Durand Toyota Ford you a That’soffers why CJ Jack Ford offers you a 24 Hour Test Drive & Durand Toyota 24 Hour Test Drive Ford offers you a 24 Hour Test Drive

and a 24 Hour and a 24 Hour Exchange Exchange and a 24Policy. Hour Policy. Exchange Policy.

or talents. For example, Sauber says she often used her cooking skills to make dinner for elderly residents and, in exchange, would post that she needed her lawn mowed or dog walked. Speaking of dogs, she also takes her pup Maple, a licensed therapy pet to events at which kids practice reading aloud to the dogs; to visit college students who are homesick; and to nursing homes. “It’s just one more thing I do,” Sauber says. Although it may seem like Sauber is tackling the world, she’ll settle on changing her community. “It takes a lot of work, but it’s so worth it,” she says. “Being able to work with people of a similar mindset is so empowering. It’s almost addictive. “You dip your toe in and say, ‘oh look at what we accomplished,’ and someone invites you to do another thing, and you accomplish more, and it just becomes this snowball thing. I can’t believe I’m being recognized for something I do so naturally.” T

Welcoming a new principal to Nathan Wechsler & Company

Chris Currie, CPA Chris specializes in flow-through entity taxation, individual income tax, tax planning and compliance, and employee benefit consulting.

It’s It’s peace peace of mind! of mind! It’s peace Contact me today at 1-800-639-2037 x317 of mind! Contact me today at 1-800-639-2037 x317 or at cjjack@durandcars.com or at cjjack@durandcars.com Contact me today at 1-800-639-2037 x317 or at cjjack@durandcars.com

Contact Chris in our Concord, NH office at 603-224-5357.

70 Commercial St., 4th Floor Concord, NH 03301 www.nathanwechsler.com

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

ROY SCHLIEBEN

Roy Schlieben, of RAS Development/ MAXT Makerspace in Peterborough, with a LED light matrix that he and others made from scratch reflected in his glasses.

Making Space for Creativity BY KENDALL POPE / PHOTO BY MICHAEL MOORE

Makerspace: A place in which people with shared interests, especially in computing or technology, can gather to work on projects while sharing ideas, equipment and knowledge.

he above definition may adequately describe the concept of a makerspace, but Roy Schlieben, one of the developers of MAxT in Peterborough, sees it as much more. MAxT, or Monadnock Art X Tech, is managed by Schlieben, the center’s executive director. “We just wanted to provide a place where people of all different areas of life, ages (and) interests can come together and share what they do and learn from each other and build amazing, cool things together,” Schlieben, 38, says. Schlieben has lived in Peterborough since he was seven, and his family still resides in town. He’s a graduate of Hobart College in New York, with a bachelor’s degree in biology, and he holds a master’s degree in international relations from George Washington University. After college, Schlieben joined the Peace Corps, living in Morocco, Africa and Thailand before returning to his hometown. Along with a small group of others, Schlieben formed the nonprofit MAxT in early 2015. At the beginning, he says he mostly did the organization’s paperwork since his full-time job is managing his 34

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

own nonprofit consulting business RAS Development. But after the company was formed, the organization needed a leader. “I was sort of volunteered, but (I) became more interested in doing this as a part-time job,” Schlieben says. A makerspace, in its most basic form, is set up like a health club, except instead of exercise equipment and yoga classes, there might be equipment such as a laser cutter, 3D printer, wood-working tools, industrial sewing machines, screen printers and other tools needed to make things that someone wouldn’t necessarily have in their own home. The $30-per-month membership fee gives members an all-access pass to use the equipment whenever they want with experience ranging from beginner hobbyist to established businesses. Schlieben, an amateur woodworker, says some members are entrepreneurs just starting out and wanting to make money with their art or craft. “The makerspace is a safe space to get access to equipment without paying thousands of dollars for equipment when they can just pay the membership fee,” Schlieben says. He says the organization started with only four members and has grown close to 40. A member must be 18 or older to sign up. The hidden bonus of the membership, according to Schlieben, are the

community connections that are built through individual or group Schlieben took that advice and organized the first “meet-up” last projects. fall. “If you are not experienced in, for example, wood-turning, and “It was really amazing to see so many people stop by and start aren’t where you’d like to be, we can connect you with someone who working together,” he says. “We took this 3D printer that wasn’t is,” he says. “We try to make connections with people who are expeworking quite well and fixed it up and now it’s doing perfect 3D rienced and people who are just learning because that’s how exciting prints.” things happen.” Other meet-up projects included working with LED lights to make Along with arranging one-on-one assistance, the makerspace ofa programmable sign for a store window and building a CNC router fers classes on how to use popular equipment and holds open forums — a type of robotic cutting machine. for anyone in the community to attend — member or not. “All these projects came out of opening our doors for these meetLast August, Schlieben was invited to the White House by President Obama’s Science and Technology Team, which hosted an event ups, and every time I go to one of these meet-ups I’m energized by for makerspace founders and managers to try and organize a cohe- the talent and creativity that exists in Peterborough and the sursive association in the U.S. rounding towns,” says Schlieben. “I got to meet a lot of interesting people in my position — or who Even though the memberships are exclusive for adults, there are were in my position a couple years ago — and I got a lot of good admeet-ups and workshops for younger people. If a member wants vice,” Schlieben says. “One of the best pieces of advice was instead their child to see the equipment in operation, they can bring them of focusing on just classes, which is what we were doing, was to open along, only if the child does not operate any machinery. Schlieben, it (the makerspace) up to meet-ups.” He described these as “a meeting where you Big would have people who has a five-year-old daughter, says one of her favorite things is to savings on our best fertilizers! design her own toys with the 3D printer. who weren’t just members, but people in the 5000 SQ. FT. community who were RED HOT BUYS 79.99 Ad#:179440 Date:07/26/16 Day:TUE Size:2X5.402 GLASS aCOpart of “People really just love to create here,Cust:CHESHIRE and when you’re interested in that topic and could-$20 come and share what they are Salesperson:NEO Last Edited By:CPOLLOCK Pub:LEDGER TABS Tag Line:MID Sale March 8–March 20 SUMMER GUIDE Color working on and collaborate.” $ that it’s really energizing,” he says. TInfo:PROCESS, , 99

DAYS SALE

Buy two, get one

FREE

on all gallons of Royal®, Clark+Kensington®, Valspar® Aspire™ or Valspar® Optimus™ interior and exterior paint. Gallons only. Limit 2 free gallons total. Okay to mix and match brands. Offer valid at participating Ace stores through March 20, 2017. Discounted item must be of equal or lesser value.

SAVE UP TO

179440 - Page 1 - Composite

Scotts® 4 Step® Annual Program 7287154 Limit 2 at this price. 4 Step Annual Program for Seeding, 7287188...$94.99, You Pay $64.99 After $30 Instant Savings.* Limit 2 at this price. 15,000 Sq. Ft. also on sale.

24.99

2299

Apply Now

STEP 2:

Scotts® Turf Builder® Halts® Crabgrass Preventer with Lawn Food

Apply in Late Spring

STEP 3:

Apply in Summer

STEP 4:

Buy two, SALE 18.99 get one -$6 Apply in Fall $

YOUR FULL-SERVICE GLASS COMPANY

-$2

STEP 1:

FREE SALE $4.99 $

Covers 5000 sq. ft. 7232325 Limit 2 at this price. 15,000 Sq. Ft. also on sale.

Offering expert installation of quality Energy-Efficient Replacement Windows & Doors, Shower & Tub Enclosures, Custom Mirrors, Screen Repair/Replacement and More.

Scotts®

Nature Scapes -1 Colored Mulch on$12 all gallons of Royal,$3 Clark+Kensington, 99 99 Roundup Ready-To-Use Valspar® Aspire™ or Valspar® Weed & Grass Killer III 12.99paint. Pump ’N Go Sprayer, Optimus™ interior andSALE exterior 1.33 Gal. -$3

7439524, 7439532, 7439540, 7394711, 7394703, 7394695 Limit 10 at this price.

Ea.

® 2

7196520 Limit 2 at this price.

Gallons only. Limit 2 free gallons$total.99 Okay to mix and match brands. Offer valid at participating Scotts AceEa.stores through March Kills to , or lesser value. EZof Seed the root. 20, 2017. Discounted item must be3.75 equal Lb.

7206428, 7229412 Limit 2 at this price.

Replacement Windows from INDUSTRIES

The Art of Inside AP1

1170308_8PG, 001N, Versions: FN,NR

Integrating shape, scale, color and texture into beautiful interiors. A

HENDER

INT

Our experienced glaziers provide prompt, friendly service for all your glass needs. For a free, no-obligation consultation, please call us at 603-357-8889 or visit our web site today.

ERIORS

7 Krif Court • Keene, NH 03431 603-357-8889

16 West St., Keene (603) 357-7680 www.ahinteriors.com

Come Visit Our New Design Studio at 16 West Street!

Shower/Tub Enclosures

Many styles to choose from 179440

Mon-Fri 8 am-5 pm • Sat. 8 am-Noon “Locally Owned & Operated”

www.cheshire-glass.com THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

Amanda Littleton, of the Cheshire County Conservation District, on the Walpole Common.

AMANDA LITTLETON

Building Rural Connections BY PAUL MILLER / PHOTO BY MICHAEL MOORE

manda Littleton doesn’t lack for inspiration; she finds it all around her every day. But ask her from where her passion is born, and quick, clear-cut answers do not come as simply. It’s not linear, to her, some36

thing she seems to realize the more she seeks to explain it herself. As a young girl growing up in Rhode Island, she loved being outside, walking in the woods, exploring ocean shores. She was, too, from a somewhat young age, drawn not only

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

to nature, but how nature’s resources connect people — land and farmers, water and fishermen. “There is so much value in our rural heritage, in our way of life,” Littleton, 34, says. “People who work off the land, that’s part of that heritage. They should not be blamed for what they do. We should work together, to find solutions, to come up with things that are mutually beneficial.” In college, majoring in anthropology, she studied fishing communities. Later, she went to work as a bartender in Port Judith, a village on the coast of Narragansett, Rhode Island, which contains the small fishing hamlet of Galilee. She owned for a short while a front-row, real-life seat to a village and its people, where livelihoods and economies fell and rose on catch counts. She heard their stories, she became acquainted with their struggles — their own and those of the interventionist kind. To most, it’s a forgotten part of the landscape, commercial fishing, even if the sea accounts for all but a scant percent of the world’s living space and more than 500 million people are said to rely on it for a living, directly or indirectly. “That (experience) opened my eyes, I think,” says Littleton. “It fascinated me. What an interesting tension. You have all these people trying to make a living out there, and then you have all these environmental folks putting limitations and regulations in place, sanctions imposed by the government. “I always thought, something better must be able to come from that relationship, that makes both sides happy.” And so here Littleton is today, district manager of the Cheshire County Conservation District, a passionate advocate for the environment and sustainability, a skilled professional with a reputation for engaging partners and seeking creative solutions in collaborative settings … and, a driving force behind Monadnock Menus. It all makes so much sense. When we spoke with her for this story, she was just finishing a full day completing the final phase of a culvert restoration project on Hale Hill Road in Swanzey. The culvert, she says, was degraded and undersized, and

because it served as a stream crossing it was also a barrier to upstream fish migration. That is no longer the case. The finished project, she says, is expected to reopen roughly 10 miles of upstream, barrier-free, spawning and rearing aquatic habitat. That excites her. It was very much a group project, involving several agencies whose people share her love and respect for the land and accomplishing a shared objective. The project gave protection to and made smart use of a necessary resource. Monadnock Menus has a simple premise: Local agricultural products are aggregated and then delivered to schools, businesses, and other institutions in the region. It is not Littleton’s brainchild. The emerging program, in just its third year, is modeled, she says, after a similar initiative in Vermont called Windham Farm & Food and was launched by a group of volunteers. A harvest-to-market enterprise, Windham Farm & Food began as a pilot program in 2009, by Harlow Farms and Hans Astrin; since 2010, it has been bolstered by the University of Vermont Extension. Farm viability being one of her areas of focus at the conservation district, Littleton says it made sense to consider a version of such a program here. “There was definitely a role we could play in trying to help farmers expand markets,” Littleton says. “We did that in two ways that really helped, by looking at a lower-income market, with a program that could offer real savings, and with institutions, or schools. We realized early we had to move beyond wholesale to make this work.” The greatest challenge, she says, has been in getting systems in place. “Wholesalers were telling us, if you make it easier, we’d love to buy local. “Our pilot year in 2013, we sold so little food. It was really bad,” she says. “We might have sold $5,000. But that was to build our foundation.” The following year the program set a goal of $50,000 in sales, and did about $62,000, she says. A goal of $100,000 the next year was hit, but just barely, and this year’s ambition of $150,000 is on target to be met, she says. Littleton says, too, that buyers have had time to learn that the program is reliable and that it can meet their demands. She says she hopes it’s here to stay and that it becomes a

permanent part of the “region’s food infrastructure.” Monadnock Menus’ small team is exceptional and pulls off a big task. It includes Alex McCullough, who manages day-to-day sales and operations; Tracy Lake, driver; and Richard Berkfield of Food Connects, who, Littleton says, was central to the business development of the program. Littleton says she contracted with Berkfield to write the business plan, and he continues to provide management guidance. Monadnock Menus gets grant support from the N.H. Charitable Foundation and Cheshire Medical Center’s Healthy Monadnock initiative. That, and the committed buyers and farmers, have allowed for the growth, she says. “It’s really starting to find its way,” she says. “Food is our closest connection to nature in a lot of ways. How we eat says a lot about our culture.” When Monadnock Menus launched, it featured once-a-week delivery. Today, deliveries are made each week on Wednesday and Fridays. The five-year plan, Littleton says, calls for deliveries four days a week. Growth may also come in the form of new partnerships. The program now partners, for example, with Keene Housing, offering a Family Buying Club. Buyers can order online, and in some cases, take advantage of half-price-off deals on fruits and vegetables. “The whole goal,” Littleton says, “is to find new markets.” That said, “Achieving our mission is just as important as profitability,” she adds. Littleton is not one to sit still; never has been and she prefers it that way. She lives in Chesterfield with her husband, Jeff, an ecologist. They met at a bluegrass festival. “We have a lot in common,” she says. They help to raise a son/stepson, Eli, who is 15. They have chickens and a dog, Mickey. Getting involved and finding ways to effect positive change doesn’t just happen; it’s not necessarily innate, she says. But it’s a capability that exists within all of us. “Get involved,” she says. “Find something that excites you and just dig in. There is a lot of work to be done; and if you have the motivation to work hard, the drive to see change happen, and the open mind to keep learning from others you will make a difference in our community.”

Littleton says she fills her non-working time fixing up the old house they live in, hiking, being outdoors and learning to sail a 22foot boat they have on Spofford Lake. She is a graduate of Antioch University New England’s environmental studies program and earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Rhode Island. Before joining the conservation district, she held positions in various public outreach and education roles that promoted agriculture and conservation. She credits the internship-heavy focus of the Antioch program for exposing her to ways in which people’s attitudes toward the land could be shaped, and, more importantly, how she could help to bring about important change. Interning at the Hannah Grimes Center in 2006, she helped to create the regional Localvore Project and even served as its coordinator for a spell. During another internship, through the Antioch New England Institute, a consulting and community outreach department of Antioch, that allows students to work with local, state and federal government agencies, she worked on the state’s widening of Interstate 93 in southern New Hampshire. These experiences, she says, gave her a unique “lens” into ways in which the local economy and agriculture were intertwined. She graduated from Antioch and started at the Cheshire Conservation District in Walpole in June of that year. She’s in her 10th year in that position. “I really love my job,” she says. “It’s always challenging.” It’s a small organization: herself and a parttime employee. They work with dozens of contractors on their various projects, she says, and a nonprofit get guidance from a board of directors. Her job requires a lot of critical grant writing and project management. The conservation district’s efforts are focused primarily in four areas: soil health, water quality, wildlife habitat and farm and forest viability. Those themes might mean she works with dairy farmers on a nutrient management program that helps the farmers to obtain grant funds. It might mean working on pollinator habitat projects to enhance the quality of native bee communities. “At any given time, there can be a lot of different projects happening,” Littleton says. Just how she likes it. T

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

Entrepreneur Making a Splash BY XANDER LANDEN / PHOTO BY MICHAEL MOORE

Robert Parisi, of PoshHaus Bathroom Supply Store, and his 12-week-old chihuahua, Little Sue.

ROBERT PARISI

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

hen Robert Parisi first started PoshHaus in 2012, things didn’t get off the ground quickly. In the first month, he and his wife, Krysta, projected PoshHaus would generate $50,000 in revenue from its sales of luxury houseware, home appliances, furniture and fixtures. So when only $7,000 came in, the couple, who had just uprooted from Kentucky to move to Keene, had second thoughts. Briefly. “Here my wife and I were. We had a three-month-old daughter ... four kids,” he said. “Our dryer was broke, we didn’t have air conditioning, we were really questioning.” But today, Parisi’s business is booming. Since PoshHaus’ inception, Parisi said growth has increased by 40 or 50 percent each year. He recently purchased the building in which he had been leasing space — 310 Marlboro St. — and keeps 10,000 to 15,000 square feet of inventory. PoshHaus now has 10 full-time employees. Parisi serves as a landlord for 26 tenants and businesses, including accountants, manufacturers, an architect and Big Brothers Big Sisters. The business’ headquarters includes a showroom filled with hundreds of items, including stoves, light fixtures, vanities and more than twenty different bathtubs. Unlike many large home appliance and fixture showrooms, PoshHaus has sourced its stock from businesses all around the world, all selected by Parisi. “One of our big rules is if I wouldn’t put it in my house, I wouldn’t sell it,” he says. Parisi says that what sets PoshHaus apart from its competitors is its dedication to pro-

viding customers with high quality products. “We try to slow the customers down and get them to buy a tub from the guys that are best at making tubs, or the best at making toilets,” he says. Parisi, 34, has extensive experience selling appliances and fixtures. Before he started PoshHaus, he worked for several years at IraWoods, a houseware and home improvement store based in Owensboro, Kentucky, and owned by Krysta’s family. He started working for the company when he was 21, and helped the company expand and then sell online. Parisi, who is from Kingston, New York, also grew up in Kentucky and went to college at Indiana University for short time as a pre-med student. He dropped out of college, however, and started a business career. After leaving school, Parisi says he worked in restaurant management and, for a time, sold movies out of his car before starting at IraWoods. This work led to Parisi and his wife wanting their own business. “We were just like, ‘Let’s start over in New Hampshire. Let’s do everything right, let’s be really good at customer service. Let’s treat all of our employees decent,’” he says. The two decided to move to New Hampshire because of a desire to live in New England. They wanted a place affordable, safe, business-friendly and with strong schools; they settled on the Keene area and located in Chesterfield. “We felt like Keene was a lit-

tle bit off the path, and we could focus in on work, and there was still enough things to do and enough support that we could make it,” he says. Parisi says some of that early support came from the Hannah Grimes Center for Entrepreneurship, where he took classes and workshops that helped hone his skills in business finance and strategic planning. He was involved with the Hannah Grimes for about 18 months before the business struck out on its own and moved to 310 Marlboro St. in December of 2013. While PoshHaus is based in Keene, most of the customers aren’t from New Hampshire. Parisi said 95 percent of the company’s sales are from outside the state, and most of their business is done online, where thousands of products are available for purchase. PoshHaus’ products are sold to customers in all 50 states, most countries in Europe and Canada, he said. Customers throughout New England come to Keene to visit the PoshHaus showroom. Parisi said about 50 people come to the headquarters each week, many from Massachusetts and Connecticut. Aside from the quality of the items PoshHaus sells, Parisi says it’s the commitment to customers that sets it apart from the competition. “24 hours a day, 7 days a week we’re watching for emails. We’re watching for voicemails. We’re responding to customer needs,” he says. “That’s how we beat the big guys.” T

Vermont`s Finest Source for Art Materials & Custom Framing

• Art Restoration • Archival treatment Before Restoration

After Restoration

Framing for all of your most prized possessions. From the most precious artwork, to the most delicate textiles, to the highly unusual…

Over 40 Years in Business Location

Hours

Mon-Sat 9:00am-5:30pm 129 Main Street Friday 9:00am-7:00pm Brattleboro VT 05301 Sunday: Closed 802-254-2788 info@zephyrdesignsvt.com THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

Matt Wilhelm, director and co-founder of Old Sol Music Hall, on the stage of the Palace Theatre in Manchester.

Continued from page 13.

nections with band fans, many of whom have similar interests and are, therefore, moved to action. On a Boston stop, for example, fans painted an art school across from Fenway Park. “The big thing for me (was) realizing the experience of going to a concert can be that much more meaningful if fans can connect with a cause and a band,” Wilhelm says. The concept of “more than music” was taking shape. *** The Old Sol Ranch, once owned by Wilhelm’s grandfather, in Dinuba, Calif, raised peaches. Indeed. A peach ranch. 40

The ranch emblem — and its whimsical font — help form the logo for Old Sol Music Hall, a venue that Wilhelm, Jody and their partner, Alyssa Solomon, planned to open in 2018. Old Sol Music Hall, a 501(c)(3) company, was envisioned as a 350-seat multi-purpose space that hosts concerts, events and parties, movies and other performances. The Old Sol trademark boasts a smiling sun casting beams of light that exude an enveloping warmth. The symbol sits at the intersection of all the community work Wilhelm and Jody have done and all that they and their partners want to do. The idea of Old Sol Music Hall was conceived with a devo-

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

tion to community service that drove Dispatch and State Radio, founded Calling All Crows, inspired Guster and led to REVERB. Except in one meaningful way: It was to happen from one location allowing Wilhelm and Jody to escape the road. They have two children, Ben, 4, and Rosie, 15 months. Solomon, who is general manager for Old Sol, is, even at age 24, a veteran of this calling. She was one of the organizers of Calling All Crows and became a friend of Wilhelm’s and Jody’s while working with them on State Radio tours. Like her partners, Solomon braids a strong community conviction with a love of music. A

graduate of the University of Vermont, she was a sound engineer at the Monkey House in Winooski while helping to organize the school’s chapter of Oxfam America. She also served on UVM’s Socially Responsible Investing Advisory Council. In 2015, Solomon took a cross country bike trip but stayed in contact with the couple as the Old Sol idea took shape. “We just kept in touch as friends beyond Calling All Crows,” she said. “When he and Jody were just starting to dream about Old Sol, he just bounced ideas off me…” That fall, finished with the bike journey, Solomon came to

passions, music and service. I see so much impact by diving into the intersection of (both).” That was also about the time when Wilhelm, attending graduate school at the University of New Hampshire where he earned a master’s in public administration, decided to test the idea at the New Hampshire Social Innovation Challenge, a highly competitive competition in which the winner receives a $5,000 grant. Old Sol won. It was validation of the concept and encouragement to go all in.

Manchester to talk about the business plan more thoroughly. “Three days later we were saying, ‘We’re on, we’re doing this,’” she said. “Personally, this is combing two of my biggest

*** Wilhelm and his team, through a couple of weeks ago, were in negotiations for a downtown location in Manchester. They were in talks with the Manchester Development Corporation to house Old Sol at the former Rex Theatre on Amherst Street. It was expected to cost between $500,000 and $1 million to construct and Solomon planned a capital campaign. Old Sol planned to contribute to the community in three ways: $1 from each ticket sold at events would go to the “More Than Music Fund;” there would be a donation drive associated with every show; and pre-show events would be organized for each performance.

The company had already introduced the concept to the community through a public listening session last year, drawing more than 100 people. “We formed what we thought was a strong proposal, shared that with the community,” Solomon said. “We were overwhelmed with support.” While working toward an opening, Old Sol did community work, building a reputation as a caring company. This included helping to organize 100 volunteers to package 20,000 meals for New Horizons for New Hampshire food kitchen, the New Hampshire Food Bank and other nonprofits. After, community members were treated to a free concert. Old Sol took part in a New Hampshire Gives online fundraising effort that generated nearly $3,000 toward the cost of those meal packages. For Solomon, it’s critical that Old Sol is seen as “more than just a music venue.” It’s a vision that is now on hold. *** Wilhelm announced just recently that an agreement could not be reached with the Manchester Development Corporation, and, as an additional blow, he said new music venues have been announced for both Nash-

ua and Concord, creating additional competition for Old Sol. “We’re obviously disappointed,” said Wilhelm last week. “But we’re optimistic that there’s still a future for Old Sol – some way or another.” A smaller venue is worth exploring, he said, along with “pop-up-style” shows throughout the state. “We’ve been encouraged by the positive feedback from Old Sol volunteers, donors, advocates and other champions since sharing the news,” he said. “And I think that’s a testament to the spirit of and vision for Old Sold… it’s really resonated with people. “They don’t want us to give up.” Wilhelm seems at peace with the setback. He talks about “pushing the reset button” and exploring other possibilities. In the meantime, he said, he’s going back on the road. Dispatch and Guster are teaming up again in the summer. Undaunted, he says he has “hopes of getting perspective with old friends and finding inspiration in what’s happening in other cities across the country.” Twenty-six years ago, in his neighborhood, Wilhelm first tugged along a wagon of community service. It’s become a life mission that now pulls him. T

Office Furniture • Home Furnishings Restaurant Equipment • Industrial Equipment Material Handling Equipment And Much More! Monday – Friday: 9AM – 5PM • Saturday:9AM – 2PM davidjhoustonco.com • markcoll@davidjhoustonco.com 45 Hadley Road, Jaffrey, NH 03452 THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

The Business Next Door

A snapshot of a local home business • Interview by Marcia Passos Duffy

tions. I have seen first-hand the impact of manager-employee relationships at their best and their worst. Both extremes were very valuable in teaching me how organizational dynamics impact productivity, job satisfaction and the bottom line.

Robin Eichert PeopleSense Consulting Jaffrey, New Hampshire (603) 532-5888 www.peoplesenseconsulting.com

eopleSense Consulting, founded by Robin Eichert in 2001, offers consulting and online resources to help support managers who want to unleash their leadership potential. Robin uses a variety of creative approaches, including world-class assessments along with an innovative approach that involves animals as teachers. Robin is an Authorized Partner for PXT Select, Everything DiSC, and Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team. Why did you start PeopleSense Consulting? I never had a specific goal of starting my own practice, but when I discovered the profiles assessment tools designed to help managers become better leaders, I immediately knew this type of consulting was perfect for me. I saw a real need: Many managers lack the tools and information that would help them be effective with their team. Assessments provide a common language and mutual understanding so conversations can be open, respectful and constructive. We all want a boss that understands us! What did you do before you started this business? I held senior management roles in several industries, including publishing, higher education, high-tech and manufacturing organiza42

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

You get a lot of inspiration from your dog, Grace. Could you elaborate? After adopting Grace, a Puerto Rican street dog, she started acting out in unhealthy ways. She nipped at a toddler, was constantly agitated, nervous and had no confidence. Her demeanor was making it impossible for her to be a normal dog; it was uncomfortable for her to be around others and I feared she would hurt someone. I was referred to a veterinarian who specialized in behavioral issues, and it became immediately clear that the problem was not about Grace, it was about me. I was doing (or not doing) things that hindered a sense of safety to Grace, so I was unknowingly causing her stress. Her actions were trying to tell me that things weren’t right, yet I was unintentionally putting all the responsibility on her instead of accepting my role in her behavior. Once I started to change how I interacted with her, she began to change. Managers have the same opportunity: they can create healthy relationships or toxic ones. Who are your clients and where are they based? The common thread with all my clients is that they value their employees. They vary in size and industry, from small to medium and may focus on services, finance, renewable energy, with the largest sector being insurance. More than half of my work is from outside New Hampshire, but it’s a real pleasure to work with local clients. Who is the ideal client for you? My ideal client is an organization that wants to create healthy workplace relationships. My priority is working with a business manager or owner who wants to hire the right person, build strong teams and help an individual succeed in their work. What kind of help are clients looking for when they hire you? Quite often, the business owner or leader wants to avoid making a bad hiring decision. Sometimes they just want people to play well in the sandbox (this is how one of my clients described the work I did with them!). Sometimes an employee is struggling, and we work to find out what’s wrong, and like Grace, it’s not that the person has faults, it’s that the fit isn’t right and we work to figure out why and how to change it for everyone’s benefit.

Are you looking to expand your business, if so, how? During conversations with many of my clients, I heard similar questions as they tried to navigate through the hiring process or managing people. I thought there must be a way to get these answers to more people as well as offer a venue for these busy managers to access trustworthy advice without cumbersome consulting arrangements. To meet this need, I designed a video library that is rich in content, answering questions such as: “Do I really need to check those references?” (spoiler alert, yes, but not why you probably think you should) and how to give effective feedback. The Learning Resource Center on my website (www.peoplesenseconsulting.com/learningresource-center) has 69 videos, averaging less than 10 minutes each, and grows every month with new topics. What has been your proudest moment in your business? I started my business on September 10, 2001. The 9/11 terrorist attack turned the world upside down and I was scared for the future. Working from scratch and needing an income, I had no choice but forge ahead. I began cold-calling for potential clients — not an ideal method and certainly not an ideal timing given the world events — but I did it. It took a lot of persistence and belief to carry on and I’m so glad I did! What advice could you give someone who wants to start a business out of their home? Working from home can be isolating and limit your exposure to

things that come more easily when you work alongside others in an office environment. It’s important to invest in yourself. Take classes, network with others and ensure that you stay current with technology, tools and trends. What do you do when you are not working? A favorite activity is walking in the woods with Grace and my husband. Volunteering is important to me, and I spend time helping with the animals at Monadnock Humane Society. I savor tasty, fresh food (especially when I’m not cooking it!) and cherish time spent traveling with my husband. T

More than a REALTOR® Someone you’ll remember Cell (603) 355-6819 Direct (603)283-1959 Monadnock Board of Realtors® President 2008 a�� Past Realtor® of the Year

Nancy Thompson nthompson@masiello.com

The City of Keene Proudly Congratulates our 2017 Trendsetters,

Yves, Andrew and Megan!

Congratulations to ALL 2017 Trendsetters, who contribute to Enriching & Sustaining Pride in Keene and the greater community. THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

The Green Scene

Tips to Green Up Your Business • by C S Wurzberger

Give Back!

8 Fun Ways to Donate Your Time “Eighty-three percent of Americans donated to charities in 2016 and 65 percent volunteered their services.” — According to Gallup.com

ngaging in deliberate acts of kindness is not only fun but also good for your health, happiness and the strength of your community. Plus, part of living a greener lifestyle involves how we care and give back to others that share our earth. Giving back does not have to be about money; giving of your time can be just as valuable and sometimes more rewarding. Do an inventory of the skills you have and what you love doing. Maybe you’re good at plumbing, and you can fix the leaking faucet at the senior’s home next door. Here are some other fun ways to give back to your community:

3. B uild or repair animal cages at a local shelter — this is one of my favorites. I volunteer my time at a local animal rehab center and get to be up close and personal with opossums, raccoons, woodchucks and more. (Talk about a heartwarming job!) 4. Volunteer to read story books at your local school.  5. Visit residents at a local nursing home.  6. Walk dogs at a local shelter or sit and snuggle with the kitties.  7. Help a favorite charity with their office work.  8. Are you a writer? Offer to help write press releases for local nonprofits.

1. O ffer to cook meals and do dishes at the homeless shelter.  2. Bring toys to a local women’s crisis center for the children who have had their lives turned upside down.

Protecting the welfare of our communities for future generations is going to take a team effort. If we all come together, one step at a time, we can all make a difference. Giving back not only helps the immediate

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

recipient of our time and gifts, but it offers many benefits to us. For example, a few benefits to giving are: • I t makes you feel happier and increases connection and trust. • It’s good for your heath and decreases stress. • It’s contagious and spurs on a ripple effect of generosity through our community. So whether you donate money or volunteer your time to a local charity, your giving will help to build stronger social connections and jumpstart a flow of generosity throughout your community. In the next issue, I’ll share with you the three exciting reasons to get kids involved in caring for nature. T C S Wurzberger, a.ka., The Green Up Girl, lives in Marlboro, Vermont.

No More Shoveling!

Welcome to the warmth and care-free lifestyle of Bentley Commons

reception@agtaxfolks.com | www.agtaxfolks.com | 295 Park Avenue, Keene, NH

A Better Way to Build

unityhomes.com

choice 2016

readers’

awards

Independent and Assisted Living 1 & 2 Bedroom Apartments include:

Master License #1061

• 3 chef-prepared • Housekeeping and meals a day Laundry • Chauffeured • Assisted Living with transportation 24 Hour Nursing • And Much More!

BENTLEY COMMONS

at Keene

A PREMIER SENIOR LIVING COMMUNI T Y

197 Water St., Keene, NH• (603) 352-1282 www.bentleyatkeene.com

Call for a personal tour at 352-1282 THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

Main Street 2.0

A New Series Highlighting How Downtowns in the Region are Reinventing Themselves

BY MELANIE PLENDA

downtown by definition is, “of, in, or characteristic of the central area or main business and commercial area of a town or city.” And that’s true. But the definition of a vibrant or successful downtown involves so much more than that. There’s a reason why people will often define a downtown as simply, the heart of the city. The stronger it beats, the more life blood flows to the rest of the city, its residents, and even to the surrounding communities. Just about five years ago, a group of businesses in downtown Keene identified a vibrant downtown as a key underpinning of the regional economy as a whole and so, decided to get out in front of shifts in the market. The group realized that, more than just shopping for stuff, consumers are hungry for an experience. People could always shop online, but what will make them choose local are the value adds of great customer service, visiting with (and ultimately buying from) a shopkeeper who recently helped out at a local charity event, or seeing a neighbor as he or she leaves the store before being able to grab a tasty lunch or catch a matinee just up the street. To its credit, this group of downtown businesses recognized these changes required a new approach to the retail model and an overhauled downtown including a new mix of tenants as well as new spaces and opportunities for people to interact. “The region’s collaborative, innovative spirit had ensured that waves of forward-looking efforts to modernize downtown had kept the area vibrant through the years, including the Great Recession,” according to a statement from the group. “While effective, there was recognition that past efforts had been disjointed, not sustained and that the scale and speed of the change at hand demanded an updated approach.” The result, in Keene, is a thriving downtown hub within a traditionally rural community. Downtown Keene has become a place that attracts visitors and locals alike to work, play, gather and stay and do some shopping along the way, according to group officials. Retailers in the city have developed first class customer service and have perfected the art of retail in a rural region in the age of Amazon, they say. The Keene hub — and the mini hubs in the towns and villages surrounding it — has pushed the region to the cutting edge of rural economic development. The hope is that the remaking of Main Street will be linked to a groundswell of innovation and an influx of a younger generation and other skilled workers that appreciate the upward mobility the local job market offers. To that end, each month, The Business Journal will celebrate the new and innovative ways communities all over the region are working to revitalize, unify and add value to their downtowns in this new series of stories called Main Street 2.0. This effort will culminate in the CONNECT 2017 in November, the annual dinner and networking event hosted by Hannah Grimes, to discuss the ways citizens and leaders can think about and get involved in creating, in the age of Amazon and online shopping, more vibrant and relevant downtowns in our region. T 46

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

Main Street 2.0 Hancock: An Authentic New England Experience BY MELANIE PLENDA / PHOTOGRAPHY BY MICHAEL MOORE

shining recent example of new ways small towns are working to revitalize is the recent purchase of the Hancock Market, a historical grocery right on Main Street, by the owners of the Hancock Inn, another historical haunt, located right across the street. Jarvis Coffin, who co-owns the Inn with his wife Marcia, says that the couple started thinking about purchasing the market — formerly owned by Nancy and Ed Adams — last spring when it went on the market. The Coffins wanted to buy the market for a very specific reason: because of their deep appreciation of the historical nature of these businesses on Main Street. “Hancock is one of those little quintessential New England towns where on the one side of the street you have the oldest inn in New Hampshire and on the other side you have this 100 year plus market; we’re joined by that sense of history,” says Coffin. A PRISTINE EXAMPLE OF AN 18th CENTURY TOWN Hancock (pop. 1,654), remains much the same as it did at its founding in 1779. In fact, every building downtown is listed on National Register of Historic Places and is connected by authentic, winding gravel pathways that lead from house to house. Everything, according to Inn officials — from the country store to the church, to the town square, beach and grade school — is walkable. Businesses on its Main Street include not only the Hancock Market and Hancock Inn, but Main Street Cheese and Fiddlehead Café; the town’s post office and historical society are housed in the tiny downtown. The Hancock Inn also runs a restaurant called The Fox Tavern. Coffin says that for the past six years, the previous owners did a wonderful job refurbishing the Hancock Market and being the kind of good neighbor that make the place inviting. “They are a presence in that space,” says Coffin. “It’s the kind of

The Hancock Market OPEN flag flies over Main Street with The Hancock Inn across the street.

Marcia and Jarvis Coffin stand outside The Hancock Inn on Main Street.

place where everyone gathers in the morning for coffee, and everyone runs in and out to get their chicken wings for the Super Bowl.” Furthermore, he says, as the oldest inn in New Hampshire, and one of the oldest bed and breakfasts in New England, the couple made sure that a sense of history is felt throughout the Inn — from bedroom décor and the wood and gas fireplaces scattered throughout, to the quaint rocking chairs adorning the porch. FROM INN TO MARKET AND BACK AGAIN “I think, for the most part, people who come to the Hancock Inn stay here in order to have the authentic New England experience,” he says. “And everyone who stays here goes into that market, and they are after the same thing.” The Hancock Inn’s visitors from Boston or New York City, he says,

A customer enters the Hancock Market.

are “being delighted by the experience of going back in time to what is still today a country market. “And so that’s the reason we saw these two businesses as very closely aligned and why we thought it would be a very good idea to make it part of our portfolio,” he says. Coffin says he sees the purchase as a chance to grab the opportunity to make a further investment in giving visitors to this part of the world — and specifically the town of Hancock — that authentic New England experience that they’ve come all this way for. “We send them home with memories,” he says. “That’s what we’re here for.” T Melanie Plenda is a freelance writer from Keene, New Hampshire.

Hancock resident Kernan Claflin searches the shelves at the Hancock Market.

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

Young Entrepreneur by Nicole Colson / Photo by Michael Moore

pooing and waxing. The Business Journal stopped in to talk to him about the mechanics of his success. How did you got started in the auto detailing business? I moved to Florida to find myself and saw a big auto detailing market there. It’s the detail capital of the country; detail shops are like gas stations. It’s just a more evolved business there. I detailed my own cars, and then I worked for someone and got my training. I still get a lot of my products from Florida. I learned to make my shampoo mix while working there and I’m the only one who uses it — it’s very special to me. How did you start your business in Keene? I wanted to come back here because I believed there was a market here for auto detailing. There were a handful of places doing it in the area, and I thought I could add a little something extra. When I started in 2006 I was mobile; I rented a small bay from Davis Oil for the first seven years. Then I moved into this space. I did everything myself until I moved the business here, and now I have two full-time staff in the summer and two part-timers in the winter. What did it take to get started as far as equipment and supplies? I needed a work vehicle, a three-month supply of products including cleaners, waxes, compounds and tire dressings; and for equipment, I bought buffers, generators, air compressors and pressure washers.

Justin Budd, owner of Buffmaster Auto Detailing in Keene, works on a customer’s car.

Name: Justin Budd Age: 34 Business: The Buffmaster Auto Detailing Town: Keene, New Hampshire Web: www.buffmasterautodetailing.com

he Troy native and Monadnock Regional High School graduate has been detailing vehicles since he was 19 and living in Florida, where he learned the ins and outs of the business. He saw a need in the Monadnock Region for his services when he returned to the area 10 years ago and opened his own auto detailing business, located on lower Main Street in Keene for the past three years. Now, he and his staff detail close to 1,000 vehicles a year, offering such specialized services as interior dying, fabric treatment and bumper repair in addition to the basic sham48

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

How have your services evolved since you opened for business? My services have changed slightly since I started, for instance, people aren’t pin striping their cars anymore. I used to do a lot of that. Also, I used to do a lot more paintless dent repair but now I refer a lot of it to other people. I do a lot of headlight rejuvenation which saves people from having to buy new headlights. Other services I’ve offered have come and gone through trial and error. But the basics, like shampooing and waxing and scratch removal, will always be services people need. How do you stay current in this industry? I stay up on different paints and in tune with electronics in vehicles and I try to anticipate challenges. How have you become so successful in this business? I work six to seven days a week; 12-hour days are the norm. Sometimes I’ve worked 8 a.m. to midnight — whatever it takes. I’ve taken enough wax off (of vehicles) to probably go around the earth. It’s physically demanding, on my back, knees and shoulders, but I’m going to do it as long as my body will allow. I try to stay fair with my pricing — my work speaks for itself. I have no competition — I’ve seen a couple other (auto detailing shops) come and go. I’m not worried. I have loyal customers who vote me best of the best every year. What’s the best part of coming to work for you? There’s nothing better than hearing, “My car looks better than when I bought it,” and I hear that a lot. That’s what makes it work. I love what I do. I detail people’s cars like they’re mine and that comes across. T

BRING THE POWER OF PROFESSIONAL HOME with Frigidaire Professional Series Appliances Professional Grade • Design • Feature • Power Smudge Proof Stainless Steel Oranization for Optimal Space Built-in Look

Nutritional Consultation Complementary Therapies Botanical Pharmacy & Products New classes starting soon – Please see our website for full schedule and registration information Rebecca Roentsch Montrone, B.S. Certified Holistic Health Practitioner & Nutritionist

Your Hometown Appliance Store Since 1976 • Frigidaire • Whirlpool • Maytag • Electrolux • Kitchenaid • Bosch

65 Roxbury St., Keene • 352-3547 • www.korvin1.com

103 Roxbury Street • Suite 300 • Keene, NH 03431 (603) 439-2603 • www.wondrousroots.com

116 YEARS OF STRENGTH & STABILITY SINCE WE OPENED OUR DOORS IN 1901 WE’VE DEVELOPED THE EXPERIENCE AND EXPERTISE TO BETTER UNDERSTAND WHAT OUR CLIENTS NEED TO BE SUCCESSFUL. PUT THAT KNOWLEDGE TO WORK AND DISCOVER WHAT IS POSSIBLE WHEN THE FOCUS OF A PREMIER FINANCIAL SERVICES FIRM IS ON YOU.

Holistic Financial Planning deals with the whole person, not just your portfolio. We specialize in relationship-based planning, taking into consideration your values, goals, and beliefs, to help you shape your financial future. Over time, we assess the progress you have made, and what changes are needed to help keep you on track. Whether it is a comprehensive plan, or simple strategies, our goal is to inform you of your options, and help execute the ones that take you where you are planning to be. Our goal is to understand your financial goals and objectives, and frame solutions for you to consider in an easy to understand language, creating strategies that assist in gaining clarity of your overall financial situation, to both inform, educate, and empower you to make conscientious, deliberate choices .

Scott Gordon-Macey, CFP®, ChFC®, CASL®, MBA (802) 254-7756 sgordonmacey@baystatefinancial.com sdgmacey.com Scott Gordon-Macey is a registered representative of and offers securities and investment advisory services through MSI Financial Services, Inc. Member SIPC. Baystate Financial is not a subsidiary or affiliate of MSI Financial Services, Inc., or its affiliated companies. 200 Clarendon Street, 19th & 25th Floors. Boston, MA 02116. 617-585-4500. L0117488207[exp1217][MA,VT]

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

Cherie Ladeau, store manager of Winchendon Furniture on Main Street in Keene, in the showroom.

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

Pull Up a Chair Local Furniture Stores in Business for the Long Haul BY JOHN MCGAULEY / PHOTOGRAPHY BY MICHAEL MOORE

egardless of who you are, where you live or what you do, furniture probably follows food, clothing and shelter on the list of basic human needs. After all, you have to sit, sleep, work and lounge on something. And, the kind of furniture you need changes with your age, status, health, wealth and taste. Furniture is not an impulse purchase for two reasons: one, it’s bulky and often difficult to move about, and two, you’re going to have to live with it, and in it, for a long time. Furniture dealers in the Keene area all say prospective buyers don’t just happen to find themselves in a furniture store but instead hunt for something that they’ve probably thought about for quite some time. “Customers are serious when they walk in,” says John Plotkin, owner and president of Plotkin’s Furniture in Keene. “Eighty percent of customers who walk in buy something somewhere within 30 days. It is definitely a destination purchase.” A COMPLEX BUSINESS Furniture is a complicated business, featuring aspects of such diverse merchandising scenarios ranging from an automobile dealership to a grocery store, and everything in between, local owners say. “When people are buying furniture or furnishings, they’re not just buying ‘stuff,’ but things that they love, that work together,

that fit the personality of their homes,” says Cherie Ladeau, manager of the Keene store of Winchendon Furniture, which recently opened a new showroom on Main Street in Keene (at the site of the former Your Kitchen Store). “We certainly embrace that and take pride in being able to guide them.” And furniture retailers must offer products that appeal to a range of potential customers, from young millennials to senior citizens. “Everyone has their own taste,” says Todd O’Brien, manager of Aumand’s Furniture in North Walpole. “Furniture is to a degree a fashion business,” adds Plotkin. “Where clothing can change seasonally, furniture may change every few years; there are trends that ebb and flow, for instance going from traditional to Georgian style furniture to contemporary styles; there’s a natural flow of change.” John (“Jay”) Croteau, III, the fourth generation with Syd’s Carpet and Snooze Room in Keene, says that customers have always been focused on comfort. “They want to go home and relax” in upholstered recliners and sofas, with “power” recliners very popular, the kind with automatic electric levers that allow for easy operation. FURNITURE IS BIG BUSINESS Furniture and home furnishings are a highly significant part of

There are common characteristics among local furniture stores. All offer delivery service to a radius of about 40 to 50 miles; all of them have been owned by the same family for several generations. the national economy, accounting for nearly $98 billion in sales in 2014, according to Statistica Inc., a leading national statistics company. Although the industry suffered significantly during the recession of 2007/8 because furniture is often a discretionary expenditure, it has outpaced the U.S. economy in recent years, according to MarketResearch.com. Those surveyed for this story agree that online and big box stores can be formidable competitors, but local retailers still do well for several reasons, one

being they can appeal to specific niches. For instance, Aumand’s claims to offer the largest selection in New England for what’s called “lift chairs” that appeal to older or infirm people who require assistance getting up from chairs, says O’Brien. Winchendon Furniture focuses on American-made and solid wood furniture. “We’re very careful about what companies we choose to represent, smaller-scale furniture that functions in multiple ways for condominiums or Continued on next page.

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

be more common with the purchase of mattresses. “The (furniture and furnishing) market is divided more with a small higher-end market, and larger lower-end markets, that’s where the big box stores have come into play. For instance, Bob’s (Discount Furniture) does low-end, Ethan Allen can be considered mid-to-upper end,” Plotkin says, describing his own store as “mid-to-better range.” According to MarketResearch. com, several key furniture industry trends have emerged. One is the increase in the home office furniture market because more people are “telecommuting” to work. Another is an increase in single and two-person households, resulting in demand for smaller and more portable, multi-purpose furniture. MarketResearch.com states that the demand for luxury furniture is increasing. “I think trends in the past were that people were only about price, but I see it swinging the other way now,” says Ladeau. Also, MarketResearch.com claims that more furniture retailers are choosing to go “green,” offering “eco-friendly” furniture that addresses environmental concerns such as the issue of deforestation.

Third generation Chris Aumond kicks back at Aumand and Son's Furniture, Inc. in North Walpole.

apartments, or for downsizing,” notes Ladeau. Plotkin’s, along with Syd’s, and Frazier and Sons of Swanzey, tend to be more broad-gauged in its furniture offerings. Syd’s also sells and installs flooring. 52

SHOWROOMS STILL RELEVANT While web shopping is gaining in popularity, Croteau of Syd’s emphasizes that most shoppers, when buying furniture, still pre-

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

fer to touch and see, furniture in a showroom. “People want to actually see the piece they’re purchasing,” he says, claiming that internet shopping for furniture tends to

THE IKEA EFFECT The 800-pound gorilla in the national furniture industry is IKEA, Plotkin says, referring to “the IKEA effect” of lower-cost furniture that can often be assembled at home. “Keene is somewhat isolated from the IKEA effect,” he says. IKEA and its clones in the larger cities are favored by millennials, which have become the largest consumer group in the U.S. furniture and bedding markets, according to a recent Consumer

Buying Trends Survey conducted by Furniture Today, a trade magazine. From 2012 to 2014, millennials’ share of spending on furniture and bedding more than doubled, from $11.1 billion to $27 billion, catapulting the group to the core of many retailers’ growth strategies, according to a Forbes Magazine article Feb. 15, 2016. However, local furniture retailers say that at the other end of the spectrum to millennials are older people who are downsizing to smaller houses, condominiums, and apartments and are searching for furniture and furnishings that more appropriately fit their smaller residences. AN EDUCATED CONSUMER All the retailers contacted locally also agree that customers have usually done quite a bit of research online about specific

furniture items before they walk into a store. “Everything is online now, 85 percent go online before they ever set foot in a store,” says O’Brien of Aumand’s. “For about 50 percent of the customers who come in who say they’re browsing, they’re actually looking for something. Our job is to make them comfortable, so we can actually help them. We’re here to help, not to beat them into a sale.” Price differentials in the furniture business can also vary widely for what appear to consumers as like items. However, retail store owners surveyed in this area emphasize that quality and durability is the reason for the price spread. Plotkin says that’s often illustrated in the prices of sofas and mattresses.

“All mattresses can look alike, but there is a huge difference in quality,” he says. FAMILY OWNED FOR GENERATIONS There are common characteristics among local furniture stores. All offer delivery service to a radius of about 40 to 50 miles; all of them have been owned by the same family for several generations. Plotkin’s was founded in 1919 by John Plotkin’s grandfather in Athol, Massachusetts and moved to Keene in 1955. Aumand’s opened 97 years ago as a general store selling such diverse items as ice cream and guns and began offering furniture 45 years ago. Syd’s has been in the Croteau family since 1921, originally opening as a paint contracting business.

Winchendon Furniture was begun in 1939 and its flagship store remains there, owned by the same family, and now operates stores in Keene and Amherst, New Hampshire. “My husband’s father and brother started the business and later on, my husband’s brother and he bought the business,” says Ladeau of Winchendon Furniture. “It’s hard work and takes passion to be able to go through the years, and we’ve had downturns and upturns, but we do our best.” Also, local furniture store owners say that repeat business is crucial to their operations. “We’ve had generations of customers from the same family,” says O’Brien. T John McGauley writes from Keene, New Hampshire.

Bring in any quote

pany

from another com

and we’ll beat it!

. Screen Printing . Embroidery . Logo Design 149 Emerald Street - Keene, NH m u In the Center at Colony Mill No minim . Banners . Business Cards required! Purchase exactly . Promotional Items sales@geminiscreenprint.com what you need . Team Uniforms Monday thru Friday 9am - 5pm . Corporate Apparel Saturday 10am - 2pm

603.357.3847

geminiscreenprint.com Congratulations 2017 Trendsetters! THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

named Filtrine and founded the Filtrine Manufacturing Company in Brooklyn, New York. “It had a changeable cartridge and was similar to water filters today,” says Hansel. Now the company’s purification products include activated carbon treatment for taste and odor removal, and ultraviolet sterilizers to kill bacteria and other micro-organisms. Kneuper’s filters were soon installed in many of the new high-rise office buildings in Manhattan. By this time (around 1915), before the advent of air conditioning, conditions in these buildings were unbearable.

FILTRINE: ALWAYS IN SEARCH OF A BETTER WAY BY NICOLE COLSON / PHOTO BY MICHAEL MOORE

Mike Baulin, a coil roller at Filtrine Manufacturing in Keene, uses a pipe cutter to remove the excess length of pipe on an evaporation coil.

eorge Hansel sits in his office at Filtrine Manufacturing at Kit Street in Keene, and holds up a sleek, surprisingly striking drinking fountain. Designed more than 60 years ago in collaboration with architect Minoru Yamasaki, who also drew the plans for the World Trade Center, it was meant to look like Aladdin’s lamp. You’ll find this very same Filtrine fountain in buildings around the world, including at such notable locations as The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The White House. 54

The common denominator of Filtrine’s products is they are the result of a new idea. “Our bread and butter is coming up with the next innovation,” says Hansel, operations director and a fifth-generation member of the family that has run the company since 1918. That’s when Hansel’s grandfather, Charles Hansel, purchased a water filter medium from inventor George Kneuper. The filter, which purified water by attracting and removing microscopic particles, Kneuper

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

FROM WATER CHILLERS TO FOUNTAINS “Water came in these big glass bottles delivered probably by horse and buggy doubleparking in Manhattan,” says Hansel. “There were storage concerns. Water was a big deal. That was the start of the family business. The thought was there has to be a better way.” Charles Hansel developed the very first water cooler before electric refrigeration. An example of the cooler sits near the front entrance of the Kit Street facility. “It involved an ice bin on a stand with a coil inside and a filter,” says Hansel. “It could be hooked up to the building’s water system, and cool water was poured with a spigot.” Once refrigeration companies such as Frigidaire saw the coil design in 1925, Filtrine was asked to build storage cooling tanks (still featured on all Filtrine chillers) with their condensing units. The coil-in-tank evaporator was freeze-proof. “That sustained the company for a long time and became a big part of the business,” said Hansel. Next came Filtrine’s development of the first packaged units for film processing and dough making in the 1930s and 40s. During World War II, Filtrine designed a batch ingredient water chiller for government bakeries that allowed quality control for bread consumed by the U.S. military worldwide. The consistent 34-degree water the chiller maintains in the dough mixer (without freezing) has since been a staple in the bakery industry. Assembling these chillers was George Hansel’s first job at 14 years old, when Krispy Kreme bakeries were at their peak.

STAINLESS STEEL FOUNTAIN BORN In the 1950s the next generation of Hansels, John P. (George Hansel’s grandfather) and Charles F. moved the company’s headquarters to New Jersey, where it introduced the first stainless steel drinking water fountains. “Until then drinking fountains were porcelain,” notes Hansel. His grandfather drew a sketch of architect Yamasaki’s concept for the non-recessed fountain, which has one-of-a-kind fittings. The fountain is still manufactured today. “Our welders probably have work in museums more than any other artists,” says Hansel. “It’s not just a required appliance — it’s an aesthetic statement for a designer to put a signature on.” Hansel’s grandfather wanted to take things a big step further and make a complete product rather than sell a component that could be replaced. That’s when the first central drinking water coolers were developed. “We pioneered the technology in singleoccupancy buildings,” says Hansel. “They used our purification system, central drinking water chiller and drinking fountain. It was the whole package of potable water. Again sustained us for a long time.” FROM THE WHITE HOUSE TO SPACE SUITS During that time, Filtrine also began to provide its drinking fountains, water coolers — and a shower water chiller —for John F. Kennedy at the White House. “He liked his showers cold,” says Hansel of the former president, who special-ordered one from Filtrine to be installed. “We have the thank-you letter from the White House staff because (Kennedy) was very pleased with it.” What’s referred to as the “process cooling” division of the company also flourished in the 1950s and 60s, cementing relationships between Filtrine and the medical and aerospace industries. “We made the coolers for the first space suits,” says Hansel. Today more than half of the company’s business comes from its products that provide cooling for medical MRI and CT machines and linear accelerators as well as testing equipment for aerospace designs. Filtrine’s explosion-proof liquid chillers are meant for use in laboratories, chemical plants and refineries.

Filtrine’s operations moved to New Hampshire in 1970 when Hansel’s grandfather John saw an advertisement for a “town for sale” — the town was Harrisville. That was the year Cheshire Mills closed, opening up a large property into which Filtrine moved. Fifteen of the company’s 50 employees came from New Jersey, and the rest were hired locally. The company moved to its current location (which formerly housed Concord Labs) in 1999. Filtrine now has 100 employees at its 100,000-square-foot facility, and its products are in all 50 states and 90 countries. It was Hansel’s grandfather’s design to maintain the company’s small size. “He saw value in the family-owned structure,” says Hansel of his grandfather, who was his first boss and retired five years ago. Hansel’s father, David, is company vice president and manager of drinking water and international sales. His uncle, Peter Hansel, is president and his uncle, Turner Hansel, is manages sales for the medical and process cooling divisions. George Hansel also manages the R&D and engineering teams and domestic drinking water sales. Fueling the innovation train is the company’s student programs, including a paid internship program with Keene State College, a welding apprenticeship program with the Cheshire Career Center and an engineering internship program with MC2, Keene’s charter school. Plans are in the works to expand the company’s community education welding course from a 60-hour to 120-hour certification program. “Because people don’t work for the same company for 40 years anymore, we teach people to share institutional knowledge quickly,” said Hansel. “This is aided with our internship and apprenticeship programs.” One of the company’s initiatives going forward is reducing its carbon footprint. The company received recognition for its efforts thus far, including the first City of Keene’s Green Business of the Year Award in 2010 for its installed solar hot-water system. Three years later the company switched on its solar array set on the factory roof. The company was also recently honored at the annual Greater Keene Chamber of Commerce gala as Business of the Year.

RESPONDING TO THE MARKET Filtrine’s latest focus is on energy management. “I think we have a tremendous opportunity in research and development adapting to the smart grid,” says Hansel, referring to new electrical grid technology designed to optimize and conserve power. “Our challenge is going to be to make our chillers and equipment respond and become intelligent in how they use energy, drawing electricity at the optimum times and not when it costs the most.” Part of this shift will include energy management contracts. “We’ll sell the contracts to monitor or adjust our equipment to maximize energy usage,” says Hansel. “It’s in the R&D phase right now and could be a big part of our business in five years.” Another of the company’s strengths is adapting to changes in the industry. Filtrine’s central water chiller product design is tailormade for sole occupancy buildings, but today they have taken on fewer such projects. “We do a lot more what’s called pointof-use projects because now each floor of a building is sold to a different company. We’ve had to work on a smaller scale,” notes Hansel. Responding to global economic shifts is another necessity for the company. International drinking water product sales make up 30 percent of Filtrine’s business, but it can be unpredictable. “There are regulatory, political and global economic factors to consider,” says Hansel. “The success is great, but it doesn’t do much for the stability of our operations.” At the same time, Hansel adds, the company doesn’t want to turn a blind eye to these opportunities. “We’re going to focus on shoring up our U.S. market,” he says. “We’re putting a lot more into strategy. We’re working with two different goals in mind. We are a global company.” Filtrine prides itself not just on adapting to change, but thriving on it. “We use our customers as inspiration for new designs,” says Hansel. “We encourage architects and engineers to come to us with out-of-the-box ideas — our most popular products start that way.” T Nicole Colson is a freelance writer based in Swanzey, New Hampshire.

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

Bensonwood's Unity Homes division works on the construction of a home in Reading, Vermont, in December.

UNITY HOMES:

ON THE CUTTING EDGE BY NICOLE COLSON / PHOTOGRAPHY BY MICHAEL MOORE

ur ancestors raised buildings meant to last hundreds of years. Tedd Benson built his business, Bensonwood, on the same foundation four decades ago. At the same time, he has always stayed on the cutting edge of building. With Benson’s steadfast mission of finding a better way to build in mind, he created a second company nearly five years ago to exist alongside his first: Unity Homes. As the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention, and when the Great Recession began in 2008, Benson began to think of ways to build more affordable — yet still high-performance — homes. AN ANCIENT APPROACH TO DESIGN Benson’s approach came from the Roman architect, Vitruvius, who wrote the first 10 books of architecture and believed good architecture requires a balance of beauty, function and strength. Benson maintains that in today’s home building industry in the U.S. standards are low, with inefficiencies and waste being the norm. By contrast, Unity Homes use no fossil-fueled heating systems, are engineered to withstand hurricanes and earthquakes, last 250 to 300 years, and be highly-insulated and air-tight. Continued on next page.

Photo courtesy of Unity Homes.

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

Since 1985, IPG has served as a trusted advisor and consultant to hundreds of companies with thousands of employees. With a staff including: Certified Employee Benefit Specialists, Registered Employee Benefit Consultant, Registered Investment Advisor, Certified Financial Planner and Chartered Financial Consultant, we provide the expertise of specialists in all areas of employee benefits and compensation.

COMPLETE EMPLOYEE BENEFIT BROKERAGE AND CONSULTING SERVICES. Strategic Planning Compensation & Benefits Surveys Plan Design Modeling Benchmarking Customized Brochures & Communications Compensation Consulting Employee Benefit Research Quarterly Management Reporting Retirement Plans Reinsurance Strategies & Solutions HR Technology 85 Washington Street Keene, NH 03431 (603) 357-2707

97 Park Street Springfield, VT 05156 (802) 885-4422

Section 125 Flex Administration Section 105 HRA Administration Personalized Employee Benefit Statements Form 5500 Filing Preparation Internet Based HR Solutions Department of Labor & ERISA Audit Assistance SPDs & Plan Documents ERISA Law Firm on Retainer Funding & Design Consultation Legislative Updates ACA & Compliance Guidance 12 Middle Street Amherst, NH 03031 (603) 672-3124

15 Winnicut Road North Hampton, NH 03862 (603) 418-8709

www.ipgbenefits.com (888) 474-3539 THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

A roof panel is flown into place as a Unity Homes dwelling comes together in Reading, Vermont, in December.

Photo courtesy of Unity Homes.

Unity Homes use 50 to 75 percent less energy than typical homes on the market today. The HERS Index, or “Home Energy Rating System,” is a standardized index for reporting the energy efficiency of houses. In the HERS rating system, a score of 100 is a standard new home built to code. A score of zero would be a net-zero-energy 58

home (one that uses no net energy on an annual basis, beyond what is produced by the house). An average existing home being sold today has a HERS rating of 130. A standard Unity Home should achieve a HERS score of about 40. This energy consumption is low enough that with energyefficient appliances and lighting and an en-

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

ergy-efficient air-source heat pump, a roof full of solar panels can bring the HERS rating down to zero. Among the features of Unity Homes that reduce carbon footprint are they meet the highest standard for air tightness, they have triple-glazed, Low-E (low emissivity), argon-filled windows that control heat loss, cellulose insulation made from recycled newspaper with flame retardants used in the walls and roof —as opposed to foam-plastic insulation (which is not flame retardant and has high global warming potential). The foam that is used on the foundation walls is salvaged, as are some of the timber elements. Vinyl (PVC) is only used in wiring and drainage piping and zero or low-VOC materials are used throughout the homes. Unity Homes isn’t the only company incorporating these green building technologies. With today’s home buyer being far more educated about the benefits of energy efficiency, it’s important to have a distinct identity in the market. What sets Unity Homes apart is its building process. A COST-EFFECTIVE APPROACH TO CONSTRUCTION Typically new homes are built on-site. “Fundamentally our building methods are based on off-site construction,” says Andrew Dey, Unity Homes director of operations. Unity Homes are first designed using 3D CAD software Benson pioneered and then built in controlled conditions at the company’s fabrication and assembly facility on Blackjack Crossing. Walls are built in multiple layers using Benson’s open-built system. “It allows us to achieve and maintain a certain level of quality,” says Dey. “The things we do here it’s not possible to do on the job site.” As components are finished, they are bundled together for access to the building site where they can be installed into a weather tight shell. Cranes lower the wall and roof panels into place. A typical Unity Home is move-in ready in eight to 10 weeks. “We can tell the client when the components will arrive and how long it will take to build their home,” says Dey. “So much of the process is under control.” Benson’s two companies share the virtually-designed, off-site building process but each has its own identity. The company exists parallel to Bensonwood, with a separate

Bensonwood's Unity Homes division works on the raising of a home in Reading, Vermont, in December. From left, sub-contractor Brian DeJesus, job captain Adam Gunn, and crane operator Joe Sherman ready the strapping to start flying in roof panels.

image and marketing program and a staff of 10. Bensonwood has 100 employees, some of whom work for both companies. CUSTOM BUILT, AFFORDABLE Bensonwood buildings are custom-designed from a blank slate — every project is unique. Unity Homes designs are based on platforms, four different designs such as a bungalow-style cottage and a classic cape that are considered starting points. “There’s a certain amount of flexibility, and at the same time the platform-based design helps us be cost-competitive,” says Dey. How cost-competitive? A Unity Home, which tends to be smaller than a Bensonwood home at about 1,600 to 2,200 square feet, starts in the low $200,000 range to upwards of $400,000 depending on additional options such as decks, screen porches and connectors with garages. Price doesn’t include site work such as a driveway and septic system. While Bensonwood promotes craftsmanship, quality and beauty, a Unity Home’s modest design focuses on energy-efficiency. “A Unity Home promotes comfort, health

and serenity,” says Dey. It’s quiet with its thick walls and triple-glazed windows and provides a healthy indoor environment ensured by the use of non-toxic materials and continuous fresh air ventilation system. Its operating costs over time are predictable, Dey adds; a Unity Home is especially desirable to those on a fixed income. Still, the company’s aspiration is to be more affordable. One initiative expected to help is a new production facility opening this year in Keene. “We’ll increase our production capacity and lower costs because it will put us in a different position in the supply chain, giving us the ability to buy in volume and make our product available to the broader market,” says Dey. While Bensonwood produces frames for high-end homes and commercial buildings in 49 states, Unity Homes builds in only New England in order to keep costs low (although homes have been built as far west as Ohio and as far south as North Carolina); however, the plan is to expand territory and add production facilities.

So far more than 40 Unity Homes have been completed, with another 10 under construction and 20 in the pipeline. A recent project early this year was a 3,600-squarefoot home in Reading, Vermont that combined two single-home design platforms into one large vacation home. Another in process is a development of a dozen homes to be built in Quechee, Vermont. Another focus of the company is to streamline the design and project management process. “Our goal is to spend less time and achieve the same results with our service,” says Dey. When the Keene facility is in operation, the expectation is sales and production will increase significantly, and Unity Homes will be building up to 100 homes a year. “We have a crew dedicated to achieving our mission,” says Dey. “Our potential for growth is huge — it’s an exciting time to be here at the company.” T Nicole Colson is a freelance writer based in Swanzey, New Hampshire.

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

Monadnock Community Hospital President and CEO Cynthia "Cyndee" McGuire in the hospital lobby.

The Changing Landscape of Community Hospitals Monadnock Community Hospital’s Chief Embraces Challenges BY ISAAC STEIN / PHOTO BY MICHAEL MOORE

n ever-expanding slew of online and offline services are relying on a five-star rating system for potential customers. And hospitals are no exception. Close to home, the chief of Monadnock Community Hospital has approved a framework that allows patients to rate both their doctors and the hospital itself. According to Cynthia K. “Cyndee” McGuire, CEO and president at Monadnock Community Hospital, the ranking tool — developed by Press Ganey Associates, Inc., and published on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services website — is consistent with another trend in medicine: patient outcome and experience. Physicians have been traditionally paid based on “productivity,” which includes how many patients the doctors see. But a recent trend is moving toward payment based on quality metrics. And more hospitals are being paid by insurers based on similar criteria, she adds. “It’s more about the patient outcome and experience than it is about the productivity,” says McGuire, who oversees a staff of about 700 at Monadnock Community Hospital. “Certainly we want doctors to see lots of patients because we want our patients to 60

have access to care, but that’s the purpose of aligning it.” FROM CANDY STRIPER TO CEO To McGuire, who’s held the post of CEO and president at the Peterborough-based hospital since 2014, a community focus has been in sight for a whole career — which was always centered on healthcare. McGuire lives in Peterborough, with her husband, Harry. In her off-hours, which are relatively few, she enjoys some healthy exercise — particularly hiking and snowshoeing. She’s also made a tradition out of a Saturday lunch at Harlow’s Pub & Restaurant. She’s well-settled in the Monadnock Region, but it’s been a long and nonlinear journey, she says. Originally from Carlisle, New York, a small town with a population of 1,750, McGuire volunteered at her local hospital as a teenage “candy striper,” volunteers so named for their traditional red-and-white uniforms. From there, she took her first job as a medical transcriptionist at the former St. Clare’s Hospital, in Schenectady. McGuire notes that this job, to take dictation from operative reports and other documents from physicians, has since been outsourced to software. “Voice recognition does it for them,” she says with a laugh.

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

While working at St. Clare’s, McGuire also put herself through school; in 1991 she earned a bachelor’s degree in public administration from Russell Sage College, in Troy, New York. In 2004, she also earned a master’s degree in health services administration from Sage Graduate School, also in Troy. McGuire also rose through the hospital ranks over a 29-year period, taking administrative posts that included responsibilities in performance improvement, risk management, and staffing and budget decisions, among other roles. By 2008, she served as the vice president of clinical services, supervising department directors and monitoring more than $20 million in hospital budgets. She moved on to take the chief operating officer post at Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake, New York, a rural community. While there, she renegotiated physician contracts to include bonuses for quality metrics and recruited specialists in cardiology and rheumatology. But she knew she wanted to take on the CEO role, which she sees as “more strategic and visionary in setting direction” than a COO. UNCERTAINTY ON THE HORIZON That led her to Peterborough, where she says she can be professionally challenged in a col-

legial, community-oriented environment. But it’s a demanding job, she says. One challenge is balancing a hospital budget that depends on reimbursements from Medicare and Medicaid, which have uncertain political futures. On the campaign trail, President-elect Donald J. Trump promised to repeal The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. To McGuire, that adds uncertainty, especially for a hospital that only aims to make a profit margin of one percent or less. “The cost of healthcare continues to grow on a national level, and the focus has been on reducing the cost of care, and now we have a new administration in Washington, D.C., … and we’re not sure what will happen with the Affordable Care Act, and what that impact to us will be,” she says. But there are a few possibilities: “Generally speaking, you either have to reduce the benefits or reduce the payments to providers. We could see exactly the same number of patients this year as we saw last year, but we are likely to be paid less.”

CREATIVE SOLUTIONS However, she adds, one of the hospital’s goals is to maintain jobs, salaries and benefits in spite of those pressures — and one way Monadnock Community intends to stay fiscally healthy is by affiliating with two other New Hampshire hospitals. The affiliated hospital group, to be named GraniteOne Health, will include Catholic Medical Center in Manchester, Huggins Hospital in Wolfeboro, and Monadnock Community Hospital. On Dec. 27, McGuire says the deal was in its final stages. As with physician pay and hospital reimbursements, she adds that the fiscal landscape is changing for small hospitals — it makes sense to affiliate. “It’s a trend across the country that hospitals are becoming part of larger organizations. Part of the way we’ll be paid in the future is based on … a population health model … generally where you take care of the patients in your community for a set amount of dollars, so you’re at risk for managing those dollars, so as a small hospital … we would not be able to do that alone,” McGuire says.

Under the affiliation, Monadnock Community also intends to have more access to specialty services and shared IT resources, McGuire says. The hospital’s board of trustees will continue to exist, but some of its representatives will come from a new system board. In turn, Monadnock Community will have representatives on the system board. And both before and after Monadnock Community Hospital joins a larger system, McGuire is going to be enjoying a work environment that has the same small-town friendliness as Peterborough. “When I walk around the floors here, or around the building, I always see people that I know,” says McGuire. “I know that we’re taking care of each other and our neighbors, and it’s something that we can do really really well, we can have that personal touch for our patients. And as we employ almost 700 people here, it’s nice to know that the people who are taking care of me, or our staff are people that we know.” T Issac Stein is a staff writer with The Keene Sentinel.

Serving Customers Needs Since 1969 ulations Congrat 2017 tters! Trendse

LEADING THE WAY with Aluminum Repair Technology

Stop in and see Dave or Dan!

38 Foundry St. Keene NH, 03431 603-352-0396 • stansautobody.com THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

Expert Tips

Advice You Can Trust From the People You Know

Playing to their Strengths:

If Millennials Thrive, So Will Your Company BY SUSAN HAY

et’s buck the trend of seeing millennials as exotic creatures. Because, when you come right down to it, millennials are not fundamentally different from other generations. Like many people, they are primarily motivated by “basic good management.” However, due to the particular cultural and economic world that they grew up in, millennials do have some specific traits. While popular stereotypes paint these traits as negative, if you view them potential strengths, everyone wins. When well engaged, millennials are enormously capable and can add tremendous energy to your business. Stereotype: Millennials are always on their phones, avoiding work. The truth: Millennials are deeply bonded to their peer group, and they stay connected through technology. But realize you don’t actually know what they are doing on their phones. They could be solving your latest software glitch. How to play to this as a strength: • Pay more attention to their results than the time they are on their smartphones. If their results are strong and they are still on the phone, worry that they are bored. • Having trouble recruiting the talent you 62

need? Your secret weapon can be a wellconstructed employee referral program. Take advantage of millennials’ tight peer relationships and pay fewer agency fees. • Give them feedback. You don’t need long meetings — try weekly 20 minute meetings early on. Use their comfort with technology to your advantage. • Got a process that you are still doing manually — put them to work automating. Have a new database? Use them to train others. Stereotype: Millennials don’t respect the older generations. The truth: Millennials have a more casual relationship to authority than previous generations. They don’t automatically understand hierarchy. The flip side of this is that they aren’t afraid to jump into working directly with senior employees and clients. If you train them well, they can handle that added responsibility. How to play to this as a strength: • Millennials want to know that their work matters. An engaged workforce is a more productive and creative workforce, so keep them informed about company direction, key milestones and how they can contribute. • Catch cultural missteps early, and offer

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

feedback if they are misunderstanding office norms. Teach them to be curious about why things are done the way they are before they share their ideas for how to change things. • But: When their ideas have merit let them run with them. Stereotype: Millennials aren’t loyal, and they leave if they aren’t promoted immediately. The truth: Remember these are the children of parents whose careers were upended during the Great Recession. They are skeptical of the loyalty game. They are also burdened with significant college debt and facing an economy where temporary hiring strategies are used to cut costs. How to play to this as a strength: • If your employees are growing, they are not likely to leave. Make career paths clear, and be interested in their career objectives. If you don’t have that “next job,” find special projects that will stretch them. • Millennials will work hard for you and meet critical deadlines. But work/life balance matters to them and they aren’t going to work 60 hours a week because you are chronically short-staffed. • Consider flex time and/or options to work from home. If you don’t trust that your employees will be responsible working from home a day a week, for example, you have the wrong employees. T Susan Hay is the founder of LaunchingU. If you would like to talk more about how to make your business a destination of choice for talented millennials feel free to contact us at info@launchingu.com.

Congratulations Antioch University New England Alumni & Trendsetter Award Winners

A M A N DA L IT T L E TO N ’07

MS Environmental Studies, Environmental Education

Y V E S G A K U N D E ’12

MS Environmental Studies, Sustainable Development and Climate Change & PhD Candidate

N I K K I S AU B E R ’14

Uniting passion and purpose in the Monadnock Region and around the world.

MS Environmental Studies, Advocacy for Social Justice and Sustainability

M EG A N S T R AU G H E N ’14

MS Environmental Studies, Advocacy for Social Justice and Sustainability

40 Avon Street Keene, New Hampshire 03431 603.357.3122 antioch.edu/new-england

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

Expert Tips

Advice You Can Trust From the People You Know

Bootstrapping Your Start-Up BY NANCY DUBOSQUE

ne of the most critical initial decisions an entrepreneur must make is whether to self-fund a start-up by bootstrapping or raise outside funding through venture capital or commercial loans. How a company gets funded often determines its pace of growth, its chances of succeeding, and the owner’s overall relationship with the company. Bootstrapping is the act of starting and growing a business with little or no money, but with a tremendous amount of innovation, persistence and patience. It means to manage a lean and mean operation, with a laser focus on generating revenue and maintaining a positive cash flow. A company often goes through several bootstrapping phases as it struggles to grow. Ideally, bootstrapping leads a company to eventually become “bankable” by establishing a good credit history, building up collateral and demonstrating profitability. Colleen Meyer, the owner of Advanced Saddle Fit, a Marlborough, New Hampshire company, explains how she bootstrapped early on through leveraging resources and establishing a win-win relationship with a vendor. 64

Bootstrapping is the act of starting and growing a business with little or no money, but with a tremendous amount of innovation, persistence and patience. “After we had made a considerable initial purchase from an overseas supplier, we were able to get them to supply a significant amount of product over a few months, and let us pay it off over a few years. They were willing to do this in order to get a toehold in our market,” says Meyer. “The concept of the manufacturer who is interested in penetrating a particular market partnering with a business in a position to help them do that is an excellent approach, and it worked well for us for as we were becoming established.” Bootstrapping brings out the very best in entrepreneurs. They often become the best

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

business people through learning to grow on their own and being resourceful, accountable and extremely careful. They get to know their business and their company inside and out, learn to do more with less, and scale up at their own pace. Ultimately, taking a bootstrapping approach even throughout the life of a business can do wonders for its profitability and, when the time comes, its valuation and exit strategy. T Nancy DuBosque is the regional director for the New Hampshire Small Business Development Center located at the Blake House at Keene State College.

4 WAYS TO BOOTSTRAP YOUR START-UP Put Your Skin in the Game A start-up business often relies on the owner’s personal assets, such as savings accounts and retirement plans. It’s tempting to pull out the credit cards to launch a company, but it’s recommended only for small, manageable amounts that can clearly be repaid and on time.

Tap Friends and Family Many start-ups are launched with support from the owner’s personal networks, including bartering of goods and services and sweat equity. Crowdfunding platforms such as Go Fund Me and Kickstarter can take this type of fundraising to the next level, reaching out to larger networks and communities interested in seeing a company launch and grow.

Focus on Revenue

A Spiritual, Compassionate and Academically Rich Environment.

Bootstrapped companies must create as much revenue as possible while seriously tightening their belts on expenses and overhead. With no outside investment dollars or large liquid assets to tap, bootstrapped companies can’t afford to waste money. They must make money, with any profits they make going right back into the business to generate more revenue. Growth is often slow, but with strategic planning and tight management, they will become profitable.

Minimize Debt Bootstrapping does not mean getting into long-term debt through a commercial loan or committing to quick and high returns by taking on investors, but it can mean making strategic use of short-term financing products. These can include small lines of credit to support inconsistent cash flow, and small, secured loans to buy necessary equipment, inventory and make improvements to property.

Saint Joseph Regional School 92 Wilson Street Keene, NH 03431 603-352-2720

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

Business Directory

Please support the small businesses that support The Business Journal!

ACCOUNTING Hogancamp & Associates, PC

Keene NH Accountants and Business Advisors 603-352-2233 www.hogancamp-pc.com

ADVERTISING/ MARKETING/ DESIGN/ COMMUNICATIONS Peter Harris Creative Services

Keene NH Full Service Website & Graphic Design for Marketing & Communication 603-903-0218 www.peterharriscreative.com

Catlin + Petrovick Architects, PC

Keene NH A Local Firm with a National Presence 603-352-2255 mpetrovick@c-parchitects.com www.c-parchitects.com

Cheshire Glass Company Keene NH Residential and Commercial Glass Professionals. Over 50 years combined experience servicing New Hampshire and Vermont. 603-357-8889 info@cheshire-glass.com www.cheshire-glass.com

Jancewicz & Sons

Bellows Falls VT Providing Stress Free, Time-Tested Solutions 800-281-3585, www.roofsplus.com

AIRPORT/TAXI/LIMO/ K & J Dean Builders TRANSPORTATION Swanzey NH SERVICES Building is in Our Blood; The Thomas Transportation Services

Swanzey NH For Every Road You Travel 603-352-5550 thomas@thomastransportation.com www.thomastransportation.com

APPLIANCES Korvin Appliance

Keene NH Your Hometown Appliance Store Since 1976 603-352-3547 www.korvinappliance.com

ARCHITECTS/HOME/ BUILDING Bensonwood Homes Walpole NH Where high performance is beautiful. Custom homes & buildings since 1973. 603-756-3600 info@bensonwood.com www.bensonwood.com

Customer’s Dream is Our Passion 603-252-9530 • 603-499-3561 www.kandjbuilders.com

Scully Architects

Keene NH Extraordinary Architecture and Planning for Our Community 603-357-4544 dvs@scully-architects.com www.scullyarchitects.com

Unity Homes

Walpole NH Comfortable, Healthy, Energy Efficient Homes, A Better Way to Build 603-756-3600, info@unityhomes.com www.unityhomes.com

Weller & Michal Architects Inc

Harrisville NH We Strive for Excellence Within Real-World Limitations... Because Design Matters 603-827-3840 info@wapm.com www.wapm.com

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

ASSISTED LIVING Bentley Commons

Keene NH A Premier Senior Living Community 603-352-1282 www.bentleyatkeene.com

Hillside Village

Keene NH Live Fully. And Thrive. 603-283-5150 www.hillsidevillagekeene.org

The ProspectWoodward Home

Keene NH Gracious Assisted Living 603-352-3235 www.prospectwoodward.org

AUTOMOTIVE SERVICES City Tire Co.

Keene NH The Best Place by Far for Your Car 603-357-1332, www.city-tire.com

CJ Jack Durand Toyota Ford Westminster VT 978-460-8962 cj@toyotadealer.org www.durandtoyota.com

Noyes Volkswagon

Keene NH Driven by perfection, built on relationships. 855-637-9120 www.noyesvolkswagen.com

U-Save Car and Truck Rental

Keene NH Locally Owned and Operated 603-352-7919, www.usave.com keenenh@rentusave.com

BEVERAGE DISTRIBUTION Clarke Distributors

Keene NH 603-439-6363 www.clarkedistributors.com

CATERING/ RESTAURANTS The Pub Restaurant & Caterers

Keene NH Keene’s Oldest Family-Owned Restaurant 603-352-3135 www.thepubrestaurant.com

Waxy O’Connor’s

Keene NH The Modern Irish Bar 603-357-9299 Keene@waxyspubgroup.com www.waxys.com

COACHING/ CONSULTING Path of Purpose Coaching Spofford NH Inspiring Entrepreneurs to Success in Life and Business 603-363-4252 helaine@pathofpurpose.com www.pathofpurpose.com

Visionary Coaching LLC

Keene NH Coaching to increase your productivity & morale in your workplace 603-762-4877 1visionary@gmail.com www.zerostressleadership.com

CONSTRUCTION/ EXCAVATON Hamshaw Lumber Inc Keene NH Hamshaw Lumber, when you’re building it right! 603-352-6506 www.hamshawlumber.com

Tom Call Excavation

Vermont • NH • Mass. Handling all your Excavation Needs 802-384-1220, tcalljr@yahoo.com tomcallexcavation.com

DOG TRAINING/ RETAIL Everything Dog

Keene NH Got Dog? Get Solutions. 603-499-6207 denise@denisemazzola.com www.everythingdognh.com

EDUCATION/ TRAINING Antioch University New England

Keene NH Because the World Needs You Now 877-595-9873, www.antiochne.edu

Keene State College Continuing Education Keene NH Wisdom to Make a Difference 603-358-2290 www.keene.edu/conted

River Valley Community College

Keene NH • Claremont NH • Lebanon NH Envisioning the Future – Our Future by Design 603-542-7744 www.rivervalley.edu

Saint Joseph Regional School

Keene NH A spiritual, compassionate, and academically rich environment. 603-352-2720 kate@stjosephkeene.org www.stjosephkeene.org

The Monadnock Waldorf School

WorkReadyNH At River ENGRAVABLE GIFTS Valley Community College & AWARDS Keene NH • Claremont NH Lebanon NH Strengthen Your Workforce with WorkReadyNH 603-542-7744, www.rivervalley.edu

Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!) KSC Keene NH Start as a Student, Graduate as a CEO! 918-430-5389 Jake.Nonweiler@keene.edu www.keene.edu/campus/ outreach/yea

Zoocademy

Keene NH Enrolling Nursery Through High School 603-357-4442 www.MonadnockWaldorfSchool.org

Congratulations 2017 Trendsetters!

Marlboro VT The teaching zoo that travels to you. 802-258-8046 info@zoocademy.org www.zoocademy.org

Engrave-It/Awards Of Keene Keene NH Home to New England’s #1 Trophy Builder! 603-352-8559 www.awardsofkeene.com

FINANCIAL SERVICES Ameriprise Financial Keene NH Retire on Your Terms 603-499-4454 www.ameriprise.com

Anderson & Gilbert Inc. Keene NH Accounting, Payroll Services & Tax Preparation 603-357-1928 reception@agtaxfolks.com www.agtaxfolks.com

Better training forout the workplace Getting more of life is is closer than you think.

closer than you think.

Keene’s Premier Caterers Call Kim to plan your next • Company Event • • On or Off Site Business Luncheon • • Take Out Always Available •

choice 2016

readers’

awards

131 Winchester Street, Keene, NH 603-352-3135 www.ThePubRestaurant.com

runner-up

Full Liquor License ~ On and Off Site Catering ~ Fully Licensed and Insured Private Function Room Available at No Charge With Catering

Open since 1994

Keene State offers dozens of non-credit online courses in today’s hottest topics. Online courses can help you sharpen your skills, add new skills to your resume, or pursue a special interest. Courses begin monthly and most cost just $124. Visit keene.edu/ce or call 603-358-2290. Visit keene.edu/conted or call 603-358-2290.

To Provide the Highest Quality Flooring at an Inexpensive Price with the Most Professional Service Available

Carpet Rolls/Remnants Vinyl Rolls/Remnants Oriental Rugs Runners Bound Area Rugs Laminate VCT Tile Indoor/Outdoor/Entry Material

M-F 9-5, Sat 9-3

(603)358-3934 178 Emerald St., Keene, NH 03431

Whether you’re hoping to: Keene State has • Finish a degree • Hundreds of online learning opportunities • Improve job skills • Occupational safety and health classes • Take classes just for fun • Day, evening, and weekend classes … there’s something for you close to home. • Credit and noncredit courses • Academic advising to guide you Visit keene.edu/conted or call 603-358-2290. Register Today!

Think Keene State.

Continuing Education Think Keene State. and Extended Studies Wisdom to make a difference 229 Main Street, Keene, NH 03435 Keene State College | 229 Main Street | Keene, NH 03435 | 800-KSC-1909 | keene.edu

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

Business Directory

Please support the small businesses that support The Business Journal!

Baystate Financial

Brattleboro VT Guidance. Insight. Results. 802-254-7756, www.sdgmacey.com

Caserta Financial Solutions

David J. Houston Company

Jaffrey NH Office Outfitters & Surplus Equipment 603-532-4237 www.davidjhoustonco.com

Keene NH Providing unique financial solutions that simplify a complex world 603-352-3715 www.financialsolutionsgroup.com

Frazier & Son Furniture

Edwards Jones

Syd’s Carpet & Snooze Room

Keene NH • Peterborough NH Rindge NH • Walpole NH Making Sense of Investing 314-515-2000 www.edwardjones.com

Swanzey NH Quality Home Furnishings 603-352-0337 www.frazierandsonfurniture.com Keene NH Your Furniture, Flooring, Rug and Carpet Store 603-352-4315 www.sydsofkeene.com

Wondrous Roots, Inc Rebecca Roentsch Montrone, BS.

New England Fabrics & Decorating Center

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

MEETING SPACES

Keene NH 603-439-2603 www.wondrousroots.org

True North Networks

Swanzey NH Straight Answers. Bright Solutions. 603-624-6777 www.truenorthnetworks.com

INSURANCE Bellows-Nichols Insurance

H & R Block

Walpole Interiors

Walpole NH Furnishings & Design Studio 603-445-2600

Peterborough NH Personal Service for Over 175 Years! 603-924-7155 www.bellowsnichols.com

Mascoma Savings Bank

GLOBAL MANUFACTURING

Clark-Mortenson Insurance and Financial Services

Keene NH Get your taxes won! 603-352-4102 • 603-352-4065 www.hrblock.com Keene NH 603-357-1619 A Mutually Owned Community Bank www.mascomabank.com

Nathan Wechsler & Co

Concord NH • Keene NH Lebanon NH A full services accounting and tax firm located in Concord, Keene, and Lebanon, New Hampshire serving clients in New England. 603-224-5357 (Concord) 603-357-7665 (Keene) 603-448-2650 (Lebanon) www.nathanwechsler.com

Markem-Imaje

Keene NH Innovative marking & printing solutions. Advance coding technology. www.markem-imaje.com

HEALTH & PERSONAL CARE Cheshire Medical Center DartmouthHitchcock Keene

Keene NH • Walpole NH The Savings Bank of You 603-352-1822 • 603-756-4771 www.walpolebank.com

Keene NH An integrated health system with a clear focus and coordinated approach to providing high quality health care services. 603-354-5400 www.cheshire-med.com

FURNITURE

Cindy Knipe, RDN, LD

Savings Bank of Walpole

Carpet Clearance Warehouse

Keene NH You can walk all over us. 603-358-3934 www.carpet-clearance.com 68

Keene NH Nutrition Counselling, Consulting and Workplace Wellness... What Nourishes You? 603-738-5791 cynthiaknipe@gmail.com www.whatnourishesyou-nh.com

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017

Keene NH Be Ready for Anything 603-357-2121 info@clark-mortenson.com www.clarkmortenson.com

Insurance Planning Group

Keene NH Employee Benefits Specialists 888-474-3539 www.ipgbenefits.com

The Insurance Source, Inc. Keene NH The Source for All of Your Insurance Needs 603-357-2219 www.insurancesource.com

INTERIOR DESIGN Ann Henderson Interiors Keene NH Residential & Commercial Interior Design 603-357-7680 www.ahinteriors.com

Keene NH In the fabric business for over 80 years! 603-352-8683 www.newenglandfabrics.com

Hampton Inn

Brattleboro VT Feel the Hamptonality 802-254-5700 www.brattleboro.hamptoninn.com

PLUMBING & HEATING Keating Plumbing & Heating

Marlborough NH Whether you’re building a new home or renovating on old one, we’ve got you covered 603-876-4447 www.keatingplumbing-heating.com

Pinney Plumbing & Heating

West Swanzey NH Replacements, Repairs, Installations 603-357-0944 www.pinneyplumbing.com

PROMOTIONAL PRODUCTS & SERVICES (EMBROIDERY, MAILING, PRINTING, SCREEN PRINTING, SIGNS) Gem Graphics

Keene NH Your Image is Everything 603-352-7112 steve@gem-graphics.com www.gem-graphics.com

Shipping Shack

Keene NH Packing, Shipping, Mailboxes & More! 603-352-4249 www.shippingshack.com

REAL ESTATE/ OFFICE SPACE Dick Thackston

Winchester NH Broker NH, VT & MA 603-313-1231 rthackston@thackston.com www.dickthackston.com

HKS Associates

Keene NH • Jaffrey NH Established 1962. Locally owned and operated. 603-352-6030 (Keene) 603-532-4486 (Jaffrey) keene@hksassoc.com www.hksassoc.com

Nancy Thompson

Keene NH Someone You’ll Remember 603-355-6819 www.nancythompson.masiello.com

Ryan Goodell

Keene NH Experience you can trust! 603-313-7541 www.ryangoodell.masiello.com

Ted’s Shoe & Sport

SEPTIC SITE WORK & EXCAVATION

Keene NH Keene’s Only “Sit & Fit” Store! 603-357-TED’S (8337) www.tedsports.com

CSE Septic & Excavating

Zephyr Designs

RETAIL

Brattleboro VT Vermont’s finest source for art materials and customer framing info@zephyrdesignsvt.com

Creative Encounters

Keene NH Extraordinary Framing and Other Cool Stuff 603-352-3724 www.creative-encounters.com

Gemini Screen Print LLC

Keene NH • Brattleboro VT Fine Menswear 603-352-3039 • 802-254-2287 www.mbnmenswear.com

Monadnock Food Co-op

Keene NH Your Identity is Our Business 603-357-3847 stacey@geminiscreenprint.com www.geminiscreenprint.com

Keene NH Your source for local fresh and healthy food 603-355-8008 www.monadnockfood.coop

SIGNS/AWNINGS Signworx

SCREEN PRINT & EMBROIDERY

Miller Bros-Newton

Sullivan NH Septic Site Work from Start to Finish General Construction Services 603-847-9150, cseseptic@gmail.com www.cseseptic.com

Swanzey NH Small Town Service World Class Results 603-358-1003, info@signworx.com www.signworx.com

WEB DESIGN/DEV. CONSULTING/HOSTING Paragon Digital Marketing Keene NH Measuredly better results 603-399-6400 www.paragondigital.com

DON’T TURN YOUR LIFE UPSIDE DOWN TO INSTALL COSTLY DUCTWORK.

Cynthia Knipe, RDN, LDN

What Nourishes You?

www.whatnourishesyou-nh.com

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Nutrition Counseling, Consulting and Workplace Wellness

A personalized approach to health and wellness.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Nutrition Counseling, Consulting and Workplace Wellness

A personalized approach to health and wellness.

603-738-5791

! Oil Change $19.95 (most cars up to 5 qts. - Synthetic Cynthia Knipe, RDN ,L DNExtra) __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Nutrition Counseling, • Exhaust •Consulting Brakes • Alignments • Steering & Suspension and Workplace Wellness

Voted #1 Best Place to buy Tires

THERE’S A BETTER WAY TO COOL AND HEAT OLDER HOMES.

Cynthia Knipe, RDN, LDN

Mitsubishi Electric Cooling & Heating offers the ideal solution to make your home comfortable without the hassles of a major renovation. Our systems deliver personal, room- by-room cooling and heating with no ductwork and lower energy bills. They even filter allergens and operate quieter than a human whisper. Installation can be simple and take less than a day. Don’t turn your life upside down for comfort. Go to MITSUBISHICOMFORT.COM

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Nutrition Counseling, Consulting and Workplace Wellness

124What MainNourishes Street, Keene, You? NH What Nourishes You? 603-357-1332 • www.city-tire.com A personalized approach to health and wellness. www.whatnourishesyou-nh.com 603-738-5791 MONDAY-FRIDAY 8AM-5PM • SATURDAY 8AM-12PM

Congratulations 2017 Trendsetters!

AMERICA’S #1 SELLING DUCTLESS BRAND

Keating Plumbing & Heating Inc. A personalized approach to health and wellness. 241 Webb Depot Rd. www.whatnourishesyou-nh.com 603-738-5791 Marlborough, NH 03455 603-876-4447 We offer financing

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017 76770-1_MBE_TOH-ad_Magazine_110414.indd 1

69 5/9/15 1:47 PM

Advertiser Index

Business After Hours Submit your photos to editor@thebusinessjournal.net

ANDERSON & GILBERT ��46 ANN HENDERSON INTERIORS �� 35 ANTIOCH NEW ENGLAND ��63 AMERIPRISE ��2 BAYSTATE FINANCIAL ��49 BENTLEY COMMONS ��45 CARPET CLEARANCE WAREHOUSE ��67 CHESHIRE GLASS CO �� 35 CHESHIRE MEDICAL CENTER ��9, 19 CINDY KNIPE, RDN, LD ��69 CITY TIRE CO ��69 CJ JACK �� 33 CLARK-MORTENSON AGENCY ��14 CREATIVE ENCOUNTERS ��7 CURRY PRINTING & OFFICE SUPPLY ��41 DAVID J. HOUSTON COMPANY ��41 FRAZIER & SON FURNITURE ��29 GEM GRAPHICS ��7 GEMINI SCREENPRINT ��63 GRANITE STATE RURAL WATER ASSOCIATION ��21 H & R BLOCK ��23 HAMPTON INN ��71 HAMSHAW LUMBER �� 35 HILLSIDE VILLAGE ��21 HKS ��19 HOGANCAMP ��71 INSURANCE PLANNING GROUP ��57 INSURANCE SOURCE ��29 KEATING PLUMBING & HEATING ��69 KEENE COMMUNITY EDUCATION �� 31 KEENE PARKS & RECREATION ��43 KEENE STATE COLLEGE ��27, 67 KEENE SIGNWORX ��61 KORVIN APPLIANCE INC ��49 MARKEM CORPORATION ��72 MILLER BROS-NEWTON ��2 MONADNOCK FOOD CO-OP ��25 MONADNOCK RESTORATIVE COMMUNITY ��19 MONADNOCK WALDORF SCHOOL ��5 MONADNOCK UNITED WAY ��21 NANCY THOMPSON ��43 NATHAN WECHSLER & CO., P.A. ��33 NEW ENGLAND FABRICS & DECORATING CENTER ��5 PARAGON DIGITAL MARKETING ��3 PETER HARRIS CREATIVE ��2 PINNEY PLUMBING & HEATING ��45 THE PUB RESTAURANT ��67 PROSPECT-WOODWARD ��7 RYAN GOODELL ��5 SAINT JOSEPH REGIONAL SCHOOL ��65 SAVINGS BANK OF WALPOLE ��15 SCULLY ARCHITECTS ��61 SOUTHWESTERN COMMUNITY SERVICES ��25 STAN’S AUTO BODY ��61 TOM CALL EXCAVATION �� 31 UNITY HOMES ��45 VISIONARY COACHING LLC ��5 WAXY O’CONNORS ��11 WELLER & MICHAL ARCHITECTS ��11 WONDROUS ROOTS, INC. ��49 ZEPHYR DESIGNS ��39

January Business After Hours at Honda of Keene (a Fenton Family Dealership). Photo credit: Scott Hussey Photography.

March Calendar of Events MAR. 8 (Wed., 7:30-9 a.m.)

Jaffrey Chamber of Commerce Breakfast/$10-15 MilliporeSigma, 11 Prescott Road, Jaffrey, N.H. RSVP: info@jaffreychamber.com

MAR. 9 (Thurs., noon-1:30 p.m.) How to Catalyze Success with a Strategic Plan Hannah Grimes Center for Entrepreneurship 25 Roxbury St., Keene, N.H. programs@hannahgrimes.com

(Thurs., 5-7:30 p.m.)

4th Annual Business Journal Trendsetters Awards Keene State College Alumni Center, Keene, N.H. $30 advance; $35 at the door www.sentinelsource.com/ trendsetterstickets

MAR. 13 (Mon., 2-4 p.m.)

Nonprofit Fundraising Coaching with Katie Gardella Hannah Grimes Center for Entrepreneurship 25 Roxbury St., Keene, N.H. programs@hannahgrimes.com

MAR. 14 (Tues., 10 a.m.-noon)

Social Media and Marketing Strategy Coaching with Stacey Nachajski Hannah Grimes Center for Entrepreneurship 25 Roxbury St., Keene, N.H. programs@hannahgrimes.com

MAR. 14-15 (Tues., Wed.)

MAR. 15 (Wed., 5:30-7 p.m.)

MAR. 23 (Thurs., 4-6 p.m.)

Business After Hours: Greater Keene Chamber of Commerce With Machina Arts and Arts Alive! Hannah Grimes Center, 25 Roxbury St., Keene, N.H. RSVP: 603-352-1303

Microsoft Excel 101: The Fundamentals/$35 Hannah Grimes Center for Entrepreneurship 25 Roxbury St., Keene, N.H. programs@hannahgrimes.com

MAR. 16 (Thurs. 9 a.m.-noon)

MAR. 27 (Mon., 9 a.m.-noon)

Valuation and Sale of a Business/$40 Upper Valley SCORE 20 West Park St., Ste. 316 Citizens Bank Building, Lebanon, N.H. RSVP: 603-448-3491

MAR. 22 (Wed., 7:30-9:30 a.m.)

Regional Issue Series-The Energy Challenge: What is it? What can We Do? Alumni Center, Centennial Hall Keene State College, Keene, N.H. RSVP: 603-352-1303

MAR. 29 (Wed., 4-5:30 p.m.)

Artist to Artist: Working with Galleries/$5 Hannah Grimes Center for Entrepreneurship 25 Roxbury St., Keene, N.H. programs@hannahgrimes.com

MAR. 30 (Thurs. 4-6 p.m.)

Business Strategy and Growth Coaching with Wink Faulkner Hannah Grimes Center for Entrepreneurship 25 Roxbury St., Keene, N.H. programs@hannahgrimes.com

MAR. 28 (Tues., 7-8:30 p.m.)

Outstanding Women of New Hampshire Keene State College President’s Awards Keene State College Alumni Center, Centennial Hall Keene, N.H. RSVP: 603-358-2047

Microsoft Excel 101: Formulas Galore/$35 Hannah Grimes Center for Entrepreneurship 25 Roxbury St., Keene, N.H. programs@hannahgrimes.com

(Thurs. 5:30-9 p.m.)

Greater Peterborough Chamber of Commerce 38th Annual Awards Gala Shattuck Golf Club’s Cathedral Ballroom 53 Dublin Rd., Jaffrey, N.H. www.peterboroughchamber.com

ONGOING: Thursdays, 7-8:30 p.m.

Arduino, Pi and Pizza Meetup MAxT Makerspace, Peterborough, N.H. www.monadnockartxtech.org

(Wed., 5:30-7 p.m.)

Business After Hours: Jaffrey Chamber of Commerce Franklin Pierce University Peterson Manor (the main admin building) 40 University Drive, Rindge RSVP: info@jaffreychamber.com

(Wed., 5:30-7 p.m.)

Greater Hillsborough Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours Stonebridge Montessori West Main St., Hillsborough, N.H. RSVP: 603-680-4085

Phoenix Leadership Program Jaffrey Chamber of Commerce RSVP: info@jaffreychamber.com

General Manager Jolene R. Belair Hamptonality is the extra care we put into everything that’s going to make your stay extra awesome. You’ll find it at our free hot breakfast. And you’ll see it in the personalities of our team members who use their individual styles of hospitality to make you feel extra special.

Hampton Inn Brattleboro

1378 Putney Road, Brattleboro, Vermont, 05301 802.254.5700 | brattleboro.hamptoninn.com

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL MARCH 2017