On March 6, members of the Monadnock Region, the N.H. Governor and Keene State College president and faculty gathered at the Alumni Center for the first annual Business Monadnock Trendsetters award ceremony, presented by the Keene Sentinel, Business Monadnock Magazine and the Keene Young Professionals Network.
The awards were presented to young professionals who are recognized for making a difference in the Monadnock Region. Angie Ruest, the Keene Sentinel’s executive assistant, said the candidates cannot be over 40-years-old and must be nominated by someone in their business or someone else in the community.
To receive the honor, candidates must put forth effort in the community and demonstrate “how they help their business to grow, and how they help their community grow [is important to them]. It’s community-minded people,” Ruest said.
N.H. Governor, Maggie Hassan, said, “I think it’s just really important for people of all ages, but especially young people, to understand what kind of opportunities there are in New Hampshire—for young people to engage and start their own businesses or become part of a business and then just thrive.”
Hassan continued, “I think this [trendsetter awards ceremony] really highlights the ability of that—for people to chart their own course in New Hampshire and have a great quality of life. It is an honor; this is a great group of energetic people who are really making a great difference in New Hampshire.”
Haley Erdbrink / Equinox Staff:
Keene Sentinel President, Terrence Williams, opens the first ever Trensetters awards ceremony. To his right, he is joined by KSC President, Anne Huot, N.H. Governor, Maggie Hassan and Keene Mayor, Kendall Lane.
Manager of Corporate Development at C&S Wholesale Grocers, Meredith Speranza, was one of three members of the C&S team to be nominated.
Speranza said, “I was so excited to be among all the other winners who are doing such great stuff, and to be able to win something for doing what I love.”
She said she thinks her next step is going to be to join another board. Currently, she is part of a fellowship program that teaches leadership skills.
Terry Williams, president and chief operating officer for the Keene Sentinel said, “We want to bring attention to a lot of the young professionals in the community that are doing not only great with their companies, but also within the community, so it’s just a recognition of that. We kind of get the ball rolling in terms of publicizing why it’s [Monadnock Region] a great place to be, and why it’s a great place to be young and to be a part of the community. So, that’s kind of the initiative, to get it started and recognize these people.”
Williams said there were close to 60 nominations at the end of the search. Later, he said a great committee worked their way through the nominees and came up with potentially 22 winners, two of which were couples—which made a total of 24 winners. He said all the awards are of equal stature.
When the ceremony began, Williams said there were common attributes that put the group together. These included innovation, helping others, the focus on healthy lifestyles and products and intense curiosity in terms of helping to make things better. “I have read each of these stories and I can tell you there is much to be proud of with this group,” Williams said.
Hassan said this group of young people are critical to the economic future.
“We need to make sure we have a work force with twenty-first century skills, we need to make sure that that work force is well positioned to help us grow our businesses and to grow our economy and strengthen our middle class,” Hassan said.
The N.H. governor said the more young people that are engaged in the business community, the better off everyone would be in terms of their civic life and economy.
“We want all of you who are being honored tonight and all of you who will be honored in future years and all of you who deserve past honors as well, to understand and know that we want to support your hard work so that you and others can continue to thrive here,” Hassan said.
The governor continued, “We have great potential to build our success, we are as well positioned as any state in the country to lead in economic innovation, we’re doing it already— we’re growing jobs, we have these great, great attributes to bring.”
Hassan said young professionals represent the opportunites that exist in the state of N.H. “Not only am I proud of you and happy for you, I want to tell your stories as much as I can because success is contagious and we want to bring more people here as they understand how successful all of you are being,” Hassan said.
President of KSC, Anne Huot, said she worries about the ability to attract and retain highly talented young people who want to live and dedicate their lives to the region.
“This event, being sponsored by the Sentinel, is an important step in that direction I think— because it gives us the opportunity to recognize and support young people who are doing amazing things in a community that is deeply superlative in it’s affection—not only for the place, but for the people that make up the place. And [with] the presence of our governor in here tonight—I think is a strong testament for the importance of that,” Huot said.
Huot also noted that she was very proud of the KSC members and the alumni that were awarded.
Dr. Emily Porschitz, assistant professor at KSC for the Department of Management, came to the stage and said she was a scholar who studies careers in the United States.
Porschitz said a huge mission of the Keene Young Professionals Network, shared with the governor and Keene mayor Kendall Lane, is to attract and retain young people. She said they do not have to look outside their region for answers; they already have them there.
Porschitz said, “When I look outside of our region, I see a prevailing work culture that is worrisome. I’m sure I’m bias because I work with college students all day and I do my research on early careers, but I find these trends affect young workers, perhaps, more than others. They’re starting their career in a distinctly difficult environment where [the] only support often comes in the form of a self-help book, or a video. I found that a lot of this is not the case in the Monadnock region. I think there’s a less tangible feeling too, that those of us who live here feel we know that the word community has deep meaning and uncommon transformative power—and we value hard work with grace and pride.”
Mayor Kendall Lane thanked all those who put the event in motion, such as KSC, Sedexo catering, the Keene Sentinel and the KSC string ensemble. In addition, he thanked the presenting sponsor, Markem Imaje, as well as award sponsors Clark-Mortenson Insurance and Financial Services and Brattleboro Subaru and hospitality sponsor, C&S Wholesale Grocers.
Beth Mullen and Andrew Dugrenier, members of the Keene Young Professional Network, presented the awards to the 24 winners. Megan Ruffee, Brian Lee and KSC senior Jennifer Zinka made a video about the winners and their future goals.
The winners, which came from all over the Monadnock Region, included Keene owner of Beeze Tees, Timothy Pipp, to Laina Barakat, director of Monadnock International Film Festival.
The Business Monadnock Magazine special edition features trendsetter award winners and a description of their accomplishments.
Bethany Ricciardi can be contacted at bricciardi@keene-equinox.com