2022 Businesses of the Year and Business Leader of the Year are Announced

Business NH Magazine’s Businesses and Business Leader of the Year Award Winners Announced

Business NH Magazine and the NH Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives are announcing the winners of the 2022 Business Leader and Businesses of the Year Awards. Winners are featured in the May issue of Business NH Magazine due out next week.

Amy LaBelle, owner, founder and winemaker of LaBelle Winery in Amherst and Derry, was named the 2022 Business Leader of the Year. LaBelle has built a successful business with a winery, vineyard, two restaurants, two wedding and event venues, cooking workshops, and The Winemaker’s Kitchen brand of culinary products.

Throughout LaBelle’s entrepreneurial journey, she has given back to the community.with cash and in-kind event donations to local nonprofits.

Businesses in six industry categories are also being announced. These six companies were chosen because of their leadership in their industries, their commitment to their communities, and their involvement with their local chambers of commerce.

The 2022 winners are:

• Associated Grocers of New England, a wholesale cooperative based in Pembroke that kept groceries on the shelves of independent stores during the pandemic. AGNE is the winner in the Retail/Wholesale Business of the Year.

• Concord Hospital, which acquired LRGHealthcare to ensure residents in the Lakes Region could access local health care, has been named the winner in the Health Care category.

• Sullivan Construction, a design-build, construction management general contractor in Bedford with expertise in sustainable building practices, won the Business of the Year in Construction Services.

• The Palace Theatre in Manchester, which advocated for assistance for theaters statewide and found ways to entertain and bring joy during the pandemic, is named the 2022 Business NH Magazine Nonprofit of the Year. (The Palace will also receive a $5,000 unrestricted grant in honor of Walter J. Dunfey from the NH Charitable Foundation.)

• Plymouth State University in Plymouth, which has transformed its educational approach to a new cluster-based learning strategy, received the Business of the Year in the education sector.

• Service Credit Union in Portsmouth, which has grown to more than 800 employees at more than 50 walk-in locations throughout NH, North Dakota, Massachusetts and Germany, received the Financial Services Business of the Year.

A Panel of Excellence comprised of executives from last year’s winning companies selected the winners based on the applicant’s financial health, industry leadership, letters of recommendation from chamber executives and business leaders, and community involvement.