High Tech Council Announces Finalists for Entrepreneur of the Year

New Hampshire entrepreneurs from four companies have been selected as finalists for the NH High Tech Council Entrepreneur of the Year Award. They are: Marjorie and Stephen Thorpe the president and vice president of finance, of Adaptive Communications in Stratham; Robert Goldstein, CEO, Jody Holt, CFO, and Stephen Singlar, president, of Single Digits, Inc. in Bedford; Paul LeBlanc, president and CEO of Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester; and Travis Warren, CEO of WhippleHill in Bedford. Winners will be announced at the annual Entrepreneur of the Year Awards event at 5:30 pm on Friday, May 8 at the Radisson Hotel in Manchester. This year's keynote speaker is Carly Fiorina, an innovator, chairman of the Unlocking Potential Project, the first woman CEO of a Fortune 50 business, and a potential 2016 presidential candidate.

“This year there was a really strong field of diverse and talented entrepreneurs,” said Matt Benson, chair of the High Tech Council’s and an attorney with Cook, Little, Rosenblatt & Manson in Manchester."

Adaptive Communications is a reseller, designer and installer of enterprise networking, information security and data storage software on the East Coast. The company, which was founded in 1997 and has 53 employees, earned the Raymond J. Bourque Hall of Fame Award and was named one of Business NH Magazine’s Top 100 Private Companies, among many other accolades. Marjorie Thorpe was named as NH Business Review’s 2104 Financial Executive of the Year, has served on the advisory board for Securematics, and supports many community organizations. She holds a degree in early childhood education from Springfield College and has managed Adaptive’s human resources, purchasing, and operations as well as its finances. Stephen Thorpe, who started the company with his wife, Marjorie, launched his first entrepreneurial effort at age 12. He has worked at such other NH companies as Cabletron Systems, Peripheral Innovations and Bay Networks.

WhippleHill, which was founded in 1998, is a Software as a Service company that provides solutions to private K-12 schools throughout North America. After being acquired by Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB), a software provider for noprofits, in 2014, WhippleHill helps connect students, parents, staff, faculty and alumni though one proprietary system by combining a cloud-based, front-office system with Blackbaud's back-office system and support. After successfully building the company from the ground up, Warren, a programmer and entrepreneur, led the firm's sale to Blackbaud and is now the vice president and general manager of the company’s K-12 private schools’ group where he and his team of 107 employees continue to focus on the business sector. WhippleHill earned an honorable mention in the Best Company To Work For competition by Business NH Magazine in 2009.

Single Digits helps property owners to monetize their IP infrastructure with managed services and business access portal software, specifically for the hospitality industry, malls, transportation companies and small box retail. The company started by working with one local hotel and now supports more than 2,500 properties including seven of the country’s 20 largest hotels. Single Digits is one of the greatest decade-long “overnight successes” in the state. Founded in 2003, it now employs about 150 people and it won the High Tech Council’s Product of the Year award in 2013. In addition, the firm was a finalist for Stay Work Play’s Rising Stars Award’s Coolest Company for Young Professionals in 2014 and a Gaming & Leisure Platinum Award winner in 2013. Singlar, who is responsible for the company’s goals and strategic partnerships, has more than a decade of experience in technology sales, marketing, support and management. Prior roles include global sales positions for Entrasys, Cisco, Arrowpoint Communications, and Cabletron. Goldstein holds a BA in political science from the University of New Hampshire and an MBA in finance from Plymouth State University. He is a co-founder of the company and has 15 years of industry leadership and entrepreneurial experience. Goldstein also built and managed RGS Communications Inc., another successful startup. Holt, who was voted New Hampshire Business Review’s Financial Executive of the Year in 2013, has extensive experience in the financial management of the company and holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting.

Southern New Hampshire University is a private, nonprofit accredited institution with more than 60,000 students across its three main programs, making it one of the fastest growing universities in the United States. The university has become a national leader in developing innovative and affordable pathways to a degree. Founded in 1932, SNHU employs 6,086 people and is on target to become the country’s largest online nonprofit college by 2017. LeBlanc, who immigrated to the US as a child, was the first in his family to attend college. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Framingham State College, a Master's from Boston College and a PhD from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He implemented new systems and ways of thinking about learning relationship software to SNHU to optimize student outcomes while using data analytics technology to predict student trends. His accolades include being named a Classroom Revolutionary by Forbes Magazine, an “Innovator” by Bloomberg TV, and one of Fast Company’s 1,000 Most Creative People, among numerous other academic, technology and innovation awards.

The Entrepreneur of the Year award event is attended by startup founders, established business professionals, students and members of the high tech community complete and the event offers networking and a celebration of New Hampshire’s technology landscape.

Tickets to the event, which includes a special “Happiest Hour http://nhhtc.org/celebrate-your-happiest-hour-at-eoy2015” networking event, and dinner, are $80 for Council members, $100 for not-yet-members and $60 for students. Group table rates are also available. To register for the event, visit nhhtc.org/event/entrepreneur-of-the-year-eoy/?instance_id=1416.