Five hundred, twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes. How do you measure, measure a year?” The cast of Rent sings this popular line in the song “Seasons of Love.” In our world, we measure it by 12 issues a year. And as we celebrate the 40th anniversary of publishing Business NH Magazine that makes a whopping total of 469 issues so far (our debut issue was the November/December 1983 edition but 1984 was our first full year of publishing).
The two of us have had the honor of working on this magazine for about half of its existence, with Christine marking her 18th anniversary later this year and Matt celebrating his 24th anniversary in the spring. We owe a debt of gratitude to those who came before us, starting with Founding Publisher Dennis R. Jolicoeur as well as his successors B.J. Eckardt and Michael Atkins, who purchased Business NH Magazine under parent company Laurentian Business Publishing in 1989 and grew the magazine over the next 14 years.
Businessman Sean Mahoney bought the magazine in 2003, changing the name of the parent company to Millyard Communications and hired Heidi Copeland as his associate publisher. Heidi, in turn, bought the company in 2011, leading it for over a decade before selling it to us in 2022 under the new parent company, Granite Media Group. These publishers guided the magazine through recessions and a pandemic, and through it all covered the highs and lows of NH’s economy, the trends and leaders shaping the business community and the successes of businesses that play a vital role in the state.
We thought there was no better way to kick off our 40th anniversary celebration than by recognizing 40 influential leaders in NH. While there are far more than 40 individuals making a difference in the state, when conducting our research, those featured are the people whose names that came up most often. Many are providing leadership in key areas including affordable housing, child care, education, workforce, and making NH a welcoming place as the state continues to attract a diverse population.
To help mark our 40th anniversary, and celebrate the scope of leaders and top companies featured in Business NH Magazine in the past year, we hope you will join us in celebrating at the Ultimate Biz(NH) Bash, which will make its post-pandemic return in March. It will be the ultimate cocktail party and networking event you can’t miss!
And thank you to all our readers, advertisers, vendors and employees, both past and present, for supporting this company and publication through four decades. Here’s to the next 40 years!
Cordially,
Christine Carignan, Co-Publisher and Chief Creative Officer
Matthew J. Mowry, Co-Publisher and Executive Editor
Current Issue - May 2024