Power Lunch: John Lynch
Over a Caesar salad, the former New Hampshire governor describes his unusual trajectory from a Wall Street turnaround expert to the best coach his children ever had to the state’s longest-serving governor. When he left the job in 2012 after serving eight years as governor of New Hampshire, John Lynch became the only governor in the state’s history to serve four terms. In fact, only two other governors have served even three terms. If...
Power Lunch: Robin Turnau
Over a cup of hot coffee in Vermont Public Radio’s Colchester studios, CEO Robin Turnau talks about the station’s ongoing expansion project, its transition into the digital age and how VPR used Legos t o explain the Iowa caucus. Vermont Public Radio must have been the only NPR affiliate in the country that pulled out a Lego set as the recent Iowa caucuses got into high gear. But it wasn’t because the staff at VPR was bored. “We just...
Power Lunch: Robin Turnau
Over a cup of hot coffee in Vermont Public Radio’s Colchester studios, CEO Robin Turnau talks about the station’s ongoing expansion project, its transition into the digital age and how VPR used Legos to explain the Iowa caucus. Vermont Public Radio must have been the only NPR affiliate in the country that pulled out a Lego set as the recent Iowa caucuses got into high gear. But it wasn’t because the staff at VPR was bored. “We just...
Power Lunch: A conversation with the CEO of Green Mountain Power
Over a steaming cup of coffee, the CEO of Green Mountain Power explains why electric utilities that oppose green power risk getting left behind, and why GMP’s business success depends on how well it manages the changes it has helped bring to the energy industry . The Paris climate conference has been in session for more than a week when Mary Powell, the CEO of Green Mountain Power, Vermont’s largest electric generation utility, and I...
Power Lunch: Bente Torjusen
Over a lunch of cheddar soup and a kale salad, the longtime leader of the AVA Gallery and Art Center talks about falling in love in Oslo, raising a family in Italy, building a thriving arts operation in the Upper Valley, and having the last laugh on the stern man who told her, “We don’t need an art gallery in Lebanon.” On the day before Halloween, Bente Torjusen, the tall, vivacious, and tastefully dressed executive director of AVA...
Power Lunch: A Conversation With Kathy Underwood, President and CEO of Ledyard National Bank
Over an arugula salad and coffee, the president and chief executive officer of Ledyard National Bank discusses how she started as a part-time teller, her work on the advisory board of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and why she recently walked 18,000 steps in Washington, many of them in her hotel room. Impressive and irreverent is how I’d describe Kathy Underwood, one of the Upper Valley’s most prominent bankers. “You did...
Power Lunch: Joan Ecker, Founder and CEO of F.H. Clothing Co. in Quechee
F.H. Clothing Co., known far and wide as Fat Hat Clothing Co., started in the late 1970s as a whim born of necessity. Joan Ecker built the business from scratch and still presides over the operation from its landmark barn at 1 Quechee Main St., just off Route 4 in Quechee. Over a lunch of salmon and apple cider, Ecker discusses her company’s history, its approach to selling clothes and why she doesn’t put a lot of stock in being...
Power Lunch: Matthew Slaughter, new dean of the Tuck School of Business
Over a dinner of grilled shrimp salad and a beer, the new dean of the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth discusses taking a fresh look at his institution’s mission and goals, and how the Upper Valley’s economic health is increasingly linked to trade with the fast-growing countries of Asia. Matt Slaughter, dean of the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, is one busy executive, with a schedule that changes as rapidly as the Wall...
Power Lunch: Matthew Slaughter, new dean of the Tuck School of Business
Over a dinner of grilled shrimp salad and a beer, the new dean of the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth discusses taking a fresh look at his institution’s mission and goals, and how the Upper Valley’s economic health is increasingly linked to trade with the fast-growing countries of Asia. Matt Slaughter, dean of the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, is one busy executive, with a schedule that changes as rapidly as the Wall...
Power Lunch: A Conversation With Brenan Riehl, President and CEO of Bethel-Based GW Plastics
Over a lunch of sandwiches, potato chips and cookies, Brenan Riehl, the CEO and president of GW Plastics, said the key to his company’s growth and success in the high-tech contract manufacturing field is being close to his customers, wherever they are. For a few minutes, after entering the GW Plastics manufacturing facility in Bethel, I thought I had been transported to a high-technology engineering plant in Switzerland: Tall,...
