2007 Hall of Fame Script
John Stabile
It’s not often that you can say that someone LITERALLY helped build New Hampshire’s economy. But John Stabile can.
John founded H.J. Stabile & Son in 1973 – he named the firm after his father, Harry J. Stabile. The company went on to become one of the largest builders of homes and apartment buildings in southern New Hampshire. The company also was a MAJOR player in commercial construction in northern New England. Along with commercial parks and hotels, John Stabile’s companies built the Southern New Hampshire Regional Medical Center in Nashua, Hillcrest Terrace independent living complex in Manchester, runways at Logan Airport and the terminal at what is now Manchester-Boston Regional Airport.
Today, with 140 employees, The Stabile Companies own and manage apartment complexes, mobile home communities, shopping malls, office buildings, industrial facilities, an equipment company, a landscaping company, a painting company. Whew!
But John Stabile isn’t all business. As any New Hampshire baseball fan knows, he is the owner of the Can-Am League champions Nashua Pride, an endeavor that shows his commitment, and patience, as a businessman and community leader.
John’s influence can be seen around the state as well. He served three terms in the New Hampshire Senate as Senate Majority Leader and answered the call four times to serve as chair of the New Hampshire State Republican Party. He has served on the boards of such organizations as Catholic Medical Center, the New Hampshire Chapter of the Red Cross and the Josiah Bartlett Center, among many others. He has been a member of the Nashua Police Commission, served as a trustee at Bridgton Academy and Norwich University for 10 years, as well as on the Board of Trustees at Rivier and Hesser colleges in New Hampshire.
Do we need any more reasons to explain why John Stabile is being inducted in the New Hampshire Business Review Business Excellence Hall of Fame?
Patricia Gallup
Just imagine with me for a minute. It’s 1982. You’re recently out of college – an anthropology student at that – and the business you’re working for wants to buy a computer. I don’t know how many remember going through that process at the time, but it wasn’t a very easy proposition back then. It was frustrating, to put it mildly.
But true entrepreneurs, Pat Gallup and her partner David Hall didn’t let that frustration, er, frustrate them. Instead they found their opportunity, and with an $8,000 investment created PC Connection, a company that, quite simply, has revolutionized the way we purchase computers and other IT products.
From that small start-up, with offices in the little town of Marlow, New Hampshire, PC Connection has grown to become a multibillion-dollar company, offering 150,000 IT products from more than 1,500 manufacturers to consumers, businesses and government organizations from more than 1,500 manufacturers with more than 1,600 employees at six.
In her years at PC Connection, Pat Gallup has created a company that is a model of how a direct-sales business should be run. Put simply, “customer satisfaction” isn’t just a meaningless phrase. And neither is treating its employees well. PC Connection has, since the very beginning, been a workplace that other companies would be wise to use as their model.
While PC Connection can serve as an inspiration for other businesses, Pat Gallup herself is a role model, in particular for women business owners and all aspiring entrepreneurs, in New Hampshire and around the world.
Because of her dedication, vision, business acumen and the sterling example she sets, we honor Pat Gallup tonight.
Fred Kfoury Jr.
All evening we’ve heard about businesspeople who have done so much, not only for their businesses but for their communities. It’s safe to say that there are few, if any, people who can match the commitment and steadfast dedication to helping his community than Fred Kfoury Jr.
Fred runs Central Paper Company, the business started almost 60 years ago by his father — who moved his family to Manchester open up a wholesale paper distribution company.
Ever since, the family-owned company has been true to its community. Over the years, and under Fred’s guidance, Central Paper management has donated time, expertise and funding to a long list of organizations, not only in the greater Manchester area, but statewide as well. He has been a strongly involved in economic development – working to help create the Manchester Airport we all know and love today, the Verizon Wireless Arena. And he has had a long relationship with organizations, including Manchester Neighborhood Housing Services, that focus on housing for those less fortunate.
He and his firm have helped in so many other ways as well, with commitments to Child and Family Services, the Boys and Girls Club, the Manchester School system, his alma mater, the University of New Hampshire, Saint Anselm College, the United Way, Easter Seals – you name it, they’ve probably helped.
He certainly hasn’t forgotten his business either. In 1996, Fred was named the Stanley O. Styles Industry Excellence Award winner 1996 by the National Paper Trade Association — the industry’s foremost honor. He was honored for technological gains and lifetime accomplishments. Central Paper also was once named Business Retailer/Wholesaler of the Decade by a New Hampshire business magazine whose name is not New Hampshire Business Review – I’ll leave it to you to figure it out.
I could go on listing Fred Kfoury’s commitment to his business, his community and his state, but I do have a time limit. That being said, please help us recognize Fred Kfoury Jr. as a member of the New Hampshire Business Review Business Excellence Hall of Fame.
— JEFF FEINGOLD/NEW HAMPSHIRE BUSINESS REVIEW
