Howard Brodsky, Robert Shomphe recognized at 2023 Torch Awards for Ethics

BBB-NH CEO Robert Shomphe, Herb and Peter Goedecke, and Howard Brodsky. 

By doing the good, right thing by their customers, employees, vendors and communities, members of the Better Business Bureau of New Hampshire (BBB-NH) are doing quite well, a fact they recently celebrated during the organization’s 20th Torch Awards for Ethics.

The first in-person Torch Awards since the COVID-19 pandemic, which was held Oct. 19 at the Bedford Village Inn Boutique Hotel & Spa, recognized three BBB-NH members for their efforts to meet, and often exceed, the BBB’s mission to be “the leader in advancing marketplace trust.”

The gathering also served as a poignant adieu to Howard Brodsky, who founded the BBB-NH 33 years ago and is chair of its board of directors, and Robert Shomphe, who for the past quarter century, has operated the organization as CEO.

In a reflection of the esteem that BBB-NH holds both men, it was announced that going forward the Torch Awards would be named after Brodsky while scholarships would be named after Shomphe.

Jason Craven, vice chair of the BBB-NH board of directors, told Torch Award attendees said if a person looks up “business trust” in a dictionary, he or she would find a reference to the BBB. But if the words “innovator” and “kindness” were added to the search, “I guarantee that Howard Brodsky’s face would come up.”

“We,” said Craven, “owe our existence to Howard,” adding that no one was better prepared, in either 1990 or 2023, to be the chair of the BBB-NH than Brodsky.

“Thank you for your excellence,” Craven told Brodsky, with Brodsky recalling that it took some upfront effort to start the BBB-NH.

A main challenge, he said, is that the BBB’s Boston chapter wanted New Hampshire to be a part of it, said Brodsky, whereas he believed it should be its own entity.

After travelling both to Boston and then to the BBB national headquarters in Washington D.C. to make his case, Brodsky won the right for the BBB-NH to be autonomous. From its founding with 148 businesses, the BBB-NH currently has over 2,200 members.

BBB-NH is now “one of the most successful bureaus in the country,” said Brodsky, and has become a trusted resource for consumers and businesses. He said the BBB-NH has worked “hand in hand” with the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office to identify and address unethical business practices.

Brodsky said it has been “an enormous privilege” to lead BBB-NH for 33 years, complimenting Shomphe for their argument-free relationship and for Shomphe having “the highest ethical standards.”

Before he took the job of CEO in May 1998, Shomphe said he first confirmed that it would meet his criteria, including that he respected the people who signed his paycheck and his co-workers, and that he had fun.

Looking back, Shomphe said being CEO was more than fun: “I had a ball,” he said.

“I just did the right thing,” he said, and hoped to pass on that legacy to his successor.

“Thank you for the opportunity, and the fun,” he summed up.

Joined by Brodsky, Shomphe then presented the 2023 Torch Awards, with Conde Roofing & Construction, LLC of Merrimack, receiving the award for small business; ALTOS digital marketing of Bedford, receiving the award for mid-size business; and Goedecke Flooring and Design Center, also of Bedford, taking home the award for large business.

Founded in July 1923 by their great-grandfather George — who emigrated from Bremen, Germany, to Manchester — Goedecke’s is proud to now have received the Torch Award a second time, said Herb Goedecke, who with his brother Peter are the fourth generation of their family to run the business.

“We’re strong Christians,” said Herb, who is president of the company, “and we always try to do the right thing for our clients and our community.”

Looking forward into Goedecke’s second century, he and his brother want to have “something to pass on,” something that the potential fifth-generation “would be stupid not to take advantage of it.”

Vincent Trento, president of Rumford Stone in Bow and the treasurer of the BBB-NH board of directors, which he joined in 2004, said he loved the organization, in large part because of what he called the “fair” and “constructive” process by which businesses and consumers resolve their differences.

And, he said, “Being a part of an organization with Howard Brodsky has been one of the greatest privileges of my career.”