LaPlante to step down from N.H. NFIB post

Joan LaPlante, state director and lobbyist for the New Hampshire chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business, for more than two decades, will be stepping down from that role on Jan. 1.

She will be succeeded by longtime Concord lobbyist Bruce Berke.

LaPlante said that she doesn’t have the time to adequately represent NFIB as well as her other clients and her thriving consulting business.

LaPlante was the first state lobbyist for NFIB. Before that, the organization had one person buttonholing state officials and legislators throughout New England. The organization – which tended to represent smaller businesses and stake more conservative positions than the Business & Industry Association of New Hampshire – continued to grow until lobbying for the group became practically a full-time job, she said.

“I had to balance that with all the other things I was doing,” LaPlante said. “And I thought that it was time for a change.” – BOB SANDERS