Pumping up the New Hampshire brand

State teams up with Granite State companies for Made in NH campaign

Wire Belt CEO Jonathan Greer hosted a Made in NH kickoff event April 22 at his company’s headquarters in Bedford. (Photo by Lorna Colquhoun/BEA)

Jonathan Greer greeted guests gathered at his company’s Bedford headquarters to promote the Made in NH campaign with a wry nod to the building’s former occupant.

Mike Cote

“Welcome to Walmart,” the CEO of Wire Belt said at the April 22 event.

Greer’s company manufactures metal conveyor belts used for food processing, textiles, electronics, agriculture and automotive applications. It’s a company with a national reach the Granite State might do well to claim as its own.

“I’m happy to be the fifth generation of a family-run business. We’re now international with locations in England and Germany,” Greer told 75 business and government leaders, including Gov. Kelly Ayotte and newly appointed BEA Commissioner Lucy Lange.

While the program launched last fall by the state Department of Business and Economic Affairs might seem tailored to consumer products like Life is Good T- shirts (made in Hudson), Tuckerman Pale Ale (brewed in Conway) and Burgeon Outdoor clothing (made in Lincoln and Gorham), manufacturers like Wire Belt have been encouraged to participate.

“I lived in several cities before moving back to New Hampshire as an adult, and there are some other wonderful places out there, but I think the people make the biggest difference,” Greer said. “And I think that’s something that really sets New Hampshire apart.”

For Bond Optics of Lebanon, which makes components and coatings for aerospace, defense and advanced technology applications, the Made in NH brand could help elevate an industry that has a growing presence in the Granite State.

“We’re working with low-Earth orbit communication systems. And back here on Earth, we’re powering some of the most advanced technologies on the planet,” said CEO Matt Zabko, noting his 50-employee company, founded nearly 70 years ago, is one of dozens of high-precision optics manufacturers in the Granite State.

“This is an industry that has been fairly well hidden for a long time. With the Made in NH branding, we’re trying to bring that to life,” he said.

Bond Optics could fill 10 jobs right now if the company could find qualified workers, said Zabko, who hopes Made in NH can help his company expand.

“Like a lot of other industries, we face a workforce challenge, and I think through using the New Hampshire branding … we can attract talent to this state,” he said.

New Hampshire’s claim to the “world’s worst weather” — at the top of Mountain Washington — is a great marketing tool for Burgeon Outdoor, which manufactures high-end outdoor apparel in Lincoln and Gorham, said Rudy Glocker, who founded Burgeon seven years ago.

“OK, if our gear can hold up to those conditions, it’s good enough for everybody,” Glocker said. “Made in NH, from our perspective, is critical from that nature, because that’s one of the hallmarks.”

Glocker noted how freestyle skiing got its start in Waterville Valley and that extreme skiing has its roots in Tuckerman Ravine.

“We aspire not only to be New Hampshire’s outdoor brand, not only New England’s outdoor brand, but the preeminent made in USA, specifically made in New Hampshire, outdoor brand,” he said.

Tuckerman Brewery, which took its name from the ravine, was founded nearly 30 years ago by Kristen Neves and Nik Stanciu.

The Conway-based company, which expanded in 2004 and again in 2014, sells its beers in New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Maine.

“I would say the people, the quality of life, the beauty of the environment and the support of the community in New Hampshire make it a great place to run a business,” Neves said. “We feel that the New Hampshire campaign will get the word out about the quality products that come out of New Hampshire.”

Vikram Mansharamani’s company, Goodwell Foods, was one of several featured in a Made in NH video that was shown at the event and was recently loaded to YouTube.

Last year, the Lincoln businessman acquired some of the assets of Rustic Crust, a frozen pizza manufacturer that closed in Pittsfield after nearly three decades and now employs about 50 people.

Goodwell Foods took over the company’s private label business, making small frozen pizzas that are sold to retailers.

“Because it’s private label, we’re not supposed to talk about our customers, but they’re in supermarkets all over the country,” Mansharamani told NH Business Review after the formal presentation.

Through the platform at MadeinNH.com, businesses can access marketing tools and be featured in a statewide database and website designed to promote the campaign.

Lange, who has spent much of the last three months traveling around the state, was encouraged by the businesses that attended the kickoff.

“One of the nice connections we made today was a business that’s looking to potentially open up here full-time manufacturing from Colorado,” Lange said.

“Someone else here today said they’re looking to add another warehouse to start doing some more manufacturing. Those are the great conversations. And then how do we connect some funding to all those folks?”