Remembering Dan Plummer, driving force at Pease International Tradeport

Dan & Renee Plummer (Photo by John Benford)

Dan Plummer was an early believer in the development potential of what would become the Pease International Tradeport in Portsmouth.

While others saw a sprawling collection of aging, empty buildings some 30 years ago when the federal government shuttered the Pease Air Force base, Plummer saw real estate with a lot of commercial potential.

“The location was unbelievable,” he said in an interview in October 2021, citing its access to Route 16 (Spaulding Turnpike) on one side and Interstate 95 on the other side.

Over the years, Plummer and his Two International Group have developed more than 1 million square feet of commercial buildings at the Tradeport, making him its most productive developer and helping it become a driving force in the state’s economy.

Plummer, who passed away Dec. 7 after a courageous fight against pancreatic cancer, was president of Two International Group, which has been headquartered at Pease all these years. He was 74.

His wife, Renee Plummer, likes to say that Danny was the quiet, unassuming brains of the company while she, as the vice president responsible for marketing, was the outgoing mouth.

It was that tag-team savvy that brought initial attention to Pease, a thriving U.S. Air Force Strategic Air Command (SAC) base until it fell victim to the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process.

The 3,000 acres was turned over to a public entity — the Pease Development Authority (PDA) — which oversees the various components at the base-turned-tradeport, including the Portsmouth International Airport at Pease, the Pease Golf Course, and two distinct zones for development: one for commercial development, the other for aviation-related uses.

The question was how to bring attention to the Tradeport? Renee Plummer used her convincing skills to get a reporter from the Wall Street Journal to do a story about turning an airbase into a business park.

The rest, as they say, is history. “It’s the most successful BRAC closure anywhere,” said Plummer in that 2021 interview. But that success was gradual, not overnight.

His first building, 88,000 square feet of what would become his signature building and corporate home, One International Drive on the main road into Pease, was built on spec in that he had no tenants lined up beforehand. It was built on the hope that if he built it, they would come.

“We thought at the beginning that we would put in a new building every two to three years. We put up the first three buildings by 1999 and once people started coming, they kept coming. Then developers kept knocking on our door. We are surprised at how quick it has happened. We’ve almost built one million square feet of building space in a little more than 15 years,” Plummer recalled in an NHBR Q&A published in August 2015.

Long-time commercial real estate broker David Choate has leased a lot of Plummer’s properties over the years. Whatever job needed doing, according to Choate, Plummer was willing to do it.

“Dan, clearly, has been the most prolific developer at Pease as evidenced by the 20-plus buildings he built or converted,” said Choate, executive vice president at the Colliers International office in Portsmouth. “Whenever we are doing an office search, we always look at his portfolio first for vacancies.”

He recalls meetings of the NH Commercial Investment Board of Realtors (CIBOR) in the third floor conference room at One New Hampshire Avenue, where Plummer had his offices.

“I would arrive early to make sure the room was set up properly and, if I discovered the door was locked or there weren’t enough tables or chairs in the room because of a prior event, I knew I could always go downstairs and find Dan, who was usually the first one in the building, and he would help me overcome that morning’s problem,” said Choate. “And that epitomizes his desire to get the job done — no matter whether it was trying to find a way to get a tenant into one of his vacant office spaces or to build a new building.”

Paul Brean, executive director of the Pease Development Authority, spoke of Plummer’s lasting legacy at the Tradeport. “We are sorry to learn of the passing of Dan Plummer. Dan leaves behind an extraordinary legacy with both his work at Pease and beyond,” Brean said in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family. Dan will be greatly missed by all.”

Plummer’s contributions are evident in the PDA website’s boast that it “has been able to bring more than 10,500 new jobs to Pease, develop more than 3,000 acres of land, and attract occupants for 4.85 million of existing building space.”

In stride with their commercial development, Dan and Renee Plummer were equally immersed in civic and nonprofit organizations, particularly as they applied to military veterans. Plummer served in the Air Force Reserve, appropriately enough, at the former Pease Air Force Base.

Easterseals of New Hampshire in 2016 created an endowment in the name of Renee and Dan Plummer specifically geared toward veterans. They had a longstanding commitment to Veterans Count, an Easterseals philanthropic program.

“Dan and Renee Plummer’s longtime commitment and support of Easterseals NH will be felt for decades to come,” said Maureen Beauregard, president and CEO of Easterseals NH & VT. “They have given freely of themselves to support our overall mission and deeply invested in our Veterans Count and Farnum Substance Use Treatment Programs. Danny and Renee have been the masterminds behind many of our successful Veterans Count events. Because of their incredible support, in 2018, Renee and Dan were awarded with our David P. Goodwin Lifetime Commitment Award. Their support of Easterseals NH is a family affair, even Danny’s son, Ryan Plummer, joined the Veterans Count Seacoast Chapter Board. I know that Danny will be missed by many, including me, and the entire Easterseals NH family.”

Dan and, mostly, Renee Plummer were also warhorses for the Republican Party. A Politico profile from March 2015 said they and a handful of others are known for “their encyclopedic knowledge of the local political terrain.”

“Plummer and her husband, Danny, are members of a small club of Republican activists — about 100 in all — who hold the keys to the New Hampshire primary, and thus, perhaps, the White House,” according to the profile.

For a succession of run-ups to the First in the Nation Primary here in New Hampshire, Renee Plummer hosted informal luncheons at One International Drive, less to hear what the candidates had to say about particular issues but more to size up their personalities to see if they fit as presidential material.

Dan and Renee Plummer are included among a long list of people endorsing former U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte in her current campaign for governor.

Gov. Chris Sununu recalled a tough negotiator but someone who held dear his charitable interests.

“I join many Granite Staters in remembering Danny Plummer as a happy warrior fighting for the interests of community organizations and nonprofits across the state,” Sununu said in a statement. “He contributed countless hours of his time and effort to drive economic development and help businesses create jobs. I always looked forward to seeing Danny. He had an attitude of unshakable positivity that got everyone through even the toughest negotiations, and we will miss him.”

Plummer’s obituary said he was interred privately at Calvary Cemetery, in Portsmouth, following a committal service complete with military honors.

A public service will be held at St. John’s Episcopal Church 100 Chapel Street Portsmouth, Tuesday morning, Dec. 19, at 11:00 a.m., followed by a celebration of life at the Sheraton Portsmouth Harborside Hotel 250 Market Street from 2 to 5 p.m. with a family remembrance at 3:00 p.m. Family and friends are welcome to attend the events of the day.

In Dan’s memory contributions may be directed to:

The New Hampshire Chapter of the American Red Cross
2 Maitland Avenue
Concord, NH 03301