Tech Tidbits From Around New Hampshire

Staff at the Greater Derry Boys & Girls Club show of their new Device Disinfector, donated by SoClean Inc. The Peterborough company has donated the Device Disinfectors to seven Boys & Girls Club chapters across New Hampshire. Introduced in July 2020, the system allows users to keep personal items disinfected in one cycle. Besides Derry, the other clubs receiving the device were the Greater Manchester Boys & Girls Club, Central New Hampshire Boys & Girls Club, Souhegan Valley Boys & Girls Club, North Country Boys & Girls Club, Greater Salem Boys & Girls Club and Greater Nashua Boys & Girls Club.

U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-NH, has introduced her first bill in the new congressional session, the Gateway to Careers Act, which would provide grants to support partnerships between community or technical colleges and workforce development groups to train people for jobs.  The measure would support people who are unemployed or under-employed. It would also provide support for job-seekers also dealing with housing issues, mental and substance use disorder treatment, health insurance coverage, and other matters.

Mark Savoy has been named CEO of Sylvania’s Automotive North American business. In addition, Marko Haas has been appointed as chief financial officer and Ben Soucy has been named director of operations for the North American business, overseeing daily operations at Sylvania’s Hillsboro, NH, manufacturing facilities.

Savoy, who succeeds Joe Verbanic, who is retiring after a 30-year career with the company, spent 22 of his 26 years with Sylvania in a variety of roles in the US Automotive business. Haas has held several leadership positions with the company, and Soucy worked with Sylvania North America from 1994 until 2007, and most recently was vice president and general manager at Evoqua Water Technologies.

Matthew Maravilla, Midwest regional sales manager for Laconia-based Orion Entrance Control, has been elected president of ASIS Chicago Chapter. ASIS is an international organization of security professionals.

Sophomores at the University of New Hampshire will have the opportunity to participate in a new student fellowship through theShaw Innovation Explorers Program at the Peter T. Paul Entrepreneurship Center. The program was launched with gifts from David Evans Shaw, CEO of Black Point Group, John Shaw, CEO of Itaconix, and the Shaw family. The program will kick off at the start of the fall semester. The fellowship is designed for creative and innovative UNH sophomores to gain an understanding of innovation through hands-on experiences by engaging with leaders in areas that include art, music, technology, science/marine, theatre, municipalities and New Hampshire and New England native industries.  Each student selected to participate will receive a $5,000 scholarship and participate in a training workshop in the basics of innovation and start-up development.