NH Business Review will honor more than 50 businesses throughout the Granite State during its 18th annual Best of Business (BOB) Awards party on Thursday, March 13, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Grappone Conference Center in Concord. This year’s BOB Awards Party is a tailgate celebration, featuring classic tailgate-inspired fare, ice-cold beverages and craft brews, a sports-themed photobooth, fun games and more. Guests are encouraged to wear their favorite team’s jerseys, hats or game-day gear and network with other New Hampshire business leaders. Tickets for the event, which benefits the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Manchester, can be purchased for $71 per person at www.nhbr.com/events-awards/best-of-business-awards.
“All of us at NH Business Review are looking forward to an energetic night celebrating New Hampshire’s all-star businesses,” said Mike Cote, editor of NH Business Review. “With fun prizes, sports-inspired games and opportunities to network with the best businesses in New Hampshire, this tailgate party is not one you want to miss. We are proud of all the winners and thrilled to acknowledge the impact they continue to make throughout the state.”
NH Business Review readers have been casting votes to give their favorite local businesses the recognition they deserve since 2008. Determined through an online readers poll, the BOB Awards distinguish the companies that go above and beyond to offer the best service in more than 50 categories, including “Best Accounting Firm,” “Best Commercial Real Estate Broker” and “Best Bank for Small Businesses.”
2025 Best of Business Award Winners:
| Accounting Firm | Lekas, Edgar & Co. |
| Auto Dealership | Grappone Automotive Group |
| Auto Fleet Dealership | Grappone Automotive Group |
| Auto Luxury Dealership | Tulley BMW |
| Biotech/Life Sciences | Sunrise Labs |
| Commercial Architectural Firm | PROCON |
| Commercial Building Supplies | Belletetes of Peterborough |
| Commercial General Contractor | Harvey Construction |
| Commercial Insurance Broker (TIE) | Cross Insurance Agency |
| Commercial Insurance Broker | CGI Employee Benefits Group |
| Commercial Lender | Bank of New Hampshire |
| Commercial Real Estate Broker | Colliers |
| Commercial Signage | Sousa Signs |
| Commercial Property Management | Colliers |
| Corporate Event Caterer | Rig A Tony’s Italian Takeout and Catering |
| Corporate Moving Company | Trend Moving and Storage |
| Credit Union | St. Mary’s Bank |
| Cyber Defense Strategies | Mainstay Technologies |
| Digital Printer | Talient Action Group |
| Electrical Contractor | Longchamps Electric Inc. |
| Electricity Provider | Eversource |
| Employee Benefits | CGI Employee Benefits Group |
| Engineering Firm | TF Moran Inc. |
| Event Planning Services | Just Flow Events & Marketing |
| Executive Search Firm | KBW Financial Staffing and Recruiting |
| Financial Planner/Wealth Management | Bank of New Hampshire |
| Florist | PJ’s Flowers and Weddings |
| Fuel Provider | Palmer Gas & Oil |
| Golf Course-Private | Manchester Country Club |
| Golf Course- Public | Atkinson Country Club |
| Health Insurance Provider | Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of NH |
| Hotel for Business Travel | Bedford Village Inn |
| Internet Service Provider | Comcast Business |
| Investment Firm | Bank of New Hampshire |
| Landscaping/Snow Removal | North Point Outdoors |
| Large Hospital (170+ beds) | Elliot Hospital |
| Large Law Firm (more than 21 NH lawyers) | Devine Millimet |
| Large Manufacturing (600+ employees) | SIG Sauer Inc |
| Large Venue for Meetings and Events (more than 1,000 attendees) | Omni Mount Washington Resort |
| Local Bank for Small Business | Bank of New Hampshire |
| Managed IT Services | Mainstay Technologies |
| Marketing Services | EVR Advertising |
| MBA Program | Southern NH University |
| Mechanical Contractor | Palmer & Sicard |
| Medium Hospital (35 to 169 beds) | Exeter Hospital |
| Medium Law Firm (16 to 20 NH lawyers) | Bernstein Shur |
| Medium Venue for Meetings and Events (500-999 attendees) | Grappone Conference Center |
| Nonprofit Fundraiser | Girls Inc. Fuel Her Fire Auction |
| Office Furniture | WB Mason |
| Offset Printer | Cummings Printing |
| Online Degree Program | Southern NH University |
| Payroll Service (Nartional) | ADP |
| Payroll Service (Local) tie | Business Cents Inc |
| Payroll Service (tie) | CGI Employee Benefits Group |
| Promotional Products Supplier | Just Flow Events & Marketing |
| Public Relations Firm | Just Flow Events & Marketing |
| Regional Bank for Small Business | Bangor Savings Bank |
| Ride Service | Grace Limousine |
| Security Systems | PELMAC Industries |
| Small Hospital (34 beds or fewer) | Huggins Hospital |
| Small Law Firm (15 and under NH lawyers) | Preti Flaherty |
| Small Venue for Meetings and Events (less than 500 attendees) | Bedford Village Inn |
| Solar Energy Company | ReVision Energy |
| Staffing Service | Leddy Group |
| Urgent Care | ConvenientMD |
| Video and Multimedia Production Company | Granite River Studios |
| Waste Removal Company (Local) | Casella Waste Systems |
| Waste Removal Company (National) | Waste Management Inc. |
2025 Best of Business Editors’ Picks:
Best event for trades workforce development: Bring Back the Trades and Tradeapalooza 2024
The career fair and networking event brought together individuals from automotive, electrical, welding, manufacturing, construction, carpentry to plumbing and young adults to foster workforce development via networking and learning. $50,000 in scholarships were also given out for young people to join the skilled trades.
Best new technology product with NH ties: Pirouette Medical’s QuicPush auto-injector
As winner of the NH Tech Alliance’s 2024 Product of the Year, Pirouette Medical’s auto-injector is simplifying the use of injecting emergency treatments with the push of a button. Whether it’s delivering epinephrine for anaphylaxis treatment or naxolone to reverse an opioid overdose, the QuicPush auto-injector erases the fear of accidental needle sticks in a device that has potential to save patients both time and money. The Portsmouth company took first place at last year’s NH Tech Alliance Product of the Year competition.
Best educational pathway to higher ed: NH Transfer
A partnership with the Community College System of NH and the UNH provides more than 100 pre-approved, predictable pathways in multiple industries, allowing an efficient transition from an associate degree to a bachelor’s degree while reducing costs and filling workforce needs.
Best NH-based partnership to make a global impact: Dartmouth Health’s Global Child Health Program
Dartmouth Health’s Global Child Health Program (GCHP), a collaboration between DHMC and the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding at Dartmouth, aims to create sustainable partnerships that prioritize worldwide improvement of children’s health. The program trains the next generation of global health and development leaders, working with Dartmouth’s five schools and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.
Best event to share ideas that matter: TEDxAmoskeagMillyard
Veteran and entrepreneur Cordon Haverson set the stakes high for his TEDx talk in October. After the crowd gathered at the Palace Theatre heard his story, “From Abandonment to Empowerment: A Journey of Resilience,” they validated his journey with a standing ovation. Volunteer organizers have been putting together TEDxAmoskeagMillyard events since 2011. Videos from the series have generated more than 5.5 million views. You can find talks by Haverson and other 2024 participants (including our publisher, Ernesto Burden) on YouTube.
Best import from Massachusetts: Lilly’s Fresh Pasta
This fall, Lilly’s Fresh Pasta is moving to Manchester from Everett, Massachusetts, where it has outgrown its production capacity. The company makes pasta, ravioli, tortellini and gnocchi, which it sells wholesale to distributors and restaurants nationwide. The company, founded in 1986 by Lilly and Giovanni D’Alelio and currently operated by their son, Antonio, secured financing from the New Hampshire Business Finance Authority and Mascoma Bank to buy and renovate a 50,000-square-foot space at 299 Pepsi Road that formerly housed a commercial bakery.
Best business slogan: Life Is Good, “Everything is figureoutable”
Inside the 500,000-square-foot building in Hudson, NH, where Life Is Good prints and ships its iconic T-shirts and other apparel, a giant wall sign promotes the Boston company’s ethos of optimism. “Everything is figureoutable” is more than just a slogan; it’s a testimony to how the company powered through the pandemic and instead of going out of business revamped its operations to emerge even stronger.
Best statewide business impact: Manchester-Boston Regional Airport
We had to get “best” in there somewhere. Otherwise, we would have called this award “Most new takeoffs in one year.” JetBlue’s inaugural flight from Manchester to Fort Myers in January will mark the fourth new airline to set up operations at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport since 2023, when Avelo Airlines began service at MHT. Last year, the airport added Sun Country Airlines and Breeze Airways to its roster. They join the airport’s dominant carrier, Southwest Airlines, plus United and American. Airport Director Ted Kitchens is getting used to popping open bottles of champagne on the tarmac.
Best business technology showcase: Lehnen Lab
When Peter Lehnen found a new location in Keene for his engineering company last year, he set aside 1,600 feet of space as a showcase for his customers, vendors and partner companies to demonstrate new technology. Lehnen Industrial develops process control technology and custom machinery, focusing primarily on the life sciences sector. At Lehnen Lab, tech entrepreneurs and students from Keene State College and other local schools can work on proof-of-concept technology at no cost, serving as an incubator for the Monadnock Region.
Best trade group debut: New Hampshire Life Sciences
NH Life Sciences, a statewide trade group representing the life sciences industry, capped its inaugural year with nearly two dozen member companies, including major players like Novocure in Portsmouth, Novo Nordisk in Lebanon, Lonza Portsmouth and MilliporeSigma in Jaffrey. The nonprofit had its first public event at the Artisan Hotel at Tuscan Village in Salem, attracting companies from both New Hampshire and Massachusetts. New Hampshire’s bioscience industry employed 9,330 people in 2023 for across 1,048 businesses, according to a Dec. 2 report by the Biotechnology Innovation Organization and the Council of State Bioscience Associations.
The 2025 BOB Awards are sponsored by Comcast Business (Presenting Sponsor), Service Credit Union (Gold Sponsor), TFMoran (Photo Booth Sponsor), Delta Dental and Harvey Construction (Silver Sponsors), Bangor Savings Bank, Eversource, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and the Business & Industry Association of New Hampshire (Bronze Sponsors). The nonprofit partner for this event is the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Manchester.
About NH Business Review:
NH Business Review (NHBR) is the only statewide business journal and one of the most respected sources of business information, news, and features in the Granite State. With more than 50,000 subscribers, NHBR offers readers both print and online publications that cover breaking news and business information.
