WEST LEBANON — The Upper Valley Business Alliance has selected a small business owner as its next leader.
Morgan Brophy, who co-owns Strong Rabbit Designs, which creates designs for clothing and other items, with her husband, Jeremiah, will lead the regional chamber of commerce beginning Monday.
Brophy, 39, has lived in the Upper Valley for almost five years and recently moved from Sharon to Claremont.
“The throughline in my entire career has really been as an advocate for different groups of people … this role really does center on advocating for small businesses in the Upper Valley in a variety of different ways,” Brophy said in a Thursday phone interview. “I really latched onto that part of the job description.”
A search committee chose Brophy from a pool of roughly 50 applicants to replace Tracy Hutchins, who led the organization before leaving this spring to run the Colonel Spencer Inn in Campton, N.H. Hutchins, who came to the post in 2019, was the first president of the Upper Valley Business Alliance, which was formed when the Lebanon and Hanover chambers merged.
Brophy first became acquainted with the Upper Valley when, as a college student, she spent summers working as a stage manager for Opera North. In the years since, Brophy has worked in the performing arts nonprofit world, where she often advocated for artists.
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, Brophy co-founded Artist Relief Tree, where she helped raise and redistribute around $750,000 to artists who were being financially affected by a loss of work opportunities.
“You have to really be comfortable wearing all of those different hats from marketing and PR and communications to member retention to education, grant writing, IT even,” Brophy said. “Those are all things I’ve been able to dabble in. I call myself an ‘expert generalist.’ I know a little bit about a lot of things.”
Brophy’s wide-ranging work experience was something that stood out to members of the search committee, said Samantha Davidson Green, who served on the committee and is executive director of Junction Arts & Media, a White River Junction-based nonprofit organization known as JAM.
“We felt her background in the arts was an asset,” Davidson Green said in a Wednesday phone interview. “On the other side, she’s done some consultation with small businesses and operates her own small business and has a practical understanding of the needs of local business owners.”
The business alliance has more than 450 members throughout the Upper Valley, said Scott Young, who is chair of the board. In addition to Brophy, it has one other full-time employee.
The organization hosts various networking events, hosts special community events such as the upcoming LebFest, an event at Colburn Park that features vendors, activities and a macaroni and cheese competition, and oversees the Local Upper Valley App, which connects people with things to do in the Upper Valley.
The Upper Valley Business Alliance is a 501(c)(6) organization, which is a tax-exempt designation the IRS gives to chambers of commerce and similar organizations involved in promoting businesses. The alliance has an average budget of $220,000 per year, Young said. He declined to say what Brophy’s salary will be.
“The UVBA largely drives their revenue through both memberships of our business owners with larger employers anchoring the revenue stream,” Young wrote in a follow up email. “Annually we have a budget that supports Upper Valley workforce development, hosting economic breakfast, governor meetings, and programs like LebFest that show area youth what activities are available in the area for them, which is important to our business employees with families looking for healthy options that work for their family.”
According to its 2023 Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax form, the UVBA had a revenue of $421,187 and $388,445 in expenses.
“The number one thing that people need support for right now is being able to navigate the financial future,” Young said in a Tuesday phone interview. “For small businesses, it’s continuing to be able to grow and keep up with the higher costs of goods. With larger businesses, it’s being able to attract and provide services that support their employees.”
In her new role, Brophy also will be overseeing the alliance’s subgroups the Young Professionals, Mosaic Network (formerly the BIPOC group), Downtown Hanover Working Group, Upper Valley Arts Alliance and Norwich Business Council.
“Morgan has a very genuine ability to collaborate with many different types of businesses and organizations and individuals,” Young said.
Brophy has started meeting with members to learn about their needs. While she said it is too soon to say what her priorities are for the alliance, one topic has come up repeatedly in those early conversations.
“I think it’s fair to say a lot of businesses are concerned about the housing crisis and talent retention as it relates to the housing crisis,” Brophy said. “I’m really open to any number of solutions the UVBA can help with and I’m not sure how that’s going to manifest just yet.”
