The Upper Valley, an area home to over 200,000 people spanning the states of Vermont and New Hampshire in the Northeastern United States, is as unusual as it is interesting.
An organically defined region, yet one of the country’s loveliest, this rural area rich in character has been described by the Brave Little State podcast as having “fuzzy edges.” Some certainties, however, include Hanover and Lebanon in New Hampshire, with its Green Mountains, and Hartford and Norwich in Vermont, with its White Mountains—all on the Appalachian Trail stretching from Maine to Georgia.
At least, these are the widely accepted facts, while another clutch of towns—the ‘in or out’ status of which is hotly debated by locals—are gathered along the outskirts. What is not debatable is the exquisite landscape carved out by the Connecticut River that defines the region—that and the Upper Valley’s bustling business scene, which is enjoying a welcome revival as of late.
A place to prosper
Education and healthcare are primary contributors to the prosperity of the region, with Dartmouth College (an Ivy League School that is the source of many local tech startups and medical research facilities) and the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center as two of the largest employers. Technology and manufacturing, logistics and services, agriculture, light manufacturing, and a lumber industry also thrive in the Upper Valley.
To maintain this lively economic ecosystem, local businesses are supported and stimulated by the Upper Valley Business Alliance (UVBA). The product of two local Chambers of Commerce merging six years ago, the organization serves around 500 businesses across the Upper Valley, taking great care to help shape each area’s business landscape according to its unique character while offering support in legislative advocacy and economic and workforce development.
The UVBA also contributes to creating and maintaining a sense of community. As the Upper Valley is fairly remote, the UVBA works hard at helping new arrivals establish their place and build comfort zones through community involvement and fun activities. Some of its groups include Upper Valley Women in Business, Upper Valley Mosaic Network, Upper Valley Young Professionals, and the Upper Valley Arts Alliance.
“We cover Vermont and New Hampshire—a kind of bi-state support which you don’t see often,” explains Morgan Brophy, President and Chief Executive Officer.
The Upper Valley three
Headed by three visionaries who each own their own business beyond their office duties, the organization is a hive of activity where problem-solving and economic regeneration meet hospitality and the type of zesty yet well-directed originality that only accomplished creatives bring. And the UVBA has three of the best.
Morgan Brophy took up her position as President and CEO in 2025, following a career as an arts administrator and producer in opera and classical music, during which she founded the Artist Relief Tree (ART) following the dire economic situation artists found themselves in during the COVID-19 crisis, raising $750,000 in mutual aid. The fund supported more than 3,000 artists globally, for which Brophy was awarded the 2020 Virginian of the Year Award. Brophy and her husband’s business, StrongRabbit Designs, supplies merchandise to nonprofits, individual artists, and small businesses looking to create additional income streams.
The region’s historic opera house, built in Lebanon in 1924, is the beautiful community hub that first drew Brophy to the area. She originally visited in her capacity as a Stage Manager for Opera North, the well-known local opera company, when she met her future husband backstage, little knowing that this would one day bring the couple back to the region to settle for good.
“Arts administration takes imagination,” Brophy says, “but also good organization. So that’s really what I contribute to the organization, to the region as a whole.” Additionally, bringing several years of administrative and nonprofit experience to her position, she combines her love of small business and community crafting with strong organizational skills to serve the people of the Upper Valley in fresh new ways.
Gordon Boddington recently joined the UVBA as Marketing and Administration Manager. He is driven by a rich talent for building connections and developing public interest in new business ventures. With a background in small business management and more than two decades securing millions of dollars in grants as part of his role in economic and community development, his wide range of skills, now being applied to building community and helping small businesses flourish, along with his skills in creating marketing campaigns that typically go viral, are being put to good use in the Upper Valley. Boddington is also the founder of the @heyuppervalley social media channel.
Nicole Follensbee, Membership Director, has been a local of the Upper Valley for the past 13 years, and is also the owner of Simply Beeutiful Events, an event and wedding planning business she established in 2021. With a bachelor’s degree in business management and an MBA from Plymouth State University, Follensbee brings nearly two decades of invaluable soft skills and expertise in the hospitality industry to her position.
Together, these three leaders offer valuable support for local businesses in need of more exposure and access to new markets. The team also provides tourist services; workforce attraction, development, and retention; and state advocacy. Moreover, it assists people moving to the region and aids in building and maintaining networks. Maintaining strong collaboration between the town management offices and planners of the four towns, the UVBA directly supports the economic and regional development commissions while weaving a fine tapestry of involvement amongst local stakeholders.
Breaking the boundaries
“This isn’t the case in every community, but for us, there is quite a bit of crossover and cross-pollination, which benefits us a lot,” Brophy says. “The town managers and planning departments have their fingers on the pulse of what’s happening in their neighborhood pockets and their downtowns.” She remarks on how well this cross-pollination works in such a large region when new businesses open, for instance. “They let me know that there’s a new business opening, or if someone is struggling, so that I can reach out.”
As a business support aid, the team also focuses on where members’ goals for gaining market share are positioned. Brophy notes that joining the Chamber of Commerce or the Regional Economic Committee means gaining access to resources that help entrepreneurs in introducing themselves to new markets.
There’s another reason, too, why the approach is proving successful in economic regeneration. “New Hampshire is one of the most tax-friendly states for businesses,” Brophy explains. “It’s a great place to have a business because there is a very low tax burden.” And, with all the burgeoning business opportunities to be filled, the UVBA’s workforce development initiatives provide plenty of opportunities and resources to make this a healthy business ecosystem worthy of exploration and investment.
Part of this work includes further development of its affordable housing and childcare infrastructure, two social issues that stand to improve the current economic landscape. “We do need more talent in this region. What we hear repeatedly is that retention comes down to housing and childcare,” she says. As an important stakeholder in local business health, addressing the ‘missing middle’ in the housing sector has become a crucial element of the UVBA’s contribution to the region’s pathfinding mission.
It’s common to find this team engaged in facilitating conversations and easing processes between large employers and local municipalities on the subject of establishing affordable housing for employees. The UVBA is also frequently involved in national conversations surrounding how different states and municipalities address childcare and learning about how they might address those same challenges in the Upper Valley. Housing and childcare are issues that directly impact the economic health of a region so the UVBA is invested in being a part of the conversation at all levels.
Beyond business
But doing good business isn’t the only reason to move to this exquisite part of the country. Brophy describes the communities of the Upper Valley as very special and the dual region as providing locals with “the best of both worlds.” Both interesting and fun, this is the place where the Green Mountain Economic Development Corporation runs an initiative called the Welcome Wagon that helps new arrivals settle in and feel at home. It is where families gather for games of glow-in-the-dark mini golf, at the new rock-climbing venue, to bike or walk the Rail Trail, or at the virtual reality escape room.
A new bar also recently opened, complete with an arcade-style doggy play park where cameras provide a live feed to the bar upstairs such that pet owners can watch their pooches on sports bar-style TV screens while enjoying a tipple with friends. And, even though the big brand names are certainly represented here, the Upper Valley is definitely a place where supporting local small businesses takes precedence.
The area also boasts a number of wonderful nonprofits doing great work; one in particular, Cover Home Repair (COVER), helps the elderly age in place by providing them, and others in need, with crucial home repairs and upgrades such as ramps and support rails.
The UVBA is committed to supporting both traditional and novel solutions—especially when it comes to shifting strategic stalemates in need of new direction. “Oftentimes, you’re not able to see action until we start participating in the conversation,” says Brophy. Herein, perhaps, lies the UVBA’s greatest contribution—bringing life and dynamism to what can otherwise easily become stagnating corners of its local enterprises and communities. The result of this support is lush crops of healthy new businesses flourishing across the area.
Now, while the UVBA remains dedicated to fulfilling its mandate of invigorating local business and caring for the overall well-being of the area, it is also revamping its own office system to ensure that it has the resources and performance power to achieve this. And so while it lays the groundwork that must anchor a host of new developments—the “sandboxes,” as Brophy puts it, where collaboration can spark new initiatives—this team understands that the Upper Valley Business Alliance must continue adding its layers of input to local businesses and local workforce creation. The organization excels at facilitating good relationships and building strong networks one season at a time—fully knowing that right now, all its hard work is helping to prepare the region for its next season of blooming.
