Your Corporate Neighbors

Founded by Gary Hirshburg and his wife as Stonyfield Farm in Wilton, New Hampshire, they hoped to expand a local dairy farm and make the production of yogurt both an educational and a profitable venture. With his wife and their six children, he milked seven Jersey cows and produced a tasty, all-natural yogurt based on a family recipe.

Through the years, StonyField Farm has grown globally to be one of the most important consumer brands for social responsibility and amazingly wonderful consumer products. For example, new lines included Yo, Baby... organic yogurt available in six packs of four-ounce cups for infants and toddlers. The company was surprised to find that Yo, Baby! also appealed to grown-ups. For older children, Stonyfield Farm marketed Yo Squeeze (later renamed Squeezers), which consisted of five flavors of fruit blended with yogurt packaged in eight, two-ounce tubes per box; and for grown-ups: nine flavors of organic superpremium (that is, full-fat) ice cream. Such products kept the company on a continuing growth curve. Prepared Foods, an industry research and marketing company, named Stonyfield Farm the 2000 New Products Company of the Year.

In 2001 Stonyfield Farm introduced Yo Self, a yogurt that increased calcium absorption. Next, with the introduction of certified organic Drinkable Low-Fat Yogurt in five flavors, Stonyfield Farm entered the beverage category. The ten-ounce bottles contained six live active cultures, calcium, protein, and inulin.

For lovers of soy, particularly consumers looking for a non-dairy soy product that didn't taste "beany," Stonyfield Farm introduced O'Soy soy yogurt in strawberry and peach or chocolate and vanilla flavors. O'Soy was the only cultured soy that contained no saturated fat, cholesterol or lactose and offered 30 to 50 million lactose-intolerant Americans lactose-free alternatives to traditional yogurts.

According to Julie Rose in the December 2001 issue of Fortune Small Business magazine, Stonyfield Farm moved solidly into the black in 1997, and Hirshberg began to look for a way of giving a return to his 292 stockholders. Mindful that a company's mission and social concern could dissipate under acquisition--as was the case with Anglo-Dutch conglomerate Unilever's acquisition of both Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream and Slimfast--Hirshberg did not want to go public, sell, or lose control of the company. "Under Hirshberg," Julie Rose wrote, "Stonyfield had tied its fortunes to improving the environment, providing a healthy and enjoyable workplace, educating consumers, being profitable, and yes, giving investors a return." Meanwhile, the mission-minded entrepreneur co-founded O'Naturals--a Falmouth, Maine-based "natural" fast-food restaurant that he envisioned as the first of a chain.

For months Hirshberg mulled over the possibility of selling Stonyfield Farm equities. After many weeks of negotiations, Groupe Danone--the worldwide leader in fresh yogurt products and bottled water--formed a strategic partnership with Stonyfield Farm.

Under the agreement, Hirshberg was to continue as Stonyfield Farm's chairman and CEO. Danone was not to make any changes affecting Stonyfield Farm's employees, operations, or the facility. Stonyfield Farm was to continue buying all its milk from organic dairy farmers; focus on increasing the number of organic family farms in this country; and continue its "Profits for the Planet" program.

Stonyfield Farm began its 20th anniversary year by replacing the plastic lid and plastic inner seal of its small cups of yogurt with a new durable foil seal. This change was estimated to prevent 106 tons of plastic from being thrown into landfills annually. Other savings included the use of 16 percent less energy for manufacturing the foil seals (enough power for more than 180 U.S. households), and the use of 13 percent less water, a saving equal to over 800,000 gallons of water.

GreenMoney Journal referred to Stonyfield Farm as "one of the top companies in the world reaching toward sustainability." Regarding the company's future, in Leader to Leader magazine, Hirshberg wrote, "Stonyfield Farm will continue to inspire individuals, CEOs, and entrepreneurs alike for many years to come. We have often been looked upon as a leading business model that has managed to maximize the company's bottom line while indeed tending to the health of our planet. And yet," he added, "I feel like I am just getting to the starting line."

In 2008, Gary Hirshberg authored the book Stirring it Up - How to make Money and Save the World - Hyperion Press. He and his company are a perfect example of how sensible businesses and communities can work together in a global economy. Londonderry is proud to be called "corporate home" for Stonyfield Yogurt.

www.stonyfield.com

From the central locking system to the axles - there is hardly a part of a modern-day vehicle that will function correctly without the right lubricant. But, not just any lubricant; Klüber lubricants play a decisive role in special low-noise and anti-friction products for use in components like driver's seats and window lifters. There's no shortage of lubricants: for large girth gear drives or the precision-lubrication of wristwatches; low-friction materials or dry lubrication; food-grade, rapidly biodegradable or scourable; oils, greases and pastes; resistant to high or low temperatures; in drums or tubes - you name it! The range of Klüber special lubricants is as diverse as the spectrum of all friction, wear and corrosion reducing applications you can think of. Klüber has more than 2000 special lubricants in store. And if the exact solution to your specific tribological needs is not among them. Then we'll develop a lubricant tailor-made.

In 1982 Klüber Lubrication North America L.P. was founded in Manchester, New Hampshire, USA. As Klüber continued to expand they moved the company to Londonderry and began production. In 2003 Klüber Lubrication moved to 32 Industrial Drive and is still located in Londonderry, NH. The company occupies a 49,852 square foot state-of-the-art building on 10 acres of land located near Manchester-Boston Regional Airport. This allows the company to obtain sufficient space for an ambitious growth plan.

www.kluber.com

Perhaps the most outstanding thing about The Elliot is the nature of its dedicated and competent staff. As big as the Elliot family is, they never lose sight of the fact that their mission is to provide the highest quality healthcare with dignity, caring and respect.

www.elliothospital.com

Certified for Cat III B Instrument Landing operations, the airport has a reputation for never surrendering to bad weather. The airport has closed only once, when the national airspace was shut down for two days following September 11, 2001 when all American airports were required to close as well.

The airport is the fourth largest in New England for passenger service, and is the third-largest cargo airport in New England. In 2005, the airport processed 150 million pounds of freight.

UPS uses Manchester to 'feed' the rest of northern New England by contracting with Wiggins Airways, which flies smaller prop-driven planes to places like Portland, Augusta, Bangor, Presque Isle, Rutland and other communities. To handle this 'regional sort,' UPS built a sorting facility where packages coming in from the company's Louisville hub are redistributed to trucks or to the Wiggins feeder aircraft. FedEx previously used Manchester as a regional sorting station as well, but now supports the northern New England destinations via direct flights from Memphis to Portland, Maine and Burlington, Vermont. A contract with the U.S. Postal Service fills the FedEx jets (coming from hubs in Memphis and Indianapolis) with mail in addition to the typical assortment of express and overnight packages.

In 1992, a long-term expansion and improvement plan started to take shape. Two years after beginning, a new 158,000-square foot terminal opened, providing ample room for larger jets. The airport continued to expand, opening a new parking garage and parking lots in the next years, as well as working to reconstruct the runways and taxiways. In 1998, these expansions paid off, with MetroJet, Northwest Airlines, and Southwest Airlines all beginning service. The airport has prospered from "the Southwest Effect", in which competing airlines increase service and decrease fares to compete with the low cost carrier. Throughout the 1990s, Manchester Airport outpaced almost every other similarly-sized airport in terms of passenger growth. In 2003, runway 17/35 was extended from 7,001 feet to 9,250 feet thus allowing non-stop service to Las Vegas.

Manchester Airport covers an area of 1,500 acres (607 ha) which contains two asphalt paved runways: 17/35 measuring 9,250 x 150 ft (2,819 x 46 m) and 6/24 measuring 7,650 x 150 ft (2,332 x 46 m).

For the 12-month period ending January 31, 2007, the airport had 93,138 aircraft operations, an average of 255 per day: 41% scheduled commercial, 31% air taxi, 27% general aviation and 1% military. There are 100 aircraft based at this airport: 75% single engine, 15% multi-engine and 10% jet aircraft.

In April 2006, the aldermen of the city of Manchester voted to change the name of the airport to Manchester-Boston Regional Airport in an effort to increase its visibility to travelers around the country.

The airport is a major player in the economic vitality of the region. In late 2009, an independent analysis calculated that Manchester-Boston Regional Airport had an annual economic impact of $1.2-billion on the region!

www.flymanchester.com