NH Export Accelerator graduates first cohort of small businesses

As members of the first cohort of small-business owners to graduate from the New Hampshire Export Accelerator program, Zach Luse and Paolo Monaco told well-wishers at an Aug. 14 ceremony that among the first things they will now do is go on a trade mission to Brazil.

Luse, who founded Paragon Digital Marketing in Keene, while Monaco’s eponymously named company is located in Londonderry, were cheered by friends, family and dignitaries during a gathering at the Gallivant Global Eatery in Dover.

Keynote speaker U.S. Sen Jeanne Shaheen, chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, was the first New Hampshire governor to lead a trade mission overseas and helped create the Export Accelerator program.

Launched in May and funded by the State Trade Expansion Program (STEP), the NH Export Accelerator, according to the program, “combines educational sessions and one-on-one advising to help businesses develop their export plan.”

Adam Boltik, international program manager at the NH Department of Business and Economic Affairs’ Office of International Commerce, said other states have programs that help small-business owners navigate the export market, but “this is the first time you have state and federal resources” available in one place.

New Hampshire, he said, is the first state to have as comprehensive a program as the Export Accelerator. Liz Gray, state director of the NH Small Business Development Center, added that accelerator graduates have access to a “pipeline of resources.”

While in the accelerator program, participants learn the fundamentals of international trade, Boltik said, but they learn much more, Gray pointed out, including about “cultural sensitivities.”

U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, who was vital in establishing the New Hampshire Export Accelerator program, addresses the first cohort of graduates on Aug. 14 during a ceremony held at the Gallivant Global Eatery in Dover.

Boltik, who emceed the Export Accelerator graduation, praised the graduates, who in addition to Luse and Monaco, included Souheil Benzerrouk, of Canopus Water Technologies, Windham; David Hadley, of Nugent Jewelry, Colebrook; Janet Kwiatkowski and Jennifer Jones, MAE Group, Manchester; and Steve Walker and Arthur Mountain, of DCI Furniture in Lisbon.

Funding for the Export Accelerator came from the Small Business Administration, Boltik noted.

He said Shaheen realized that there are many businesses in the export market but that small businesses — which he described as “the backbone” of the state’s economy — needed help to join their larger colleagues.

During an Aug. 14 ceremony held at the Gallivant Global Eatery in Dover, U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen presents a certificate to David Hadley for completing the New Hampshire Export Accelerator program. To Hadley’s right is Adam Boltik, who is the international program manager at the NH Department of Business and Economic Affairs’ Office of International Commerce, while to Shaheen’s left is Liz Gray, the state director of the NH Small Business Development Center.

Londonderry businessman Paolo Monaco, who was among the members of the first cohort of graduates of the New Hampshire Export Accelerator program, displays a small aerosol can of the type that he imports from Brazil that is later filled with hairspray and sold in Mexico. Monaco and the other graduates of the Export Accelerator were honored Aug. 14 during a ceremony held at the Gallivant Global Eatery in Dover.

Paolo Monaco received a certificate from U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen for completing the New Hampshire Export Accelerator program. The presentation was made Aug. 14 at the Gallivant Global Eatery in Dover. To Monaco’s right is Adam Boltik, who is the international program manager at the NH Department of Business and Economic Affairs’ Office of International Commerce, while to Shaheen’s left is Liz Gray, the state director of the NH Small Business Development Center.

Zach Luse received a certificate from U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen for completing the New Hampshire Export Accelerator program. The presentation was made Aug. 14 at the Gallivant Global Eatery in Dover. To Luse’s right is Adam Boltik, who is the international program manager at the NH Department of Business and Economic Affairs’ Office of International Commerce, while to Shaheen’s left is Liz Gray, the state director of the NH Small Business Development Center.

Shaheen said she got interested in the potentiality of the export trade while serving as governor, pointing out that her inaugural trade mission returned some $300 million to New Hampshire.

What participants learned through the Export Accelerator program will let them tap into the increasingly larger global economy, she said.

Monaco, whose business includes distributing railroad materials and, with a Brazil-based partner, distributing aerosol cans, said the latter are warehoused in Texas and filled with hairspray for sale in Mexico.

In writing down his export plan as part of the Export Accelerator program, Monaco said he was struck by the fact that some things “didn’t make sense” but were essential nonetheless.

Adam Boltik, who is the international program manager at the NH Department of Business and Economic Affairs’ Office of International Commerce, introduces and applauds U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen on Aug. 14 during a celebration for the first cohort to have gone through the New Hampshire Export Accelerator program.

In their upcoming trade mission to Brazil in September, Monaco said he will look to grow his business, while Luse is seeking clients for his.

“We can’t really compete with Brazilian businesses” in trying to create websites and marketing for campaigns in Brazil, said Luse, but what Paragon Digital Marketing can do is help create those things for Brazilian companies looking to reach customers in the U.S. “that stand up to what people in America are used to.”

Luse said going through the Export Accelerator program was an eye-opening experience.

“I had no idea these services even existed,” he said. Hadley said he hoped that what he learned through the Export Accelerator will help Nugent Jewelry do business better in Canada, which he related, poses some unique challenges to American companies.

Gray said the Aug. 14 graduation was a first for the Export Accelerator program, but it was “definitely not the last.” The next program will begin sometime in the spring of 2025.

She echoed Luse’s observation about the program, which she said offers participants “a wealth and depth of knowledge.”

New Hampshire is the first state to have as comprehensive a program as the Export Accelerator.