Our speaker to day was Morgan Brophy, President and CEO, Upper Valley Business Alliance.
Morgan Brophy
John Yacavone introduced Morgan Brophy. Morgan is the President & CEO of the Upper Valley Business Alliance (UVBA), the regional chamber of commerce, representing nearly 500 businesses and more than 30,000 employees across New Hampshire and Vermont. In her role, she works to strengthen the region’s economic vitality and quality of life by connecting businesses, community organizations, and regional partners around shared opportunities and challenges.
Before joining UVBA, Morgan owned a small business, consulted with local organizations on operations and administrative systems, and spent 15 years working in opera and the performing arts. She also co-founded Artist Relief Tree, a volunteer-run mutual aid organization that raised and redistributed nearly $750,000 to more than 3,000 artists around the world during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Morgan returned to the Upper Valley from Washington, DC in 2020, and now lives in Claremont with her husband, Jeremiah, and their three cats. When she's not working, she enjoys golfing, gardening, cooking, and listening to podcasts.
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Morgan Brophy let us know she has been working at UVBA for about a year, and she is still learning a lot about the organization.
UVBA is a regional chamber of commerce representing over 30,000 employees, nearly 500 local businesses and organizations throughout the Upper Valley as well as a population of more than 220,000 residents.
Mission: We strengthen economic vitality and quality of life across the Upper Valley by convening, connecting, and advocating for businesses and community partners.
The UVBA focuses on advocacy, workforce development, economic development and tourism.
The UVBA is currently adding about one new member each week.
There are three full time staff members: Morgan Brophy President & CEO (she has a background in performance art and graphic design), Nicole Follensbee Membership Director (she has a background in events management and wedding planning), and Gordon Boddington Marketing & Administration Manager (He has a background in marketing).
2026 UVBA Board includes our member, Clair Geno as President of the BOD, and with our member Kegan Carpenter as a UVBA Ambassador. Ambassadors support the UVBA staff to extend ways they can support members. All work to build relationships, help with networking, attend events, and support Coffee Connections, Referral Roundtables and Business After Hours.
UVBA staff work to engage with members by building relationships, helping to growing businesses, and to provide opportunities to build a community, beyond networking
Examples of how UVBA can help Grow Business:
Member directory listing
Job postings
Event calendar
Member news
Newsletter features
Eblast advertising
Social media promotion
Sponsorship opportunities
Local Upper Valley app
DPerks program
Signature Events
Engage Activities include:
Leb Fest
Readers Choice
Celebrate the Seasons
Battle of the Burger
Economic Outlook
Job Shadowing
Way they engage with other organizations to help members find others in the community:
UVBA has a role to play in legislative advocacy:
Lebanon Candidate’s Night
Letters of Support
Creating Habitats for Pollinators
EV Chargers for Lebanon
Norwich Grange Hall Revitalization
HB1102: R&D
Tax Credit
Upper Valley Childcare
Solutions Partnership
CDS Funding for Lebanon via Congresswoman Goodlander & Senator Shaheen
They focus on tourism by working with:
What’s Next for UVBA? Many initiatives are underway:
- Strategic Plan
- Website overhaul
- CRM Migration HR & IT Support
- Organizational SOPs
- Financial Controls
Morgan ended her talk by taking us back to the UVBA’s mission:
Mission: We strengthen economic vitality and quality of life across the Upper Valley by convening, connecting, and advocating for businesses and community partners
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As a reminder to our membership, we are a member of the UVBA. We are one of about 100 non-profit organizations that belong to UVBA.