NECBC names Denterlein's Peter J. Howe as President

BOSTON–The New England-Canada Business Council, which for 40 years has advanced business, political, and cultural relationships between Canada and the United States and supported the countries' strong and mutually beneficial bilateral trade relationship, has elected a slate of new leaders effective this month.

Succeeding Jon F. Sorenson as president of the council for a 2021-23 term is Peter J. Howe, Senior Advisor at Denterlein, a Boston strategic communications and public affairs consulting firm. Jim Roche, President of the Business and Industry Association of New Hampshire, has been elected NECBC First Vice President and president-designate for 2023-25. Also, Janine Bisaillon-Cary, president of The Montserrat Group LLC, an international business consulting firm based in Portland, Maine, has been elected an NECBC Vice President and Executive Committee member. Andrew Holman, Professor of History and Director of Canadian Studies at Bridgewater (Massachusetts) State University, and John Hancock/Manulife Senior Managing Director Recep C. Kendircioglu have been elected to the NECBC Board of Directors.

“On behalf of the entire New England-Canada Business Council, I want to express our heartfelt thanks to Jon Sorenson for his tireless devotion to NECBC and his five extraordinary years as council president,” Mr. Howe said. “Jon successfully led this organization through the challenging pivot to online events and networking mandated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and we could not be more grateful that he will continue to serve on our board as President Emeritus and as chair of our signature annual event, the November NECBC Boston Executive Energy Conference.’’

“We’re eager to see the full reopening of the U.S.-Canada border for travel and tourism as soon as public health authorities deem it safe,” Mr. Howe added. “NECBC will be looking for every opportunity to help members and prospective members on both sides of the border rekindle their professional and personal connections and to partner with businesses and organizations on sponsoring timely, informative events exploring Canadian-U.S. trade and cultural relations and business opportunities.’’

Mr. Sorenson said: “NECBC has for four decades been a conduit and a strong advocate between the United States and our dearest neighbor, Canada, fostering a strong business and political relationship between New England and Eastern/Atlantic Canada. I have been honored to serve as the Council’s President for the past five years and look forward to Peter and Jim taking the reins of an organization that has come out of this terrible pandemic stronger than ever. I look forward to serving as a member of the NECBC Executive Committee and continuing to build and grow our cross-border relationship between our two countries.”

NECBC also honored and thanked for their years of devoted service four departing members of its Board of Directors:

• Elmore Alexander, Dean Emeritus of the Ricciardi College of Business at Bridgewater (MA) State University
• James Grasso, CEO, Grasso Group
• W. Robert Keating, former Massachusetts public utilities commissioner
• Pradeep Killamsetty, Managing Director, Manulife / John Hancock Financial Services

A complete list of NECBC’s current officers and board members may be found here.