At Snowden Associates we have built a reputation as one of northern New England's leading
human resource consulting and career development firms. However, as a sign of our continued commitment to those seeking
career help privately, we will always provide individual career counseling and search assistance.
In the past few years, we have enjoyed such successes as adding new offerings to our array
of services, allying with Lincolnshire International, and moving to new corporate headquarters at Pease International
Tradeport in Portsmouth.
However, our history goes back over 25 years. Here's a closer look:
Richard Snowden, an ex-high school teacher, and Robin Beck, a counselor, founded Snowden
Associates in 1979. The Portsmouth, N.H., residents focused on individual career counseling and job search assistance.
A Program Goes Nationwide
Business expanded with the development of a career search program featuring audio tape
cassettes. The program, which Richard and Robin marketed nationally, was purchased by many college career centers and
career development firms.
In the early '80s Richard began to market franchises of the firm, and offices were
established in Hartford, Conn., Albany, N.Y., and Boston, Mass. The Albany and Boston franchises remained in business
until 1990.
Vander Veer Steps In
Gerritt Vander Veer, former VP of strategic planning and staff operations for Met Life in
New York City, was looking for a change. In 1985 he moved to New Hampshire and acquired Snowden. After a year of
acclimation to his new home and career, Gerritt began to develop and implement a long-term growth strategy. His strategy
focused on addressing northern New England’s need for high-quality corporate outplacement and search services, delivered
in a personal way.
Under Gerritt's direction, we entered the executive search business in 1987 and the
corporate outplacement business in 1988. These services required individual involvement with people contending with career
change and personal-fulfillment issues. Our vision for future growth and success focused on providing services with a high
level of integrity and with a commitment to help people and organizations successfully deal with transitions.
People Issues Take Center Stage
During the early '90s—a time of recession and recovery—we correctly predicted that
organizations undergoing change processes would have to pay special attention to "people issues." Accordingly, we focused
on helping organizations with the "people management" part of the change process.
In 1994 we established a satellite office in the Coldstream Office Park in
Bedford, N.H.
Rishkofski Brings a Fresh Direction
After 15 years of building Snowden into a fine regional human resource firm, Gerritt
Vander Veer decided it was time to reduce his involvement and semi-retire. Gerritt sold the firm to Len Rishkofski in
August 2000, but still serves as a consultant working on special projects and assisting with the transition.
Under Len's direction, we have maintained the long-term relationships developed over
the years. And we remain focused on our core strengths: career transition/outplacement and managed search.
But Len has also instituted some major changes. In an attempt to help organizations
understand new employer/employee relationships and find ways for employees to maintain value, we have added individual
development, alignment and executive coaching to our array of services. Our goal: to always be northern New England's
premier provider of human resource services.
Forging an International Alliance
As a result of our dramatic growth, we relocated our Bedford office for the third time in as
many years in November 2000. We are now located in the Carriage House at Coldstream Park. This additional space has allowed
for the addition of both recruiting and counseling staff.
In January 2001 we took a significant leap into the future by negotiating an alliance with
Lincolnshire International that enables us to service our clients on an international basis. With core businesses of career
transition/outplacement, managed search and coaching, Lincolnshire offers a scope of services that our clients could not
otherwise find on a regional basis.
Growth and Expansion Continues
In yet another sign of our growth, we moved to new, modern corporate headquarters at Pease
International Tradeport, Portsmouth's growing commerce hub, in November 2001.
Snowden’s expansion continued in January 2002 with the addition of offices at 20 Trafalgar Square in Nashua, NH.
As a result of the growth and success of the company, record sales and profits were recorded in 2001; Snowden was recognized
as one of the Top 100 small companies in New England by Fleet Bank.
With the need to have more flexibility with office space in 2003, the Bedford Office was relocated to 15 Constitution
Boulevard in Bedford, NH.
April 2005 saw the continued expansion of the company with the addition of the office at 477 Congress Street, Portland, ME.
September 2006 brought the need to have a search office in Boston at 101 Federal Street in the heart of the financial district to enhance it's relationship with Stanton Chase.
April 2007 With the continued growth of Snowden, Len saw the need for additional leadership presence and brought Gordon Woodfall, former President of Thermo Fisher Scientific
in Lowell, MA as a full partner in Snowden to grow the career transition, coaching and consulting practices of the company.