- Alumnus; On Location
Tom Hand ’73, was operating a fork lift and sweeping floors in a dry storage warehouse for $78 a week when he started classes at Southern New Hampshire University (then New Hampshire College).
“I knew I had a feeling for business,” he says, recalling how classes in accounting and personnel management set his direction.
When a position opened in the accounting department, Tom applied and was hired.
“I was fortunate to be in school, and I worked my way up in the accounting side,” he says. “What I learned in class, I was applying in real-life situations.”
After graduating with a degree in business administration, Tom went to work for Federal Savings Bank in Dover, N.H., rising through the ranks to CFO.
He retired several years ago to pursue a lifelong passion for woodworking, turning it into a successful business of making and selling period furniture.
“The New Hampshire College program gave me a real life view of where I was going and what it took to get there,” Tom says.
