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Lynch on
Making a Difference
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Lynch on what is
Best for the People
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Lynch on
Being Open and Honest
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Lynch on
Ways to Relax
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Lynch on
Education
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Profile
Elected: 2004 as Governor
Next Election: 2006
Hometown: Hopkinton, NH
Birth Date: November 25, 1952
Prior Experience: President and CEO of Knoll, Inc.; Chair of the University System Board of Trustees
Family: Married with three children.
Heartland Highlight: Lynch has been a coach of youth soccer, softball, hockey and baseball for many years.
Governor Lynch’s Official Website
Governor Lynch’s 2006 State of the State Address
John Lynch
Governor of New Hampshire
John Lynch was elected as New Hampshire’s 80th Governor in November of 2004. Since his inauguration, Lynch has effectively worked with both sides of the aisle to make notable achievements in education, healthcare, the environment, and the economy.
Within months of taking office, Governor Lynch worked to erase a $300 million budget deficit all the while reducing the costs of healthcare for small businesses and restructuring education funding.
Governor Lynch’s ability to not only solve problems by working with others but by empowering citizens to get involved stems directly from his success as a business leader. Prior to being elected as Governor, Lynch served as the President and CEO of Knoll Inc.
As President of Knoll, a national furniture manufacturer, Lynch turned around a company that was losing $50 million a year. When Lynch left Knoll, the company was making over $200 million in profit. One of the reasons for the company’s success was Lynch’s insistence that workers be given the benefits and incentives to not only feel motivated and empowered to work, but to take ownership of their work. Some of these benefits and incentives included a scholarship program for employees, bonuses for factory workers, and stock options for workers, just to name a few.
But Lynch was not only a business leader; he was and has always been a leader in his own community and in the State of New Hampshire. As the chair of the University System Board of Trustees, Lynch worked to stabilize tuition increases and as the Director of Admissions at the Harvard Business School, he made ethics a key condition for admissions. Lynch also served on the board of the Capitol Center for the Arts and Catholic Medical Center in Manchester.
Born in Waltham, Massachusetts, Lynch attended public schools and worked his way through college. Lynch attended the University of New Hampshire as an undergraduate and received his M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School and law degree from Georgetown University. Lynch and his wife Susan have three children and live in Hopkinton.
Best Practices
Fair Insurance for Small Businesses
In New Hampshire, Governor John Lynch successfully championed legislation to repeal a state bill that had negatively impacted the state’s small businesses. The earlier bill created dramatic increases in health insurance rates, leaving many employees without insurance. Lynch’s proposal ensures that geography and health status are not factors in the rates of health insurance to small businesses and allows insurance to be issued under a general shared risk rather than discriminating against sick workers.
Click here to learn more about Governor Lynch’s insurance initiative.
Ethics Reform
Ethics has always been a main focus of Governor Lynch. As Director of Admissions at the Harvard Business School, Lynch made ethics a key component to a student’s admission. As Governor, Lynch has reformed the way New Hampshire operates by signing bipartisan legislation that increased lobbyist regulation, strengthened gift-giving rules and formed an ethics commission for the state’s executive branch.
Click here to learn more about New Hampshire’s new ethics laws.
