Lee Coulombe started a real estate company in Berlin NH in 1973. He passed away the other day after a long battle with cancer. He was a mentor to many successful business people in the Berlin area, and very successful himself. He grew up on a farm in Bethel Maine, getting into business in his early teens by raising lab rats and transporting them by train to Portland Maine where they were used for scientific testing. Having graduated from Gould Academy voted most likely to succeed, Lee opened a photography studio in Berlin which began his career as a successful entrepeneur. Having a passion for photography became lucrative enough for him to begin purchasing real estate investments, a bank and eventually opening his real estate firm, Coulombe Real Estate Inc. Having worked in his agency for almost 25 years I purchased the firm along with another Realtor in the office about two years ago. He will be missed by a great many in Berlin.
The purpose of this blog is to effect a change of perception of Berlin both locally and beyond. Lee had always stated that many people in Berlin have succeeded in Berlin despite Berlin. He was referring to a paper mill town with a stench and appearance that made it extremely difficult to entice anyone from the outside world that quality of life could be found in Berlin. In attempts to conjure up positives, "the smell" was the "smell of money", the appearance was a "diamond in the rough".
Lee, although keenly proud of the history of Berlin's paper industry, would have wanted to see the last smoke stack on the Burgess mill site fall as the boiler and stack stands in the way of a renewed Berlin and threatens a downward spiral of operating area wood commodity businesses, forest sustainability, and substantial electric rate increases. Recognizing that businesses want to move where people want to live, where power is reasonable and travel access is readily available, Lee was also keenly aware of the issues we face in the north country. He often referred to Littleton's cheap power and easy interstate access as the key to Littleton's success.
So how do we change this perception? How do we protect this area from higher electrical rates, risk to forest sustainability? How do we improve travel access?
