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Anything BUT Politics
A groundbreaking new podcast, Anything BUT Politics, is redefining how we view political figures by focusing on everything about them—except their political careers.
Anything BUT Politics
The Farmer-Senator: How Dan Innis Balances Academia, Agriculture, and Public Service
Ever wonder what happens when academic expertise, entrepreneurial spirit, and agricultural passion converge in one person? Senator Dan Innis exemplifies this rare combination, and his story reveals the extraordinary depth behind the political title.
Born into an Ohio family whose roots trace back to the American Revolution, Innis carries forward a legacy of land stewardship that skipped a generation before he reclaimed it. His journey from Ohio State University professor to University of New Hampshire dean showcases his academic prowess, particularly in his crowning achievement—building the Paul College without a penny of state funding. "We doubled business school enrollment," he notes proudly, "and those are students that are going to graduate, be trained in business right here in our state."
But academia represents just one facet of this Renaissance man. Innis's entrepreneurial ventures in Portsmouth's hospitality scene reveal his marketing genius. Transforming the rundown Bow Street Inn into the hip Ale House Inn, he targeted craft beer enthusiasts through precision Facebook marketing. The result? Brooklyn, New York became their number one source of guests—proof that understanding your audience pays dividends.
Perhaps most fascinating is Innis's 153-acre regenerative farm in Bradford, where he and his partner Spencer raise Wagyu cattle, 150 chickens, and several goats. Their restoration of an 1800s barn featuring a 75-foot king pine center beam demonstrates their commitment to preserving New Hampshire's agricultural heritage. When comparing his farm-fresh eggs to store-bought, Innis displays a photo showing the striking difference: "Ours are bright orange... the flavor is so different."
Throughout our conversation, Innis's philosophy emerged clearly: "When you love what you're doing, it's not work." This explains how he simultaneously manages teaching at UNH, running a farm, and serving in the State Senate. His motivation? Making people happy and leaving the world better than he found it.
Ready to discover more about this fascinating public servant whose life extends far beyond political boundaries? Listen now to understand what truly makes New Hampshire special through the eyes of someone who chose to make it home.
Hi everyone, I'm Tiffany Eddy.
Speaker 2:And I'm Tom Preysol.
Speaker 1:And we are so pleased to welcome you to another episode of Anything but Politics. Where we talk really pretty much with different political figures and notables really.
Speaker 2:About anything but politics.
Speaker 1:Which is so much fun.
Speaker 2:It is a lot of fun, and I think today's episode is going to be really fun, because we're here today with a state senator in his third term, although from different districts, yes, and he is currently—.
Speaker 3:Has anyone done that before In a senator from two different districts? I don't know that's a really good question.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it is.
Speaker 3:We should look that up. Yeah, but it's politics, so we'll leave that.
Speaker 2:That's right. We'll do that on our own time, all right? You're currently the chairman of the all-powerful Senate Commerce Committee and also vice chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. Yes, indeed.
Speaker 1:It was an exciting year.
Speaker 2:Without further ado, we'll welcome Senator.
Speaker 3:Dan Ennis All right, thanks. It's great to be here. Appreciate the opportunity. You guys have a good rapport. I like the way you started, one back and forth to the other, like you know what you're doing.
Speaker 2:It's a lot of practice.
Speaker 1:I'm sure it is. We rehearsed like 15 times just to get that one down.
Speaker 2:I think yeah, and that's just today.
Speaker 3:But no I think.
Speaker 2:You know, let's learn a little bit Like an.
Speaker 3:Abbott and Costello thing. You should get that going Exactly.
Speaker 2:But let's learn a little bit about you, okay.
Speaker 3:What do you want to know?
Speaker 2:Born in Columbus, Ohio.
Speaker 3:Beautiful Columbus, ohio Riverside Hospital on April 7th 1963, 5.01 pm Good.
Speaker 1:Aries oh wow.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, good Aries right smack in the middle, so I got a temper. Yeah, I definitely do. It's one of my biggest weaknesses, probably.
Speaker 2:So your parents, obviously. What did they do for work that brought them to Ohio?
Speaker 3:Well, that's actually where we started. So it goes all the way back to the American Revolution and one of my ancestors, colonel Ennis, fought in the revolution. He was paid with land in the state of Ohio, the northeast corridor of Franklin County, which is where Columbus is located. So if you go back there you'll see an Ennis Road, ennis Street. We're there, and that's where the first farm was. And then, as the city grew, the family moved a little northeast of there to Sunbury. As the city grew, the family moved a little northeast of there to Sunbury and my great grandparents and grandfather had a farm there and then farming skipped. My dad and I brought it back. But growing up in Ohio it's so different, you know, from New Hampshire, and we moved out of Columbus. I guess, let's see it would have been mid-70s and we moved southeast. I graduated high school in Lancaster, ohio, modest-sized city about 25,000 people. But my mother's roots are in Lancaster Ohio, wentz and Hummels, and so I'm German and Scottish, which gives me a bad temper and a love for bland food.
Speaker 2:And a good tan, and I love beer and scotch.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's all good, but you know, columbus was a little big city when I was a kid and now it's just a big city and I don't even really recognize it anymore. And while Ohio is a great state, I absolutely love New Hampshire. We're the freest state in the nation, the lowest tax burden in the country outside of Alaska, and beautiful landscape, wonderful people. It's just a great place to be and this is home.
Speaker 1:This is home. I'm wondering so how did you end up like? Obviously growing up and you have this incredible heritage in Ohio, but then what brought you up here to New Hampshire?
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's interesting because I did my doctoral work at Ohio State University and then Ohio University hired me for my first faculty job and that's where I did my undergrad. So it was really wild to go back there. I gradually worked my way up. I became associate dean at age 35, really young for an associate dean and I wanted to be dean there. You know nothing better than being dean at your undergraduate alma mater. Well, a faculty member came in one day and she said Dan, I know you want to be dean, but you won't be not here. And I said well, why not, mary? And she said, because too many of us remember you as our student and we cannot have a former student of ours as our dean.
Speaker 3:So I took that and I said all right. So I tossed my hat out into the ether and ended up at the University of Maine in 2002 as dean and did a pretty good job there. To the point, unh had a headhunter walks into my office at the University of Maine one August day and he says UNH is looking for a dean of business. I think you should take a look at it. And one thing led to another and that's how I ended up here and it was one of the best decisions I ever made in my life.
Speaker 3:I got to UNH and we were able to build the Paul College with the help of Peter Paul, but it is the only academic building ever built at UNH with no state money and I couldn't be more proud of that. I mean, I think that's a huge accomplishment, but it sort of is what I'm about. My parents taught us to be independent, to be self-sufficient and to get out there and do things and make it happen, even if it's hard, and it was that upbringing, I think, that really helped me to get that done, and the benefits to this state have been huge. We doubled business school enrollment and those are students that are going to graduate, be trained in business right here in our state. So yeah, that's how I ended up here. It's circuitous.
Speaker 2:I have a question, because you said you were in Maine. Now you have a brother that lives in Maine, right?
Speaker 3:No, my son lives in Maine.
Speaker 2:I'm sorry your son lives in Maine.
Speaker 3:The middle child. Second son lives in Maine. He's in Topsom, right next to Brunswick, and he teaches high school science at Mount Air. I think he had one of my client Curtis Picard's son.
Speaker 2:Okay, that's possible. I think we made that conversation. I think we talked about that, yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and the other son's in Rhode Island, now Cranston. He works at Roger Williams as a faculty and his wife is an attorney in Boston and they're just this power couple. It's like Jesus, you guys, and how old are your kids?
Speaker 3:The oldest son. Let's see he is 33. Second one is 31. And my daughter is 25. She's in Farmington, new Hampshire. Her husband works at Sig Sauer and she ain't leaving this state. She's fallen in love with New Hampshire. I got her down here from Maine. All three of my kids went to UNH and across the three we have five UNH degrees. I believe in that university wholeheartedly. It's got some issues, of course. It's a little too woke, but it's a fine place and it's treated me well.
Speaker 2:And so, while you were at the dean, you remember.
Speaker 3:Hennigan's from Seinfeld. Yes, yeah, I think this is Hennigan's. What is it? No smell. No, tell scotch.
Speaker 1:We only serve the best alcohol.
Speaker 2:No. So while you were at UNH, I believe at some point you purchased a hotel.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we did a couple inns in a hotel with my ex-husband and we started with what was the Bow Street Inn. The place was a complete disaster. I guess I like buying disaster places and fixing them.
Speaker 3:But we went in did a complete renovation. We were broke when it opened. I put together the furniture right. It was delivered by truck. We put the furniture together, we hurried to get it open and we made it go. It was a truly unique place and as we built it out, we built it sort of around beer, because it was in an old beer warehouse on the water in Portsmouth, and we started advertising on Facebook. And on Facebook you can do really targeted ads. Put this in front of people from these zip codes who like beer, right, and all of a sudden we get young people coming. 25 to 45 was pretty much our target and no kids. They're welcome, but you know, wasn't really conducive to that. And we did an analysis several years in and we found that our number one zip code for guests want to guess what city it was or state Portsmouth, new Hampshire no, not even close. Manchester no, portsmouth, new Hampshire no, not even close.
Speaker 1:Manchester.
Speaker 3:No, no, brooklyn, New York, wow. And the reason is that we were hip and cool and after we got that first Brooklyn set there, they told the story and that was our number one zip code at the Ale House Inn. So we turned the Bow Street Inn into the Ale House Inn and that went really well. We sold that and bought the old Sison on Court Street in Portsmouth also run down Again, why not? We'll fix it up and try and make it go. And we put a lot into that and flipped it around and made it beautiful, honestly, and sold that one and then did the Great Island Inn in Newcastle. So it's been a lot of fun and it's a great business to be in, particularly in this state, and there's nothing better than making people happy, right? I mean, that's what it was for me and you know, I think I've sort of approached life that way. I want to make the students happy, I want to make the state happy, I want my constituents to be happy. Sorry, it's no politics.
Speaker 3:But, you know I just like seeing people happy and that's the best business in the world to be in to do that, Go ahead.
Speaker 1:No, well, I was just wondering. Like you talked a little bit about, you know politics and you are a politician as well as a farmer which we'll get to. But, what was it that made you first want to run for office? Like what inspired you?
Speaker 3:You know. It's interesting that you ask that. I haven't thought about it in a while. It was similar to this Senate run. You get a phone call and they say you know we should be interested in doing this. You've got a pretty high profile in the state of New Hampshire. You seem articulate enough and maybe you could do this. So you have the conversations, you say, all right, let's go. Looking back at that one ran it pretty well but I was a first-time candidate, didn't know what the heck I was doing. I knew the state well but I didn't know how you run for federal office. But it was a great learning experience. I did well and that really I've always been interested in politics. For those watching or listening who are old enough to remember, there was the show Family Ties with Alex Keaton.
Speaker 1:Love it.
Speaker 3:They called me Alex in college because I was just like him. Right? This little Republican guy wandering around yelling at everyone for what they're doing wrong right, I haven't changed.
Speaker 2:No, no, I can attest to that.
Speaker 3:I haven't changed a bit but you know that's how I got into it. Someone came to me and said we think you'd be a good candidate. You have the discussions and you go from there Really glad I did it because it set me up to help the state and to get into the state Senate and District 24 at the time and that was enormously rewarding. And I know it's not politics but I bet I was the last Republican senator from that district for a long time.
Speaker 2:District 24. Yeah, and you know as somebody myself who's worked on a number of campaigns over the years, it's a grueling process it is, and I think that anyone getting engaged or getting involved in politics should work on a campaign, because you learn what it's like to just eat, sleep and breathe with your candidate and voters, and I found it to be incredibly rewarding and it's helped me immensely.
Speaker 3:It is rewarding and you've got to have a little ADHD to do it. Sure, all right, you're here. Now Fifteen minutes, you're over there. You've got to flip your brain to a completely different script. Yep, and it's fascinating and I think you know, being a professor, you kind of get good at the speaking part of it and connecting with people and understanding them. And I think too many folks everywhere don't listen enough, and I'm guilty of that too. But if we can just listen a little more, we'd learn a lot more. We might get along better too. We just might.
Speaker 1:And I mean, obviously you're an exceptional speaker, but what would you say is your best asset that you bring to the table as someone in the Senate and someone running for the Senate?
Speaker 3:I think it's probably the fact that I'm a pretty quick study. I can look at a situation, look at the information that goes with it and quickly reach a conclusion. Sometimes it's wrong, but more often than not I've got it right, and I think that's really helped me. It's helped me at the university, it's helped me in business. You know, if you can quickly view a landscape, think about chess right, you've got these chess masters. They look at a board and they figured it out in seconds, right, unless they're playing a novice and then they're like what's he doing?
Speaker 3:I don't have patience, yeah, but that's the way it is for me. You know, as you get older, ideally, you do get wiser, and your ability to integrate new information into your existing memories improves if you keep active. You've got to stay mentally active, though, and that, to me, is crucial. I've watched too many people I know and love retire and then lose their edge, and I'm not going to do that. I have no intention to retire until people say to me it's time, get the hell out. I'm going to keep at it because I love what I'm doing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you certainly have stayed active. But I want to go back to the hotels real quick, because you also. It was really interesting to hear you talk about the marketing side, because you teach marketing and hospitality, so this was right in your alley. Did you teach that before purchasing the property?
Speaker 3:Well, marketing yes, hospitality management no. And that was something that I got into when I stepped out of the dean's role. You know, my home department is marketing and that was where everybody thought I'd go. But it turns out that hospitality needed a faculty member when I stepped out of the dean's role and I said, hey, will you guys take me? And they voted on it and brought me in and I really dove into that.
Speaker 3:I teach revenue management and pricing. I've taught introduction to hospitality. I'm teaching hospitality operations and analytics this spring intro to marketing a couple sections of that. So you know, I'm sort of a utility infielder in a sense for marketing and hospitality and they kind of plug me where I can go. I have entrepreneurial marketing this fall, which is a fun course it's non-business majors and they kind of plug me where I can go.
Speaker 3:I have entrepreneurial marketing this fall, which is a fun course it's non-business majors and they come in and they don't know what you're talking about and it's really fascinating. It's because they're coming in from communications, sometimes engineering, and it's just. It's such a unique group and the fact that they're thinking entrepreneurially is huge and it's that sort of contribution that higher education makes to the state, whether it's community colleges or the university system or SNHU or Dartmouth, you know it's really preparing people to think and making them, you know, helping them to be more rounded, but, more importantly, to get out there and help build our economy, build businesses, hire people, contribute to the state, and that, to me, is what it's about. That's one of the reasons I'm in higher ed. I want to contribute and give back, and when I'm gone I want people to say you know, what he did was all right. You know, that's all I want. Eventually they'll forget us all, but you know, for at least a decade it'd be nice if people say oh yeah, that Ennis guy, he was all right.
Speaker 1:So a question though so you're in the Senate right now, the New Hampshire Senate, you're running for US Senate, you're teaching multiple classes. So, when do you sleep? Are you running a farm?
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah.
Speaker 3:I do.
Speaker 1:So are you a vampire.
Speaker 3:I'm about to become one. I think. You know, I think when you love what you're doing, it's not work, and nothing that I'm doing is work, Nothing. The farm is beautiful, it's therapeutic. This morning, before I came into Concord, I did a hike through our woods and it's got a nice steep climb. You get up there all out of breath but you're with nature and the beauty of this great state and there's nothing better, you know, to be out there peaceful, quiet and just fighting the flies.
Speaker 2:So I do want to talk about the farm, because you went from making people happy every day in the hotel right, Make the cattle happy every day.
Speaker 3:Well, that's, I was gonna say.
Speaker 2:yeah, happy cow Farming seems to me like somewhat of a thankless job, because you know they're happy, right, yeah, but you have what? 250 chickens, yeah, a couple hundred chickens, you've got some— 30 head of Wagyu.
Speaker 3:Now, yeah, wow, goats. Yeah, we have goats. I don't know why, but we do yeah, they make. Spencer happy he loves his goats. I'm just like man. They're cute. They're cute, but they're also obnoxious. I mean, they'll eat anything, literally anything, and they're always trying to get out. Doesn't matter how big your fence is, they're going to find a way. No, I admire them.
Speaker 2:They're clever, but walk me through your typical day on the farm, because it sounds like you said.
Speaker 3:Spencer does 80% of the farm work. Okay, and you know that's just how it has to be, given all the things I'm doing, and we knew going in it was going to be that way. Right, he loves it. He's the animal whisperer. We have a bull who three weeks ago decided he was a man and he hates everyone. Now, and I mean I'm serious, If you not politics, but if you go to the website for the campaign, I won't even say the URL, but if you go, you're allowed to.
Speaker 1:All right, it's.
Speaker 3:VoteDanEnniscom, you'll see the first video we did and at the end is that bull pawing at the dirt and just being a jerk. So he does that to everyone except Spencer, and Spencer is fine, and that's who Spencer is. He works with these animals, they trust him, they love him, At least until the first one goes to market next month. So, but you know he's got a real knack for it. And our my grandparents did farming right.
Speaker 3:The animals were treated well, with respect, and that's what we do. We practice regenerative agriculture, all organic, and we treat our animals with respect because that's what they deserve. And, honestly, a happy, healthy animal tastes better. So that's what we're driving toward. And you know I think every animal should have a great life. You know we are. Every animal should have a great life. You know we are sort of the top of the food chain and it's part of our responsibility to take care of them and to make sure that they don't suffer Too many animals. The stuff you buy in the grocery store is coming off of a feedlot it's shoulder to shoulder with other cattle and eating garbage. We'll never do that.
Speaker 2:But you mentioned you do 20% of the farming. So tell me a little bit about the 20%. Is it getting the eggs that everyone talks about at the statehouse? Yeah, it is that.
Speaker 3:But I'm sort of again on the farm. I'm sort of a utility infielder, like I am at UNH. So what needs done? I'm the brush hog guy, I'm the snow plow guy, occasionally the egg guy, clean the barn guy, take care of the outside of the house guy and clean the house guy, because Spencer doesn't see dirt. It doesn't exist in Spencer Wyans' world. So that's kind of the role I play. Whatever needs done, that's sort of outside the normal routine. I'm the guy who picks that up, yeah, but I absolutely love it. You go out there and you do that work and it brings you down from all the stuff we deal with here in Concord or even at UNH and it just helps you reconnect with nature and with the things that really matter the most.
Speaker 3:And the people in Bradford are I'm getting emotional, but they are phenomenal. They embraced us when we came in. I mean you know it was funny because when we first moved there there was a big post on Facebook. These two gay guys from New York City are buying Battles Farm and they're going to tear down the house and put up a McMansion, sort of like what. So I responded to that and I told them who we were and what we were doing, and all of a sudden the tenor changed. They were still upset, the house had to come down, but when they saw what we did, we built a house that matched the angles on the barn. It's solar. You know, we did everything right, and that community has just embraced us, and whenever we've had a problem or questions we just go to an old farmer in town and they help us out.
Speaker 3:I swear I'm going to write a book the Old Men of Bradford and anyone from Bradford watching this knows what I'm talking about. The Old Men of Bradford the most fascinating men in the world. It's just a really interesting part of the state with amazing folks. I really like it. One of the things we do have, though, is about 30 percent of our homes there are seasonal, and those are homes that really don't have families in them, and I think that sort of suggests the problem we have in the state in a lot of ways. But you know, it is a great place to be and the farm is gorgeous. It's 153 acres. It was the old Battles Farm. It used to be a dairy farm, and it's been great to bring it back, and I think the community really appreciates what we've done.
Speaker 3:The barn was falling in. It was built in 1800, and the center beam, across the top at the peak, is an old Bradford king pine. It is a single board that's like 75 feet long. It's just absolutely amazing. You don't get those anymore. And that barn, we had to jack it up. We literally jacked it up. We poured new concrete footers, new support posts, all new first floor flooring, new siding on two sides and it ate a lot of money, but it was worth it, worth every penny of it. And when you come out and you drive by it on Center Road, it's just an iconic barn and I'm really, really pleased we could bring that back for the community and make it work again, and that's so important. We don't have enough farms here, so I'm doing a monologue. I'm going to stop and let you guys talk.
Speaker 1:Well, I have a chicken question. Yeah, they are that dumb.
Speaker 3:They might be dumber than that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they're not the brightest ones, but I used to have chickens and then the bear would eat the chickens. But do you?
Speaker 3:Bobcats will eat the chickens.
Speaker 1:Everybody eats the chickens.
Speaker 3:So we have a couple great Pyrenees that are outside. They're the protectors and they take care of everybody.
Speaker 1:They do.
Speaker 3:Yeah, they really do. They're fascinating animals and they are beautiful. Yeah, we have one boy and one girl and they just they're constantly on patrol. And there's a guy online he does a human version of dogs and he picks a breed and then he behaves as that breed. So he has one where he's Great Pier and he's standing out at the corner of his house and he says southwest corner clear, two feet from southwest corner clear, and that's what they do. They go through the pasture, especially at night, and they communicate with one another. One will be at one end, one will be at the other, and it's really, really cool. They are beautiful dogs and such great personalities.
Speaker 3:But, don't mess with them. Wild turkey got in there. They won't bother the chickens, but a wild turkey came in, didn't make it out and they are protecting their flock and the goats.
Speaker 2:So how do they know, to protect the chickens, that the turkey's bad but the chicken's?
Speaker 3:good? Yeah, I think, because we introduce them to them right. Okay, so when you bring them to the farm? We got there the first time and then the chickens started coming. We got the dogs right in with them and made sure they understood these are things to protect and, given their nature and their breed, they pick right up on that and that's how it worked. It's really they are. I've never been around a Great Pyrenees until we got the farm. I'm really impressed with these dogs Great personalities and smart. Yeah, they're big, about 100 pounds, 110 on the males, the females probably 80. Yeah, and lots of hair, a lot of fur.
Speaker 1:They love the males, the females probably 80. Yeah, and lots of hair, a lot of fur.
Speaker 3:They love the cold, so first winter we were here with them. It's 20 below one morning and I'm like these dogs are going to be okay Because I said to Spence the night before, shouldn't we put a little heater in the barn or something a heat lamp. He says no, we go out that morning. 20 below. They're laying in the pasture, loving life, and it's just nuts. Yeah, yeah, so they're good. Yeah, what else is on your mind?
Speaker 1:Well, I'm just finishing up on the chickens.
Speaker 3:Do you?
Speaker 1:love chickens yeah.
Speaker 2:They all got eaten.
Speaker 1:But can you taste the difference between grocery store eggs and your eggs?
Speaker 3:100%. In fact, I've got a picture on my phone that someone sent me. It was actually Spencer's mom and she had boiled some eggs to make deviled eggs and she had cut them in half and she put them side by side and ours are bright orange, right, the things she got at Hannaford or wherever it was don't mean to pick on Hannaford, but they weren't. They were a pale yellow and the difference is striking and the flavor is so different. So I'd encourage everybody buy local farm eggs. They might cost you a couple bucks more, but you spread that across 12 eggs. What is it? An extra dime a piece, maybe 15 cents? Well worth it. Well worth it.
Speaker 3:And supporting local, absolutely Supporting local is huge and you know, I think we don't do enough of that and there are too many things in the way of getting small farm products to market. Right, there's always something in the way. So there's a USDA rule, there's a distribution rule, there's this, there's that. And if there's one thing that I think we really need to do, it's sort of free up the markets a little bit for the small farms, but there are entrenched entities that don't want us to have that freedom and they have particular names that you'd recognize from the grocery store. So you know I'll keep working on that. I've tried it here and I've got some partners in our house and I think anything we can do to open up markets is good.
Speaker 2:No, and I think you know locally grown is always really good.
Speaker 3:I mean, I've heard about you know, absolutely healthier.
Speaker 2:What is it, honey?
Speaker 3:Local honey has like allergens in it.
Speaker 2:That helps you with that. I know we have a local farm stand, LaValley's and Hooks. It Always busy and, to be honest, I haven't tried Senator Howard Pearl's corn.
Speaker 3:But I love their corn. Check it out.
Speaker 2:But it's not that much more. I think it's like you know, 30 cents an ear. Don't quote me.
Speaker 3:But it's so much better it is and it's better for the environment. I mean a lot of the stuff. You buy apples, right, they're probably coming from Washington State, maybe upstate New York, but probably Washington State, wenatchee and that whole area. Now buy them here. Buy them here. They're going to be better, better for you. Go pick them with your family, have a good time. Support the local farms, because farming is a part of New Hampshire's fabric and culture going way back and we've lost too many of them.
Speaker 3:It's a hard place to be a farmer. You can't really grow stuff. You know, in Ohio you watch the morning news. They've got, you know, pork, belly futures and all this other stuff on. You throw a seed out your window. In Ohio it grows. Here it's a little different. So I think you know you've got to focus on those things where you can really add value. That's why we're in Wagyu. Right, it's relatively high margin, it's a specialty product and I think that's the place where you succeed. And that's sort of been my business philosophy right At the inns and the hotel. We were unique, we were special, nothing like us. And that's what we're trying to do with our farm Unique, special, nothing like us. And where do you sell your products? We sell our eggs through the Concord Co-op for the most part sometimes here in.
Speaker 3:Concord, always in New London. Occasionally we sell them at Yankee Farmer's Market in Warner. Those are great people. If you want good bison go there. But you know we sell to them and for a while we were selling to a couple of other markets when we had a few more birds we had 400 last year and we were cranking out the eggs and it was a good time to be doing it. But what I learned with chickens?
Speaker 3:going back to you is that if you get too many of them, it's like Manhattan right, they're all packed in and they act a little crazy and packed, yeah. Yeah, if you trim down the flock and you get to the city of Manchester, they're well-behaved. The eggs are better, everybody's happier, including us. So we trimmed it back to about 150 birds and that's the right spot for us. So we're getting you know 12 dozen eggs a day at $5 a pop wholesale. It's working out nicely, yeah. What about the beef? The beef will go to market starting next month.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the first one will go and will we sell it through the co-op as?
Speaker 3:well, Initially, believe it or not, we're going to sell probably the first animal to a restaurant in Philadelphia. It's a friend of mine and he wants to feature our farm at his restaurant. And I think it's a brilliant idea. He wants pictures, he wants everything. He also wants our eggs, so he can complete the picture and that's fascinating. You are a brilliant marketer, huh yeah.
Speaker 3:You just talk to everyone. Eventually you'll say, hell, yeah, we can do that, but I'm not a brilliant marketer. I'm a nuts and bolts guy and I guess I'm pretty good at it. But it's really just about paying attention to your customer and trying to understand what they need. And he runs a great restaurant, a specialty restaurant, where he is, and we just fit that. So you know, we're just out having drinks one night. We're friends. He works at UNH part-time and he says hey, you know you guys are going to have beef for me. There you go, whole thing takes off. So, yeah, he'll have our first one and it's $40 a pound wholesale on average and you get 500 pounds out of each animal. So it's a. It's an investment. It takes them three years to get to maturity, whereas other animals are Hereford Angus much, much shorter. So that's one of the reasons it costs more. It's just you put more into it, more time into it.
Speaker 1:That makes sense. Question of going back to UNH a little bit as a mom of someone about to go to college next year, another one who spent a little time there. What is it? Because obviously there's a high cost in-state and I don't want to get into politics, but what would you recommend for people, for parents like us? Why should they consider UNH?
Speaker 3:UNH is one of the best schools in the Northeast and, if she's interested in business, unh is the top public business school in New England and it's probably the top 60 in the United States at this point out of 1200 schools. So we've built that business college into something amazing. So if she's interested in business, I'll take her on the tour, we'll get her in there and anyone listening, if you've got someone who wants to come to UNH in business, I'm in, I'll help you out and we'll do the tour. I'll show you what we've got. But you look across all of our programs. We have amazing faculty and they're really focused on making the students better. There are certain disciplines that you know might be a little harder to find a job than others, but we're seeing. It's interesting because we're seeing students go in different directions right now when it comes to education and they're coming more to business. The business program had a big increase in enrollment this year. The other programs at UNH did not. They were either flat, maybe slightly down, and part of that's demographics, but I also think it's part of Gen Z saying look, I got to make some money because houses are expensive, everything's expensive and life's gotten tough, so I'm going to pick a discipline now where I can go get a job.
Speaker 3:Not art history nothing wrong with that. But you've got to be pragmatic and say all right. So history nothing wrong with that. But you've got to be pragmatic and say all right. So I'll go back to my son. He came to UNH as a music performance major. Kid is a brilliant artist.
Speaker 3:And I said to him his freshman year Ben, maybe you ought to think about minor in business. Yeah, whatever, dad. So junior year he comes into my office at UNH and he says dad, I've decided to be a business minor. Yeah, that's good thinking. How'd you come up with that idea? I don't know, it just made sense. So you know I was pretty happy. Not only did he do that, but he got an MBA and then a PhD in business, right. So I guess my point here is look, if you really love art history, that's great. Get an MBA after that degree, right, you can go run an art gallery, you can run a museum. You'll have that skill set to do it. So I would say to your son or daughter, whoever it is, which is it, did I miss that?
Speaker 1:Both, oh, both Okay.
Speaker 3:I would say find the discipline you love at UNH, do that. You can always get a business minor That'll shore up your your credentials.
Speaker 3:But you can also get that MBA and we offer a one-year MBA at UNH after your undergraduate degree you take a bunch of courses in the summer to kind of get that basic business, and then you launch into the program and you're out of there pretty quick and economically. It's a great program. We also do a hybrid MBA. You can be online, you can be in person, you can do one or the other and it's a great program. Yeah, I love UNH. I really do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you can tell, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:I'm passionate about it.
Speaker 2:Well, you know, just to kind of wrap things up here, you talked a lot about part of your philosophy in life and everything is to help make people happy. Yeah, and I think you've done a pretty good job.
Speaker 3:I, you've done a pretty good job. I mean, leave the world better than you found it, yeah, yeah. So what is it about New Hampshire that makes you the happiest? Our freedom, our small government and the fact that we all accept personal responsibility. Right, New Hampshire is somewhat unique in a lot of ways. Really, the values of this state don't fit New England anymore. Right, We've become sort of a safe haven for all those folks in other states who have a higher tax burden and fewer freedoms, and that's a great place to be.
Speaker 3:But you know, I look back to my home state of Ohio, which is, you know, pretty similar it's very similar to New Hampshire. I think that's why I'm so at home here. But there's just so much to love about this state. I mean, I wake up in the morning, I look out the window at the beauty of this place and you can't help but smile. Right, the people you meet on the streets, they have that New England reserve. Sometimes you've got to chip through that reserve to get to the real person. But we have the best people here. They're smart, they pay attention. They're smart, they pay attention, they're informed. And that's not true everywhere, but you can get to everybody here.
Speaker 3:And I'll go back to John Lynch as governor, being bipartisan here. I called John back in 2008, I think it was, and I was dean of the business school at UNH at the time. But it just started and I called the governor's office and I get you know the person she says but it just started. And I called the governor's office and I get the person she says hold on just a minute. Three seconds later, hello Dan, it's John Lynch. Hey, what, I'm actually talking to the governor. That is the best thing ever. I have people in my district who stop at the house to talk to me and that's what we're about. That's probably the best thing the house to talk to me, and that's what we're about. That's probably the best thing. We're a small state and we know one another, we respect one another and we serve one another and I love that. I love this state. I truly do, yeah.
Speaker 2:I think that's absolutely fair.
Speaker 3:I'm so happy to be here, and I'll tell you when I was up at UMaine for five years, I used to look down and say why can't I be there? Well, here we are, so let's go.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's awesome yeah that's great Well, Senator Dan Ennis, thank you so much for coming on the podcast.
Speaker 3:Thank you for having me. It's been an absolute blast. I've loved the Hennigans. A few people probably got that, but the Hennigans is the way to go, right, what?
Speaker 1:do you mean, this is just water?
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, thank you very much and I know that you will continue to do your best to make everybody happy and to do the right thing, and I think that's what matters.
Speaker 3:You know we've got to be responsible fiscally and we're doing that, and I think the people of New Hampshire want that. Whether you're Democrat or Republican or independent People, just you know they respect what we do for the most part, and we're always trying to do the right thing. Yeah, awesome. Well, thanks so much. Thank you, it's been an absolute pleasure.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it definitely was Very interesting. I love talking about the chickens in the Pyrenees. Well, let's do it again.
Speaker 3:We'll deal with your chicken love and I'll tell you one more thing before we go. No, keep going. It's amazing how many people bring you chicken gifts once you have chickens. We've got a doorstop that's a chicken this high right. We've got another little chicken that sits on top of some dresser and a chicken light and chicken cups and chicken mugs Nice decor. And chicken poo.
Speaker 1:Which is good for the garden.
Speaker 3:It's great for the garden. If anyone needs manure, just call us up. We'll get you some. That's great.
Speaker 1:All right. Thank you again, senator, appreciate it. Thank you, and that wraps it up for this edition of.
Speaker 2:Anything but Politics.
Speaker 1:And we're so pleased that you could join us. Thank you so much for downloading and listening and we hope you'll come back and tune in again.
Speaker 2:Yeah, see you next time.