Bob Plourde will be the first to tell you he was a less than enthusiastic student in high school, but he learned quite a bit about business in one of his very first jobs.
Working at Louis Doe Home Center in Newcastle almost 40 years ago, Bob saw firsthand how the late Louis and Judy Doe worked together and how they took great pains to treat customers right and meet challenges with ingenuity, hard work, and humor.
It should hardly be surprising then that when the opportunity arose, Bob returned to Lincoln County to open his own business, employing in his own way the same kind personal touches he learned from the Does.
More than 20 years later, Bob and Lynne Plourde are actively supporting high school events, contributing to local causes, and serving on municipal boards, all balanced with operating their business.
It’s the kind of business model the Does might approve.
Today Bob talks with pride about being able to give high school students an opportunity for their first “real” job. The Plourdes have a number of kids they can talk about who got their start at their shipping business over the years.
In the course of setting expectations and occasionally delivering consequences, Bob said he encourages his teenage charges to take school much more seriously than he did. With the wisdom of years, he tells the students, “Don’t be a Bob.”
We appreciate the thought, but to the extent Bob prioritizes family, business, and community, we are not sure we agree. In that sense in fact, we think the world could actually use quite a few more Bobs.
It will be a few more years before we find out what the teens do with the things they learned while working for the Plourdes. We’re confident something positive will result. Bob learned those same things from the Does years ago, and thanks to the Plourdes, those same lessons will bear fruit well into the future.
