Category: Q&A

Michael J. Chambers

Auctioneer

Michael J. Chambers of Chambers Auction Service in Atkinson is a professional auctioneer specializing in automobile, fundraising and contract auction services. He is currently the Runner-Up World Automobile Auctioneer Champion.

Explain your job and what it entails.

Typically, a professional auctioneer will communicate to the audience using a rhythmic chant made up of filler words and numbers to ask a series of questions and statements. For example, ‘One dollar, now two, would you give two? Do you want it at two?’… I currently call the sale at four wholesale dealer-only automobile auctions throughout New England. The fundraising and benefit auction segment continues to grow with most galas and events being held in the spring and fall.

How long have you had this job?

I’ve been a contract auctioneer since 1994.

What led you to this career field and your current job?

When I was growing up, my dad owned a car dealership, and I attended many auto auctions with him. When I was 20, my dad suggested that I attend auction school and become an automobile auctioneer. … After graduating, I worked any auction I could, performing any task available, eventually gaining the real-life experience needed to become an auctioneer.

What kind of education or training did you need?

I received the proper training by attending both the Mendenhall School of Auctioneering and the Worldwide College of Auctioneering. I furthered my education through the National Auctioneers Association and earned the Benefit Auctioneer Specialist and the Certified Auctioneers Institute designations. I currently hold licenses in the states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Florida.

What is your typical at-work uniform or attire?

Dress code has changed over the last 25 years, but the rule of thumb is to match your client: tuxedos in the ballroom, business casual with the automobiles, work boots on the construction site and suits with the lawyers.

How has your job changed over the last year?

In the first months after the pandemic, automobile auctions didn’t allow dealers on property. We pivoted to a simulcast, internet-only bidding platform using a live auctioneer. After six months or so, dealers were allowed to come back to the auctions and preview the vehicles. … Benefit auctions came to a halt without the ability for in-person events, but fundraising was still imperative for nonprofit organizations, so auctioneers made the shift to virtual galas produced and broadcast online. … Things are almost back to normal now. … With restrictions easing, we’re looking forward to resuming traditional events that will include hybrid technology.

What do you wish you’d known at the beginning of your career?

Take chances. When opportunity knocks, open the door. Ask questions. It’s OK that you don’t know what you don’t know.

What do you wish other people knew about your job?

Being an auctioneer isn’t just fast talking; we’re problem solvers, consultants and marketing specialists.

What was the first job you ever had?

My first job outside of the family businesses was as a dishwasher at the Cozy Corner restaurant in Kingston, New Hampshire. I was 11.

What’s the best piece of work-related advice you’ve ever received?

Listen quietly, speak meaningfully.

Five favorites
Favorite book: Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
Favorite movie: Better Off Dead
Favorite music: I love all music. It’s incredible that today we have access to unlimited music on our devices.
Favorite food: Pizza
Favorite thing about NH: New Hampshire has it all, from the mountains to the ocean and everything in between … and I love what we stand for: ‘Live Free or Die.’

Featured photo: Michael J. Chambers

Zachery Palmer

Housing cooperative specialist

Zachery Palmer is a housing cooperative specialist for ROC-NH, a program that works to build and strengthen resident-owned communities in the state. ROC-NH is overseen by New Hampshire Community Loan Fund, a nonprofit community development financial institution that provides loans, capital and finance education to New Hampshire people and families with low and moderate incomes.

Explain your job.

I help manufactured home residents and manufactured home park owners, cooperative or private, with their day-to-day business, whether it’s helping them figure out their new budget for the year or … [answering] a resident’s question about what their board of directors is doing or where their rent should go. I help people who are looking to buy manufactured homes … and I connect them with our Welcome Home Loans department, which … does real estate mortgages for manufactured homes in ROC residential communities or on private land. I help residents in private parks turn [their parks] into cooperative parks, [which they can do by] purchasing the land underneath their homes from the private owner and running it as a board-of-directors cooperative. … I also help [parks] with infrastructure projects, like replacing water and sewer lines systems.

How long have you had this job?

Two years.

What led you to this career field and your current job?

I was a bank teller … and I got introduced to the commercial lending world from there. Through a mentor of mine, I found out about the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund and all the interesting and creative financing programs that have spun out of it since its inception.

What kind of education or training did you need?

I graduated from SNHU in 2017 and got my undergraduate degree in business administration. … I also had to study parliamentary procedure and cooperative principles and commercial underwriting.

What is your typical at-work uniform or attire?

A button-up shirt and khakis and … either running shoes or boots, because I travel all around the state to visit manufactured home parks. Some parks have nice, paved roads; some have dirt roads; some are going through infrastructure projects … so I have to be ready for anything.

How has your job changed over the last year?

Like everyone else, we’ve had to adapt to online meetings, internally, as a team, with external partners, and with the cooperatives’ residents and board members themselves. I’ve also been working remotely for the last year and a half.

What do you wish you’d known at the beginning of your career?

To be open-minded and roll with the punches, but stay determined.

What do you wish other people knew about your job?

Affordable housing is a high need right now in the state of New Hampshire, and manufactured homes are truly affordable housing. There are 136 resident-owned communities throughout the state. … It’s one of the most affordable living options for people to build equity and actually purchase a home. Look at the price of a manufactured home versus a stick-built home right now; it’s considerably cheaper.

What was the first job you ever had?

I worked at Subway in high school.

What’s the best piece of work-related advice you’ve ever received?

Never surrender your curiosity. You have to satisfy it for yourself.

Five favorites
Favorite book: As a Man Thinketh by James Allen
Favorite movie: I Am Legend
Favorite music: Snarky Puppy, a jazz-funk band
Favorite food: Steak and cheese sub
Favorite thing about NH: Every part of it is different, from the seacoast to the mountains to the west.

Featured photo: Zachery Palmer

Volunteers needed at equine therapy center

UpReach Therapeutic Equestrian Center in Goffstown is looking for volunteers to assist with its equine therapy programs starting in September. Operations manager Kathryn Conway talked about the opportunity and how lending a hand at UpReach can make a difference in the lives of the program participants and the volunteers themselves.

What does UpReach do?

Our mission is to improve lives with the power of the horse. We partner with horses to help people who [are living with] physical and cognitive disabilities or challenges; have experienced or witnessed trauma and are dealing with PTSD; are recovering from substance misuse; and people who want to augment their existing therapies and improve their health and wellness overall by working and connecting with horses. … We’re also running a program right now for frontline health care workers, first responders, caregivers and educators called Caring Connections, where you can come spend an hour in the peaceful company of our horses and ponies and just recharge, breathe and relax. You can brush them, lead them, come with colleagues, come by yourself — it’s very unstructured. There’s no cost; it’s just our way of thanking everyone for the hard work they’ve been doing over the past year and a half.

What kinds of volunteer opportunities are available?

We’re looking for people to assist with lessons. Depending on the independence level of the individual [lesson] participants, we may use up to three volunteers to support a participant during a lesson: two [to walk beside] the horse on either side, and one to lead the horse. … We also have a number of slots for people who aren’t necessarily interested in working with a student in a lesson, but would rather do barn chores … like help clean stalls, move hay around, clean water buckets and do some general maintenance around the property.

What is the time commitment?

We look for people who are willing to commit one to two hours a week for periods of six to eight weeks. If you’re working on barn chores, it’ll be closer to two hours. … Some volunteers come a couple of times a week. … It all depends on your schedule. Lessons usually run from 10 a.m. to sometimes as late as 6 p.m., so there’s a lot of flexibility.

Who would be a good fit for this volunteer work?

Anyone interested in being part of a team where they can help people, and anyone who likes horses and wants to get up close and personal with horses and learn more about them. … Even if [your level of interest in horses] is just, ‘Well, I think they’re really pretty,’ you’ll most likely end up falling in love with the horses. … It’s OK if you don’t have horse experience, because we will train you.

Is there an age requirement?

The minimum age is 14, so it’s great for high school kids … and [college] students … whose schools have a community service program; they can get their service credit hours by volunteering here.

What does training entail?

We have two training dates [to choose from] in August. … The mandatory volunteer training is three hours long. For people who want to work with the horses directly, there’s a supplemental training that’s an hour and a half long. … Most people who volunteer with us end up wanting to handle a horse at some point, so we highly suggest that volunteers just do both trainings right off the bat.

What are the benefits of volunteering at UpReach?

If you’re looking for a volunteer opportunity [where you can] directly help make life better for somebody else, and you also happen to like horses, this is really a win-win. … We have four miniature horses living here now, and they are such joyful little creatures; it’s pretty hard not to smile when you’re watching them. Being around horses just makes you feel better … and can definitely give you an increased sense of wellness and happiness and peace.

Vounteering at UpReach

To volunteer at UpReach Therapeutic Equestrian Center, complete and return a volunteering form, available at upreachtec.org/volunteerforms. Training sessions are offered on Saturday, Aug. 14, starting at 9 a.m., and Tuesday, Aug. 24, starting at 1 p.m. The term begins on Sept. 7. UpReach is located at 153 Paige Hill Road in Goffstown. For more information or to reserve your spot for a training session, visit upreachtec.org, call 497-2343 or email [email protected].

Featured photo: Kathryn Conway. Courtesy photo.