Merchants Fleet has been recognized with dual top honors from Business NH Magazine’s annual Business of the Year Awards, marking only the second time in thirty years that the same business has won both Business Leader and Business of the Year simultaneously.
Business NH Magazine and the NH Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives named Merchants CEO Brendan P. Keegan the 2021 Business Leader of the Year.
Keegan joined Merchants in 2018, having previously served the company as a client, board member, Compensation Committee chair and strategic advisor. During Brendan’s three-year tenure as CEO of Merchants, he has developed & executed a visionary strategic plan, launched 4 new business lines, led the effort on a $55 Million growth financing infusion from Bain Capital Credit, relocated the corporate headquarters to a state-of-the-art 55,000 SF facility in Hooksett, NH, implemented a major rebranding initiative, and more.
Merchants now manages over 150,000 vehicles for clients nationwide. These accomplishments have culminated in explosive growth and the company’s best year ever in 2020, earning the company a spot on the Inc 5000 Fastest-Growing Private Companies List.
Under Keegan’s leadership, the company will continue this upward trend as he sets their sights on fleet electrification. Merchants has articulated a bold vision to have 50% of its mobility fleet portfolio electric by 2025, and 50% of its managed fleet portfolio electric by 2030. Merchants is collaborating with major manufacturers and charging partners to create an innovative ecosystem which enables the seamless adoption & integration of electric vehicles for Merchants’ clients nationwide.
In a second major win, Merchants Fleet was also named 2021 Business of the Year in the Business Services Category. Over the last year, as online shopping surged during the pandemic, there was an urgent need for fleet resources by last mile and delivery providers who were suddenly tasked with keeping the country moving. Merchants pivoted quickly to create flexible and responsive fleet solutions tailored specifically to the needs of last mile delivery & logistics companies and essential businesses. This swift and innovative response provided crucial resources to thousands of businesses throughout the United States at a time when they needed them most, with 3 million packages per day delivered in a vehicle managed by Merchants during the height of the 2020 holiday season.
For more than 50 years, Merchants has been providing highly customized fleet management and fleet leasing solutions to large businesses, mid-sized companies, governments, educational institutions, and more. Merchants is also home to Merchants Auto, New Hampshire’s largest pre-owned car dealership located in Hooksett, NH, which provides sales and service of personal and commercial vehicles nationwide. The Fleet and Auto divisions of Merchants are united by a commitment to providing an award-winning corporate culture, which empowers the growth and development of their employees, who play an active role in Merchants’ rich history of philanthropy in the Greater Manchester community.
Winners of the Business of the Year Awards are selected from a pool of applicants from across NH and will be honored at an awards luncheon on November 4 at The Armory at the DoubleTree by Hilton Manchester Downtown. A portion of the proceeds of that event goes toward a scholarship fund for the NH Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives. The scholarship is available to all chamber executives to pay for training. Business NH Magazine has contributed more than $80,000 to that fund during the past 30 years.
