UNH Today

From their first business focusing on environmentally friendly car care products to their current venture, Therapy Clean, Anne Ruozzi and James Dudra have leaned on the New Hampshire Small Business Development Center (NH SBDC) to grow and adapt.  

NH SBDC’s guidance helped Therapy Clean — a business out of Dover that produces plant-powered, mood-boosting, animal cruelty-free cleaning products — tackle challenges like raw material sourcing, securing retail partnerships, and financial planning. They even helped the company find a chief financial officer.

However, it was NH SBDC’s approach to digital marketing, where it collaborates with Voice Z, the University of New Hampshire’s student-run digital marketing agency at the Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics, that left a lasting impression.  

"We had spent over $100,000 on marketing, hiring firms that either did nothing for us or weren't performing as we needed. We burned through a lot of resources, and then Voice Z came in," Ruozzi says. "They did a fantastic job analyzing our position from a third-party perspective and came up with clever ideas that these expensive marketing firms had not seen."

A Beneficial Partnership

NH SBDC, an outreach program of UNH's Paul College in partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration and the state of New Hampshire, connects businesses with specialized advisors and university resources.

"We operate like a SWAT team — when a business comes to us, they're matched with a primary advisor, but we also bring in specialists from our team and the university," says NH SBDC State Director Liz Gray. “UNH’s state impact priority is about enhancing New Hampshire’s prosperity by supporting its people, communities and economy. We see ourselves as a key contributor to that effort — especially when it comes to helping small businesses grow, creating opportunities for students to engage with local entrepreneurs and fostering partnerships that strengthen our downtowns and drive innovation across the state.” 

The NH SBDC works with UNH students at the graduate level, pairing MBA students with businesses to help find solutions to real-world problems. At the undergraduate level, they work closely with Voice Z to meet a pressing need for digital marketing expertise. 

"Many small businesses struggle to prioritize or afford digital marketing initiatives,” says UNH Assistant Professor of Marketing Alex LaBrecque, Voice Z faculty advisor. “Often, their focus is on running day-to-day operations and ensuring smooth business functions, leaving little time or budget for activities like website optimization, SEO or social media management.”

Ayrika West, who graduated from UNH Paul College in 2024, recalls how she helped optimize Therapy Clean's Amazon listings, identifying missing key details in product descriptions. 

"It was the first client we had with an Amazon account, and we spent hours outside of Voice Z trying to learn this new platform," West says. "Voice Z is a psychologically safe environment to learn and stretch your skills."  

Using data-driven analysis, the team provided insights on how improving the listing could boost click-through rates and revenue.  

"Amazon is a huge source of income for our company, and after spending a ton of money on other marketing firms, these students were the ones who noticed inconsistencies in our A+ marketing content," Ruozzi says.

After implementing the students’ recommendations, Therapy Clean saw immediate improvements.

NH SBDC Connections Seed a Career

Shortly after working with Therapy Clean, West was looking for a summer internship. She found one that put her on the path to her career with another NH SBDC client, Paragon Digital Marketing in Keene.

Zach Luse at Paragon worked during the COVID-19 pandemic with NH SBDC to help navigate disaster relief funding. That initial outreach led to an ongoing partnership, with Luse utilizing NH SBDC’s expertise in financial advising, cybersecurity audits and international trade expansion. 

Luse’s relationship with NH SBDC brought him closer to UNH, where he played a role in Voice Z’s early development by offering insights into running a digital marketing agency and collaborated with students on capstone projects. 

West turned her internship experience with Paragon into remote work during her senior year and a full-time job as a digital marketing strategist following graduation.  

“Any time we see that sort of experience on a resume, it gets our attention because it's hands-on learning and business in practice,” Luse says. “It means they already have a bit of experience working with a client or on a project and understand how that works and how to apply some of the stuff they learned in the classroom to that in the real world.”  

West was Luse’s first intern from UNH — but he says she likely won’t be the last.

Gray says NH SBDC looks forward to providing students with more of these experiences. 

“UNH has been our host institution for 40+ years, and we've always had a strong working relationship. It’s been a priority for me to strengthen relationships on campus and become more embedded within Paul College because it’s a mutually beneficial partnership." Gray says. "I’m excited when we have the opportunity to invest some of our funding back into Paul College programs and the community to help further the university’s mission of providing more experiential learning opportunities for students and connecting them with businesses.”