Danielle Thorburn
Business major with a knack for historical renovation
Building her future
Champlain Business major Danielle Thorburn wouldn’t miss the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the opening of the new Champlain College Welcome Center building for anything in the world — because she’s been a part of the restoration of the historic Perry Hall since its groundbreaking. Originally a private residence, Perry Hall was first built in 1859 and is one of only eleven houses in the South Willard Street Historic District that predates the Civil War. Danielle, who determined as a high school sophomore that she would someday start a home renovation company, never dreamed she’d be so involved with such a large-scale, high-profile historic restoration project while she was still a student.
“There were a lot of reasons I chose to pursue my Business degree from Champlain,” says Danielle. “But one of the important ones was the connection; Champlain values what I value. I knew that I wanted to start a home renovation company, and because I knew the dorms here were all renovated Victorian houses, I assumed that there would be a good connection for me with the College.”
Danielle, who says she has “a lot of natural business instinct,” applied Early Decision to Champlain. “It was my first choice,” she says. “The reason I chose Champlain for my business education is that I thought it would give me a broad understanding of everything I needed to know to run my own business — and I knew that the BYOBiz program [Champlain’s entrepreneur incubator] would give me the push I needed to actually get my business on the ground.”
The Director of the BYOBiz Program, Robert Bloch, didn’t so much push Danielle into the first steps for launching her business as he did pave her way right into working on a historic restoration. During Danielle’s second semester at Champlain, the College re-opened the historic Lola P. Aiken Hall, a Queen Ann style building (circa 1885) that served for many years as a Residence Hall, which had just been overhauled using state-of-the-art preservation and restoration techniques. “When I saw Aiken Hall,” says Danielle, “I was amazed. I thought it was just beautiful, and I asked Bob Bloch who did it. He immediately introduced me to Michel George [Champlain’s Associate Vice President of Campus Planning & Auxiliary Services] who oversaw the Aiken Hall project.”
After meeting with Michel and detailing her interest in historic preservation, Michel offered Danielle a work-study position in his office. “I was helping organize all the Champlain construction work coming through there,” Danielle says. “Then I started researching his work and looking at blueprints and seeing what I could learn from that. I was learning all I could — which was a lot.”
The following semester at the start of her sophomore year, Danielle told Michel that she was interested in working on-site somewhere. The renovations for Perry Hall had just started, so Michel had her contact Mark Tighe, the superintendent for Engleberth Construction of Colchester — the contractor for the Perry Hall restoration.
Mark put Danielle to work taking pictures of the progression of the site and writing periodic project summaries for Michel. “I was doing a lot of documenting,” Danielle reports. “It was really interesting seeing the progression of the construction. What amazed me was how quickly Perry Hall was coming into place. There are two different additions coming on the building, if my schedule was such that I didn’t work for a week, I would come back and there was something entirely new done.”
With a new semester came new opportunity for Danielle. That spring term, Mark moved Danielle to a position where she could learn the trade of renovation. “The first time I went out,” says Danielle, “I was working with a carpenter on floorboards, then I worked on some drywall and framing. Mark is trying to give me an overall understanding of each trade of construction. It’s been really rewarding working with each individual; I’m learning a lot.”
And that’s to say nothing of what she’s learning inside the classroom. “Knowledge-wise I’ve made a lot of progress,” says Danielle. “I’m learning how to run my business effectively and efficiently, especially through my organization and project management classes. Between class-learning and working at Perry Hall, I’m getting all the knowledge that I need to start my business — not to mention the networking! Between Michel, Bob and Mark, I’ve made tons of contacts for contractors and lawyers and other professionals in every area I’ll need when I launch the business officially.”
And launching her home restoration business might be happening even faster than Danielle anticipated. Bob Bloch asked Danielle to speak during a Senior Visit Open House for prospective students, and Danielle told the group of students and their parents what she was doing at Perry Hall. A member of that audience, who happened to be an investor, later approached Danielle about hiring her to run a major restoration project. “At Champlain,” enthuses Danielle. “The help is here that you need to make your opportunities. You just have to take them.”
A preview of a game created by Champlain students