Boire named businessperson of the year

Jan. 27—ROUSES POINT — Some award winners are the obvious choice.

This year's North Country Chamber of Commerce's businessperson of the year is Matthew T. Boire. He is President of CDC Real Estate Inc. in Rouses Point and brings over 30 years of award-winning expertise in facilitating U.S. expansion for Canadian companies.

'INDISPENSABLE'

As a New York Licensed Real Estate Broker since 1992, he's played a pivotal role in the sale or lease of millions of square feet of commercial/industrial space, particularly in Upstate New York.

Beyond real estate, Boire's impactful journey included serving as vice president of Crossborder Development Corporation until 2008. Now, he collaborates with CDC Real Estate Inc. and Crossborder/CDC Immigration, offering consulting services to companies expanding into the U.S., showcasing his global influence.

"Matt continues to be an indispensable figure in our area's connection with Quebec and all of our economic development endeavors," Chamber President Garry Douglas said.

"Not to forget his great performance as the new lead in our annual St. Patrick's Day breakfast. He's a model business leader and it's a pleasure to recognize him."

Boire had a hand in working to bring and introduce many businesses to the North Country. He said he was especially proud to have helped Nova Bus come to Plattsburgh all those years ago.

"So I've been very proud of that for a while frankly. I'm still proud of it, just disappointed that many years later, they decided to close," he said.

"As I drive around the North Country — my wife and kids are probably bored of hearing about it — but there's a lot of things I can point out and say, I helped that in some way or another. So there's plenty of projects out there small and large that I'm very proud of."

After working with the chamber for 32 years now, Boire said he really hadn't expected to win this award.

"I mentioned to Garry 'No, no, there's got to be somebody else.' and his response was that people were surprised that I had not already received it," Boire said.

"And I said, well, obviously, I am very flattered and honored."

NEVER LOOKED BACK

Boire is a native of the Champlain/Rouses Point area. When he began his career at CDC in Rouses Point, he believed it would be a stepping stone to his career and that he'd eventually move on to somewhere outside of the North Country potentially.

"That was almost 32 years ago," he said. "I just totally fell in love with what we were doing: helping companies grow and doing real estate work and economic development work and I got active in the community and the chamber and never looked back."

He said he'd advise young people locally that they shouldn't feel they have to leave the area in order to have a successful career.

"I'm sure I have some peers, some old classmates that have done exceptionally well outside of the area, and frankly, they had a desire to leave and now probably look back and are glad they did," Boire said.

"But sometimes, starting positions locally, and giving it time, you'll find your way into what could be a great career. and you don't always know how it'll turn out. I thought for sure I would be working in a manufacturing business of some sort, middle management. I would have never guessed that I would have ended up doing what I'm doing and I'm loving it so much."

Other advice for a successful career? Get involved in the community, Boire said.

"And there's so many different ways to do that," he said.

"Obviously ... if you're in business, getting active in the chamber is extremely beneficial, not only for the chamber, but for you and the business you work for. Getting active in other organizations whether it's Rotary or Kiwanis or other charitable organizations, you meet people, you learn different views, it's better all the way around."

Email: cnewton@pressrepublican.com

Twitter: CarlySNewton