BENJAMIN E. Johnson
Favorite Part of Job? Everyday there is a new challenge and an opportunity for a new success and I get to team up with great people to face it all.
Most Inspiring Mentor: I look to my parents. They set me on a path with the skills to succeed but they allowed me to make decisions on my own so that success and/or failure would be mine. They taught me to take responsibility - for good and bad outcomes.
Tell us something fun about yourself that few people know: I sometimes wish I made it to Hollywood to at least try it...If Keanu Reeves can do it why can't I?
Favorite Downtime Activity: Lazy weekends with my wife and kids.
Favorite Vermont Escape: I like to randomly drive to places off the highways and just stop and look...Vermont is full of so many cool spots where I can just sit back and relax.
Favorite Social Media: Facebook - it has allowed me to re-connect and stay connected with lots of great people in my past and present.
Favorite Website: Boston.com is my home page. I used to read multiple "real" newspapers everyday so I have adjusted with the times and stay as informed as I can through this site. ESPN.com is a close second.
Vermont Business Person you would most want to Network with: Ben and/or Jerry
Career Highlights: I am a co-founder of Commonwealth Dairy and currently serve as its CFO. I oversee all Financial, Administrative, Capital Project and Human Resource responsibilities within the company as well as oversight of the Production team in VT. Prior to Commonwealth Dairy, I was a Senior Manager with Ahold USA – New England’s largest grocery retailer and the 18th largest food retailer in the World and I worked for New England’s largest department store chain, Filenes, where I successfully completed their Executive Training program. I have a Master’s Degree in Marketing and a Bachelor of Science degree in Commerce and Business Administration; both degrees are from the University of Alabama.
Community Involvement: I am a committee member of Vermont’s Statewide Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) and a member of the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation (BDCC). Both organizations are focused on improving the economic conditions of Vermont in order to benefit the Vermont Community as a whole. My business partner, Thomas Moffitt, and I have committed to funding annual scholarships at the University of Vermont and Vermont Technical College in addition to financial support for a new program at Vermont Technical College that will provide hands on training in dairy processing to their students. Both through the company and on my own, I support – financially, with volunteer time and with products – numerous charities and other local not for profit entities including the Vermont Food Bank, Brattleboro Boys and Girls Club, Casa Grande (AZ) Boys and Girls Club, the Vermont Dairy Association, Brattleboro Union High School, the Strolling of Heifers and many more.