The Team
We’re a small, dedicated, and experienced team of aging juice making veterans plus a couple of energetic youngsters! When we ramp up for our busy fall “cider season,” we bring in some local folks to help us get through our peak time of year. A bit about each of our team members below.
Louise Bray – our Chief Administrative Officer (d/b/a Office Manager). Louise is one of the Veryfine veterans on board at NE Apple – she and Steve worked together in the 1990’s, and Louise joined NE Apple in 2014. On the weekends she is a roadie for her husband and son’s band; she also lives on the same street as Johnny Appleseed’s birthplace (really!)
Steven Cail – Chief Logistics Officer (and expert forklift driver). Steven and Steve Rowse actually attended first grade together in Littleton, and then worked at Veryfine together for most of their working careers. Now Steven oversees inbound and outbound deliveries and is ramping up his apple grower relationships to help manage inbound apple buying and shipments. Steven plays adult league ice hockey a couple of nights a week.
Don Carter – Chief Transportation Officer (and truck driver). Don worked at Carlson’s prior to Steve buying the cider business in 2011. He now delivers NE Apple’s cider all over New England and hauls fresh apples back to the cider mill. Somehow, in spite of the craziness of the fall season, he still manages to find time to climb into his tree stands and hunt in the woods of central Massachusetts.
Jane Fluet – Chief Bottling Officer (and bottling room lead). Jane worked for years at Veryfine with Dave and Steve, supervising production crews all over the Littleton campus. She joined NE Apple in July of 2015 and oversees bottling and packaging. Jane makes absolutely sure to greet everyone on the team with a hearty, and heartfelt, “Good Morning” every day, and gets ticked off when the greeting isn’t returned just as warmly!
Denise Albanese – Chief Technology Officer (and part-time assistant to Louise). No, she’s not really a techie, but she does spend most of her time at a computer. Denise is yet another veteran of Veryfine, and at NE Apple she spends mornings working with Louise to keep the books straight … then leaves around lunch time to take care of her grandkids.
Mike Miller – Chief Apple Officer (and apple quality guru). Mike is another veteran of the Carlson’s cider operation, and still helps out at the Carlson’s orchard in the spring and summer when the cider mill isn’t as busy. He looks over all of the apples before they get sent into the mill to be washed, ground up, and pressed. Mike hails from Jamaica, where they must teach kids how to smile so brightly (see Andre below)!
Peter Morton – Chief Pressing Officer (and lead press operator). Peter is another veteran of Carlson’s where he ran their single press for years. Peter also manages a local apple farm, Autumn Hill Orchard in Groton, during the cider mill’s slow season. He was wicked psyched when we replaced the 2 inch PVC pipe he used to have to hang onto so he could fill up the presses with an automatic loading system . . . but he still keeps plenty busy running our two cider presses.
Evan Owen – Chief Cook and Bottle Washer (and production “floater”). Evan ran the press at Carlson’s for years prior to Peter, then struck out on his own for a time before joining up with New England Apple. Evan does just about every job in the mill, from running the presses early in the day during cider season to driving a forklift. He’s also our most knowledgeable pomologist; the breadth and depth of his usually helpful but occasionally useless apple knowledge and history is seemingly endless.
Steve Scipione – Chief Production Officer (and occasional truck driver). “Scip” worked for Veryfine in the 1990’s before escaping to Maine for several years to deliver milk. He had just moved back to his hometown of Leominster in 2011 when he saw a newspaper article about NE Apple coming to town and joined right up then. Now he’s key to both pressing and bottling operations, and is the “early riser” that starts the coffee maker and sets up for production each day. While in Maine he must have acquired a subtle yet sharp Downeast sense of humor, with which he keeps the rest of us laughing.
Andre Walters – Chief Packaging Officer (and packer operator). Andre is the only member of the team that didn’t come through Carlson’s or Veryfine, which has proven to be more than OK. He oversees the packaging end of the bottling operation, running the machines that make, fill, and close our shipping cases and overseeing the folks who have to stack those cases by hand on shipping pallets. Andre also hails from Jamaica, and has as big a smile, and possibly a bigger laugh, than Mike and the rest of us.
David Rowse Jr. – Chief Apple Squeezer (and head operations guy). Dave received his mechanical engineering degree from the University of New Hampshire and applied that knowledge to several production and engineering jobs and projects at Veryfine. When the company sold, he continued his engineering career, learning all about cutting, breading, and frying fish sticks at a frozen seafood plant on Massachusetts’ Cape Ann. While the “corporate life” had some benefits, he was happy to jump in and help brother Steve when Steve begged him to. He’s an avid skier, coaching young skiers all winter long at Sugarloaf in Maine on the weekends, and is an expert consumer of local hard ciders!
Steve Rowse – Chief Cider Peddler (and all around business manager). Steve graduated from of Colby College in Maine, then spent a couple of decades at Veryfine, mostly in sales and marketing roles, until the company sold. He also acquired just enough operations experience to be dangerous, which helped him to somehow figure out how to restart the cider mill in Leominster when he moved it from Carlson’s in Harvard. He and Louise are the primary contacts with our cider customers, and make sure we get paid for what we sell and pay those we buy stuff from. He’s also a die-hard “Sugarloafer” and helps to coach his hometown high school ski racing team.