2025: Reflections and Gratitude
In early November, Bryce and I traveled back to the East Coast (we grew up in New Hampshire). We were heading back to our roots, to participate in a celebration of the law firm our dad founded with two others back in 1975. Gallagher, Callahan & Gartrell was turning 50! In the absence of our dad (who passed away in 2011), we felt it was important that “Gartrell” have representation at the party. Besides that, it’s always nice to go “home” for a visit.
Don Gartrell, lawyering in the 1970s
As we prepared for our respective trips east (we would arrive in New Hampshire from two different directions), we reminisced about the adults from Dad’s firm who had peopled our childhood visits to the office building: this partner, that associate, this secretary, that receptionist. All of these people had loomed large in our young lives, and we have kept track of only a few of them over the years. We weren’t sure who we might see at the celebration, or if we would recognize them (we saw more familiar faces than we’d expected, recognized them immediately, and had some wonderful conversations with all!).
Since I joined Bryce at The Gartrell Group about six months after he started the business, I have often had questions I wished I could bring to my dad. How did he and his partners know when it was time to bring accounting in-house? How did they decide they could manage the risk of renovating their historic building (which had previously served as Franklin Pierce’s law office and housed the New Hampshire Historical Society)? How did they prioritize making changes to their organizational chart and operations while continuing “business as usual” at the same time? I’m sure Bryce has carried a list of similar questions in his mind. We’ve missed being able to ask these questions of the one person whose business we saw grow from “three guys in a garage” to “a full, vibrant, and well-reputed law firm celebrating its 50th anniversary.”
Gallagher, Callahan & Gartrell, circa early 2000s
In discussing all of this, we both came to a humbling realization: Gallagher, Callahan & Gartrell (affectionately known as GCG) is turning 50, and The Gartrell Group (TGG) is now 22. (We reached our 22nd anniversary on December 30, 2025.) Our business is almost halfway to its own 50th anniversary, and that is simply mind-blowing to both of us! We have already, no doubt, weathered several of the same challenges GCG experienced in its first quarter-century, and we will surely hit a few more roadblocks on the way to our first half. We are growing, learning, risking, and succeeding, just as they did. (It’s almost like we’re grown-ups, living this life and running this business! Who knew?)
I am sharing all of this because it struck me profoundly. It made me think about how quickly time passes, and how we often fail to recognize “out loud” the accomplishments we’ve made or the joys we’ve shared. I thought back on TGG’s 22 years, and especially on our past year, and felt immense gratitude for what we have here. A few things about TGG in 2025 for which I’m so thankful:
After 22 years, I still “get to” work with my brother!
The team of people who make up The Gartrell Group, employees and contractors alike, are incredibly interesting, loyal, creative, dedicated, SMART people, and I’m so lucky to call them my friends and colleagues.
We worked together this past year to revamp our organizational structure – without our dad’s advice – and I’m PROUD of us. Doing all of that while delivering excellent service and results for our clients was a big lift, and we couldn’t have done it without the mutual trust and respect we share across our team.
In 2025, two employees (Ryan Dalton and Erick Caceres!) celebrated 5 years as Gartrell employees, and another (that’s you, Ben Sainsbury!) reached the milestone of 10 years of service to TGG. Another became a full-time employee after having worked as a contractor a few years back (that’s you, Esther!), and has declared that she’s “so glad to be back!” Two other folks (that’s you, Aurora and Lakshmanan!) converted from contractors to full-time employees, and they have enriched our team and our offerings in ways we hadn’t imagined.
We’ve added a Director of Operations (please welcome Erick Caceres to this role!) and leads for two of our three primary service areas: Jason Berney is our Application Development & Integrations Lead, and Ben Sainsbury is our GIS Cloud Services Lead.
Bryce and our Business Development & Partner Manager, Liz Gaines, have converted numerous new leads to customers this year, deepened our relationships with business partners, and introduced new offerings such as Cloud Express.
We have acknowledged that we needed to “divide and conquer” a bit more in our operations and found a way to do that while honoring our dedication to each other as #oneteam.
Portland Gartrellians enjoying some out-of-office fun, October 2025
Standing in the atrium at our dad’s old office in Concord, NH, celebrating 50 years of GCG reminded me that every enduring organization is built one thoughtful decision, one relationship, and one “let’s hope this works” moment at a time. TGG is still writing its story, and it’s a privilege to have been here for all of its early chapters. Thank you to everyone who helped make 2025 a year worth celebrating. Onward!
