The Faces of North Country Innovation

Chang Thai Café and Chaiwan Enterprise, LLC founder Emshika Alberini and commercial helicopter pilot CeCe Chen are passionate about entrepreneurship in the North Country.

After relocating to the US and earning a master’s degree in organizational management, Emshika spent a few years working in the corporate world before moving to Littleton in 2008 to open her award-winning restaurant. A number of other honors followed, including the presentation by then-Gov. Maggie Hassan of the Most Intriguing Woman Business Leader award at the Business NH Magazine Ultimate Biz Bash 2016. She is working on a commercial real estate development for local entrepreneurs. There is more to come in 2020 as well!

CeCe, a New Hampshire native, flew tours and charters in the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas and Hawaii, then a news chopper for WBZ in Boston. She was featured on The Discovery Channel’s “Extreme Machines,” on “NH Chronicle,” and flew for the aerial filming of the Emmy Award-winning “Mount Washington Cog Railway: Climbing to the Clouds by NHPTV.” These days she’s the owner and chief pilot of Vertical Ventures Aviation, a helicopter company located at the Mount Washington Regional Airport. She also serves on the board of directors for NHPBS and as the Whirly-Girls Emeritus Circle chairperson.