Donna and Henry Bertolon settled in Beverly in 1992; Henry after graduating from Salem State University and Donna after graduating from North Shore Community College and then Northeastern University.
Henry began his career at RadioShack, overseeing four stores for the Boston company that started as a mail-order business selling radio parts and supplies and expanded to become a leading retail electronics chain with over 3,000 stores. Henry branched out on his own and started a computer chip brokerage business, NECX, from the kitchen table of his partner’s home. With no venture capital support, investors, or a board of directors, Henry and his partners created the first open market for trading semiconductors and computer chips in the world, bypassing standard distribution channels. By 1992 this state-of-the-art business employed 250 traders working seven days a week, 24 hours a day, all over the world.
As NECX grew, Henry and his team developed technology that at the time was the first fully automated end-to-end e-commerce system for the Internet. This technology allowed him to create a second business, NECX Direct, which became the nation's largest reseller of computer products on the internet and solidified Henry as an e-commerce pioneer.
Henry sold both businesses over a period of 15 months just before the Internet crash of 2001. After several decades of non-stop innovation and the stress that comes along with it, Henry and Donna created a philanthropic foundation to continue to support organizations they believed in, many on the North Shore of Boston.
Today, Henry Bertolon is a partner in Manor Homes Development LLC and has served on many Boards including The Cabot and Salem State University where he also supports the Bertolon School of Business. Through Henry and Donna’s support, the North Shore Community College created The Bertolon Simulation Health Care Center of Excellence made possible by the largest donation in the school’s history in 2019. They also funded The Bertolon Center for Grief and Healing at Care Dimensions. Through the Beverly Tree Farm, which Henry and Donna operated for 10 years, they donated all the profits to local charities. Some of the recipients of the Bertolon’s generosity are: MGH, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Bootstraps, Boys and Girls Club of Salem, Plummer Youth Promise, ECCF, and Cape Cod Hospital.
The Cabot has always been a special project for Henry. As Donna recounts, “From the moment he and the other four founders decided to save The Cabot, it has been "his baby." I haven’t seen him so passionate about a project since he started his own business nearly 45 years ago.”
Henry has been deeply engaged in every step of the renovation process because it is important to him to see The Cabot grow and flourish because he knows, in turn, that Beverly and the surrounding North Shore towns will also flourish. Henry has served on The Cabot Board of Directors, the Facilities Committee, and the Executive Committee, and has shepherded The Cabot through incredible growth and artistic excellence since 2013 when he bought the building. His dedication and enthusiasm for The Cabot, and its future possibilities, remain unwavering.
Thank you, Henry, for helping to create the exciting first 10 years of The Cabot’s history as a vital nonprofit in our community. Here’s to many more years with you guiding the way!
