David G. Moore ’83 P’15 is the owner of Interconnect Solutions Group, a California-based small business that specializes in conductive wiring devices, electrical apparatus, and wiring supplies and works with clients like Boeing and SpaceX. At Dartmouth, Moore modified an engineering sciences major with economics. After graduation, he spent 12 years in the Midwest before moving to Los Angeles, where he and his family live now.
How has your Dartmouth education helped you in your career?
I came to Dartmouth set on being an engineer but kept gravitating toward economic classes. The late economics professor Martin Siegel made a big impression on me, and soon I was pursuing an interest in labor economics. After several internships in business, I realized that I wanted a sales career. Dartmouth helped prepare me for what I’ve been doing for the last 34 years (industrial/manufacturing sales) by letting me create a unique major: engineering sciences modified with economics. I was prepared for the technical aspects of the selling experience and gained good general business knowledge. Additionally, the Dartmouth experience enhanced my interpersonal skills, and some of the leadership activities helped prepare me to lead my company and actively participate in community organizations.
What’s the most exciting thing for you about being an entrepreneur?
You get to wear a lot of different hats when you have a small business like ours—our team is now up to 10 employees. I’m involved in human resources, strategic planning, finance, and managing our relationship with our manufacturing principal Glenair, Inc. I also still manage some of our accounts, like Boeing and SpaceX, directly and I mentor our younger sales personnel. Tom Hanks compared life to a box of chocolates in the movie Forrest Gump, I would say owning your own business (regardless of size) is similar.
Your daughter, Danielle, is a ’15. What was it like to share the Dartmouth experience with her?
Attending Dartmouth 32 years apart, our experiences were quite different. The Upper Valley has grown a great deal in terms of services offered—love the Dartmouth Coach! I was super excited when Danielle chose Dartmouth, and the College really sold itself. As alumni know, the Dartmouth experience is unique to everyone who is blessed to attend, however we shared several common experiences: we each lived in Cutter Hall at some point during our four years, did language study abroad, took a math class with the late Professor Dwight Lahr, and were class marshals at commencement.