The bare-walled office of Mitch Jacobs '94, founder and president of the Hanover Green Card, and recently-appointed manager of the College's DASH program, overlooks the road construction on West Wheelock Street through a large window.
"They've replaced this street dozens of times," Jacobs said. "Sometimes I have the arm of a back hoe five feet from my window."
The construction creates a lot of dust, which gets into the Green Card's computers and causes problems. In addition, the construction makes a lot of noise.
Adding to the din of construction are the wails of ambulances going to the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, and the howls of Jacobs's dog Hank.
"Sometimes I'm on the phone with a customer, and they're like, 'What the hell's going on there?'" Jacobs joked.
It is a question that seems appropriate for the Green Card, which offers debit cards to College students for use at local businesses.
Jacobs founded the Green Card in 1993, during Spring term of his Junior year.
"We needed it," Jacobs said. College students' "behavior was dictated by the [Dartmouth Dining Services] card."
Jacobs, an Economics and Government major while at the College, was reading an economics textbook when he read about the use of debit cards in Japan and Switzerland, he said.
When he "bumped" into his friends in the middle of the day, they decided to have lunch together.
"We had to eat on campus, since none of us carried cash," Jacobs said. While eating, he and his friends decided a system similar to the College's Declining Balance Account should exist for off-campus establishments.
"It started up from there," he said.
Now, five years later, 60 percent of the student body have Green Cards, which are accepted at over 45 local businesses.
Why the Green Card works
Past attempts at off-campus debit cards, such as the Cooperative Card, which was started by members of the Class of 1990, have failed, making Jacobs's success all the sweeter.
"We put a lot of attention into understanding the different 'players' involved" in the business, Jacobs said. Running a successful debit card business is "more than just about the students."
Many College students find jobs with the Green Card. Jacobs said hiring students was not a strict policy for the company, but that they "go out of the way" to hire students.
"Students know how they want to be treated," Jacobs said. "They know first-hand what it's like to have an exam and a paper, and not to have slept for two days, and then to have a mischarge on your card."
As the company's business expands outside of Hanover, Jacobs plans to keep his Dartmouth student employees.
The University of New Hampshire is the site of the company's first expansion, but the Hanover Green Card is looking at other schools, Jacobs said.
Many of Jacobs employees have a high opinion of him.
Sarah Mullin '98, who recently started working for the Green Card, described Jacobs as energetic and charismatic.
"He's down to earth and in touch with students," Mullin said.
Jacobs at the College
Jacobs hails from a small town in New York an hour north of Manhattan.
"It's right on the line where the suburbs turn into the sticks," he said. "We lived on the sticks side of town."
Jacobs came to Dartmouth because he "really wanted to." His father was a member of the Class of 1962, and Jacobs said he often accompanied his father to reunions and other activities at the College.
"I liked the atmosphere, and met some people," he said. "It seemed like the perfect place."
Though his father was an alum, Jacobs said he never put pressure on Mitch to attend his alma mater.
"I applied elsewhere, but when the letter came from Dartmouth, there was no question," Jacobs said.
While at the College, Jacobs was a member of Alpha Delta fraternity, a ski instructor, an alumni fund intern, and a member of the Student Assembly Executive Committee, he said.
"I'm not sure I was the most effective member of the Executive Committee," he said. "I had trouble honing in on the political issues of the day."
He also worked as an Everything But Anchovies delivery person for four weeks.
He spent his Junior Fall in Spain, and his Junior Winter working as a ski instructor. When he came back in the Spring, he was "involved in nothing." So, he had time to dedicate to his new business undertaking.
Jacobs' hobbies include a "whole range of outdoor things," primarily skiing, but also hiking, biking and golf. His large black dog Hank is also a "major hobby," he said.
Jacobs has lived in Hanover since his graduation, which "can be challenging at times," he said.
"People often ask, 'What the hell do you do in Hanover?,'" he said.
He visits his friends in Boston and New York occasionally, and during the winter, loves to hit the slopes around New England.
"Skiing is basically my biggest addiction in winter," he said.
The future
Even though the Green Card has flourished in its five years of existence, Jacobs said the business is just beginning.
He said there is a substantial growth today in electronic, cashless commerce as big companies enter small markets. However, often the companies buy technology they cannot implement because they cannot work with local merchants, customers and schools.
The Green Card's local focus alleviates this problem. Jacobs said he expects the company to be "quite successful on a national basis within the next five to 10 years."
However, Jacobs may not be there to see this success.
He sees his personal strength in "taking an idea and turning it into a viable, profitable business;" developing a concept into reality
"I like the chaotic startup part," he said. "If it reaches a point where development stops, I'd leave."
