Author: Bob Sanders

Homebuilders search for reasons to be hopeful

‘It has been so bad for so many years. It doesn’t take much to make people feel better,’ says Kendall Buck, executive president of the Home Builders & Remodelers Association of N.H.

Did DRA tip the balance on BET calculation?

Are restaurants and other businesses with tipped employees going to have to start factoring their employees’ tips in determining how large their business enterprise tax bill is -- a move that could double that bill for some, particularly those that…

N.H. February foreclosures plummet from a year ago

The number of foreclosures recorded in New Hampshire -- perhaps the most stubbornly high statistic in the recession aside from unemployment -- took a nosedive in February. Some 240 foreclosure deeds were filed in February, the lowest number recorded in…

Five N.H. businesses file for March bankruptcy

While the number of New Hampshire individuals and businesses filing for bankruptcy was up in March from the five-year monthly low the previous month, the number still marked a big drop from last year. There were 339 New Hampshire bankruptcy…

Despite skyrocketing sales, Ruger execs’ pay drops 30%

The top five executives at Sturm, Ruger & Co. earned a combined $8.6 million in 2012 -- nearly a 30 percent pay cut, despite a year of explosive growth, according to recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It…

Patent dispute leads Keene firm to file for bankruptcy

Samson Manufacturing Corp., a manufacturer of gun accessories that moved to Keene from Massachusetts last year with a federal grant and the promise of new jobs, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday to forestall a million-dollar judgment awarded in…

Q&A with Insurance agent and former state senator Ray White

Ray White runs Cornerstone Benefits and Retirement Group, a Bedford firm that sells employee benefit packages to businesses. As a Republican state senator last year, he was at the center of the debate over whether New Hampshire should set up its own health insurance exchange and wound up clashing with liberals and conservatives.

Resident Power, PNE Energy win a round against PUC staff

PNE Energy Supply, which in February defaulted on its promise to buy electricity for thousands of New Hampshire customers, told the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission Thursday that it has rectified the situation and was ready to defend itself against…

Unitil CEO 2012 compensation up 24%

Unitil Corp. CEO Robert Schoenberger received $2.16 million in compensation in 2012, a 24 percent increase from the year before, according to the proxy filed by the company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. That’s slightly half of the…

Contrasting data muddies N.H. home sales picture

The price of homes in New Hampshire won’t bottom out until 2014, lagging behind most of the rest of the country, according to projections by Zillow, a national real estate analysis firm. It’s a gloomy forecast that contrasts with the…

Is natural gas price spike an omen for N.H.?

Resident Power and its sister energy supplier PNE Energy Supply were spunky pioneer challengers to Public Service of New Hampshire, rolling along, buying energy off the spot market, eventually selling it to more than 8,500 households and small businesses across…