Author: NH Business Review Staff

The week that was

Bank of America Corp. (BAC) said its second-quarter profit soared 41 percent, easily surpassing Wall Street expectations with a boost from the results of newly acquired FleetBoston Financial Corp. The Charlotte-based banking giant said it earned $3.85 billion, or $1.86…

Jaffrey business incubator to open in September

A new Monadnock Region business incubator has been born. With the purchase on July 1 of the former W.W. Cross building in Jaffrey, Monadnock Business Ventures has launched the Webster Street Incubator. The building, which is currently being renovated, will…

Angel investor group backs ‘auditory display’ firm

A Hanover-based company that has developed software to help Wall Street traders take in more data is the first investment of the Mount Washington Valley Economic Council’s First Run Angel Group. Accentus, founded in 2002 under the auspices of the…

Anti-spam laws can improve customer relationships

When Congress passed the CAN-SPAM Act in January 2004, companies that use e-mail to market to their customers and prospects were faced with new legal requirements designed to protect Americans from the onslaught of unwelcome spamming. Attempting to curb the…

N.H. trial lawyers speak out in defense of themselves

As soon as Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry announced his choice of a running mate, Republicans were loading Web sites, e-mails, air waves and fax machines with ammunition aimed at the Democratic ticket. Much of the negative comment about John…

World trade forum set for Oct. 6

The New Hampshire International Trade Association has set Oct. 6 as the date of “Growing Globally,” its 18th annual World Trade Forum and Governor’s Conference on Trade. The forum, to be held at the Center of New Hampshire in Manchester,…

Ruling raises questions about unaccrued vacation

Across the state, many a New Hampshire employer allows its employees to take vacation time before it is fully accrued. In such instances, the employer will usually have the employee sign an authorization in which the employee acknowledges that he…

Sending work offshore has pitfalls, drawbacks

Offshoring — the practice of outsourcing business functions to a vendor outside of North America - has the potential to save companies millions of dollars in labor costs. But the practice is not a panacea for bottom-line savings. Poor offshoring…

State retirement system leads the charge in AT&T suit

The New Hampshire Retirement System, that sleepy holder of pension funds of state functionaries, schoolteachers and municipal police, has been quietly playing a key role in the national effort for monetary damages and corporate governance reform against a variety of…

Northcape, Dennis Mires win top Cornerstone Awards

Dennis Mires, PA, The Architects of Manchester and Northcape Design Inc. of Sunapee each took home Best of Show honors in the recent Home Builders & Remodelers Association of New Hampshire’s annual Cornerstone Awards. Dennis Mires earned its Best of…

Alliance honors state’s top rehabilitation projects

Seven rehabilitation projects were singled out last month as winners of the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance annual historical preservation achievement awards. Restoration and rehabilitation awards went to: • Soldiers and Sailors Monument, Portsmouth, a statue honoring Civil War veterans that…

Expeditious conflict resolution benefits everyone

On July 7-8, I attended a two-day workshop on “Mediating Land Use Disputes” in Freeport, Maine, put on by the Lincoln Land Institute. A very nice venue, although they worked us too hard. My interest in mediation follows my role…

Concord seeks aid for airport terminal

The city of Concord and state officials are teaming up to win a multimillion-dollar federal grant to rebuild Concord Airport’s aging terminal. The idea is to make the airport a more suitable visual gateway to the state and position Concord…

Architect is chosen for school plans

Architectural Resources Cambridge Inc. has been selected to work on the middle and high school facilities planning process in Laconia. ARC, based in Cambridge, Mass., will be working along with the Rist-Frost Shumway engineering firm on developing plans to address…

Antioch acquires undeveloped land

Antioch New England Graduate School has signed an agreement to acquire 46 acres of wooded, undeveloped land in eastern Keene to be used as a study site for ecological monitoring. The area, bounded on three sides by the Branch River…

Ex-UNH planner sues university system

Victor Azzi, the former campus planner for the University System of New Hampshire, has filed a lawsuit against the University of New Hampshire and USNH claiming he was unfairly fired from his position in 2001. Azzi’s suit, filed in Rockingham…

Asking prices leap in Upper Valley

In the last 12 months, asking prices for single-family homes have risen by more than 50 percent in the Upper Valley towns of Lebanon and Hanover in New Hampshire and in the Vermont towns of Norwich and Hartford, with sales…

Manchester mill may house shops

A row of retail shops stretching from Granite Street to near a planned riverfront ballpark is being explored for two Millyard buildings on South Commercial Street in Manchester. A potential addition to the Langer Place Mill also would include a…

Keough, Chinburg plan Portsmouth project

Seacoast area developer Eric Chinburg and former gubernatorial candidate Bruce Keough are proposing major development project off Borthwick Avenue in Portsmouth that will incorporate residential, business and artist studio space. The estimated cost of the project could be as high…

More retailers eye Concord locations

Bed Bath & Beyond and T.J. Maxx stores will soon be built on sites long vacant in a Loudon Road shopping center in Concord. Rocky’s Ace Hardware and the Concord post office are the only current tenants at the plaza.…

Milford apartments sold for $6.8 million

The Laurel Hill apartments in Milford have been sold to the Boston-based real estate company that already owns Woodland Heights, the town’s largest apartment complex. The 96-unit Laurel Hill was sold in June for $6.8 million to Mayo Nine, a…

Realty sign fees assailed in Plaistow

Real estate agents in Plaistow are livid over the town’s recent decision to charge them $50 a month for each “For Sale” sign they post in front of homes. The issue emerged up after a car dealership was ordered to…

Manchester site eyed for condos

Brady Sullivan Properties says it plans to build either residential condominiums or a new office tower on part of the eight-acre parcel at 1750 Elm St. in Manchester. Brady Sullivan bought the 12-story tower, formerly known as the New Hampshire…

Keene homebuilder adds to legacy with each house

When David Wright of Keene graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 1979 his career path was uncertain at best. He’d majored in business administration and minored in economics and figured that, with his training, “I thought I might…

DRED seeks feds’ help on Sunapee expansion

The process surrounding plans to expand the Mount Sunapee ski area, already under the microscope, is about to be perused by a new set of eyes. Sean O’Kane, commissioner of the state Department of Resources and Economic Development, announced at…

HHS secretary praises Benson on Medicaid

Gov. Craig Benson is one of the few chief executives nationally willing to change the bargain with the federal government and deliver services differently under Medicaid, according to Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson. Thompson, in New Hampshire earlier…

DWC updates its Web site

Daniel Webster College in Nashua has rolled out its new Web site, dwc.edu. Taking a cue from the college’s colorful new undergraduate marketing collateral - bright orange large mailing envelopes, an oversized orange “view book” and blue “search piece,” and…

NEC program adds new concentration in leadership

The New Hampshire Center for Nonprofits has joined with New England College in Henniker to offer a new area of concentration - nonprofit leadership — in NEC’s Master of Science in Management program. The new concentration will be an offering…

UNH Manchester readies computer degree program

University of New Hampshire Manchester is preparing to launch a bachelor’s degree program in computer information systems for the academic year that begins in September. The program will focus on functional areas of information technology that are used to manage…

NHCTC gets $1 million grant for biomanufacturing training

New Hampshire Community Technical College Manchester/Stratham will be receiving a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to enhance biomanufacturing training in the Northeast - one of only five colleges in the country to be chosen for the…

Tuition to rise 11 percent at community tech colleges

The New Hampshire Community Technical College System has announced an 11 percent increase announced in tuition for the 2004-05 academic year. The cost of $148 per credit is $15 higher than the $133-per-credit cost in the previous year and reflects…

Goodbrain Academy begins enrollment

Goodbrain Academy of Creative Technology LLC, a computer graphics and Web design training facility in Manchester, has begun accepting enrollment for its courses. Officially launched in April 2004, Goodbrain is a private vocational/art school offering personalized, hands-on training in the…

UNH, Bentley celebrate the fruits of collaboration

Materials scientist Zhengmao Li has been named manager of protein/peptide delivery programs at Bentley Pharmaceuticals Inc., a hiring that lays the groundwork for a future collaboration between the Exeter-based company and the University of New Hampshire. Li, who received his…

Franklin Pierce to open new campus in Manchester

Franklin Pierce College has announced plans to open a new campus in the Jefferson Mill in Manchester’s Millyard for the fall 2004 term and begin shutting down its campus in Salem. The college will open a campus in an 11,000-square-foot…

Tree blocks traffic on Robinson Road

HUDSON - Police were forced to shut down a portion of Robinson Road on Monday after a tree fell across the road. The “fairly healthy” 10-foot tree snapped at about four feet and fell from a nearby yard across the…

Joseph O’Brion takes over as chief

LITCHFIELD - As a police officer in Fort Pierce, Fla., Joseph O’Brion was used to working in a busy department that handled several murders every year. The crime that kept him busy at work also contributed to his decision to…

Delegates get a send-off to Democratic convention

WINDHAM - The Windham Democratic Town Committee on Saturday sent off local Democratic National Convention delegates with a party packed with political stump speeches. More than 100 local, state and national Democrats gathered in the back yard of Marion and…

Man struck and killed on I-93

WINDHAM, N.H. - A Manchester man was struck and killed on Interstate 93 in Windham early Friday. State Police say Vincent Mattes, 21, was running across the highway when he was hit by a pickup just before 2 a.m. Mattes…

Man hurt in cycle crash

MERRIMACK A 24-year-old local man was injured Thursday after his motorcycle collided with a sports utility vehicle on Baboosic Lake Road. Joshua Wetherbee was listed in fair condition at 7:30 p.m. at Elliot Hospital in Manchester, where he was transported…

Principal nomination expected next week

MONT VERNON - Howard Colter, the new superintendent of schools for School Administrative Unit 39, will nominate someone to become principal for the Village School at Thursday’s School Board meeting. “Hopefully, we’ll have someone by next week,” he said. The…

Scenic Railroad plans Blues Train

The Wilton Scenic Railroad will run a special Blues Train on Saturday, Aug. 7, at 7 p.m. Featured will be the Scissormen and Frank Morey of Boston. They will provide “juke joint thunder” as heard in the hills of Mississippi…

Air science series scheduled

RYE The University of New Hampshire and Seacoast Science Center are planning a lecture series, “Understanding the Air We Breathe: The Science of Air Quality.” The series starts Tuesday and continues through July 20 with a bring-your-own-picnic on the center’s…

Medical center parking lot OK’d

NASHUA Southern New Hampshire Medical Center has been granted a special exception by the Zoning Board of Adjustment to build a 75-space parking lot for hospital employees on two lots at 16 and 18 Prospect St. According to Gerald Prunier,…

‘Local heroes’ to read in program

WILTON This year’s theme of the summer reading program at the Wilton Public-Gregg Free Library is “Local Heroes.” More than 15 members of the community have agreed to take part. Now through Aug. 21, children from kindergarten through grade six…

Benson campaigns in Nashua

NASHUA - Gov. Craig Benson led a GOP train of sorts through the downtown Thursday, greeting voters as part of his first re-election campaign. Benson toured the city with four state representatives - two of whom are facing off in…

Board looks to the future

MERRIMACK - In the utopian future, residents won’t need a canoe to get out of their driveways following a summer rainstorm. Human waste at the treatment plant will be so finely processed that the southern part of Daniel Webster Highway…

Circus Smirkus wows audience in Wilton

Wonderland was never more marvelous. Alice never had a more thrilling trip through the looking glass. The White Rabbit was fast. Alice didn’t catch her until the end when they performed together in a big hoop suspended over center ring.…

Forum offers Medicaid suggestions

NASHUA - Robert Malik is not looking for any handouts. He is looking for a way to protect the health and well-being of his family. He is unemployed and a member of Nashua Job Seekers. All the job seekers are…

Hollis board moves to protect its water interests

HOLLIS - The town has yet to decide about joining the newly formed Merrimack Valley Regional Water District, but the Board of Selectmen voted Monday night to work to protect the town’s legal and financial interests in its aquifer. The…