Ensign to retire after 42 years at Lake Sunapee Bank
Stephen W. Ensign, longtime CEO, chairman and most recently executive chairman of Newport-based Lake Sunapee Bank, has announced he will retire from the bank at the end of April.
Author: NH Business Review Staff
How's business in the Salem region?
NHBR asked several Salem area businesspeople to give their take on some of the key issues facing the region as well as to offer their views on how the area’s economy is faring.
Why Yahoo’s decision on telecommuting makes sense
To the editor: Regarding Ron Bourque’s comments on Yahoo and telecommuting (“Data-based decision-making gone awry,” April 5-18 NHBR), I think that Ron missed a very important part of the story, at least as I read it in other venues. Certainly…
Turbocam founder named N.H. High Tech Council Entrepreneur of the Year
Noronha, who emigrated from India in 1979 with only $6, founded Turbocam in 1985 by leasing time in the early morning hours on computers and machinery owned by other companies
Flotsam & Jetsam
Sign of the timesAnyone take any time out of their day to get a comment from House Speaker Bill O'Brien on the recent display of signs depicting President Obama as Hitler - signs that were posted near Nashua's post office?The…
Restaurateur McSharry wins top N.H. SBA honor
Seacoast restaurateur Jay McSharry is named the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2013 Small Business Person of the Year for New Hampshire
Governor to address state, regional issues at Derry-Londonderry chamber event
Gov. Maggie Hassan will discuss her budget proposal and other initiatives of her administration as part of the Greater Derry-Londonderry Chamber of Commerce’s State of the Region event later this month. The event – to be held from 7:30 to…
Amid growing optimism, staffing firms see more hiring among employers
It can be seen as a sign of growing economic optimism: Some New Hampshire staffing agencies -- bullish about job-filling prospects for the rest of 2013 -- have expanded locations and operations."The stock answer is that there is a lot…
Flotsam & Jetsam: April 5, 2013
“I have yet to wrap my head around how he could realistically compete in a general election.” – Political commentator Dean Spiliotes assesses the prospects of a Bill O’Brien 2nd C.D. run.
Rose sworn in as state’s new DRED commissioner
Jeffrey Rose was sworn in Monday as the new commissioner of the state Department of Resources and Economic Development. Describing himself as “a huge fan of baseball,” Rose said it was appropriate he began his new job on Opening Day…
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…
Dispatches from Cyprus: A N.H. professor’s firsthand experience
Loretta Brady, a Saint Anselm College professor and regular NHBR columnist who has been teaching in Cyprus on a Fulbright fellowship since January, has found herself in the midst of the country’s economic woes as it faced down the potential…
Dispatches from Cyprus: A N.H. professor’s firsthand experience
Loretta Brady, a Saint Anselm College professor and regular NHBR columnist who has been teaching in Cyprus on a Fulbright fellowship since January, has found herself in the midst of the country's economic woes as it faced down the potential…
N.H.’s MTBE settlement cache: $136m and counting
New Hampshire has won $136.5 million as a result of a massive lawsuit it filed a decade ago over the gasoline additive MTBE, and it may win more, pending a case currently being heard in Merrimack County Superior Court against…
Tax credit foes target low-income families
If the New Hampshire House has its way, children from low-income families will be forced to rescind scholarships that enable them to attend private elementary and high schools.When passed last year, the education tax credit was a major victory for…
Legislature could ease state’s dental shortage
Many New Hampshire families are looking forward to securing dental coverage for their kids under the health care reform law.But there's a big difference between having coverage and having care. Unless our Legislature does more to expand the number of…
Just say no to private prisons in N.H.
In the not-too-distant future, a report will be released in New Hampshire likely endorsing the creation of a private prison. The governor and General Court should reject this poor idea.New Hampshire already has 15 prisons -- one in each of…
Paranoia plays a role in pro-gun movement
After the recent piece I wrote for NHBR about guns in the New Hampshire Legislature, I received an interesting opposing response. A former state representative from Georges Mills, Spec Bowers, wrote that mass shootings have occurred in a church, a…
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…
Flotsam & Jetsam: March 22, 2013
To the folks at Northeast Utilities/PSNH: In your annual report, you told shareholders that you’d be unveiling an alternate route for the Northern Pass project by March 31. That’s March 31, 2013. Just in case it may have slipped your mind.
2013 BOB Award winners
The sixth annual NHBR readers' poll of the best B-to-B companies in the Granite State.
Study: Interest rates on N.H. bank accounts among the nation’s worst
If you think you're getting next to nothing when you put your money in a New Hampshire savings account, it's no exaggeration.New Hampshire banks and credit unions have one of the lowest savings interest rates in the nation - and…
Unitil CEO’s 2012 compensation up 24 percent
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 total…
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…
Drop-off in road and bridge projects dampens N.H.’s future construction picture
The total value of future construction contracts in New Hampshire fell 2 percent in January 2013 from the same month the previous year, but activity continued to climb in two construction sectors over that period.Future construction contracts in New Hampshire…
Boston Fed chief to address N.H. business leaders
Eric Rosengren, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, will be in Manchester March 27 to discuss the state of New England's economy and related matters.The briefing, presented by the Business and Industry Association of New Hampshire,…
Boston Fed chief to address N.H. business leaders
Eric Rosengren, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, will be in Manchester March 27 to discuss the state of New England’s economy and related matters. The briefing, presented by the Business and Industry Association of New…
Report: N.H. health premiums rose in ’11, but not as much as they could have
Health insurance premiums in New Hampshire rose by an average of nearly 4 percent in 2011, but the increase would have been more than double that size had some consumers not scaled back the level of benefits they receive to…
House to vote on a raft of business legislation
So many high-profile pieces of legislation are being considered during Wednesday's New Hampshire House session -- from medical marijuana to whether to expand Medicaid -- that many bills affecting businesses might pass unnoticed. Here are some of the measures the…
UNH Law School makes a leap in U.S. News ranking
The University of New Hampshire School of Law jumped more than 20 spots in the latest U.S. News & World Report ranking of law schools -- one of the largest leaps of any school on the list.The law school, known…
N.H. foreclosure rate shows slow improvement
There were slightly more foreclosures in New Hampshire in January 2013 than there were in the same month last year, but fewer than there were in December 2012 -- an indicator that the state's foreclosure market is improving as slowly…
UNH teams up with Texas nonprofit on new space science research unit
The University of New Hampshire has signed a deal to collaborate on space science research with the Southwest Research Institute of San Antonio, Texas, a nonprofit that the school has previously teamed up with on multiple NASA projects.The five-year agreement,…
'Chained' CPI cuts Social Security benefits
There’s a budget proposal on the table – the “chained” consumer price index – that would cut over $623 million from Granite Staters’ Social Security and veterans’ COLA over the next 10 years.
New report boosts Pettengill Rd. development in Londonderry
The Pettengill Road extension project in Londonderry is the most attractive business park development opportunity in New Hampshire, and if it's developed, it could create 10,000 jobs in the region and become the next Pease International Tradeport, according to a…
Jobless benefits for business starters clear Senate hurdle
Should a laid-off worker be able to turn down a job and still collect unemployment benefits because he or she is starting a business?That was the question sparked by Senate Bill 142, the latest "pathway to work" program, which the…
‘Cliff’ tax deal: What it means to you
Instead of champagne toasts and party hats, Washington, D.C., welcomed the new year with the same old dance of waiting until the last minute before demonstrating its near inability to work together.Regardless, the so-called "fiscal cliff" -- a series of…
Managing expectations in times of turbulence
One of the biggest changes in the financial services industry since I started my career as a wealth manager was one never considered in our education. It had nothing to do with economics, politics, regulations, the dramatic reshaping of the…
How Washington and Italy can damper optimism
Counter to my natural tendencies, entering the year I was optimistic about our economic prospects. I prefer realism, and these days realism makes it difficult to join the "Suzy Sunshine" club. This year may still be better than last year,…
New Hampshire business tax changes for 2013
In addition to changes to federal tax laws at the close of 2012, there were various changes to New Hampshire laws, the most significant being changes to the interest and dividends (I&D) tax.For tax years ending on or after Dec.…
How to destroy your credibility
The drinks were flowing, the hors d'oeuvres delicious and the conversation stimulating. Although the economy is a depressing subject, there was plenty of lighthearted laughter as we reviewed the gruesome details tongue in cheek. This was a lively crowd, eager…
‘Chained’ CPI cuts Social Security benefits
To the editor:There's a budget proposal on the table - the "chained" consumer price index - that would cut over $623 million from Granite Staters' Social Security and veterans' COLA over the next 10 years.The average Social Security retirement benefit…
Investing in education to boost the New Hampshire economy
Although New Hampshire has usually been a leader in emerging from past recessions, this time around the rates of both job growth and the recovery of jobs lost are moving at a much slower pace than in the past. In…
Killing school choice hurts poor families
In her budget address before the Legislature, Gov. Maggie Hassan pledged to repeal the nascent Opportunity Scholarship Act, which grants tax credits to businesses that help low- and middle-income students afford independent and home schooling.If the governor's goal is saving…
Why does the IBEW want to kill jobs?
I was raised in a union household -- my father was an International Union of Electrical Workers steward. He said that unions formed to give workers bargaining power that they as individuals did not have. As a union employee myself,…
How employers are preparing for ACA 2014
The Affordable Care Act is the most important piece of employee benefits legislation since the passage of ERISA in 1974. And in the past few months, Bernstein Shur's ACA team has conducted focus groups with business and nonprofit community leaders…
More news from NHBR:
Dartmouth professor honored for developing ‘camera-on-a-chip’ that powers smartphones
Eric Fossum co-invented technology that grew out of research at NASA
Envision Technologies creates stay, work, play in one Londonderry site
The 110-acre Village at Technology Park off Harvey Road in north Londonderry will include space for industrial, residential, childcare and retail.
Overcoming skepticism, putting AI to work
At Blueline Advisors in Exeter, chief investment officer Frank Sabin is embracing AI, with the help of the students, to better serve his clients, who have entrusted about $250 million in assets in his care.
Analogic brings HQ — and more than 500 jobs — to Salem, NH
Analogic Corp. relocated from Peabody, Mass., to Salem, NH, in January. The privately held company designs and manufactures advanced imaging, detection and power technology for aviation security, health care and industrial markets. Its airport baggage screening systems are deployed in more than 26 countries.
Driven by defense
New Hampshire’s growing role in military and security related manufacturing was on display June 3 in Nashua. About 200 people, representing advanced manufacturing interests both in the state and regionally, registered for the Northeast National Security Conference that organizer Julie Demers said goes “beyond traditional defense that people would think of.”
BAE Systems invests $85 million in Hudson, NH, campus
BAE Systems announced Wednesday a $135 million investment for upgrades to its facilities in Hudson, N.H., and Austin, Texas, to further strengthen the U.S. defense industrial base, the company said.
NH Fidelity employees returning to Merrimack campus full time
Fidelity Investments announced Wednesday that New Hampshire is one of four Fidelity sites that will transition to a full-time, on-site schedule beginning in September
ReGen Valley Tech Hub partners with NH Housing, Manchester chamber on May 12 housing summit
The ReGen Valley Tech Hub is partnering with New Hampshire Housing and the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce to address the state’s housing shortage, convening a regional summit May 12 at the University of New Hampshire Manchester, organizers announced April 15.
Velcro plans to move Manchester manufacturing to Somersworth
Velcro Companies plans to consolidate textiles manufacturing from its Queen City site to its production facility in Somersworth but is committed to remaining in New Hampshire, the company said Monday. Velcro, which has operated in Manchester for nearly 70 years, is the only U.S. manufacturer of textile hook and loop fasteners.
