Author: NH Business Review Staff

Brookstone names new CEO

Stephen Bebis, founder of the Golf Town retail chain in Canada, has been named the new CEO of Merrimack-based specialty retailer Brookstone.Bebis replaces Ron Boire, who recently stepped from the post to become chief merchandising officer of Sears Holdings Corp.Bebis…

Patent infringement suit filed against iCAD

Nashua-based iCAD Inc. is the target of a patent infringement suit filed by an Israeli corporation that markets and commercializes technology emerging from Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science.Yeda Research and Development Company alleges that iCAD -- which makes cancer-detection systems…

CDFA awards $500k to aid Smuttynose expansion

A $500,000 grant has been approved by the New Hampshire Community Development Finance Authority to help fund Smuttynose Brewing Company's expansion into a larger facility in Hampton.Pending confirmation of the grant by the Executive Council, Smuttynose is expected to double…

NHBR About Town: The Lowell Five Cent Savings Bank

Pictured at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Nashua branch of The Lowell Five Cent Savings Bank are, from left, bank President David E. Wallace, Nashua Mayor Donnalee Lozeau, Robert A. Caruso, chairman of the bank, and Colleen Beaumont, Nashua…

NHBR About Town: American Bar Association

L. Jonathan Ross, a shareholder at Primmer Piper Eggleston & Cramer in Manchester, was recently honored by the American Bar Association with its Grassroots Advocacy Awards for his work on making the legal system more accessible to low-income people. Pictured…

NHBR About Town: New Hampshire Electric Co-op Foundation

The New Hampshire Electric Co-op Foundation has granted $7,500 to the Grafton County Senior Citizens Council Inc., which will underwrite the cost of delivering home-cooked meals to more than 800 elderly or disabled residents in Grafton County. Volunteers of GCSCC…

NHBR About Town: Palace Theatre & Northeast Delta Dental

On the opening night of Legally Blonde, the Musical, Palace Theatre President Peter Ramsey accepts a $10,000 check from Betty Andrews, manager of community relations for Northeast Delta Dental, which is the first installment of Northeast Delta Dental's three-year pledge…

NHBR About Town: Child Advocacy Center of Hillsborough County

The sixth-annual gala for the Child Advocacy Center of Hillsborough County, a program of the Granite State Children's Alliance, was recently held at Manchester Country Club in Bedford. More than 260 guests attended the event, themed "Springtime in Paris," which…

NHBR About Town: Bellwether Community Credit Union & UNHM

Bellwether Community Credit Union has underwritten University of New Hampshire Manchester's Undergraduate Research Conference, a weeklong event running May 24 to 27 that highlights the scholarly and artistic work across all disciplines of more than 90 students at the Manchester…

A Ponzi scheme’s legal legacy

On May 21, when a "test case" of Financial Resources Mortgage Inc.'s massive bankruptcy mess is likely to be settled, the fate of dozens, if not hundreds, of victims of the multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme will still remain very much up…

Nominees sought for Employment Leadership Awards

Nominations are being sought for the 2012 Employment Leadership Awards, which recognize organizations for their commitment to employing workers with disabilities.Presented by the New Hampshire Development Disabilities Council, the state Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation and the Department of Health and…

Deadlines loom on new retirement plan rules

Businesses of all shapes and sizes share many common objectives. High on that list is the pursuit and retention of top-notch employees.Employee benefit programs, such as 401(k) and 403(b) retirement plans, can often be the key to landing an attractive…

A man is not a financial plan

Many Americans continue to be unprepared financially when it comes to retirement planning, as evidenced by one of the lowest savings rates (4.9 percent) in the developed world, according to data from the Federal Reserve.This is despite the government's latest…

Preventing employee retaliation claims

Q. Susan, the HR director of Smith Corp., has just received a complaint of gender discrimination from an employee. Susan has heard that retaliation complaints often accompany such complaints, and is concerned about preventing a retaliation claim. What can Susan…

‘Old-school’ direct mail can still be effective

Have you checked your email inbox lately?It's hardly headline news that for more than a decade more businesses than ever are adapting email marketing, because it's cheap, interactive and fast. This is why our email boxes fill up daily with…

Businesses honored for support of N.H. arts

The New Hampshire Business Committee for the Arts recognized four businesses and one individual at a May 14 ceremony, honoring them for their outstanding support of the arts in New Hampshire. TD Bank, The Provident Bank, Boothby Therapy Services and…

Concerned about Medicaid managed care

To the editor:I just wanted to drop a line and say: Great Job with your article ("Managed care under the microscope, May 4-17 NHBR). Please keep the info coming as this moves along. I'm glad to see you are looking…

Despite the headlines, college is still necessary

You've heard it all before: New Hampshire has the lowest level of state support for higher education in the nation.Students in New Hampshire borrow more to go to school than students in any other state.Our costs for public colleges and…

At least keep the RGGI safety net

A critical source of cash to help low-income households weatherize their homes will be lost if the New Hampshire Legislature continues to hobble or kill RGGI, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. The House has voted to kill RGGI altogether and…

Legislature should reassert itself

While many in Concord are clamoring over language for an educational-funding constitutional amendment (CACR 12), what's being lost in the final debate of the 2011-2012 session is a constitutional amendment proposal far more important to the people of New Hampshire…

Breast cancer: a truly bipartisan issue

We all know the staggering statistics: One in eight women will develop breast cancer at some point in their lives, and breast cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death for women in the United States.Chances are most of us…

Will 2012 Legislature’s legacy be unfinished business?

When you read this, shortly before Memorial Day, the Legislature will either have finished its business or figured out what it is not going to accomplish or, probably in rare instances, will continue to work on final legislation.At this writing,…

Q&A with SBA District Director Greta Johansson

If anybody can help New Hampshire's small businesses grow and flourish, it's Greta Johansson. Named the New Hampshire district director for the U.S. Small Business Administration a year ago -- succeeding longtime director Witmer Jones -- the former Connecticut resident…

Flotsam & Jetsam

Bill of particularsWhether you like the idea of a voter ID bill or not, you should have some sympathy for Sen. Russell Prescott.The Kingston Republican authored what most observers considered to be a compromise bill that won the support of…

Report: N.H. home sales rose, median price fell in April

The number of housing units sold in New Hampshire increased in April over the same month the previous year, but the median price continued to fall below last year's levels, according to a RE/MAX of New England housing report.RE/MAX reported…

Shaheen, Ayotte back reauthorization of Ex-Im Bank

p>Both of New Hampshire's U.S. senators voted Tuesday to reauthorize the Export-Import bank, a measure that passed the Senate despite political pressure from some conservative groups to eliminate the official export credit agency of the United States.Republican Kelly Ayotte and…

Presstek reports $1.2m quarterly loss

Presstek Inc. reported a net loss of $1.2 million, or 4 cents a share, on Tuesday as financial woes continued to mount for the printing equipment company.The firm is headquartered in Greenwich, Conn., but has a substantial facility in Hudson,…

Ex-Presstek CEO agrees to deal on SEC charges

Former Presstek CEO Edward J. Marino has agreed to pay a $50,000 fine to settle charges that he leaked inside information about his former company's poor quarterly performance to an investment adviser who within minutes forwarded a message to dump…

MacMillin merges with Vt. construction firm

The Keene-based MacMillin Company, one of New Hampshire's oldest and largest construction firms, has merged with D.E.W. Construction, Corp., a larger general contractor based in Williston, Vt.The merger, announced Tuesday by the firms, will create a company with "great synergy,"…

iCAD reports $2.3m first-quarter loss

Nashua-based iCAD lost another $2.3 million in the first quarter of 2012, about 4 cents a share, and revenues were down 14 percent, to $6.3 million, according to the firm's most recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.But…

An introduction to Trendslide

My name is Jeffrey Vocell, and I'm one of the co-founders of Trendslide, a Manchester, N.H.-based mobile Business Intelligence startup.Trendslide is a mobile app founded from the pain-point that business leaders and employees should have access to all of their…

USA Springs judge puts off auction decision

USA Springs could continue to pursue financing that has so far proved elusive in an attempt to bail it out of bankruptcy, or it could put itself up for auction, but it can't do both for very long, said Judge…

This is a test Trendslide heading

This is test Trendslide content This is test Trendslide content This is test Trendslide content This is test Trendslide content This is test Trendslide content This is test Trendslide content This is test Trendslide content This is test Trendslide content…

NHBR About Town: Cross Insurance

A ribbon cutting was held to celebrate the merger of Munsey & Brazil Insurance Agency in Laconia with Cross Insurance, which now employs 22 full-time employees.

Recent malware infection could block Internet access to thousands

Thousands of U.S. computers infected with malicious software by a sophisticated cyber crime ring could lose their Internet connectivity by July if they're not repaired.Last November, the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced that it had arrested and charged six Estonians…

Unitil plans new offering of 2.3m shares

Unitil Corp. plans to sell another 2.3 million shares of stock, hoping to get $26.37 a share and raise some $57.1 million, primarily to pay off short-term debt, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.The Hampton-based utility…

‘Green commuting’ challenge launched

A statewide challenge promoting "green commuting" that kicks off Monday, May 14, and runs through the end of the year is aimed at encouraging people to ditch driving by themselves in favor of carpooling, biking, walking, public transit or telecommuting.The…

Hinsdale second of three possible private prison sites

The town of Hinsdale in southwest New Hampshire has surfaced as a possible location for a privately built prison that would house all of New Hampshire's inmates and perhaps those from neighboring states as well.Corrections Corporation of America -- one…

N.H. awarded federal re-employment funds

p>New Hampshire has been awarded nearly $1 million to further fund the state's efforts in helping unemployed workers find training and jobs.The $988,402 grant was awarded to the state by the U.S. Department of Labor as part of a larger…

Marandos challenge seeks entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs with exemplary business ideas are invited to submit their concept papers in the second annual Tory C. Marandos Foundation Entrepreneurship Challenge.The challenge, administered by the Center for Women's Business Advancement at Southern New Hampshire University, is named after late…

Bottomline reports $1.3m 3Q loss

p>Bottomline Technologies posted a net loss of $1.3 million in its last quarter, which ended March 31 - the third quarter of its fiscal year. The loss amounted to about 4 cents a share.In the same quarter a year ago,…

Long Term Care CEO to keynote Financial Exec Awards breakfast

Paul Forte, CEO of Portsmouth-based Long Term Care Partners, will deliver keynote remarks at NHBR's first Financial Executive of the Year Awards breakfast reception on Tuesday, May 15, in Manchester.Presented by KBW Financial Staffing & Recruiting, the inaugural event will…

So why aren’t renewables a slam-dunk investment?

Editor's note: This is the final installment in a series of articles on renewable energy.Logic says that, given the free nature of sun and wind, once a plant is built the costs must be lower than for fossil fuels. Logic…

Shale gas: An electric industry game-changer

Over the past several years, there has been a dramatic expansion in the supply of domestic natural gas from "unconventional" resources -- shale rock formations in North Dakota, the Gulf states, and, closest and most important to New England, the…

Raising equity through crowdfunding

The Jumpstart Our Business Startups, or JOBS Act, signed into law April 5 by President Obama provides a significant change to the way small businesses are able to access equity funding. A key provision allows small businesses to raise a…