Author: NH Business Review Staff

Give your employees a chance to win

Have you ever gone to the Kentucky Derby or watched it on TV? How about the Preakness or the Belmont Stakes? Those are the three races that comprise the Triple Crown of horse racing. Winning a Triple Crown is considered…

Flotsam & Jetsam

A man with a planBill O'Brien, who has already declared his plans to seek another term as speaker of the New Hampshire House, was the focus of an informative, interesting -- and at times disturbing -- recent series of articles…

NHBR About Town: Comcast Cares Day

Students from the Sanborn High School Honor Society volunteer alongside Comcast employees at the New Hampshire Food Bank as part of the 11th annual Comcast Cares Day, during which more than 200 Comcast employees performed community service at the food…

NHBR About Town: Granite State Credit Union

Granite State Credit Union employee Jody Ducharme is the first recipient of the annual Robert E. Mercer Volunteerism Award, which is given to a staff member who epitomizes the spirit of volunteerism. The credit union's marketing communication liaison, Ducharme and…

NHBR About Town: New England Language Center

The New England Language Center in Rochester hosted a potluck dinner to welcome a delegation from the Kyrgyz Republic, one of the world's six independent Turkic states. The delegation, which consisted of five parliamentarians and two interpreters, was in the…

NHBR About Town: Building on Hope

Breaking ground on Building on Hope's 2012 community improvement projects -- a $250,000 community-funded renovation of Girls Inc.'s Manchester Girls Center -- are, from left, Gov. John Lynch; Jonathan Halle, Building on Hope co-chair; Cathy Duffy Cullity, CEO of Girls…

NHBR About Town: Bellwether Community Credit Union

As a recent recipient of the Bellwether Community Champion award, Maryanne Taylor throws out the ceremonial first pitch at a New Hampshire Fisher Cats game on April 14th. Taylor, a social worker, was honored for her dedication to the Derry…

NHBR About Town: Pheasant Lane Mall

Celebrating the completion of a major renovation at the Pheasant Lane Mall In Nashua are, from left, Ron Hanson, regional senior vice president of Simon Malls; Jenna Lynds, the mall's director of marketing and business development; Vincent Cosco, general manager…

NHBR About Town: Gamache Enterprises

Gamache Enterprises held an open house and ribbon cutting to celebrate the grand re-opening of the Merrimack Village Mall at 416 D.W. Highway in Merrimack, which it acquired last May and reconstructed with a new façade.

NHBR About Town: St. Mary’s Bank

Celebrating the grand opening of St. Mary's Bank newest branch office and education center at 48 Perimeter Rd. are, from left, Joseph G. Fremeau, chairman of the credit union's board of directors; Robin Comstock, president and CEO of the Greater…

NHBR About Town: Rain for the Sahel and the Sahara

Portsmouth-based NGO Rain for the Sahel and the Sahara held a fundraiser last month at The Music Hall that raised $80,000 for its programs in Niger. Among the 300 attendees were Maman Sidikou, ambassador of Niger, and Gabon Ambassador Michael…

NHBR About Town: U.S. Cellular

Last month at a New Hampshire Fisher Cats game, U.S. Cellular presented its Academic All-Star Awards to 49 students from seven Manchester schools who were nominated by their teachers for overcoming a hardship or for the student's diligence, hard work,…

N.H. foreclosures rise in March, but trend seems brighter

The number of foreclosures in New Hampshire increased 16 percent in March from the previous month, but so far in 2012 foreclosures are down about 5 percent from where they were last year.There were 362 foreclosure deeds recorded in New…

Personal bankruptcies fall, but more N.H. businesses file

The number of personal bankruptcies filed in New Hampshire continued to plummet in April, but the number of business bankruptcies crept up a bit.There were 383 bankruptcies in all, nearly 20 percent fewer than the 475 in April 2011 and…

Value of N.H. future construction weakens in March

The total value of future construction contracts fell in March from both the previous month and the same month in 2011, but thanks to strong figures in February, future construction in New Hampshire is still stronger in 2012 than it…

USA Springs sets possible auction in motion

USA Springs will head to the auction block in July unless it manages to obtain a $60 million loan that has thus far been elusive.The potential lender again failed to meet its deadline Monday, according to a number of filings…

2010 personal income grew in all N.H. counties

Personal income grew in every New Hampshire county in 2010, with the largest gain in Grafton County and the smallest in Coos County.The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, which released the figures Wednesday, defines personal income as income derived by…

Presstek shifts listing to smaller Nasdaq exchange

Barely a week after announcing plans to seek shareholder approval for a reverse stock split in order to boost its share price and prevent being delisted from the larger Nasdaq Global Market exchange, Presstek Inc. moved its stock listing to…

New Hampshire part of multi-state $500m MetLife agreement

As part of a multi-state investigation led by New Hampshire and five other states, life insurance giant MetLife will pay nearly $500 million to consumers and the states to settle charges that it failed to pay death benefits to heirs.MetLife…

Optima Bank offers 400k shares

Portsmouth-based Optima Bank & Trust has received "significant interest" from investors in its recently launched stock offering of an additional 400,000 shares, according to CEO Daniel Morrison. Morrison, who announced the offering at the annual shareholders' meeting last week, is…

GTAT adds shares to exec bonus pool

GT Advanced Technologies Inc. will be able to award its top executives with as much as $93 million in stock -- and they may be able to receive some of that stock three months earlier, thanks to a change in…

N.H. bypassed in proposed private east-west highway

If it's constructed, a proposed private highway running the width of northern Maine would dim the already slim likelihood that a federally funded east-west highway will ever be built connecting northern New Hampshire to the broader New England and Canadian…

Entrepreneurs air concerns at 'Disruptivate!'

Entrepreneurship is alive and growing in New Hampshire, but more can -- and should -- be done to incubate the state's startup ecosystem. That sentiment was the common thread emerging from the business owners presenting at Disruptivate! 2012, a conference…

The stubbornness of success

I'm proud to say that my son Liam completed his Eagle Scout requirements this March. After his presentation to the Eagle Board, we were driving home and I asked him how it felt. He said it felt so good and…

Learning from the ‘War of the Roses’

Traditionally, most divorce cases have begun with the filing of a divorce petition, setting in motion a legal process by which the case would be ultimately resolved by a judge unless the parties were able to settle their differences outside…

Downtown Concord: optimism in action

For those of you who have not visited our state capital lately, a very interesting phenomenon is occurring on South Main Street in downtown Concord that should provide some encouragement.While the rest of the state, and the country for that…

Branding yourself with the right apparel

Are you known for the reasons you want to be known? Do people in your market perceive you according to your personal brand identity?Much has been written about personal branding in recent years, and for a very good reason. Brand…

A right-to-work history lesson

Among the contentious issues before the New Hampshire Legislature last year and this has been the so-called "right-to-work" bill that was passed in 2011 and vetoed by Gov. John Lynch. The Legislature failed to override the veto.When the bill was…

Lowell Five brings 160 years of service to N.H.

The Lowell Five Cent Savings Bank will make its first official step into the New Hampshire market when its opens a branch in Nashua on April 30. The bank, which has $760 million in assets and was founded in 1854,…

NHBR About Town: Citizens Bank New Hampshire & WMUR-TV

Joe Carelli, president of Citizens Bank New Hampshire, presents Rosemary Heard with the Heart of Your City award outside of Meninno Place, CATCH's new, green-certified, affordable housing unit. Presented in partnership with WMUR-TV, the award was given to Heard for…

NHBR About Town: Birch Hill Terrace

Residents and staff of Birch Hill Terrace raised $3,140 for the New Hampshire Food Bank last month through a variety of activities, including holding a bake sale, book fair, and raffles. Pictured in the front row from left are Paulina…

NHBR About Town: Members First Credit Union

Jo-Ann Lanoie and Denise Rinker of Members First Credit Union hold a lobby day to support the Muscular Dystrophy Association's "Shamrocks Against Dystrophy" program. Members and employees of the credit union raised $1,600, which will allow two children affected with…

NHBR About Town:Alta Properties & Roedel Companies

After a multimillion dollar renovation, Alta Properties in partnership with Roedel Companies celebrated the grand opening of The Falls Center and La Quinta Inn and Suites at Amoskeag Falls. The property features 109 hotel rooms, a business center, meeting space,…

NHBR About Town: Laconia Savings Bank & The Way Home

Karen Wilson, center, and Mary Beth White, right, of Laconia Savings Bank, present a $49,000 donation on behalf of the bank to Mary Sliney, left, of The Way Home. The pledge will support the nonprofit's Laurel Keys Veterans Housing, which…

NHBR About Town:Franklin Pierce University

Franklin Pierce University in Rindge has renamed Pierce Hall as Spagnuolo Hall, in honor of Tony and Patricia Spagnuolo, friends of the university. Tony Spagnuolo was president of Eckman Construction until he lost his battle with cancer in December 2011.…

NHBR About Town: Lighthouse Manufacturing

Lighthouse Manufacturing, which moved to Portsmouth from Peabody, Mass. three months ago, has completed renovations on its Mirona Road facility. Pictured at the new facility are, from left, Shawn Smith, Lighthouse quality control manager, CEO Ed Autuori, President Michael Bean…

Q&A with former Unitil executive George Gantz

George Gantz stepped down April 1 as senior vice president for Unitil Corp., the Hampton-based electric and gas utility he worked for since 1983. NHBR caught up with him at the end of March. Q. Where were you during the…

NHBR About Town: Citizens Bank New Hampshire & WMUR-TV

At its annual Community Partners luncheon, Citizens Bank New Hampshire celebrated the 10th anniversary of Champions in Action, a program presented in partnership with WMUR-TV that recognizes and nonprofits for their contributions to New Hampshire. Since its inception, the program…

Learning lessons from how we communicate

Paying it forward, or passing on one's "wisdom," is a given for most successful people, no matter what their profession or field of endeavor.Those who recall the history of the Industrial Revolution remember the role apprentices played in the transfer…

Why should you be interested in Pinterest?

Pinterest is a social media network with the stated goal of connecting "everyone in the world through the 'things' they find interesting." It is an online organizational tool, a bulletin board where people "pin" visual representations of their personal interests…

Shedding light on solar technologies

We've summarized the Solyndra saga and discussed photovoltaic technology. With its economies at small scale, PV is widely deployed and visible on rooftops everywhere from homes to factories.Developers are working to scale PV technology up to power plant-size applications, but…

Spring brings signs of market activity

Spring is here, and the weather is as wacky as the economy, the real estate markets and the presidential campaign.Hopefully, spring will bring sunshine, warmth and rising spirits. We have seen a measurable rise in activity and interest. We recently…