The agenda of the leadership of the New Hampshire Legislature has been called pro-business. But critics, such as New Hampshire AFL-CIO President Mark MacKenzie, view much of that agenda as anti-worker. MacKenzie recently discussed his concerns and his own organization's…
Androscoggin Valley Chamber of Commerce members Mark Belanger and JoAnn Roy present the 3-D model they built of proposed New Hampshire Grand kiosks to be located throughout Coos County, the first of which will be constructed in Berlin in March.…
Enfield residents Robin and Mark Kloos and their children, Lydia and Quinn, won a complete digital home makeover valued at $2,100 from FairPoint Communications through its 'Connect Your Home' sweepstakes, which included a 47-inch TV, surround-sound speakers, an Xbox 360…
Nancy Mellitt, annual campaign manager for the New Hampshire Food Bank, accepts a check from Bob Sampson, vice president of claims at RiverStone Resources of Manchester, for $31,759, which represents donations from RiverStone's employees with a company match. The check…
A potential buyer of Isaacson Structural Steel has backed out at the last minute, and the bankrupt Berlin company is scheduled to be auctioned on Feb. 29.Whether it will be bought as a going concern and the jobs of 150…
When 149 units of affordable family housing are built in New Hampshire through the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program, residents in the state reap more than $22 million a year and local and state governments get nearly $3 million.That's…
Everything still seems to be coming up roses, at least when it comes to the earnings of two more New Hampshire-based public companies.White Mountains InsuranceWhite Mountains finished the year with a bang, despite near record catastrophic losses around the world,…
Earlier this year, evangelical Protestant leaders met in Texas to strategize about what candidate to support in the Republican primary (it apparently being their opinion that God favors Republicans).That meeting reminded folks of 1960, when Democratic candidate John Fitzgerald Kennedy,…
The number of foreclosure deeds filed in New Hampshire spiked in December 2011, bringing the total number of foreclosures for the year to just below the record set in 2010.Some 3,863 foreclosures were recorded in New Hampshire in 2011, down…
A bill that would allow New Hampshire businesses and individuals to shop around the country for health insurance - a measure that barely squeaked through the Senate Commerce Committee - easily passed the full Senate Tuesday.But that is probably because…
All three state liquor commissioners, and one former commissioner, showed up at a packed three-plus-hour House Commerce Committee hearing to oppose a bill that would allow some 1,400 grocery stores in New Hampshire to sell liquor.Under House Bull 1251, grocery…
After someone has an auto accident and receives a payment from his or her insurer to pay medical bills not covered by health insurance, who should get the check, the patient or the doctor?Currently, the check goes to the patient,…
Earning reports released last week by New Hampshire-based public companies show that most had a pretty good quarter and year.NHBR previously reported that Unitil had its best year ever. This is how three more companies say they fared.GT Advanced TechnologiesOne…
When it comes to New Hampshire bankruptcies, the first month of 2012 continued where 2011 left off, with another decrease in the number of filings compared to last year -- the 14th monthly decline in a row.Some 316 households and…
The insurance subdivision of the House Commerce Committee appeared split Wednesday over whether to prohibit state employees from even considering setting up a state health exchange under the federal Affordable Care Act, even after a national expert from the Cato…
Unitil Corp.'s move into natural gas paid off big last year, the company reported.The Hampton-based firm said it had a net annual income of $16.3 million, or $1.50 per share -- the largest profit in company history.About $10 million of…
Isaacson Structural Steel Inc. has a "stalking horse" that it's hoped can lead it out of bankruptcy with most of the firm's production and construction jobs intact, according to Bill Gannon, attorney for the Berlin-based company.While Isaacson has talked to…
The last-minute $3.1 million sale of Kingsbury Corp.'s assets to Optimation Technology could not have been any better and it could have been worse, all parties agreed Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manchester.The good news is that some 60…
The confluence of an unstable economy, a tightly competitive legal market and an ongoing exodus of more than half its lawyers since 2010 all contributed to the decision to close down Wiggin & Nourie, one of New Hampshire's oldest law…
Robert Barmore hadn't planned on a second career after decades as a designer, developer and builder of vacation homes in Colorado."This was a niche market and we thought it was mostly recession-proof," Barmore said. But his assumptions were tested when…
The creation of a new performance space at the historic Music Hall of Portsmouth and the renovation of another historic building -- the Newbury Center Meeting House in Newbury -- have won the highest accolades in the American Institute of…
Does the live free or die philosophy of the New Hampshire Legislature pertain only to organizations making a profit? That's what officials at many of the state's nonprofit organizations are beginning to wonder after the Senate passed a bill mandating…
In business times like these, most employers are just trying to make ends meet, keep the employees they have, keep their customers happy and keep their doors open. When the opportunity to hire a new employee comes along, they question…
I was listening to a network talk show and heard the pundits denounce a certain group as lazy and caring about nothing more than video games and pop culture. I've heard the presidential candidates talk about them using the words…
They came, we voted, they left - all in a flash! About a week after the 2012 New Hampshire presidential primary on Jan. 10, what lessons should we take from it and what impressions are there?Because there was such a…
Every owner of a successful privately owned company must eventually confront an important question: What sort of future will the company have when you retire? Although I am not ready to retire yet, I nevertheless found myself being asked this…
At the post office the other morning, I took a hard look around me. I live in a town that supports New Hampshire's largest state university. Durham desperately needs young people for its strength, its vitality and its future. But…
Last month, the New Hampshire Motor Speedway and the New Hampshire chapter of Speedway Children's Charities donated more than $150,000 to 47 organizations throughout New England that support underprivileged children. Representatives from the groups accepted the funds during a Gift…
Maureen Manning, left, president of the New Hampshire Association for Justice, and Ellen Shemitz, right, the association's executive director, present Charlie Sherman, executive director of New Horizons for New Hampshire, with a $7,855 donation, which was raised at a holiday…
Catherine Edison, left, of the Portsmouth Rotary Club's Basic Needs Committee, and fellow Rotarian Mark Sullivan, right, present checks totaling $3,600 to Margie Parker, second from left, pantry director for the Seacoast Family Food Pantry, and Diane Giese, the pantry's…
John Neylon, ombudsman of the New Hampshire Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, presents Jannette 'Nettie' Olson, RN at the Children's Hospital at Dartmouth, center, with a Patriot Award, for her support of Amanda Bailey, right, a…
City officials and members of the Rochester Chamber of Commerce joined Laconia Savings Bank employees in celebrating the opening of the bank's newest branch on North Main Street in Rochester at a ribbon-cutting ceremony held earlier this month.
Cheryl Cutting, lead New Hampshire ambassador for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, Peter Ames, its state vice president of health initiatives, and volunteer Rachel Chretien were among the more than 40 volunteers and supporters of the ACS CAN…
For the past two decades, University of New Hampshire economist Ross Gittell has been on a research quest to understand and decipher the diverse New Hampshire economy. But on Feb. 1, Gittell makes a dramatic career change from scholar and…
Maureen Lemay and Quentin Keefe, left, co-owners of Regency Mortgage Corp., celebrate with their staff at the groundbreaking of Regency's new home in Hooksett, which is scheduled to open in June.
Barry Leonard, senior vice president for commercial services at Laconia Savings Bank and chair of the Boy Scouts of America 20th Annual Lakes Region Good Scout Award Luncheon, congratulates Rodney Dyer, senior partner at Wescott, Dyer, Fitzgerald & Nichols, P.A.…
Before hiring a contractor, a construction project owner must first determine the appropriate delivery method for the project. The delivery method affects a project's efficiency, cost and quality. But no method is perfect for every project, so owners must evaluate…
Map questSo this is the thanks Executive Councilor Dan St. Hilaire gets.The first-termer from Concord -- most famous, at least in some quarters, for being the deciding vote on cutting off state contracts with Planned Parenthood of Northern New England…
Conservative and ethically challenged activist James O'Keefe is back in the news, once again, manufacturing edited videos to make a case he can't produce with existing facts.On New Hampshire's primary day, O'Keefe and crew committed voter fraud at polling locations…
House Bill 1515, which proposes major changes to the assessment and use of the Land Use Change Tax, threatens local control, raises significant concerns on several levels, and should be killed.First, the bill provides that the failure to pay all…
Just before the primaries, I met a woman who didn't have health insurance. She was not my patient, but was one of those truly Good Samaritans we hear about. She was driving a patient of mine to my office. She…
On Jan. 4, the New Hampshire Legislature passed House Bill 542, a bill that took effect immediately and grants parents unprecedented powers to direct the education of their child in public schools.Specifically, the new law - sponsored by Rep. J.R.…
Even though an attorney for the potential Swiss financial backers of USA Springs told creditors on Thursday that they could still bail out the company and pay off creditors with a $60 million loan, nobody in the bankruptcy court in…
The total value of future construction contracts in New Hampshire in 2011 lagged more than $500 million behind 2010.And in December 2011, future construction contracts totaled 13 percent less than they did in the same month the previous year.That's according…
Should municipalities and nonprofits be required to reimburse the New Hampshire Department of Employment Security after a longtime employee quits and gets a job somewhere else, only to be shortly laid off?That's the question raised by Senate Bill 257, and…
The United States and Canada have announced a two-year extension of the Softwood Lumber Agreement, which those in New Hampshire's lumber industry say is good news."Most everybody that I know that's producing softwood lumber right now would think it's positive,"…
Should the state expressly ban games and contests involving alcohol at bars -- games like beer pong? Or does a law like that run the risk of targeting people simply for betting a beer over a game of darts?Senate Bill…
Stay Work Play -- the organization whose goal it is to encourage 20-to-30-year-olds to pursue their careers in New Hampshire -- is looking for small and large businesses and other organizations around the state that share its focus on retaining…
ProPhotonix Ltd. says it expects to report about $17 million in revenue for 2011, an increase over the $15.2 million it reported the previous year.In an earnings preview released last week, the Salem-based company said the gain came despite a…
Isaacson Steel Inc. wants to sell off some of its warehouse business for $225,000, but the fate of the larger bankrupt company - Berlin-based Isaacson Structural Steel Inc. -- is still up in the air, according to recent bankruptcy court…
Residential market sees fourth month of price decline, but no long-term relief in sight
United Therapeutics found the Millyard the perfect setting to help meet its core mission: that no one should ever die waiting for an organ. EwingCole principal Michael Ramus shared the company’s decision to open a corporate research and development facility…
Conference explores challenges of living in NH
Former state economic commissioner Taylor Caswell has joined Bernstein Shur as managing director of economic solutions, a new offering within the firm’s government and public affairs practice group, the law firm announced Monday.
Officials say it's a win for the state, and for Hampton, as the state makes a push for proposals from developers/operators
Only 5.6% of the buildable land in New Hampshire has access to both water and sewer systems. When it comes to much-needed residential construction in the state, that represents an opportunity and a challenge, according to presentations Oct. 29 during…
From nature-space retreats to historic venues, New Hampshire offers businesses unique ways to bring teams together outside the office.
Former Portsmouth credit union will house surgical center and other medical businesses
New Hampshire voters aren’t feeling much relief from their anxieties about the state’s housing crisis. The continued reduced housing inventory, which pushes home prices higher, is also dampening labor market in the Granite State, according to a pair of studies.
