Author: NH Business Review Staff

House seeks control over new tax forms

The release of New Hampshire's new scan-friendly business tax forms for 2011 will be a crucial step in paving the way for electronic filing, but that step might become a stumble if the Legislature slows down the process by asserting…

Crowdfunding bill gains in Congress

U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte is co-sponsoring a bill that would let entrepreneurs raise up to $1 million a year by selling ownership stakes in their companies through what are known as crowdfunding websites. A similar version of the bill breezed…

Invest in the best words for your business

I've been around small ad agencies and design shops my entire career, mostly in sales. I've witnessed many conversations that go something like this:Account Executive: "OK, great! Glad you love the design. Now if you can get us the actual…

Goodbye Reg Q, hello interest

Thanks to one of the latest changes in banking regulations, business banking customers can now earn interest on their checking accounts. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, which became law in July 2010, included numerous changes to the financial services…

When’s the last time you learned something?

Alas, sailing season is over. To ease my withdrawal pains, I read Points East, a nautical magazine. The Editor's Page by Nim Marsh featured a story about the venerable old Lowell Boat Shop on the Merrimack River in Amesbury, Mass.…

Utility tax bills and executive salaries

To the editor:"'[Unitil's] goal should be that we pay zero taxes, because if we pay taxes, the ratepayers are going to pay it,' said Jonathan Giegerich, corporate tax specialist with the Hampton-based company." ("The great rate debate," Nov. 18-Dec. 1…

‘Accounting’ for Social Security’s shortfall

To the editor:It seems like almost every issue of NHBR contains an article about "Social Security." The one by Mark Fernald in the Oct. 21-Nov. 3 issue ("A response to the Social Security 'smear campaign'") does a great job of…

How the Pentagon is setting an energy-saving standard

Throughout our public service careers, we have been honored to work on behalf of the men and women of our military. We each have seen and experienced firsthand the ingenuity and commitment of our uniformed men and women, their families,…

A message to Occupy Wall Street

What now? That's up to you.A great rising in the streets against the intolerable may catalyze healing change and basic reform. Or it may be met by further repression, the club, the gun and mass arrests.As a longtime Clamshell Alliance…

Nov. bankruptcies hit three-year low

The number of New Hampshire bankruptcy filings sank to their lowest level in three years last month.Some 338 bankruptcy filings were recorded in November, 31 fewer than in October and 90 fewer than in November 2010. They were at about…

N.H.’s dubious, and dangerous, distinction

New Hampshire is, and loves to be, first. We fight for the first-in-the nation primary, and proudly tout our standing on lists like "healthiest state" and "safest state."However, New Hampshire also has the dubious distinction of being number one in…

Ballot Law Commission hearing was a wake-up call

On Nov. 19, a memorial service was held in Peterborough for Perkins Bass, the late former congressman from New Hampshire's 2nd District, founder of the law firm for which I work and a distinguished New Hampshirite.This was one of those…

BIA survey: Health, energy ‘major’ concerns

The cost of health care and energy are of major concern to New Hampshire businesspeople, more than taxes, regulations and labor unions, according to a Business and Industry Association of New Hampshire survey released Tuesday.Of course, the biggest concern of…

White Mts. execs split $6.75m in deal-related bonuses

White Mountains Insurance Group has rewarded its top executives with $6.75 million in special bonuses for their work in building up and selling off the company's Esurance and Answer Financial units, the company disclosed last week to the Securities and…

Retailers sue over ‘swipe’ fee

The National Retail Federation is suing the Federal Reserve over claims that the 21-cent cap it imposed on debit card "swipe fees" for large banks isn't low enough.The debate over what is a reasonable and proportional amount for retailers to…

SEC alleges N.H.-based Ponzi scheme

A Bedford-based Internet trading corporation is actually a Ponzi scheme run by a Canadian resident who used it to pay off previous investors and build up his Ontario horse farm, according to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.The SEC charges…

Fees disputed in Ezenia bankruptcy case

The bankrupt Ezenia should not pay certain professionals before all others -- especially those it owes money to -- urges the bankruptcy trustee in a matter expected to go before the U.S. Bankruptcy court on Tuesday.The Nashua-based software developer wants…

NHBR About Town: Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage has donated $1,000 to the Moultonborough Food Pantry, raised by employees and agents of the firm through its annual July Poker Run. Pictured with the donation are, left to right, Carol Robbins and Beverly Charest of…

NHBR About Town: WoodPellets.com

U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, right, tours the Goffstown headquarters of WoodPellets.com to learn about job creation in the biomass industry and its use as a renewable heating source. From left, John Ackerly, president of the Alliance for Green Heat, and…

NHBR About Town: Hampton Rotary Club

B.J. 'Doc' Noel, president of the Hampton Chamber of Commerce, left, presents Deb Marsolais, president of the Hampton Rotary Club, a check for $46,500, the rotary's share of the proceeds from the 2011 Hampton Beach Seafood Festival, during which rotary…

NHBR About Town: UNTHA America Inc.

UNTHA America Inc., an Austrian-based manufacturer of industrial shredding equipment, has relocated from Newburyport, Mass. to Hampton. Berhard Mueggler, left, president of the company's U.S. operations, said he expects the move will cut its operational costs by 10 percent annually.…

NHBR About Town: Members First Credit Union

Members First Credit Union has revitalized a park adjacent to its Bridge Street office and named it in honor of its founder, John Walsh, seated, who established the credit union in 1949 on behalf of Manchester's municipal employees. The park…

NHBR About town: New Hampshire Emergency Nurse Association

The New Hampshire Emergency Nurse Association has recognized Joanna Whittington, center, as its Registered Nurse of the Year. Whittington is a nurse in Memorial Hospital's Emergency Department, where she has reached the highest attainable level of the hospital's clinical ladder.…

NHBR About Town: Service Credit Union Boston-Portsmouth Air Show

Proceeds from the 2011 Service Credit Union Boston-Portsmouth Air Show were donated to several nonprofits in New Hampshire, including the Brain Injury Association of New Hampshire, the Daniel Webster Council Boy Scouts of America, and America's Credit Union Museum in…

NHBR About Town: Concord Housing + Redevelopment

Concord Housing + Redevelopment hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate its new offices at Green St. in Concord, which were designed by Warrenstreet Architects, built by Hutter Construction and financed by Merrimack County Savings Bank. John Hoyt, CH+R executive director,…

NHBR About Town: Corflex and Kelly Ayotte

Ted Lorenzetti, marketing director of Manchester-based Corflex, leads U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte on a tour of the veteran-owned small business that sells and manufactures orthopedic medical products. Ayotte has cosponsored legislation to repeal the Medical Device Tax, which she said…

What do N.H. corporations pay in federal taxes?

Public corporations in the United States are supposed to pay taxes at a 35 percent rate. But effectively, on average -- and by any measure -- they don't, although it does seem that smaller public companies in New Hampshire pay…

Local retailers don plaid to counter Black Friday

This coming Black Friday, you can skip the mad 5 a.m. shopping dash, sleep away the turkey coma and hit up locally owned, independent retailers during regular business hours. Oh, and wear plaid.That's the message of some buy-local business networks…

Q&A with Marc Sedam, UNH Office of Research Partnerships

Marc Sedam, executive director at the Office of Research Partnerships and Commercialization at the University of New Hampshire, is the first to admit that picking commercial winners and losers is at best an imprecise art. He should know.When he managed…

What we learned from the genius of Steve Jobs

The great poet Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "Nothing is more simple than greatness; indeed to be simple is to be great."Indeed, I was reminded of those words when I thought about the passing of Steve Jobs, yet I was…

Got enough Internet connections to the cloud?

A lot of people with their heads stuck in the cloud never thought about having more than one way to get there. The sad news is while most cloud service providers have an excellent up-time availability, your local Internet service…

Mobile immersion Phase II: function over form

With mobile-mindedness spreading like wildfire, new ways of doing things are being revealed every day and others are still waiting to be discovered. There are countless mobile applications for just about everything you can think of, but now that the…

Ten step to personal brand success

Are you known for the reasons you want to be known? Do people in your market perceive you and your organization according to your brand strategy? What percentage of your target market knows who you are? What percentage has never…

Mark Fernald’s tax ‘misinformation’

To the editor:It is ironic that an article entitled "Beware of misinformation on taxes" (Nov. 4-17 NHBR) actually engages in misinformation. Although the information presented in the article is accurate as far as I know, it purposefully leaves out some…

PSNH’s misplaced priorities left us in the dark

psnh11-18 nhbropinionrun with frenchPSNH's misplaced priorities left us in the darkThe time has come to shed some light on the utility's practicesBy Corey LewandoskiOne thing has clearly come to light in the midst of the recent snowstorm -- Public Service…

Conserving forests makes good business sense

As New Hampshire recalls our rare Halloween snowstorm, we all bemoan the damage caused by fallen trees and the difficulties encountered in the storm's aftermath. Now that the lights are back on, we can celebrate our good fortune to live…

Slots are wrong for so many reasons

I have been a restaurateur in New Hampshire for more than 25 years. Like many other small business owners, I work and live here because of three simple words: quality of life.New Hampshire is a great place to live and…

Death penalty doesn’t ‘protect’ anyone

You can call it a myth, a belief, an assumption, even a wish. But the notion that the death penalty "protects" people from homicide cannot be called a "fact" and should not be the basis for policy.Sadly, this non-fact appears…

N.H. retailers have hopes for Xmas

Nearly two-thirds of New Hampshire retailers expect that their 2011 holiday sales will be the same as or better than last year.That's according to the annual holiday survey conducted by the Retail Merchants Association of New Hampshire, which found that…

Corporate philanthropy: Giving, and getting back

"Growing Up Healthy" is a five-year, $5 million initiative of the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation to combat childhood obesity.Ask Karen Voci, executive director of the foundation, why it chose to focus resources on one issue, and she will tell…

N.H. exports bounced back in August

Shipments abroad by New Hampshire companies surged 15.5 percent in August, following a decrease of 1.3 percent in July. As a result, $388.4 million worth of goods left New Hampshire for international markets in August.In August of this year, exporters…

Processor: N.H. retailers gain from ‘swipe fee’ cap

New Hampshire merchants are already benefiting from recently enacted federal legislation that capped the amount big banks can charge merchants when their customers use debit cards, according to a national payments processor.Heartland Payment Systems -- the country's fifth-largest payments processor…

N.Y. bank to buy Hampshire First

Manchester-based Hampshire First Bank has agreed to be acquired by Norwich, N.Y.-based NBT Bancorp.The deal, valued at $45 million, is expected to close in the early second quarter, pending state and federal regulatory approval as well as approval by shareholders,…

AG issues warning on phony December event

The New Hampshire Attorney General's office has issued a warning about solicitations for a bogus event that its organizers claim is scheduled to be held at the Radisson Hotel in Manchester.Attorney General Michael Delaney said even though the expo is…

RGGI report: N.H. benefits, but not as much as others

New Hampshire gets fewer economic benefits than any of the 10 states participating in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, according to a report touting those benefits.But the report, released Tuesday, might have underestimated how much the Granite State gets out…

Gorham mill owner featured at state Manufacturing Summit

Lynn Tilton, CEO and principal of Patriarch Partners LLC -- the firm that brought the former Fraser Papers mill in Gorham back to life -- will speak on "How to Save American Manufacturing" at the ninth annual New Hampshire Advanced…

Presstek says ‘deep’ layoffs loom

Presstek Inc. will slash its workforce in an attempt to regain profitability after posting a third-quarter loss of more than $5.4 million, the company announced Monday.The printing equipment company, which employs 130 people in Hudson and 450 overall, would not…