Eight NH projects awarded Northern Border Regional Commission grants

Laconia State School master plan

Eight economic development projects in New Hampshire have been awarded a total of $4.4 million in federal Economic and Infrastructure Development Investment funds by the Northern Border Regional Commission.

The commission, created by Congress in 2008, is a federal-state partnership working to boost development in the northern counties of New Hampshire, New York, Vermont and Maine. In New Hampshire, projects are eligible for the Economic and Infrastructure Development Investment program in all, or portions of, Belknap, Carroll, Cheshire, Coos, Grafton and Sullivan counties.

“This program fills a major funding gap for a lot of rural communities,” said New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs Commissioner Taylor Caswell.

Receiving the awards

Topping the list with a $1 million grant was the Lakeshore Redevelopment Planning Commission, which will use the funds to help phase I of the redevelopment master plan at the site of the former State School in Laconia. The work involves road, water, sewer and telecommunication infrastructure planning.

• Town of Jaffrey, $1 million to connect three wells and construct a water treatment facility and water distribution system.
• Laconia Area Community Land Trust, Inc. DBA Lakes Region Community Developers, Belmont, $350,000, to support the Gale School redevelopment project, which expands childcare and creates jobs
• Mascoma Valley Preservation, Grafton, $315,000 to convert the Grafton Center Meetinghouse in to a marketplace and event center
• Monadnock Economic Development Corp., Keene, $1 million to the Keene State College Business Partnership Hub, which will deliver advanced education and training
• Sunapee Heritage Alliance, $350,000, to repair the historic livery building and establish non-profit ownership to make it available for community use and programming
• Hannah Grimes Center Inc., Keene, $315,298, to advance its entrepreneurial programs and develop its Radically Rural Summit into a self-sustaining event and create a year-round institute
• FIRST New Hampshire, $113,130, to work with North Country schools and businesses to start robotic programs that will help students develop STEM skills.