Tech Tidbits From Around NH

Petra Industries, the Oklahoma-based consumer technology wholesale electronics distributor, has namedHeidi Heathas its regional sales director in New England. Heath has over 25 years of experience in the consumer electronics and retail arenas.

API of New Hampshire has entered a reseller agreement with CASPR Group to help bring the Texas company’s disinfection technology to New England. API is a sheet metal manufacturer and HVAC distributor in New England that specializes in HVAC and indoor air quality products, giving them the expertise to successfully represent CASPR’s portable and in-duct air and surface disinfection products in the market CASPR says its technology uses a proprietary natural catalytic converter process to naturally extract oxygen and moisture from ambient air and then produce and safely deliver continuous trace levels of hydrogen peroxide to disinfect indoor spaces.

Claremont-based IT firm Red River has launched a new, highly-competitive scholarship program for Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) certification, open to students currently enrolled in a historically black college or university. The course covers the knowledge and skills required to design, install, operate and troubleshoot a small to medium size enterprise branch network.

Dan McGee, chief operations officer at Red River, said the firm recognizes that black workers with bachelor’s degrees remain significantly under compensated in relation to equally educated white workers.

“We truly believe that technology careers have the potential to make an impact on individual lives, and we will continue to look for ways to jumpstart careers in the industry,” he said.

Twenty HBCU students from across the country will receive fully funded CCNA training and an exam voucher and will be assigned a Red River mentor during the time of their coursework to enable further professional development.

Applications are currently being accepted for the scholarship program. Participants will be announced by April 15 and the course will begin in July. For more information, redriver.com.

BankProv has promoted Kevin Barton to senior vice president and the new leader of its search fund lending team, which provides such services as the financing of bolt-on acquisitions, seller note refinancing, dividend recaps and lines of credit. Barton, a member of BankProv’s Boston lending team since June 2019, previously worked at several banks in the Northeast, including Citizens Bank, Bank of America, Middlesex Savings Bank and Berkshire Bank.

Comcast Corp., which has drawn criticism for proposing price increases during the pandemic for heavy internet use, has now announced it’s delaying the move until next year. The company had earlier said that it would hold off on the price hikes until summer, but has since announced a second delay. The price increase is aimed at “superusers” who exceed 1.2 terabytes of data a month – what the company says is “a high threshold” that would affect few customers, but it hasn’t specified how many would be affected.