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Jan 12, 2024 | 
nhbr.com | Sara Hessenflow Harper |Hunter Oberst
In the midst of a statewide housing crunch, Keene is promoting smaller-format housing that city staff say can create more places to live while not dramatically changing the neighborhood feel. Keene is drafting zoning regulations to allow for the development of more miniature types of living, such as cottages, in certain areas, according to a Dec. 22 news release from the city. Cottage courts are groups of small houses around a shared public space, according to the city’s website.
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Jan 12, 2024 | 
nhbr.com | Sara Hessenflow Harper |Trisha Nail
Francesca Ronzio admits she and her husband, Matteo, may have been naïve at first in their decision to immigrate to the U.S. from their native Italy in February 2015. “We were like crazy people, very naïve people with a dream: to change and to just see how it goes,” she said.
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Jan 12, 2024 | 
nhbr.com | Sara Hessenflow Harper |Doug Teschner
A recent Associated Press–National Opinion Research Center poll found that 62% of adults say U.S. democracy could be at risk depending on who wins the 2024 presidential election — 72% of Democrats and 55% Republicans agree, but for very different reasons. Democrats worry that we could elect an authoritarian president, while Republicans are concerned that government overreach and mandates are a threat to fundamental freedoms.
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Jan 12, 2024 | 
nhbr.com | Sara Hessenflow Harper
A new program to help low- and moderate-income Granite Staters connect with community solar projects is one step closer to getting off the ground, after New Hampshire’s Department of Energy opened applications for project developers planning community solar arrays. Community solar projects can help connect people who don’t have solar panels with the benefits of that energy — specifically, the extra credits those who have their own solar panels see on their monthly bills.
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Jan 12, 2024 | 
nhbr.com | Sara Hessenflow Harper |Mike Cote
Members of the Boys & Girls Club of Manchester were recently treated to an early evening puppet show by Jonny Clock Works of Bee Skep Puppet Theatre. That same November week, students in the after-school program at the Granite YMCA in Londonderry practiced working with clay directed by ceramic artist Teresa Taylor of Salty Dog Pottery.
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Dec 15, 2023 | 
nhbr.com | Sara Hessenflow Harper |Michael McCord
Retail, hospitality perk up, but workforce shortage still lingers On the surface, New Hampshire had a good year economically in 2023 given stern predictions for, at best, a mild recession had become conventional wisdom by the end of 2022. The lack of a recession could provide a healthy runway for 2024 as the state continues to solidify its recovery from the COVID pandemic.
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Dec 15, 2023 | 
nhbr.com | Sara Hessenflow Harper |Mike Cote
If you bought a candle from a name-brand retailer during the Christmas season, there’s a good chance it was made by Alene Candles, a Milford private-label company that produces more than 100 million candles every year. Alene, founded in 1995 by Paul and Nancy Amato, was acquired by business partners Rod Harl and Ted Goldberg and a group of investors in 2008. The company opened a second factory in New Albany, Ohio, in 2012 and expanded that facility in 2020.
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Dec 15, 2023 | 
nhbr.com | Sara Hessenflow Harper
The state’s health care industry had to get creative after the pandemic exacerbated pre-existing workforce shortages, doubling the vacancy rate for nurses and LNAs between 2019 and 2022, according to the New Hampshire Hospital Association. Employers offered generous signing bonuses and paid training. The state made it easier for out-of-state practitioners to get a New Hampshire license. A team of health care leaders developed 107 strategies to recruit and retain workers.
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Dec 15, 2023 | 
nhbr.com | Sara Hessenflow Harper
As the New Hampshire construction industry heads into 2024, it continues to face high costs for materials and labor, making it difficult to meet the demand for affordable housing. In this week’s New Hampshire Business Review, we connected with Granite State construction industry experts to gain greater insight into these issues.
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Dec 15, 2023 | 
nhbr.com | Sara Hessenflow Harper |Phil Sletten
For the last 60 years, New Hampshire has relied on relatively high population growth to fuel its economic expansion. In the 1960s and 1990s, the state’s population grew by an average of over 12,000 people per year. During the 1970s and 1980s, that figure rose to more than 18,000 people per year. Migration was a significant component of that growth.
