Monthly Archives: July 2012
Liveblog! At Google’s Get Your Business Online Event
Today, about 200 New Hampshire small business owners are attending a series of three classes in Hooksett, during which they set up their own website, then learn how to leverage it, all for free.
Walking up the sidewalk to Southern New Hampshire University’s dining hall — where Google is launching a year-long Get Your Business Online campaign in New Hampshire — you get the distinct sensation that Google… has a really good marketing department. At the entrance to the building, there’s one of those red tear-drop markers you see on Google Maps — only it’s as tall as a building. Before you enter the building, you pass five entirely decorative, yet functional, bicycles, all painted with Google’s colors. And that’s just the start of it.
Jamie Hill, an energetic Google spokesperson, explained to me that for Google, the purpose of the event is two-fold. Every time somebody in New Hampshire Googles “plumber” and can’t find one, there are local plumbers who are missing out on business opportunities. But at the same time, that guy who wants to find a plumber is using Google’s product — its search engine — and ending up dissatisfied. So, Hill says, Get Your Business Online is both a community service and a marketing campaign. How Googley is that.
This event is one of many taking place across the country. Google is teaming up with a national web services business called Intuit. Together, Google and Intuit are offering businesses in the country free websites and consulting for one year (then, businesses will have to pay Intuit for their services). The campaign is launching with a separate high-profile event in each state. Stay tuned for more on Google’s GYBO campaign.
Chemicals Manufacturer Expands In Londonderry
Freudenberg Products, freudenberg-nok.com
Earlier this year, Freudenberg announced a new “sustainability roadmap,” after partnering with the U.S. Department of Energy and a number of universities to conduct energy audits at its U.S. locations. The company is also developing products that will help customers in the automobile industry meet emissions and fuel economy regulations.
Read more about Freudenberg North America at NHBR.
New Hampshire’s First-Ever Trader Joe’s Opens In Nashua
NHPR intern Tina Forbes, also a crew-member at Nashua’s brand-new Trader Joe’s, brought one of those quintessential tubs of Trader Joe’s miniature chocolate chip cookies to the office today, creating a noticeable boost to newsroom morale. Continue Reading
Getting By, Getting Ahead: Seacoast Boutique Owner Bets On Success In High-Rent Downtown
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- Assiah Russell started her jewelry business after getting lost in New York City in 2003. “I was in a jewelry district, took a look around, and thought it was quite wonderful to be lost there, and went into a store to buy some jewelry,” Russell says. “And they said, ‘Well no, no, no, you can’t be here! You have to be a wholesaler!’ To which I quickly replied, ‘Well, I am, and you’re my first vendor!'”
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- After a few years of selling jewelry out of her home and at special parties, Russell moved to her tiny shop on State Street. Five years later, she decided to move to the high rent Market Street. “I felt like my business had grown even during a recession. So I felt that the signs, for me, were pointing to making the move,” Russell says.
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- “It was a rather astronomical leap to move from State Street to Market Street,” Russell says. “The move has certainly allowed me to spread out and show my inventory better. I’m right in the center of the fashion district of Portsmouth. I’m hard to be missed.”
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- “It’s always a struggle,” Russell says. “I’m not trying to suggest that the streets are lined with gold. I think there is a recession and I think people are mindful of what they’re spending and how much they’re spending, to be sure.”
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- “Sometimes people are making more choices about whether they’re buying a gift or whether they’re buying something for themselves,” Russell says. “In other times, it was really easy, it would be ‘One for you, one for me!’ Now people make more choices.”
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- Although her first year on Market Street has been a good one for Russell, it, “Struck terror in my heart,” she says. “It was a calculated risk, along with a leap of faith. And when I got here, I think the exposure helped with the recession. I’m seeing more people here.”
As part of our weekly “Getting By, Getting Ahead” series, StateImpact is traveling across New Hampshire, gathering personal stories from the people behind the economy. In our fourth installment, we visit a bustling boutique in the Seacoast region.
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Walk down Market Street in downtown Portsmouth, and you’ll see clothing boutiques, a kitchen store, a toy shop. Then there’s Puttin’ On The Glitz. And the name says it all. Inside, 60-year-old owner Assiah Russell is fussing with mounds of jewelry resting on her countertop, preparing her window displays.
“Eventually everything will have a home,” Russell says, laughing. “I just got done doing this window this morning. I had to get up at five o’clock to do it, because I like to have it done before the store opens.” Hands full of bracelets and necklaces, she gestures toward the finished product: Brightly painted mannequin heads sport wide-brimmed designer straw hats with pink, orange, and turquoise flower cut-outs dangling overhead.
But she’s not done yet. Russell points to the far side of the store. “Then this afternoon, because it’s a rainy day, perhaps I’ll get a chance to work on that window,” she says. Continue Reading
Preview: Tomorrow’s Installment Of “Getting By, Getting Ahead” Looks At High Rent For Downtown Retailer
Amanda Loder / StateImpact New Hampshire
Keeping downtown Portsmouth retailers open for business involves maintaining a delicate balance of shops, restaurants, residential offerings and office space.
Tomorrow on Morning Edition, NHPR will air the fourth installment of our summer series, “Getting By, Getting Ahead,” which focuses on the stories of the people behind the economy. This week, we’ll look at a Portsmouth shopkeeper who decided to move to a high-rent district downtown in the hope of expanding her business.
If you’d like to learn more about why rent is so high in downtown Portsmouth, check out our Economic Snapshot. You can also hear tonight’s discussion of the issue with All Things Considered host Brady Carlson.
And, we invite you to check back here tomorrow to hear more personal perspectives on the economic recovery in the Granite State. We’ll have a multimedia tool featuring the voices–and photos–of the people we’re spotlighting this summer. It also includes an interactive map with economic data so you can see how each of New Hampshire’s seven regions stack up. And there’s email and call-in information so that you can share with us your story of getting by–or getting ahead–in the down economy.
Family Property Values Predict Quality Of Colleges Attended
How much does the value of your parents’ home predict where you go to college? More than one might think, economist Michael Lovenheim argues in a new working paper from the National Bureau of Economics.
Until recently, mainstream assumptions gave a lot of credence to the notion that students need a lifetime of resources to be prepared for college: high expectations from family and teachers, extra-curricular activities, engaging dinner conversations, you know the drill. It turns out that while those issues may play a part in the very big picture, a family’s short-term liquid assets have a lot more influence on college choices than economists once believed.
Specifically, economist Michael Lovenheim has found that the value of a student’s family home during her high school years directly correlates to the quality of the institution she attends in the following years. Continue Reading
Seacoast Snapshot: Portsmouth Retailers Struggle With High Downtown Rents
Amanda Loder / StateImpact New Hampshire
High rent in downtown Portsmouth is a sticky issue for retailers, restauranteurs, realtors, landlords and the city.
Tomorrow morning on NHPR, we’ll hear from Assiah Russell, a boutique owner in downtown Portsmouth. Assiah’s story is Part Four of our series “Getting By, Getting Ahead,” examining how people across New Hampshire’s seven regions are navigating a recovering economy.
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Downtown Portsmouth, with its skyline dominated by the large white North Church steeple, and narrow streets meandering toward the waterfront looks like the picture of an old New England town. Gently overlaying the historic ambience are the trappings of chic modernity–trendy boutiques, off-beat gift shops, and laid-back cafes.
This historic, yet chic atmosphere is the culmination of years of careful design.
And it’s drawn a lot of money into Portsmouth. Tourists from all over the world come here to drink in the local flavor and browse the signature shops. The flip-side to that prosperity, however, is that it has raised the cost of living for residents–and for doing business. That is especially true for downtown shop keepers. Continue Reading
Commissioner Tara Reardon, Nepotism, and Ethics In New Hampshire: How Could This Happen?
Paul Downey
On Wednesday, Employment Security Commissioner Tara Reardon resigned amid allegations that she hired her daughter as an intern, then had her layed off in order to receive unemployment benefits. The Telegraph, Monitor, Union Leader, and of course, NHPR, have all the details. We want to know: how could this happen?
Nepotism
There is a law regarding nepotism and executive officials in New Hampshire. However, it leaves quite a bit up for interpretation. As the Nashua Telegraph reports, the law “prohibits any executive branch official from ‘directly’ taking part in hiring, firing, setting the pay or supervising a spouse, child, parent, sibling or close relation by marriage.” Continue Reading
Getting By, Getting Ahead: More On The Upper Valley’s Strengths–And Challenges–In The Start-Up Economy
Amanda Loder / StateImpact New Hampshire
The Upper Valley is a natural incubator for high-tech start-up activity.
This week for our series “Getting By, Getting Ahead,” which looks at the personal stories behind New Hampshire’s economy, we’ve been focusing on start-ups in the Upper Valley. Bioengineering entrepreneur Tillman Gerngross was the subject of our latest profile. Recently, we discussed the regional start-up scene on All Things Considered.