Amanda Loder was StateImpact’s multimedia reporter until the project merged with the New Hampshire Public Radio site in July 2013. She now serves as a reporter and Weekend Edition Host for NHPR. You can continue to follow her work at @AmandaLoderNHPR, at nhpr.org, and on New Hampshire Public Radio.
After months of wondering about her future as an educator, Jillian Corey got some good news.
This summer, we’ve been looking at how individual Granite Staters are faring in the recovering economy with our series, “Getting By, Getting Ahead.” Last week, we delved into some of the issues facing the Manchester school district, and shared the story of an area teacher who was part of the district’s mass lay-offs in the spring. Thirty-two year old Jillian Corey had taught English at Memorial High School, and was wrestling with the possibility of leaving teaching so that she could make her house payment.
Now, however, things are starting to turn around for Corey. Continue Reading →
The market for high-end lakefront properties has slowed down along Lake Winnipesaukee.
Tomorrow morning on NHPR, we’ll hear more from Joe Skiffington, a builder of high-end vacation homes in the Lakes Region. Joe’s story is Part Six of our series “Getting By, Getting Ahead,” examining how people across New Hampshire’s seven regions are navigating a recovering economy.
___
Driving through New Hampshire’s Lakes Region, it’s not uncommon to stumble onto networks of private roads. They lead to waterfront mansions — summer getaways for wealthy executives from places like Boston and New York. One of them, on Lake Winnipesaukee, belongs to Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, whose family gathered here for an annual vacation earlier this month.
Wealthy tourists like the Romneys are crucial to the region’s economy, pumping much needed cash into local businesses for three months a year. For year-long residents, however, this dynamic creates high fiscal peaks and deep valleys. After the summer boom, restaurants don’t need as many waiters, there isn’t as much demand for household goods and construction projects slow down. For a New Hampshire region known nationally as a playground of the rich, the Lakes Region has the state’s second highest poverty rate — 6.5 percent — according to a StateImpact analysis of U.S. Census data.
Rich vacationers and year-rounders were affected differently by the housing bust, too.
“We were notified during the day. It was on a Friday,” says English teacher Jillian Corey about her layoff notice last May. “Many of us still had to teach class. And the kids were very aware that there was something going on. I was honest with them. I didn’t get into the politics of the situation or the money. I wanted them to understand that it was not a personal situation, because they become very protective of the teachers. It was not for them to be concerned about.”
“At Memorial, we had the [most] reduction in force notices given. We lost 29 of our staff. In the English department, it was six alone,” says Corey.
Teaching at Memorial High School is Corey’s first job as an educator. “I certainly thought I was perfectly safe from any sort of harm of this nature. You know, five years is a long time to be in a position,” Corey says. “So I was sad that the investment that I made in this community was being taken away from me.”
Corey says she still hopes to be one of the 62 teachers the school district calls back for this year. But, “I’ve certainly been looking for jobs in other districts. But when you have 29 English teachers let go alone in Manchester, there are certainly not 29 English teaching jobs in the state of New Hampshire right now.”
“I don’t pretend to have any sort of plan whatsoever about what’s going to fix this. I know we need more money. I know the kids need more money,” Corey says. “There’s hardly a person in this building that could tell you they have not lost their job, in this district, before. So this is an ongoing issue.”
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 fifth installment, we talk with a recently laid-off teacher in the Merrimack Valley.
_____
Jillian Corey seems to belong at Memorial High School in Manchester. A teacher here for five years, she easily navigates the school’s network of dimly lit hallways, decorated with computer printouts and hand-written signs.
But Corey, a 32-year old English teacher, doesn’t work here anymore. She was one of dozens of teachers and staff laid off from the school district last spring. As she gives me a tour of the school, making her way past open lockers waiting for their final summer wash-down, the maintenance staffers and occasional educator aren’t bothered. Even if Corey doesn’t officially work here anymore, no one finds it strange that she would pop in.
When we arrive at her old classroom, however, a locked door shatters the illusion. “Um…unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll be able to get into this particular classroom of mine,” Corey says, as we try to track down another classroom where we can sit down and talk.
The Manchester school district layoffs last spring were a result of both local and national forces
Tomorrow on Morning Edition on NHPR, you can catch the latest installment of our series, “Getting By, Getting Ahead.” This summer, StateImpact is looking at the personal stories behind New Hampshire’s recovering economy. Tomorrow’s piece will focus on one of the dozens of teachers laid-off from the Manchester school district. Reporter Amanda Loder recently discussed the district’s funding issues with All Things Considered host Brady Carlson. If you would like to know more about the local and national forces that helped shape the layoff decision, you can also check out our Merrimack Valley Economic Snapshot.
And we invite you to visit our new web feature, which includes an interactive map, more economic perspectives from the people we’re spotlighting this summer, and links to more “Getting By, Getting Ahead” coverage. It also includes ways to share your story of life during the economic recovery.
The Manchester School District's funding struggles this year are indicative of troubles schools around the country are facing.
Tomorrow morning on NHPR, we’ll hear from Jillian Corey, ahigh school English teacher recently laid off from the Manchester school district. Jillian’s story is Part Five of our series “Getting By, Getting Ahead,” examining how people across New Hampshire’s seven regions are navigating a recovering economy.
___
As unemployment across the country has slowly abated, one sector has been a consistent drag: state and local government. Unlike the federal government, states and cities can’t borrow their way out of a fiscal crisis. So when the recession battered state and local revenues, many agencies had no choice but to lay off workers.
It’s a familiar story in New Hampshire, nowhere more so than in the Merrimack Valley. The region is home to Concord, the seat of state government, as well as Manchester and Nashua, the state’s largest cities. When the recession hit and the legislature began cutting the state budget, dozens of state workers at agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Corrections received pink slips. Municipalities saw state contributions to their coffers shrink. And these communities, in turn, found themselves having to trim their budgets and cut public jobs.
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!'”
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.
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
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.
_____
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 →
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.
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, aboutique 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.
___
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 →
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.
“We’re in an industry that is not entirely recession-proof,” says Adimab co-founder and CEO Tillman Gerngross. “But the drug industry is a lot less volatile and subject to discretionary spending, because people get sick and they need drugs. Fortunately, we’ve been able to establish a sort of leadership position in the discovery of antibody-based therapies, and [the pharmaceutical industry] is very interested in accessing that capability.”
Unlike some Upper Valley start-ups, Gerngross says he’s had no trouble recruiting new employees for Adimab. “This is a very technology-driven company. And people that are really good at what they do, they want to play with other people that are really good at what they do. So the attraction is not necessarily geographic location. We have hired a lot of people from out-of-state.”
“Dartmouth is certainly a source of talent for us. But I would suggest, in general, most of our employees are at least college-educated. I would say probably more than half of them have advanced degrees, Ph.D’s, Master’s,” Gengross says. “And so those people, they’re done with grad school, and thinking about what they’re going to do next. And at that point in time, they are, in fact, quite mobile.”
“We just believe in, if you help us build a great company, you’re going to get rewarded disproportionately,” Gerngross says. “And that has helped us a lot to create a culture here that is very loyal. We’ve had very, very few people leave. And we’ve not had issues with people leaving to go to competing companies. None, in fact.”
“What has really helped is my previous company [GlycoFi]. A lot of people worked for that company. That company had been acquired [by Merck]. It’s now a Merck research site here. So not only do they have fairly stable jobs here,” Gerngross says, “but they made out very well financially, and word has gotten out that we treat people fairly, we want them to be part of something exciting and something that creates real value.”
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 third installment, we visit a biotech start-up in the Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee region.
_____
Deep inside a nondescript business park in Lebanon, a blocky, industrial building is getting a facelift. The inside has already been revamped, with big, glass-walled hallways and bright orange accent walls. Every so often, the staccato of hammers, whirring of drills and hiss of nail guns disrupt the quiet.
But those are just the sounds you want to hear when you’re running a young business you want to grow.
And that’s just what’s happening at the drug discovery company Adimab in Lebanon. Continue Reading →
About StateImpact
StateImpact seeks to inform and engage local communities with broadcast and online news focused on how state government decisions affect your lives. Learn More »
