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.
With stimulus funding to the Green Launching Pad shut off, the start-up incubator is considering how to continue its work
The challenge of growing New Hampshire’s green economy just got more difficult. Federal stimulus funding for the state’s chief eco-friendly business incubator dried up at the end of April. Now, the University of New Hampshire‘s Green Launching Pad program is rooting around for private funding to keep the program going. Although early GLP grant funding went to small start-ups, the last round of federal money actually went to established manufacturers to fund job growth.
And as we’ve previously reported, calculating job creation and other economic impacts of the Green Launching Pad is tricky business. Continue Reading →
The accident that killed Redhook Brewery worker Benjamin Harris shocked New Englanders. At seven o’clock on a Friday morning, the 26-year old newlywed and father-to-be was doing a routine task at the Portsmouth plant–pumping a plastic keg full of compressed air so that he could clean it.
The keg exploded, mortally wounding Harris in the chest and head.
Now OSHA‘s investigating. The agency says it could be months before it knows what, exactly, is responsible for Benjamin Harris’ death, and if the incident was just a freak accident, or something the brewery could have prevented. Foster’s Daily Democrat reports Vice President of Commercial Operations, Andy Thomas confirmed “the keg that ruptured and critically injured Harris was not owned or used by Redhook Brewery, nor was the keg owned by any other brewery operated by Craft Brew Alliance, Inc., Redhook’s owner and operator.”
The notion of breweries as potentially dangerous places to work isn’t necessarily something that would occur to many people outside the industry. It can be easy to forget that breweries are manufacturers, and that the people working in these facilities are dealing with difficult and dangerous equipment. With that in mind, we’ve been gathering information this week to try to put this accident into context. How common are brewery accidents compared to other manufacturers? And what are the most common types of hazards these workers face? Continue Reading →
It’s that time again! A time when we at StateImpact sit back and sift through the crowd’s collective wisdom to bring you the Top 5 Must Read Posts of the week. And we’ve got a rather diverse roundup this week, spanning fishing and politics, indie booksellers and foreclosure funds. Here, ready for your perusal, is the Essential StateImpact:
Staying Afloat: One NH Fisherman’s Struggle To Keep Fishing: Our top post of the week breaks down why the feds changed groundfishing regulations, and how those changes are challenging a long-time fisherman’s livelihood. And, it’s got a slideshow.
NH Plays Waiting Game For Foreclosure Settlement Money: New Hampshire has a healthy slice of a massive settlement with the big banks coming. But there’s a lot of work to be done before the state–or foreclosed families–see a penny of it.
NH's revenue situation isn't as bad as originally projected
Although revenues haven’t quite pulled New Hampshire away from a budget shortfall, it seems that day could be approaching. As Kevin Landrigan reports for TheLobbyNH.com:
“The state took in $251 million in April, which was $2.1 million – or less than 1 percent – below the estimate that House and Senate budget writers had come up with nearly a year ago.
Late last week, top legislative leaders had feared that April would be off by $12 million or more.”
With two months to go before the fiscal year wraps-up, Landrigan writes that the state’s raked in about $1.9 billion, and is only $32 million away from making the projected forecast. And Administrative Services Commissioner Linda Hodgdon is reasonably optimistic that the state could clear a good chunk of that shortfall away, if not eliminate it altogether. Continue Reading →
It will be awhile before NH sees a dollar of the historic bank settlement
After announcing New Hampshire’s share of a $43 billion multi-state settlement with the country’s biggest banks, the Granite State’s officially in waiting-game-mode. Although the settlement was announced in February, it didn’t get the official approval until April. Now, banks have to sift through paperwork, which could take months. As Jake Berry explains in the Nashua Telegraph:
“Because the money will be distributed directly from the five banks [Bank of America, Citigroup, GMAC, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo], rather than the state or federal government, it’s impossible to tell how many people will receive money under the settlement. But Delaney said Monday that the number of homeowners calling the attorney general’s office for assistance has tripled since the settlement was announced.” Continue Reading →
Tied into the story of downtown development are some interesting narrative nuggets about an indie bookstore
The fact that developer Steve Duprey has another project in the works isn’t terribly surprising. What is rather intriguing about his latest venture–a 70,000 square foot, five floor edifice on South Main Street in Concord–is one of the slated tenants: A much-expanded Gibson’s Bookstore. Ben Leubsdorf of the Concord Monitor writes:
“Duprey said he’s particularly excited to have Gibson’s Bookstore in his new building, a move he said would restore the community meeting place that was lost last year when Borders went bankrupt. The former Borders on Fort Eddy Road is now a Books-A-Million. Continue Reading →
Not long after launching his general election campaign in Manchester, presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney hit the Seacoast
Both the Obama and Romney camps campaigned in New Hampshire today. Governor Romney made a stop along the waterfront in Portsmouth with fellow Republican–and US Senator–Kelly Ayotte. Meanwhile, Lilly Ledbetter (of Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act fame–more on that in a minute) campaigned for Obama in Hanover. And both, in their own ways, focused on issues tied to jobs and the economy.
How–And Why–NH Resurrected A Help Center For Women Entrepreneurs: The return of a women entrepreneur-oriented help center has been a cause for celebration in the state’s business community. We explain how the new Center for Women’s Business Advancement hopes to avoid some of the pitfalls its predecessor faced.
President Obama's adopted student debt as one of his big campaign issues
One of the stories we try to check-up on regularly at StateImpact is New Hampshire’s student debt situation. The average Granite Stater carries $31,000 in student debt–more than anyone else in the country. The US House is set to vote today on whether cuts to student loan interest rates will expire this summer. If so, the interest rate will double, from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent.
And, as a number of media outlets have noted, President Obama’s latched onto the student debt debate as a campaign issue.
Opposition is swirling around a new type of genetically modified corn
One of our most popular posts has been our Q&A with former Stonyfield CEO and organic food crusader Gary Hirshberg. A substantial part of our interview revolved around a new kind of genetically modified corn designed to withstand harsher chemical treatment. Opponents (like Hirshberg) have taken to calling it “Agent Orange corn.” At the time we talked with Hirshberg, it was a well-known issue among natural food activists and environmentalist-types, but mainstream coverage was a bit sparse. Now, Lucia Graves of the HuffingtonPost writes that opposition to this new breed of corn has intensified:
“A new kind of genetically modified crop under the brand name of ‘Enlist’ — known by its critics as ‘Agent Orange corn’ — has opponents pushing U.S. regulators to scrutinize the product more closely and reject an application by Dow AgroSciences to roll out its herbicide-resistant seeds.
The corn has been genetically engineered to be immune to 2,4-D, an ingredient used in Agent Orange that some say could pose a serious threat to the environment and to human health. Approval by the United States Department of Agriculture and Environmental Protection Agency would allow farmers to spray it far and wide without damaging their crops, boosting productivity for the agribusiness giant…
More than 140 advocacygroups have participated in a letter writing campaign calling on U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to reject Dow’s regulatory application for the herbicide and herbicide-resistant crops, submitting more than 365,000 missives ahead of a public comment period that ends April 27.”
Graves’ piece is well worth the read. It digs into the back-and-forth between DowAgrosciences and activists about the economic, environmental, and health implications of planting this corn, and the very nickname “Agent Orange corn.”
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