Before coming to New Hampshire, Gotbaum was at at WBUR Boston and at KQED-FM in San Francisco. She has also worked as a correspondent for the San Francisco Chronicle. Gotbaum has filed stories for NPR, The New York Times, Marketplace, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. She is an adjunct professor at Emerson College in Boston. A graduate of Wesleyan University, Gotbaum earned her Masters in Journalism at the University of California-Berkeley. She is an avid fan of food and cooking.
Yesterday, along with a group of business folks from across New Hampshire, I learned about the difference between “soft” and “hard” infrastructure. “Hard” is the obvious: roads, bridges etc. “Soft” infrastructure is human capital and institutions that cultivate it, such as community colleges and universities. Apparently, the state has deficits in both areas. Continue Reading
Businesses in the North Country are joining forces with other area groups to oppose the Northern Pass transmission proposal. The project is a joint venture of Northeast Utilities and NStar and seeks to build 40 miles of power lines through Northern and Central New Hampshire. The company has already purchased thousands of acres of land -a move that has angered environmentalists and many area businesses as reported by Kathleen Callahan for the New Hampshire Business Review:
“This would absolutely destroy the tourism business up here, without a doubt,” said Wayne Charron, who owns a gift shop and mini-mart in Campton, among other businesses. “People don’t want to float down the river looking at high-tension wires and towers.”
The owners- Northern Pass LLC- are fighting back with a major public relations campaign, writes Callahan:.
Among its claims — of which it also has many — it contends Northern Pass would beef up New England’s long-term energy portfolio with a steady source of renewable, low-cost power, create up to 1,200 construction jobs for New Hampshire workers and bring in millions in tax revenue for towns and the state.
Opponents of the project say they intend to use their campaign as an issue for the race for Governor.
Callahan writes:
“I invite other people in office to come out against Northern Pass,” said longtime North Country Executive Councilor Ray Burton, who last December announced his opposition to the project, which he equated to “an extension cord dragged over the top” of the region. “It’s an economic issue.”
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As part of a national campaign by the AFL-CIO, New Hampshire union workers and some small businesses will rally tomorrow to protest the loss of higher paying jobs in the state.
According to figures from The New Hampshire Labor Market Information Bureau,2,300 state and local government jobs have been cut in the last year. The average wage for these jobs was more than $20 an hour.
During that same period the state created 10,700 new jobs–most of which pay less than $10 an hour. Continue Reading
Households in the Northeast that use oil for heat will pay record prices this winter–that’s according to a new federal report from the US Energy Information Administration. Heating oil prices are expected to increase by almost ten percent this winter. The price of oil has doubled since 2004.
“If the weather forecast holds true it will be slightly warmer this winter but even so with higher heating bills consumers will be paying more.” says Jonathan Cogan of the EIA.
The price of natural gas is also expected to increase by 5 percent this year. Continue Reading
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Leaf Peeping Brings $1 billion into New Hampshire
AP reported Friday that leaf peeping bus tours in New Hampshire’s popular White Mountain region and other parts of New England are down this fall.
New Hampshire’s foliage season is the second most popular and lucrative time for tourism in the state, according to the New Hampshire Division of Travel and Tourism Development.
The state expects to take in $1 billion in tourist revenue this fall–a three percent increase from last year. Continue Reading
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New Hampshire Ranks High in High Tech
New Hampshire has a higher percentage of high-paying high-tech jobs than most of the country. According to TechAmerica Foundation–a research arm of the industry–the state ranks ninth in concentration of high-tech employment. That translates to 7.3 percent of the New Hampshire workforce. That’s above the national average at 5 percent. The foundation analyzed numbers from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics and found that the average high-tech job in New Hampshire pays over $85,000 a year, versus $44,000 for other private sector jobs. Continue Reading
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New Hampshire has the second highest rate of young people abusing prescription medications
New Hampshire is one of only two states in the country that does not have a prescription drug monitoring program. The other state without one is Missouri. But New Hampshire has another distinction– the second highest rate of prescription drug abuse among young people in the nation. The increase in abuse of prescription medications such as Oxycontin, Percocet and methadone has led to an increase in emergency room visits and an increase in deaths. Currently more people die here from drug overdose than from traffic accidents.
That’s sobering news for a state with a major prescription drug problem. New Hampshire lawmakers have consistently rejected setting up a statewide database that would allow health professionals and law enforcement to find out who is getting commonly abused prescription medications. The argument here in the “Live Free or Die” state is that documenting residents’ prescription drug use is a violation of their privacy.
The Obama administration disagrees. The White House sent its Drug Czar Gil Kerliowske to the state to defend the drug monitoring program. Kerlikowske says states can create a program that protects individual privacy rights. Continue Reading
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New Hampshire is among the top ten states with the most expensive health insurance
By this time you might know that New Hampshire has some of the highest health insurance rates in the country. The state is among the 10 most expensive places in the US to buy health insurance. At the same time we rank second in the nation, right behind Massachusetts, for high numbers of private employers who offer health coverage for their workers. The latest figures show that almost 100 percent of large businesses in New Hampshire provide health insurance and about 50 percent of small business buy some form of coverage for their employees.
But in a market where the average health insurance plan now costs families more than $15,000 per year, how are the state’s small businesses paying for those health plans and what are they getting for their money? Continue Reading
Frank O'Dwyer
New Hampshire has one of the highest percentages of baby boomers in the US
New Hampshire has a higher percentage of baby boomers on average than most of the nation: 30 percent.
“Relative to the rest of the country we have a larger proportion of that 45-65 age group.” says Steve Norton, Director of New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies. The Center released a report today looking at what will happen to healthcare costs in New Hampshire once all those boomers age into retirement.
The study found that by 2020 –the not so distant future–the state’s health care needs will be greater, and costlier, than they are today as boomers age. Continue Reading
Andreas Rentz / Getty Images
New Hampshire ranks second in the nation for insured employees.
The US Census Bureau delivered some interesting numbers that are difficult to understand. New Hampshire’s private sector workers have the second highest rate of health insurance in the US. Massachusetts, with its mandated coverage, is number one. That state requires larger employers to provide health insurance to employees. But how did New Hampshire with its relatively small number of large businesses and its mostly hands off approach to government regulation get the number two spot?
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