One of the signatures of New Hampshire’s Liquor Commission is its determination to compete with other states by offering low-price and sales-tax-free booze in convenient border locations. And revenue reports bear out this approach. Most often, we hear about heavy cross-border traffic from Massachusetts–after all, there’s a good reason why so many of the top-selling state liquor stores are easy commutes from the Bay State (complete with their own exits off the interstate).
“Maine bar owners and others who buy large volumes of liquor in New Hampshire and resell it in Maine are costing the state $4 million to $11 million a year, the head of the state’s liquor bureau said Monday…
Gerry Reid, director of the Maine Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations, said Maine loses an estimated 206,000 to 584,000 cases of liquor sales each year to New Hampshire, which sells liquor at lower prices and without sales taxes.” Continue Reading →
Hydro-Quebec says public opposition in New Hampshire has not effectively ended the push for Northern Pass
Looking at day-to-day coverage of Northern Pass, it tends to (unsurprisingly) focus on the New Hampshire perspective. Will the project provide a much-needed boost to the North Country economy, or just create a spot of temp work? What will the project do to land values? Who’s selling their land, who’s holding fast, and why? What are the chances the project could invoke eminent domain?
We also hear a fair bit about PSNH’s ties to the project, which makes sense, as it’s a major Granite State utility.
But what about partner utility Hydro-Quebec? After all, if Northern Pass goes through, it’s Canadian power that will be coursing into the New England grid. It just so happens that the topic came up as Lynn Moore of the Montreal Gazette reported on Hydro-Quebec’s 2011 profits. After noting the utility “saw a $96-million increase in profits in 2011 despite a $114-million drop in gross revenue from energy exports,” Moore writes: Continue Reading →
As in our previous posts, we're continuing with a light bit of boxing imagery for entertainment purposes
One of our most popular sets of posts has been an occasional series with a different take on migration into–and out of–New Hampshire. Using IRS data, Jon Bruner of Forbes traced where people in every county in the country were moving to–and from–between 2005 and 2009. Then, he generated a really cool map that allows you to click on counties and see how far-flung their competitors for residents actually are.
The question of migration is important for a number of reasons. The most obvious one, of course, is tax base. No government wants to lose revenue to somewhere else.
All things considered, New Hampshire’s economy is doing reasonably well now. But looking decades into the future, a larger-than-normal question mark looms. New England as a whole is facing a shortage of young people. And those young people aren’t having a lot of kids. While Bruner’s map doesn’t list migration by age, we can draw some reasonably solid conclusions thanks to other demographic info to fill in some blanks.
In our final post on this theme, we take a look Merrimack Valley migration. Continue Reading →
Here's your weekly roundup of the five stories that you liked best, pound for pound
Happy Friday! (Or should we say, “Happy Mega Millions Drawing Day?”) At any rate, as you count down the hours to the end of the workday and the start of the weekend, we’re happy to present you with our weekly round up of economy-flavored brain food:
The frenzy for Mega Millions tickets have increased the jackpot by $100 million today...and created long lines for tickets all over the country
Earlier today, we reposted our Losing The Lotto series to give you a bit of context about why the Mega Millions frenzy is particularly important to New Hampshire’s struggling lottery. Since we posted, the jackpot’s increased yet again–from $540 million to $640 million.
The Mega Millions jackpot is creating a spike in lotto sales all over the country
It’s a good day to be the New Hampshire Lottery Commission. The AP reports the commission is seeing sales on the order of “27,000 transactions an hour.” It’s all thanks to tonight’s Mega Millions Lottery, which, at $540 million, has ascended to Largest Lottery Jackpot In The World, Ever status.
It’s probably safe to expect news reports in the coming days (or weeks) documenting a dramatic spike in New Hampshire Lottery revenues.
While the Mega Millions frenzy is certainly a good thing for any state that plays the game, that goes double for the Granite State, which has struggled with declining lotto revenues for years. So in honor of the historic jackpot–and to give you a bit of context–we’ve reposted one of our most popular series to date. “Losing The Lotto” documents the people, facts, and figures behind the New Hampshire Lottery, and the state’s struggles against the larger, and more successful, Massachusetts Lottery. Continue Reading →
Yes, the bill's massive...but sponsors believe it will ultimately make life a lot easier for would-be business people
A pair of bills overhauling statutes governing LLC’s and corporations have been working their way through the New Hampshire Senate. The AP reports the amended SB 205 passed on a vote of 22-2:
“It includes provisions for electronic communication, conflicts of interest and provides an easier path for corporations to move to New Hampshire. Supporters say this will bring New Hampshire up to speed with its neighbors.” Continue Reading →
“Dollar General, the nation’s largest chain of ‘small-box’ stores that has faced some resistance in expanding to communities in New Hampshire, is planning to beef up its New Hampshire presence in 2012.
The Goodlettsville, Tenn.-based company said it plans to open 625 new stores in 2012, about 80 of which will open in four new markets — New Hampshire, California, Nevada and Connecticut.”
Callahan writes that the company didn’t return phone calls by deadline as she tried to determine how many stores the retailer wanted to establish in New Hampshire. Right now, out of 10,000 stores nationwide, there’s only one Dollar General in the Granite State, located in Nashua. Callahan reports that’s actually outside the company’s preferred business model, which is building in communities with 20,000 or fewer residents.
The Executive Council has a huge Medicaid contract to ponder
The Executive Council is scheduled to vote tomorrow on a new Medicaid contract worth an estimated $2.2 billion–believed to be the largest contract in state history.
But signs from an Executive Council meeting Monday suggest that vote may be pushed back. And the state may struggle to meet its July 1 deadline.
It’s a huge contract financially, handing over several billion dollars to three managed care companies to run the state’s Medicaid program. And it’s huge for the some 140,000 New Hampshire residents who rely on Medicaid.
Health and Human Services Commissioner Nick Toumpas says it’s a huge policy shift, too. “What we are doing is we are engaging these organizations to help us administer the program,” Toumpas said, “because they bring a set of perspectives, techniques that we do not have at our disposal.”
Here’s the state’s starting point: They don’t want to do anything to compromise Medicaid services. But they also want to save money. How do you do both? Continue Reading →
“Watts Water Technologies Inc., which operates Webster Valve, is building the new 30,000-square-foot building to accommodate new workers as part of its transfer of manufacturing operations from plants in China.
‘It makes me proud, as a New Hampshire resident and an American, that you have been able to bring your product lines back from China and bring jobs back from China,’ said Franklin Mayor Kenneth Merrifield…
N.H. Department of Resources and Economic Development officials have been working with Watts officials for several years on the project.”
Watts Water Technologies is based in Andover, Massachusetts. The company employs 6,000 workers in 70 countries. Franklin is home to its largest North American manufacturing facility, with about 400 employees. The company’s planning on bringing in the 100 new hires next year, once construction wraps-up. Monday was the ceremonial ground-breaking day, with Governor Lynch and various dignitaries in attendance. A news release from the Department of Revenue and Economic Development (DRED) quotes President and CEO David Coghlan as saying, “This investment will support our ability to make high quality products which meet the lead-free requirements that come into effect in January 2014.”
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