Massachusetts

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September 27, 2011

Why New Hampshire Is Second In The Nation For Employees With Health Insurance

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 […]

September 19, 2011

Invasive Insect Targeting New England Raspberry Crops

Here’s an eye-catching quote from Boston.com, “‘These guys will go for even underripe [fruit], and they look a little bit different – they have devilish red eyes,’ Johnson said. ‘And the males have a black spot on their wings.’’”

September 2, 2011

NH Lags Behind Most Of New England And New York In High-Income Taxpayer Growth

Here’s a new map from the Tax Foundation showing growth of high-income taxpayers from 1999-2009. What’s particularly interesting about these numbers is that they straddle pre- and post-recession years. So StateImpact naturally wondered, did the recession dramatically change where the high income bracket grew?

August 31, 2011

How Do States Get FEMA Disaster Relief Money After Irene?

In the wake of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene, there’s been a lot of chatter about another big battle brewing in Congress: FEMA disaster relief funding. The agency’s been underfunded for years, to the point that it hasn’t been able to keep some promises dating back to 2008. Some long-term rebuilding projects have been put on hold […]

August 23, 2011

More On The Massachusetts-vs-New Hampshire Economic Debate

Recently, State Impact examined New Hampshire’s economic development strategies and compared them to what Massachusetts is doing. “Six Ways To Look At How NH Does — And Doesn’t — Attract Economic Development” has been one of our most popular posts since the site went live late last month. Our post, in turn, was inspired by a Boston […]

August 19, 2011

Will Bank Of America Job Cuts Reach New England? Maybe.

Reporting on the big business news of the day–Bank of America cutting 3,500 jobs–Todd Wallack of the Boston Globe digs into possible regional fallout: “Bank of America declined to comment on the prospect of further job reductions or say how many of the job cuts will occur in New England. But Massachusetts will likely be affected because […]

What You Need To Know About The New Comcast Warehouse In Salem

This week, Comcast invited business leaders, elected officials, and the media to an event at the company’s new warehouse and inspection station in Salem, NH. Although the facility officially “opened” on August 17th, it had actually been up and running for a couple of months. (The Boston Globe ran a story about the facility two days before […]

August 18, 2011

Rural NH Childcare Centers Get A Pair Of Federal Grants

It’s been a busy week on the rural economy beat, thanks to President Obama’s newly-released rural jobs initiative. As part of that push today, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced a series of rural development grants and loans awarded to states as part of the clunkily-named “USDA Rural Development’s Community Facilities Program.” The idea, Vilsack said, […]

August 9, 2011

We’re #2…For Percentage Of Spending On Debt

According to the Tax Foundation, 6.9 percent of New Hampshire’s direct spending went toward interest payments on debt in FY 2009. The only state that devoted a higher portion of its funds to interest was…Massachusetts, at 9.58 percent. (You can find more surprising comparisons between New Hampshire and Massachusetts here.) Overall, New England eats up a goodly portion of the […]

August 4, 2011

Five Ways To Look At How NH Does — And Doesn’t — Attract Economic Development

Are New Hampshire’s low tax policies helping it attract economic development? The jumping-off point for this post, and a related post from last week, is data on the movement of businesses and jobs between Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The image perpetuated by area media more or less fits the mold of a piece in The Boston Globe […]