NH Business Review: March 27, 2020

MARCH 27 - APRIL 9, 2020 VOL. 42 • NO. 6 • $1.75

ONLINE @ NHBR.COM

Recipe for

FEATURED INTERVIEW

Q&A: AFSC-NH co-director Arnie Alpert

disaster

New Hampshire restaurants, supermarkets, distributors struggle through Covid-19 crisis

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Emotional intelligence and keeping calm amid the crisis PAGE 11 Helping employees feel respected and PAGE 14 empowered

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Communicating in crisis: What the experts suggest Accuracy, consistency key to crisis communication

BY SUSAN GEIER Photo by Allegra Boverman

NH’s public health plan for Covid-19 13 regional networks ‘grease the wheels’ for action

BY MICHAEL KITCH

Shelley Carita, executive director of the Partnership for Public Health in Laconia, watched as Governor Sununu, accompanied by legislative leaders and state officials, stood before television cameras on March 13 to announce steps to stanch the spread of the Covid-19 virus. “I thought, ‘Where were we?’” she said.

The partnership, serving Laconia and 14

towns in the Lakes Region, is among 13 Regional Public Health Networks, or RPHNs, that operate across the state in relative obscurity.

The RPHNs originated from a 2004 study that concluded that New Hampshire lacked “an established local public health system” and had “no formal mechanism for delivering public health services at the local level.”

PUBLIC HEALTH PLAN, PAGE 15

Across New Hampshire, businesses, schools and organizations are grappling with the ever-changing policies related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

It’s an unprecedented time for everyone, and with so many unknowns, the need for consistent, accurate and timely information couldn’t be greater.

Jayme Simões, CEO of Louis Karno & Company LLC, a marketing and public relations firm based in Concord, says most businesses were unprepared for this public health crisis.

“We are reacting, not acting,” he said.

“I met with a group [recently], and the responses ranged from ‘everyone is overacting’ to ‘let’s just see what happens.’ ” That’s not good enough, said Simões, adding, “the No. 1 thing any business can do right COMMUNICATING, PAGE 13

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Covid-19 set to slam NH’s fiscal picture ‘SUDDEN AND STEEP DROPS’ EXPECTED IN MAJOR REVENUE SOURCES

“A crystal ball would be great,” said Lindsey ‘Rapidly changing situation’ Stepp, commissioner of the New Hampshire Apart from the immediate impact of the Department of Revenue Administration, Covid-19 crisis on commerce, particularly who has been wrestling with the impact of the hospitality sector, the pall may cast the Covid-19 crisis on state tax revenues. a long shadow as some businesses “We know the direction, but not the mag— especially those with significant nitude or direction,” she said. debt burdens — fail to reopen once REGION UNTRY DuringLAKES the last four monthsNASHUA of theREGION fiscal the crisis has passed. year — March, April, May and June — the Stepp said that a DRA team state had expected to collect $795.6 million has been convened to constantly in general fund tax revenue from its three monitor and assess the effects of largest taxes — business profits tax, busiwhat she described as “a rapidly ness enterprise tax and rooms and meals changing situation.” tax, or about 30% of the $2.6 billion colBUSINESS TECH, ARCHITECTURE, ENGINEERING, HOSPITALS, BANKING, PERSONAL FINANCE, ENERGY She explained that, unlike states OW: FEATURE STORYby ANDthe JUMPS, FLOTSAM, OPINIONS, THE LATEST, ABOUT TOWN lected stateINinBRIEF, annual generalLAW, taxes. whose statutes andMORE regulations W: REAL ESTATE + CONSTRUCTION, EDUCATION, HEALTHCARE, TOURISM, NEWS, tax CHARITABLE GIVING, ONLINE The two business taxes were projected mirror those of the Internal Revenue W: AREA GRAPHICS, another TOURISM choice, CALENDAR, LAST WORD to return $427.1 million — $115.5 million in Service, New Hampshire possesses March, $147.7 million in April, $22.3 million ‘We some discretionary authority. In in May and $141.6 million in June, or 54% of know the particular, she explained, aldirection, but not the their planned annual receipts. The rooms though the tax rates and filing magnitude or direction’ other uses of the rainy day and meals tax was projected to return $111.1 dates are set by statute, the of Covid-19’s impact on fund require a two-thirds million — $25.8 million in March, $28.3 milstate can abate penalty and instate revenues, says state vote of the House and Senlion in April, $26.4 million in May and $30.6 Revenue Commissioner terest payments. She said the ate and approval of the govmillion in June, or 30% of planned annual Lindsey Stepp. department is “evaluating its filernor. receipts. ing and payment deadlines while Moreover, Sletten said the fedBut, Stepp said, the impact of slowing and trying to digest the IRS guidelines, eral government will likely distribute stalled business activity cannot be measured which are changing by the minute.” funds to the states as well as to businesses and the gap between projections and collecStepp said that, amid the changing cirand individuals to ease the fiscal and ecotions will increase with the passage of time. cumstances, the department is seeking to nomic pressures stemming from the crisis.

National and multinational firms, headprovide timely and accurate guidance to In particular, Sletten pointed to an increase quartered outside the state, pay as much as taxpayers. in the federal share of Medicaid funding, off70% of receipts from the BPT and 40% of Phil Sletten, policy analyst at the New setting some of the program’s cost, which receipts from the BET. Stepp said that cirHampshire Fiscal Policy Institute, described is likely to rise as both enrollment and costs cumstances in other states could affect the the state’s FY 2020-21 budget as “tight,” per person increase. tax liabilities of these firms in New Hampwith a small surplus recorded at the end of He added that “the state is partway shire as well.

February. through its biennial budget, leaving policy“It is very difficult to assess the situation,” He noted that the state’s rainy day fund makers limited time to make adjustments. she said. has a balance of $115.3 million, compared to The state has expectations based on anWith the closure of restaurants and bars, $89 million at the onset of the Great Recesticipated revenues that may not be realized, receipts from the rooms and meals tax will sion. At the end of the biennium the Rainy unlike other economic downturns. We can begin falling in April, when taxes levied Day Fund would balance a budget deficit expect sudden and steep drops in receipts in March are collected. Moreover, profits accompanied by a shortfall in projected from key sources of revenue.” from the sale of liquor and wine, projected general fund revenues. And the fund may — MICHAEL KITCH to total $40.3 million between March and be used to offset the lesser of either the June, will also decline while restaurants and budget deficit or the revenue shortfall. Any bars are shuttered.

Ernesto Burden Vice President/Publisher eburden@mcleancommunications.com, ext. 5117 Jeff Feingold Editor jfeingold@nhbr.com, ext. 5118 Liisa Rajala Associate Editor lrajala@nhbr.com, ext. 5158 Bob Sanders Staff Writer bsanders@nhbr.com, ext. 5136 Mista McDonnell Business Manager mmcdonnell@nhbr.com, ext. 5114 Jodie Hall Creative Services Director jhall@nhbr.com, ext. 5122 Nancy Tichanuk Senior Graphic Artist ntichanuk@mcleancommunications.com, ext. 5116 Robin Saling Graphic Artist rsaling@nhbr.com, ext. 5124 Kimberly Lencki Advertising Sales Director klencki@mcleancommunications.com, ext. 5154 Karen Bachelder Sales Executive kbachelder@nhbr.com, ext. 5148 Cynthia Stone Sales Executive cstone@nhbr.com, ext. 5146 Connie McCullion Sales Executive cmccullion@nhbr.com, ext. 5121 Ronnie Schlender Special Projects Sales Representative rschlender@nhbr.com, ext. 5150 Angela LeBrun Sales & Marketing Coordinator alebrun@mcleancommunications.com, ext. 5120 Emily Samatis Event & Marketing Manager esamatis@mcleancommunications.com, ext. 5125 Kristine Senna Event Coordinator ksenna@mcleancommunications.com, ext. 5113 Heather Rood Business and Sales Coordinator hrood@mcleancommunications.com, ext. 5110 Morgen Connor Digital Media Specialist mconnor@mcleancommunications.com, ext. 5149 Brook Holmberg Vice President, Consumer Marketing brookh@yankeepub.com Sherin Pierce Vice President, Retail Sales sherinp@yankeepub.com

‘Vital economic support’ SBA OFFERS EMERGENCY LOANS TO NH SMALL BUSINESSES, NONPROFITS Small businesses and nonprofit organizations in New Hampshire are now eligible for federal emergency loans of up to $2 million from the U.S. Small Business Administration.

The agency said the loans “can provide vital economic support to small businesses to help overcome the temporary loss of revenue they are experiencing,” said the agency.

Only businesses without access to credit elsewhere are eligible for the disaster loans, the agency said.

The agency said the economic injury disaster loans available to Granite State businesses provide up to $2 million with interest rates of 3.75% payment plans up to 30 years. The loans also offer a 2.75% interest rate for nonprofits.

The loans can be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills that can’t be paid because of the disaster’s impact, said the agency.

For more information, contact the Office of Emergency Management’s Joint Information Center at 603-223-6169 or jic@dos.nh.gov.

150 Dow St., Manchester, NH 03101 (603) 624-1442 • www.nhbr.com Subscription Information: (877) 494-2036 or NHBR@emailcustomerservice.com NHBR (USPS 413430) New Hampshire Business Review is published 26 times a year, bi-weekly (except for July and December), with an additional issue in July and December, by McLean Communications, 150 Dow Street, Manchester, NH 03101. Periodical postage paid at Manchester, NH. Subscription rates: One year, $32, two years, $55, three years, $80. Single copy $1.75. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to NHBR, PO Box 433273, Palm Coast, FL 32143. NHBR assumes no responsibility for typographical errors that do not materially affect the value of the advertisement. This publication’s liability for an error shall not exceed the cost of the space occupied by the error. (ISSN: 0164-8152)

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MARCH 27 - APR I L 9, 2020

That’s the spirits

Emergency help STATE SETS UP RESOURCE PAGE FOR BUSINESSES HIT BY COVID-19 The New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs has launched a website offering resources for businesses affected by Covid-19, including information about the U.S. Small Business Administration’s disaster declaration The BEA said that the state’s application for SBA economic injury disaster loans was approved on Wednesday, a move that will help small businesses in all 10 counties overcome the loss of revenue during the Covid-19 outbreak.

“We know that the Covid-19 pandemic is having detrimental effects on New Hampshire businesses,” Caswell said at a news conference on Thursday. “The BEA mission is to provide them with the financial and technical resources they need to ride out these uncertain times and be ready to continue operations.”

Caswell also outlined additional resources for businesses, including a resource portal that will be updated regularly.

The online business page is designed to be a one-stop resource, including details of Gov. Chris Sununu’s emergency orders, the SBA disaster declaration and how to apply for low interest loans, unemployment information for businesses and employees, and other state and federal resources.

Caswell said the agency’s team of regional specialists will help businesses access relief programs, address specific issues and concerns, and refer to professional business advisors.

“New Hampshire has a strong economic base and with some assistance, our businesses can minimize the effect they are having in these uncertain times,” he said.

The governor said the website is part of the state’s overall effort to help businesses.

“We are doing everything we can to ease the burden many small businesses are facing,” said Sununu. “These critical resources will help our businesses withstand the challenges they face in the days and weeks to come.”

NEW HAMPSHIRE LIQUOR STORES OPEN AND THRIVING

Schools are closed. Restaurants and bars have been banned from serving customers on-site. Even the state-owned ski area at Cannon Mountain has gone dark. It’s all part of the state’s effort to limit the transmission of Covid-19.

But one aspect of life in New Hampshire goes on as usual: state liquor outlets.

Look no further than a parking lot in downtown Concord for evidence. Before 10 a.m. on a drizzly day when public health officials are advising people to stay home isn’t prime time for selling much of anything. But the liquor store on the city’s Storrs Street was doing a decent trade.

One minute it was a man lugging a case of Ezra Brooks and hotfooting it to his truck.

“Please don’t interview me with all this booze,” he yelled over his shoulder.

The next minute Sylvia Santana was walking by with a fifth of Captain Morgan’s rum in hand. She works at a hospital ER department and thinks the state is wrong to put the public at possible risk by keeping liquor stores open.

“They should be all closed down except for grocery stores, because people need to eat,” she said. “But it is what it is.”

One thing liquor stores definitely are, is

a key source of money for the state. Last month, for instance, New Hampshire Liquor Commission profits netted the state $9 million. And at a time when other sources of state revenue — money from business taxes, and the rooms and meals levy — are likely to be hit hard by coronavirus, there is a financial incentive to keep the stores open and move as much product possible.

And that appears to be what the commission is doing. In a statement, a state Liquor Commission spokesman called sales “brisk,” noting: “We have observed some consumers stocking up.” The statement also noted that state liquor outlets are running what it called a “bottle bucks” promo to incentivize purchases over $150.

Shutting down state liquor stores is rare; in recent years it’s happened only occasionally in cases of extreme weather. And they typically stay open year-round save Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving Day. So far, there’s been no public talk from the commission of not sticking to that schedule.

Still, some customers aren’t taking any chances.

“Well, I just bought two bottles, just in case they aren’t open,” said Phil Lawrence, moments after exiting the Storrs Street store.

This story is being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information, visit collaborativenh.org.

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Tax timeout

based on payroll, property taxes and sales. Sales are double-weighted, so the final bill is based half on sales and the payroll and property taxes make up the other half.

NEW HAMPSHIRE HOUSE OKS DELAY IN About half the states use a single sales factor, SINGLE SALES FACTOR IMPLEMENTATION meaning that only a company’s sales determine what percentage of profits should be taxed in each state.

This is used to attract manufacturers, which, since The New Hampshire House, in an early morning they sell most of their goods out of state, would vote and without debate on March 13, passed House mean paying hardly any business taxes in their home Bill 1200, which as amended would put off using the state — think Timberland, Velcro or BAE Systems. single sales factor in determining business taxes for On the other hand, it would mean New Hampshire four years.

NASHUA REGION LAKES REGION UNTRY would get a larger share of business taxes from outLarge multistate businesses have been pushing of-state retailers, like Walmart and Target. for a single sales factor for years, and it was finally When enacted, lawmakers thought the state would come out ahead, but the Department of Revenue Administration isn’t so sure, since sales can be much more volBUSINESS TECH, ARCHITECTURE, ENGINEERING, HOSPITALS, BANKING, PERSONAL FINANCE, ENERGY atile from year to year. So the measure that OW: FEATURE STORY AND JUMPS, IN BRIEF, FLOTSAM, LAW, OPINIONS, THE LATEST, ABOUT TOWN was enacted won’t take effect until JanuW: REAL ESTATE + CONSTRUCTION, EDUCATION, HEALTHCARE, TOURISM, NEWS, CHARITABLE aryGIVING, 2022.MORE ONLINE W: AREA GRAPHICS, another TOURISM choice, CALENDAR, LAST WORD The new bill, HB 1200, would delay the change further, to January 2026. The House Ways and Means Committee wants more time to see how market-based sourcing, also passed last year, is working out.

Market-based sourcing was another apportionment change, this one aimed at services companies, like accounting and engineering firms, on how they calculate the sales factor. passed with little attention when it was inserted into This change was more of a no-brainer in terms of last year’s compromise budget. a net positive for the state, according to DRA estiSingle sales factor is how companies that operate mates, but the House Ways and Means committee in multiple states can apportion their business profits isn’t so sure, especially as the economy seems to tax bill. In other words, how much of their profits are be entering uncharted territory as the coronavirus derived from the Granite State? spreads.

— BOB SANDERS Currently, New Hampshire determines the BPT

Recognition NHBSR HANDS OUT INAUGURAL NH SUSTAINABILITY AWARDS New Hampshire Businesses for Social Responsibility earlier this month celebrated the efforts of the state’s environmentally and socially conscious businesses at the inaugural NH Sustainability Awards, held March 4 at Southern New Hampshire University.

The event also marked the organization’s 20th anniversary and looked back at the organization’s impact over the past two decades.

The 2020 Sustainability Award Winners were recognized for their demonstrated leadership in community, environment, governance and workplace efforts.

The winners were: Board Impact Award: Vince Perelli, chief of planning and policy at the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, who served on the NHBSR board for 15 years and continues to support the organization.

Cornerstone Innovator Award: Hypertherm was recognized for engaging its employees in sustainability from the outset and throughout the company’s everyday operations.

The organization also handed out Measure What Matters awards in several categories: Community: Timberland was awarded the Com-

munity award for embedding community service into the workplace culture, paying all employees to engage in 40 volunteer hours a year and organizing volunteer events such as Serv-a-palooza, which impacts communities worldwide.

Environment: Stonyfield, which began recycling and measuring water and energy use in the early 1990s and, in 1997, was the first U.S. manufacturing facility to offset greenhouse gas emissions. It continually works to expand sustainability efforts throughout their supply chain, packaging and distribution.

Governance: ReVision Energy, a 100% employee stock ownership plan, was recognized for its efforts to lead community solutions to environmental problems caused by fossil fuels.

Workplace: Mascoma Bank, which offers employees flexible scheduling, remote work opportunities and paid volunteer time, was recognized for building an open communications environment.

Systemic Leadership: W.S. Badger was honored for its range of initiatives, including donating to and supporting community programs, promoting a recovery-friendly workplace, providing employees with child care assistance, ensuring responsible sourcing across their supply chain and sharing their sustainability tools and resources with fellow businesses.

Student Change Agent Award: Richard Cabrera of Saint Anselm College, Caitlyn Jillson of Southern New Hampshire University and Rachel Vaz of University of New Hampshire were recognized for making positive and impressive changes on and off their respective campuses.

CONCORD:

Gov. Chris Sununu has ordered New Hampshire retail stores to temporarily transition to the use of single-use paper or plastic bags because of the risk that reusable bags could pose a risk of transmission of the coronavirus. In the order issued March 21, Sununu directed all grocers and retail stores in New Hampshire to transition to use only new paper or plastic grocery bags provided by stores “as soon as feasibly possible.”

WASHINGTON, D.C.: U.S. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan announced that the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration will provide $28 million in State Opioid Response grants to New Hampshire in 2020. According to the data used by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control to determine grant funding, New Hampshire had 35.8 drug overdose deaths per 100,000 residents in 2018 and 37 deaths per 100,000 in 2017.

Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer grants. For more information visit nhirc.unh.edu, email nhirc.info@ unh.edu or call 603-862-5446.

WASHINGTON, D.C.:

The U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has approved bipartisan legislation introduced by Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-NH, to establish a cybersecurity state coordinator position in every state.

Each state’s coordinator would help their state to prevent and respond to cybersecurity threats by working with federal, state and local governments as well as schools, hospitals and other entities. The committee also passed legislation introduced

by Hassan and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., to ensure that the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has the tools and information that it needs to protect critical infrastructure.

KEENE: Monadnock Econom-

shire recorded the nation’s second strongest month-overmonth growth in the number of information technology job postings in February, according to a recently released analysis by IT industry trade association CompTIA. According to the analysis, there were 2,252 New Hampshire IT job listings in February, an increase of 1,210 from January.

ic Development Corp. has hired Arthur P. Robert as president of the organization, effective April 1. Robert, 55, will succeed Jack Dugan, who served in the position for the past three decades.

Robert has been director of community and economic development in Framingham, Mass., and has held a number of other economic development positions in Massachusetts state government.

DURHAM:

DURHAM:

MANCHESTER: New Hamp-

The New Hampshire Innovation Research Center is seeking grant applications from Granite State companies looking to conduct research with New Hampshire-based colleges and universities, including the University of New Hampshire and Dartmouth College. Grants funded by the NHIRC support projects under development in the private sector. Companies that win grants are required to provide matching dollars or services and are offered additional training in grant writing to apply for federally funded Small Business

The University of New Hampshire is starting the first study to evaluate three types of cold-hardy hydrangea species for cut flower and landscape use. Officials say the number of farms producing fieldgrown cut flowers in the state increased by 60% from 2007 to 2017. The university-based New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station will spend the next three years evaluating hydrangea species to better inform farmers on key characteristics and performance, including the vase life of cut stems.

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➜TAKE

NEW England has the highest

amount of private sector workers with access to telecommuting benefits (11% of all workers), according to the 2019 National Compensation Survey from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. On average, 7% of civilian workers have access to telework. Most workers with telecom-

muting benefits are knowledge workers – 24% are in management, business and financial occupations and 14% are in professional services occupations.

NH Business Review presents NextGen New Hampshire, the next generation of women leaders in the Granite State.

The program will feature four inspiring women business leaders in a panel discussion on the importance of mentorship, professional development and pathways toward senior leadership. Panelists will also share pivotal experiences that had an impact on their career, tips on how to successfully navigate gender dynamics in the workplace and the value of bringing together the current and next generation of women leaders.

REGARDLESS of whether they

showed Covid-19 symptoms or not,

88% of organizations have encouraged or required employees to work from home, according to a

March 17 survey of 800 global HR executives, conducted by Gartner.

Organizations are employing a variety of approaches to time-off policies.

Nearly half (48%) of employers require employees to use sick leave first, then vacation leave and, finally, potential paid time off for Covid-19 absences. Just 6% are asking employees to take unpaid leave, if necessary.

Pubali Chakravorty-Campbell SHRM-SCP

Loretta Brady Professor, Psychology, Saint Anselm College

Sara Bee Financial Solutions Advisor, Merrill Lynch

Aimee Giglio Chief Human Resources Officer, Dartmouth-Hitchcock

RESCHEDULED TO Wednesday, May 27 | 8–11:30 a.m. | Grappone Conference Center, Concord, NH Tickets: $40 per person. Register at nhbr.com/nextgen-nh/

Sponsored by:

MORE than half (56%) of compa-

nies have communicated a plan of action to employees in the event of a Covid-19 outbreak in their area, according to Gartner. Forty-percent of

organizations have set up additional virtual check-ins for employees with managers and 32% of organi-

zations have introduced new tools for virtual meetings.

A survey by IT and software development company Globant of 1,000 U.S. workers found more than half

(51%) of employees say co-workers are the true reason they stick around longer at a job they’re considering quitting. In addition, 62%

of workers from a range of industries and company sizes say they want to know their co-workers even better.

A survey by Cintras Corporation of 2,000 Americans in early January revealed 90% of employees think

employers who deep clean their workplace restrooms regularly care more about the health and wellness of their employees. Eighty-one

percent of Americans think employees are more likely to value their job when employers supply high-quality, “luxury” restroom products such as no-touch dispensers, air fresheners, restroom cleaning services, restroom mats and scented hand soaps.

2020 And thanks to all the attendees, vendors and volunteers who made this year’s BOB Awards a night to remember!

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ABOUT TOWN 1. RiverWoods Exeter’s gala committee has

again named Seacoast Family Promise the beneficiary of its 2020 biennial gala and auction, which will be held Oct. 17. The 2018 event raised more than $165,000 for Seacoast Family Promise. Since 1994, RiverWoods Exeter’s biennial gala has raised more than $750,000 for local charities.

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2. U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan and Gov. Chris Su-

nunu joined Primary Bank staff in celebration of the opening of Primary Bank’s third branch location at 23 Crystal Avenue in Derry.

3. John Fifield, director of operations for Han-

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naford in the Manchester region, along with other members of the Hannaford team, presents a donation check to Eileen Groll Liponis, executive director of the New Hampshire Food Bank. Hannaford Supermarkets and its customers donated 33,664 pounds of food valued at $54,050 to the New Hampshire Food Bank as part of a hunger relief campaign that produced $1.4 million dollars in nutritious food and cash to food banks and pantries throughout the Northeast.

4. Tom Fisher, Childhood Cancer Lifeline board

member, receives a check from Lori Rowell, director of marketing at Pats Peak, for $1,305, representing the portion Pats Peak donated from the March Midweek Online Lift Ticket Sales. An additional $5,810 was donated by Pats Peak skiers/riders at cashier locations.

5. Last month, Ledyard National Bank donated

$500 to West Central Behavioral Health in support of their programming and services that treat mental illness and substance use disorders. Pictured here: Hope Duncan of WCBH, Julia Gignoux of Ledyard National Bank, Dave Celone, of WCBH and Roger Osmun, Ph.D., president & CEO, WCBH.

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6. Greg Legier and Dawn Beers of Franklin

Savings Bank recently presented Ellen Groh, executive director of the Concord Coalition to End Homeless, and CCEH Board Director Greg Lessard with a $3,000 donation toward Safe Spaces II – a three-year campaign to raise $2.25 million to purchase and renovate a building in downtown Concord into four apartments to provide safe homes to people seeking affordable housing, as well as support all of their programs for a three-year period.

7. Merrimack County Savings Bank has pur-

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chased $50,000 in tax credits through the NH CDFA to support the Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter. The bank’s investment will go toward the renovation of the former Sacred Heart Elementary School, which is being converted into a homeless shelter with several units of permanent housing. Pictured here: Randy Sivigny of The Merrimack; Michael Reinke, executive director, of the Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter; Linda Lorden, president of Merrimack County Savings Bank; Debbie Stoodley of The Merrimack.

8. A crowd of more than 100 excited members

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of the One Hundred Club and their guests got the first look at the construction progress at the private club in the heart of downtown Portsmouth during the February Members Social. The crowd eagerly toured the expanded space led by members of the Jewett Construction Team, the construction company responsible for the renovations.

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THE BOTTOM LINE VAIL RESORTS ANNOUNCES CLOSURE FOR THE REMAINDER OF SEASON

in New Hampshire — Attitash Mountain Resort in Bartlett, Mount Sunapee in Newbury, Crotched Mountain in Francestown and Wildcat Mountain in Pinkham Notch.

Vail Resorts, the corporate owner of four ski areas in New Hampshire, has announced it will close all of its North American resorts for the rest of the season.

The announcement was made in a statement from CEO Rob Katz, who closed the resorts on Friday, March 20.

“As the crisis of COVID-19 passes, our mountains will be here waiting for our return,” he said.

The company had earlier withdrawn its 2020 financial outlook, “given the uncertainty surrounding the impact of the coronavirus on the broader U.S. travel market and any specific impact to the performance of the company.”

The publicly traded Vail also postponed its decision to raise its annual dividend. Last year at this time the dividend was increased by 20%.

Vail Resorts owns 32 ski resorts around the U.S. as well as one in Canada and three in Australia. It owns four resorts

PRISTINE SURGICAL RAISES $18M IN THIRD-ROUND FUNDING

Pristine Surgical LLC, a Manchesterbased maker of a fully integrated, single-use visualization platform for rigid endoscopic surgical and diagnostic procedures, has announced that it raised $18 million in its third round of investment capital-raising. The capital round funds the completion of the company’s high-volume manufacturing capability, product launch and roadmap expansion, the firm said.

Bryan Lord, Pristine’s CEO, said the firm has developed a first-of-its-kind, single-use visualization platform for surgical and diagnostic rigid endoscopic procedures by combining high-definition digital imaging with advanced LED lighting, artificial intelligence and cloudbased software.

WORTHEN ADDS TO ADHESIVE OFFERINGS WITH ACQUISITION Worthen Industries, Nashua, under its UPACO brand, has acquired Henkel AG & Company’s product line in Mexico. The acquisition includes a portfolio of adhesive technologies as well as the sales and technical support staff.

Eric Worthen, president of the firm, said the acquisition “will enhance our wide range of product offerings.” He added that the footwear industry “is a core component of our company and we look forward to a smooth transition with our new customers, as well as informing them of our existing product solutions.” Worthen produces a wide variety of adhesives, coatings, laminated products and extruded films. It has operations in five U.S. locations.

MEDEFAB ACQUIRES ARIZONA COMPANY Jaffrey-based MEDEFAB, a manufacturer of plastic medical devices and components with a focus on single-use,

procedure-based disposable devices, has acquired Molded Devices Inc. of Tempe, Ariz.

MDI specializes in plastics processing, including plastic dip molding, dip coating, rubber dip molding and custom plastic injection molding. It operates from 11 manufacturing facilities strategically located across the United States and Mexico.

MEDEFAB’s customers include leading medical device companies.

XLCS Partners of Chicago, Ill., advised MEDEFAB in the transaction.

VAPOTHERM REPORTS 4Q REVENUE INCREASE

Vapotherm Inc. of Exeter, a global medical technology company that develops products used to treat patients suffering from respiratory distress, reported that its revenue for the fourth quarter of 2019 was $13 million, an 11.3% increase over revenue of $11.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2018. Net loss in the fourth quarter of 2019 was $12.5 million, or 60 cents per share, compared to $12.9 million, or $1.39 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2018.

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COVER STORY

Recipe for NORTH COUNTRY

LAKES REGION

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disaster

Staff on duty at Republic Café and Campo Enoteca after the restaurants closed for social distancing, from left: Cameron Bartlett, restaurant manager for both eateries; Justin Novitch, chef de cuisine at Campo Enoteca; Peter Macone, operating manager and partner; co-owners Ed Aloise and Claudia Rippee; Tricia Giovanni, controller and partner; and Ben Lubbers, sous chef for Campo Enoteca.

(Photo by Allegra Boverman)

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New Hampshire restaurants, supermarkets, distributors struggle through Covid-19 crisis

BY LIISA RAJALA

W

hen a ban was declared on dining-in at all New Hampshire restaurants from March 17 until April 7, Edward Aloise, chef and co-owner of Campo Enoteca and Republic Café in Manchester, was entirely caught off guard.

“One of my dishwashers was watching WMUR and it said the governor has shut down the restaurants in the state and they were using a stock photo of my restaurant,” recalled Aloise. “My phone started buzzing like crazy. That’s how I found out.”

In fact, the day before, Gov. Chris Sununu had told the New Hampshire Lodging and Restaurant Association he did not plan to shut down restaurants, said Aloise.

“It’s a close community,” said Aloise. What the governor told the NHLRA “permeated to the industry, and not 12 hours later, ba-boom!”

That’s how immediate the rising threat of widespread community transmission of Covid-19 crippled one of New Hampshire’s most overwhelmed industries.

Governor Sununu said he made the decision after learning of social media chatter among Massachusetts residents who planned to travel to New Hampshire to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, hours after Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker had announced restaurants there would close to public gatherings.

The additional influx of patrons seemed risky, and everyone interviewed by NH Business Review acknowledged it was in the best interest of public health to ban dining-in, but the hasty move will diminish New Hampshire’s booming restaurant scene and have a ripple effect on businesses and state coffers.

Pivoting operations The governor’s pre-St. Patrick’s Day announcement left “a lot of people scrambling,” said Mike Somers, president and CEO of the NHLRA. “Clearly they have a lot more inventory than they’ll need for takeout and delivery business,” he said.

The governor’s order allows restaurants to continue with takeout and delivery operations, including wine and beer.

“We’re going to lose all of our product because you can only keep it for seven days — then you have to toss it,” said a

frustrated Aloise, whose insurance broker informed him that civil authority is not covered by his business interruption insurance. The broker did recommend that he still try to file a claim. Fortunately, Aloise also has product liability insurance.

Takeout and delivery service is not the norm for his restaurants. Both specialize in farm-to-table, fresh fare.

“A lot of our stuff does not travel well,” said Aloise, who was fuming over the governor’s “lack of foresight” in making his announcement. He and his team quickly created a limited menu available for pickup and sought out additional to-go boxes.

“Delivery, I’m not sure about,” said Aloise. “We haven’t done delivery, and it’s not part of our protocol. You have to make sure your product is insured and drivers are insured. There is a lot of ramp-up to that. You can’t just do that overnight.”

But by Saturday, March 21, Aloise’s experiment in takeout and delivery service had ended.

In an email sent to customers that day, he wrote: “Sadly, the takeout program cannot generate sufficient sales to allow us to keep the stoves fired up in the kitchen at Republic and to also maintain the capital reserve necessary for our reopening when the world re-emerges on the other side of this crisis.”

For Keri Laman, president of Tidewater Catering Group and owner of three cafes in Manchester, dine-in “doesn’t tend to be the bulk of my business anyway.”

“We were uniquely situated because takeout and delivery was already part of our business model at two out of three of our cafes,” said Laman.

As she saw her catering business drop off to nothing due to canceled events, Laman and her management team met a few days before the governor’s announcement to develop a new strategy.

“We decided to stay open till 6:30 p.m., in an effort to capture some of the early family dining time, and have adjusted our specials to be reflective of that,” said Laman. “Predominantly, our menus were for the breakfast and lunch corporate market, but realizing families are home, we’ve changed the specials to be more hearty but still price-sensitive.”

She’s gotten the word out through social media and email marketing. The Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce

has compiled a webpage with links to local businesses’ social media sites, where daily information is posted, and point-ofsales systems Toast, Clover and Square have waived the fee for their email marketing software. NH Business Review has also compiled a list of restaurant offerings at NHBR.com.

“There are a lot of restaurants in this predicament. I am certainly very well aware of what my companions in this industry are facing, and we all are sharing that market,” acknowledged Laman, who didn’t expect a boost in business, “but a piece of that pie.”

‘Reopening is going to be just as chaotic and just as expensive.’

—Ed Aloise, chef and co-owner of Campo Enoteca and Republic Café

Challenges ahead Some restaurants, however, will not weather the temporary shutdown.

“Most [restaurants] are operating on margins of 2 to 5%, and that’s the good operators. There is not a lot of cash on hand anyway,” said Somers, who called the situation “borderland catastrophic” and hoped there would be federal emergency funds available.

“There’s a lot of concern about cash flow and how they access a small business loan through the Small Business Administration, but beyond that, the No. 1 concern of a lot of folks is, ‘How do we take care of our employees to weath-

>

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FROM PAGE 8 er a three-week closure,’ and ramp up for reopening, said Somers, who expected restaurants will only operate at 10 to 15% of their normal operations.

In his announcement about the shutdown, the governor said, “This will be hard, but we are all in this together,” adding that “service industry employees affected by this temporary change will be able to qualify for unemployment benefits effective immediately.”

To meet the high volume of claims, Department of Employment Security employees who work out of field offices across the state will be reassigned to process claims over the Unemployment Assistance Hotline (603-271-7700) and online at nhes.nh.gov.

“We can sit and have the conversation about interest-free loans and unemployment benefits for the staff, but restaurants survive on some of the smallest margins of any industry,” said Laman. “My heart and compassion goes out to the restaurants we may not see at the end of this, and that makes me very sad because the independent restaurants and food service organizations and bars and entertainment venues I choose to frequent, because I believe in the entrepreneurial spirit in the state, are going to be the hardest-hit.”

Aloise said he is fortunate that his businesses are debt-free and his vendors are not extended.

“We were ahead of last year in sales. We were expecting a very good spring and summer,” said Aloise.

Still, he faces many challenges ahead.

“Reopening is going to be just as chaotic and just as expensive,” said Aloise. “After you shut a restaurant down for more than seven days, when you reopen it’s like you’ve reopened for your very first day. You have to invest almost entirely in new inventory, especially Campo Enoteca, where most of our product is fresh. You need cash to recreate your product. You need your staff in here prior to the day to open … you need enough cash to do that, and a lot of stores just don’t have that.”

He said that the industry is “going to be dealing with this for the next six months, going into the busiest season of the year — summertime. Being the industry that is taxed and the one that is shut down, you’re looking at the state coffers and the budget being implicated. This is huge.”

Ripple effect As restaurants cut back, or even ultimately close indefinitely, other businesses will be affected as well.

Aloise purchases chicken, beef, pork, eggs and other items from 25 small farms and dairies, and that number increases to 45 in the summertime.

“A relationship with a farm is very different than calling up your Cisco district manager,” said Aloise. “I’m talking to a vendor partner. We have a greenhouse in Massachusetts and one in Loudon we’re not going to be using. Everyone is scrambling because the supply chain is broken and broken immediately. It’s one thing if there was some advanced notice, we’re going to be ramping down and these sections will be closing first than the entire state at the same time. It’s like a light switch, everybody’s talking about the closing.”

At The Common Man Family of Restaurants — which has 20 locations around New Hampshire — “we’re absolutely cutting back on our deliveries now to see what we can use in our restaurants,” said Vincent Vella, CEO. “We’re confident with the sources we have and the relationship we have with them, we can continue to get fresh product as we need it.”

“But,” he stressed, “you have to understand there’s a ripple effect from this that extends way beyond what you think of as normal supply, which is food. There are other businesses.

Our linen deliveries will be cut back because without customers coming into the restaurant, we don’t need table napkins. We have knife-sharpening services. We’re not taking in any alcohol or beer products, so we don’t need any deliveries. Logistically, it’s a nightmare for a lot of people.”

Further pressure The ban on dining in at restaurants “is going to put more pressure on the food supply because there’s more people eating at home,” said Mike Violette, CEO of Associated Grocers of New England, a retailer-owned wholesale grocery distribution center that supplies community supermarkets, country stores and convenience retailers across New England, New York and Pennsylvania, as well as their 14 corporate stores in New Hampshire and Vermont.

Grocery stores across the country have seen their shelves emptied by worried consumers, stockpiling in case manufacturing lines go down as Covid-19 spreads.

With 40 years in the industry, Violette is familiar with winter storms, which drive consumers to stockpile for a few days.

But “we’ve never seen a rush like this,” he said. “Our shipments from last Thursday [March 12] on have been much, much larger. We’ve shipped more groceries than we ever shipped before.”

And Keene-based C&S Wholesale Grocers, the largest privately held wholesale grocery supply company in the U.S., has seen a “substantial increase in volume throughout our net-

He added, “It’s a lot of management. Our warehouse management team spends all day cubing out trucks, seeing how much will fit in the truck, putting stops together. It’s one big puzzle. I’m not sure when it all comes out how profitable it’s really going to be. When you start putting all of the costs of overtime and everything into it, it does get expensive and it’s very inefficient.”

To accommodate the nationwide sharp demand for groceries, the U.S. Department of Transportation has lifted some of the regulations on drivers so they can work longer hours to get food supply to the store, said Violette.

“With all of these people buying exorbitant amounts, it’s obviously taxing the supply,” said Violette. “It’s really hoarding.”

Violette, who also serves on the board of directors of the Massachusetts Food Association, said that organizations have “been trying to get the message out, asking people not to hoard, because it’s complicating a problem. It’s one thing if people have the money to buy these groceries, but for people who don’t, there’s not as much [available when they shop].”

Market Basket, Walmart and other retailers have now set

Ed Aloise, right, chefowner of Republic Café in Manchester, prepares a to-go order on March 20, a day before he decided to end takeout and delivery because the service failed to generate sufficient sales.

At left is Ben Lubbers, sous chef at Campo Enoteca, Aloise’s other Manchester restaurant.

work,” said Lauren La Bruno, vice aside early morning store hours for seniors only, alpresident of communications. lowing them to access items loaded off the truck.

“I think the first thing people (Photo by Allegra Boverman) Restrictions on key household items are also starting should be aware of is there is to be implemented. plenty of food supply out there,” said Dumais of the Grocers Association said some stores are John Dumais, president and CEO of the closing down an hour or two early or opening later to allow New Hampshire Grocers Association, who has more time for employees to stock shelves, but no stores have been in regular contact with major supermarket chains and plans to shut down entirely. independent stores across the state. “There’s no shortage of “Because of the nature of the store, they have deliveries toilet paper, paper towels or other cereals or things they’re almost daily coming in, on a regular non-emergency basis buying extra quantities of. The difficulty of keeping shelves they have truckloads coming in everyday. Some of the sufull is from the manufacturer to retailer — there’s a shortage permarkets — it’s more than 60,000 different items coming of drivers to bring the tractor trailers to the store, so they in,” said Dumais. can’t get it as replenished as they normally do.”

And hoarding will ultimately put pressure on grocery in“There’s a huge driver shortage throughout the whole ventory, should it continue, said Violette. country,” Violette said.

“We’re being told by our manufacturers we’ll be on allocaFor instance, Walmart is currently advertising 500 truck tion now, so you might not get all that you order,” said Viodriver openings nationwide. lette. “You may order 500 cases and you only get 250 cases.

AGNE has enough truck drivers during a normal schedule, That’s what’s happened. So we look at how we buy things but “what’s happening is this type of demand — you’re lookand hold more stock than we typically would for these type ing for additional runs that have to go out and that requires of situations and we’ve been building that inventory before another driver than what we have.” this and now this is going to obviously deplete it.”

On Sunday March 15, he said, “we probably had an addiLiisa Rajala can be reached at lrajala@nhbr.com. tional nine runs.”

NH Business Review has compiled a list of restaurants and other services offering takeout, delivery, online ordering and curbside pickup at nhbr.com/restaurants-offering-takeout-delivery-and-curbside-options-during-covid-19/

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101 years of contributions Remembering the courage, service and style of Judge Arthur Bean

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Amid all the concerns and alarm the coronavirus has caused Americans and New Hampshire citizens in recent weeks, this writer —like most New Hampshire workers — is writing this column from home, remotely connected by technology to his office, hoping for the best — there have been reminders of great lives lived and continuity, which should help put current concerns into perspective.

As this confusion was evolving came news of the death of 101-year-old Judge Arthur Bean. Reading the obituary, and knowing the man, should put many things into perspective — for those who knew him and for those who did not!

One hundred and one years is a long time for anyone to live. Living it the way Arthur Bean did was an inspiration.

Born in Concord in 1918 on Armistice Day, he graduated from Concord High and went to UNH. He was within a semester of graduating when, after World War II broke out, he left to join the Army Air Corps.

Arthur Bean served with distinction for seven years, leading the 8th Air Force in raids over Germany 29 times, and was repeatedly awarded decorations for his bravery.

After the war, Bean went to law school at Boston University, still not having graduated from UNH. He was admitted to the New Hampshire Bar in 1951 and went to work in the Attorney General’s Office, serving under Gordon Tiffany and Louis C. Wyman. Those remembering their history know that this was an interesting time with significant cases involving Wyman and New Hampshire, including those of Uphaus v. Wyman and Sweezy v. New Hampshire, both involving the “Red Scare” and both resulting in U.S. Supreme Court cases upholding the right of the individuals.

Bean and Wyman opened a law office in Manchester in 1957, although Wyman had further political ambitions and was elected to Congress in 1962 and later was involved in the two-election saga against John Durkin in 1974 and 1975.

Bean was appointed to the Superior Court by Gov. Meldrim Thomson in 1977 and served until the mandatory retirement age. Those who appeared before him remember Judge Bean as a fair, gracious and good judge who served with good humor, and a firm hand when required.

After his retirement, he returned to the law, serving as judicial referee from time to time. As he grew older, more and more of his contemporaries passed from the scene, until, during his last years, he was

the senior active member of the bar, and affection for him grew further.

Every year, Arthur Bean had a foursome in the Pro Bono Golf Tournament.

Usually, with the help of imported talent, that foursome won. Even last year, at age 100, Bean played, and his foursome, with certain allowances for longevity, came in second, much to his delight!

A couple of years ago, at a Bar Foundation event at the Currier Museum of Art, when Arthur Bean was recognized, someone offered him a portable microphone. In a strong and stern voice, he said, “I have never needed a microphone to be heard, and I don’t need one now.”

And he didn’t.

Finally, during 2019, an estate that had been closed for a long time had to be reopened because of an asset that had

BY BRAD COOK

Cook on Concord not been included. Arthur Bean was named the successor executor under the very old will, and the original executor had passed away. I arranged for the heir who was involved with the asset to serve as the administrator and sent Judge Bean a form to sign to decline the appointment. Upon receipt, the spry and bright 100-year-old asked detailed questions about the estate, remembered the facts and could not quite understand why he should decline to serve, since he thought it might be fun. That kind of spirit and wit got him to 101.

In a great recognition of this remarkable life, UNH not only honored Judge Bean with one of its most significant awards last June, it also gave him an honorary bachelor’s degree, completing the course of study he left to go off to war.

Arthur Bean’s life was an example of courage, service and style. It should put some of the present problems into perspective, and it would be great if we had the benefit of his comments today, comparing this to the serious things he witnessed over such a remarkable life.

Brad Cook is a Manchester attorney. The views expressed in this column are his own. He can be reached at bcook@sheehan.com.

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Emotional intelligence amid crisis It can help keep us, and others, calm amid the Covid-19 panic Stunning.

If we needed the ultimate definition of “going viral,” we’ve gotten it the last several weeks with the novel coronavirus.

Reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) by China on Dec. 31, Covid-19 is a sober reminder for the need for speed in seeing, understanding and addressing a crisis. It has changed our lives while introducing new lexicons (social distance, self-quarantine), and new ways to meetand-greet (fist bump, elbow bump, foot bump, air “Hi”).

The human costs are significant and sobering. The global financial costs are as well, projected to be at least $1 trillion, with a global investment bank estimating zero annual economic growth in 2020 due to the virus.

On Jan. 27, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce facilitated the first of regular telebriefings for business. Led by the Centers for Disease Control’s Dr. Nancy Messonier, the briefings were transparent, timely and relevant. The rounds of subsequent updates saw the roster of countries with diagnoses grow dramatically from the initial dozen to the global pandemic status declared by WHO on March 11, only 71 days from the

BY CLARK DUMONT

Crisis Communication report by China.

The Institute of Alvin Toffler, the late futurist and author of “MegaTrends,” observes that Covid-19 has collectively brought us to a new normal. Why? Because the incident is being witnessed by all of us. It is ubiquitous, going beyond country borders. We are experiencing and sharing it as we have other significant events in history.

Its duration, severity and its longstanding impact will be seen in how it is already changing behaviors, including social distancing, self-quarantines and deep cleaning.

The incident and its impacts are beyond what are normal and expected. Domestically, it’s been stunning. Season suspensions for pro sports, the cancellation of the NCAA’s March Madness, the U.S. Capitol closed to the public, the NH Legislature suspended its session until April 10, sanitation protocols at town meetings, school and university campus closings with the pivot to virtual learning, theme parks clos-

ing, the darkening of Broadway, parades, mega events, major industry conferences and conventions canceled. Wall Street going from a bull to a bear market in days and oil prices free-falling. All of this — and more, along with the hoarding of hand sanitizer, toilet paper and water — is beyond normal.

Covid-19 has unequivocally taken us into uncharted waters.

It is a reminder that it’s “not if but when” an adverse event of unimaginable proportion will strike. It’s another reminder to think ahead, to have contingencies that ensure resilience.

During the unending news cycle, I received an e-newsletter from Korn Ferry, the organizational consulting firm. For leaders, it contained important reminders about the benefits in a crisis of Daniel Goleman’s four pillars of emotional intelligence that can keep us, and those around us, calm versus panic: Self-awareness: Goleman notes that selfawareness is when we are conscious of our feelings and our thoughts about our feelings. Being aware of your personal feelings puts you in charge, not your emotions.

Self-control: Goleman observes that the amygdala portion of our brain, the “fightor-flight” area, can quickly overwhelm and take control of the prefrontal cortex, the rational part of the brain that facilitates rational thinking. Goleman calls the amygdala the “bad boss,” while the prefrontal cortex is the “good boss.” “In a crisis, we want the good boss to show up to control the bad boss.”

Social awareness: Social awareness empowers empathy. It’s how we see situations through the lenses of others. In a crisis, engaging with others helps assure we don’t have blinders. To quote an African proverb, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go farther, go together.”

Relationship management: Goleman calls relationship management “friendliness with a purpose, the ability, through inspiring others, managing conflicts, fostering teamwork, and other competencies, to moving people in the direction you desire.” Each of these competencies requires self-awareness, selfcontrol and social awareness.

We may not be able to undo a crisis of the moment, but emotional intelligence helps to make the process of getting through the next crisis smoother, because it’s “not if, but when.”

We have not seen what we are experiencing in our lifetime. In the face of this crisis, be calm. While acting, be open to the opportunities it presents for improvement and resiliency in the new normal.

A New Hampshire resident and native, Clark Dumont is a Fortune 500 communications leader and principal and founder of Dumont Communications LLC. He can be reached at dumontcommunications.com.

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Minimum wages and automation Raises have to be earned to have any real, lasting benefit I recently attended a chamber of commerce event that featured a discussion with state senators and representatives.

There were several topics, but one in particular caught my attention — the minimum wage. It seemed most of them were in favor of raising it.

I feel sorry for anyone having trouble making ends meet. Even so, a legislated pay raise is not the answer. It’s impossible to raise everyone’s wages without also increasing their cost of living.

All businesses, especially small businesses, have to make a profit to stay in business. When we increase their costs, they have to raise their prices. Although employees may get a raise, their cost of living increases will provide a net gain of zero or even less.

Even worse, increasing prices often chases customers away. The increased cost of labor forces businesses to cut costs, forcing layoffs. Employees get a raise, but many get their hours cut or lose their jobs. How humane is that? The only way to get a real raise is to increase the value of our service, either by doing a better job or by studying to develop new, more valuable skills.

Yes, it’s a hard reality, but that’s the way it is. We compete with people all over the world for our jobs. How many people have lost their jobs because their companies have moved operations offshore? The more expensive labor becomes, the more attractive offshoring becomes.

The second big threat to our jobs is automation. If you’ve got a job that is mostly routine — look out. The more routine a job is, the easier it is to automate. The threat is not just to blue-collar workers. A lot of accountants have lost customers to TurboTax and other accounting programs. Lawyers are losing routine work to legal software programs. Many production control and materials acquisitions professionals have been replaced by material requirement planning (MRP) systems. It’s hard to find a profession that hasn’t been affected.

Many department stores now have self-checkout. What they’re really doing is transferring their work to their customers, but Amazon is opening stores with no cashiers and no checkout. When you take an item and put it in your cart, it goes on your credit card. You never stand in line. You just come in, get what you want and leave. You’ll see the charges on your monthly credit card bill. If this catches on, where are all those cashiers

going to work?

Although fast-food jobs were never meant to be careers, some people find themselves stuck in them. And automation is a threat here as well. If we can automate automobile manufacturing, automating the production of a hamburger is pretty easy. Fast-food outlets are experimenting with kiosks. Insert your credit card, punch a few keys to indicate your preferences and out comes your order, piping hot and untouched by human hands. Where are all those burger flippers going to work if this catches on?

Increasing the cost of labor accelerates the automation trend. The raise sounds great until we realize we’ve priced ourselves out of the market. A lot of people hate their jobs until they lose them. Then they wish they had them back.

BY RON BOURQUE

Improving Performance If we want to fix the low wages, we have to fix the education system. How much is someone who can’t make change from a dollar really worth? Not being able to speak and write the only language you know cohesively using correct grammar and spelling is another huge disadvantage.

Many New Hampshire companies are having trouble finding qualified people.

They’re not looking for rocket scientists.

In many cases, they’re willing to train new employees, but prospective candidates have to have the basic skills.

A major goal of education has always been to create a desire for learning.

There are a lot of people with the right attitude overcoming their education deficits by learning on the job and steadily rising in the ranks. There are a lot of millionaires with no college educations, but they know how to learn.

Ronald J. Bourque, a consultant and speaker from Windham, has had engagements throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. He can be reached at 603-898-1871 or RonBourque3@gmail.com.

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FROM PAGE 1

Accuracy, consistency key to crisis communication FROM PAGE 1

alternatives.”

“The biggest challenge has been all of our difToomey also stressed the need to speak with ferent audiences and the speed of the informaone voice to avoid mixed messages. tion coming in, and that it’s changing quickly,” “We want to create one message that is then Keane said. issued to all three campuses,” she Those audiences include not only students and said, adding that messages are faculty but parents, staff, partners and tailored to meet the needs vendors. of specific audiences — SNHU is known for its online destaff, residents and the gree programs, but it also has families of residents. a residential campus of more Toomey recomthan 3,000 students as well mended that busias 4,000 employees in nesses err on Manchester.

Residential the side of overstudents were sent home Crisis management team communicating. on March 13 and will be TOP ROW: BUSINESS TECH, ARCHITECTURE, ENGINEERING, HOSPITALS, BANKING, PERSONAL FINANCE, ENERGY For some organizations, planning and prepar“Be proactive. taking classes remotely SECOND ROW: FEATURE STORY AND JUMPS, IN BRIEF, FLOTSAM, LAW, OPINIONS, THE LATEST, ABOUT TOWN ing are already essential to their organizations.

Be honest.

Be GIVING, MORE ONLINE for at least two weeks, THIRD ROW: REAL ESTATE + CONSTRUCTION, EDUCATION, HEALTHCARE, TOURISM, NEWS, CHARITABLE pre-worry everything that could while Manchester-based FORTH ROW: AREA“We GRAPHICS, anotherabout TOURISM choice, CALENDAR, LAST hapWORD compassionate pen and have a plan. While we didn’t anticipate employees have transithis specific situation, we already have protioned to working from tocols in place,” said Cathleen Toomey, home except for essential vice president of marketing for The staff, Keane said.

RiverWoods Group, a continuum ‘The No. 1 thing What has helped, of care retirement communities any business can do right she said, was the now is to think of the health for people age 62 and older development of and safety of their customers with campuses in Durham, an audience maand staff,’ says Jayme Simões, Exeter and Manchester. and human. trix so that it is CEO of Louis Karno & Company, “We serve the highestInvolve people clear who those a Concord-based marketing risk population and are in the journey,” audiences are, the and public relations the largest independent Toomey said. best way to comfirm. continuing care retirement “Communicate, municate with them, community in northern New communicate, and managing those inEngland,” she said. “We concommunicate,” formation and distribution channels. duct desktop drills so that Schell reminds For example, Keane said, SNHU has a robust ineveryone understands companies and or- ternal website for staff, students and faculty that who does what. We According to ganizations to take is constantly updated, and it has a rapid response Cathleen Toomey, vice want super clear role special care of their team in place, answering questions that are compresident of marketing specifications so we employees during these ing in through a dedicated email address. for The RiverWoods Group, are not stepping on challenging times.

Toomey said employee support is critical and organizations should proactive, each other’s toes.

“Don’t forget about those that everyone pitches in. honest, compassionate “We have an entire work for you. This is an opportunity to build loy“A few years ago, we had a blizzard, and I live and human in their notebook of scenarios alty,” Schell said. “It’s important to show how close enough that I could snowshoe in. The CEO communications. responding to different much you value them.” and I were serving meals in the dining room,” said situations.”

However, there are still difficulties because of Toomey. “We are a 24/7 workplace. We do anyLauren Keane, assistant vice the evolving nature of the outbreak. thing we can to support our employees.” president of communications at Southern New Hampshire University, said the university’s crisis management team has been meeting daily for the past three weeks.

“We have had a crisis management team for years, and we meet bimonthly and do quarterly training exercises so we have a good foundation,” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has resources to help businesses, schools and she said. “It’s not just about having a crisis comorganizations communicate, including the following advice: munication plan that sits on a shelf. You need to have the team at the ready where everyone • Promote positive action steps • List contact information, ways to get knows their roles and responsibilities.” now is to think of the health and safety of their customers and staff.”

The second thing to consider is how best to communicate with staff and customers. Make it clear what steps your business is taking to keep customers and employees safe, said Simões.

“My advice is to take a cold, hard look at your protocols and be REGION ready to change.

Send a mesNASHUA REGION LAKES NORTH COUNTRY sage that you care,” he said. “Finally, something like this will happen again. Take the time to prepare and plan.”

The CDC’s communication resources

‘Communicate alternatives’ That ability to respond effectively is key. Now is the time for businesses and organizations to show how they can pivot and adapt to this evolving situation, said Robin Schell, senior counsel and partner at Rye-based Jackson, Jackson and Wagner, a behavioral public relations and management-consulting firm that specializes in crisis communication “Articulate concerns, address them, and help people through them,” she said. “Communicate

• Keep an honest and open tone

more information and other resources

• Describe the actions being taken

• Avoid jargon

• Describe what actions will be taken

• Avoid judgmental phrases

• List information on possible public reactions and ways citizens can help

• Avoid humor

• Provide assurance

• Finally, people want to know that you care before they care what you know

• Avoid extreme speculation

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Going Places?

Have we got a magazine for you!

This special edition of New Hampshire Magazine will map out the best places in the state to get a new job, buy a home, find the right school or stroll the sweet spots of local culture, nightlife and tax-free shopping.

Interested in advertising?

Contact Kimberly Lencki at (603) 413-5154 or klencki@mcleancommunications.com.

N H B R.C O M

Developing employee potential Respected and empowered employees stay committed to the business mission You spent a lot of time hiring the best candidate for an open position and, once he or she was hired, explained your expectations for job performance. Next, you breathe a sigh of relief and get back to your own work. Of course, that is appropriate to a certain extent, but effective supervisors know they need to continuously devote significant time to those they supervise — that this as an ongoing responsibility that can never be taken lightly.

Positive interactions between managers and line staff are critical to business success. Yet, according to a study by Oracle and the research firm Future Workplace, as many as 64% of workers say they would trust a robot over their manager. Ouch!

In her book, “Take the Lead,” Betsy Myers wrote, “Successful leaders are those who are conscious about their behavior and the impact it has on the people around them.”

Aboubacar “Tondi” Mahaman, one of my colleagues when I worked in Africa, observed: “People in power need to be aware of how little positive feedback it takes to create a safe and enabling working environment where staff are motivated and committed.” This requires constant self-reflection and attention to observe and understand what is going on in your team.

Coming in May Best Places New Hampshire

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I was surprised to read a recent business column in the New Hampshire Union Leader in which the author observed, “Any time you are dealing with people, you also have to deal with their individual problems. And that’s the part of managing that drives a lot of people crazy. I don’t mind having to deal with an occasional issue that involves conflicts in the office. But I do get pretty frustrated when there are personality clashes where people can’t get along, and I end up wasting time dealing with it.”

People problems and work conflicts are, for sure, among the most challenging aspects of being a supervisor, but successfully managing these situations is an important aspect of leadership effectiveness. The power and beauty of the leadership role is turning these kinds of challenges into positive opportunities that develop human potential and increase business success.

The right combination of feedback and encouragement can make a big difference in both the lives of those you work with and the bottom line. Sadly, many people are promoted into leadership roles without the training or support needed to navigate these workplace challenges. The result, too often, are suboptimal workplaces with unhappy employees, high turnover and low productivity.

Of course, it is best when people sort

out problems on their own, but unresolved conflicts can be destructive, and the right kind of intervention by a skilled leader can make a real difference.

Helping staff develop new skills and understand how their behavior impacts others is challenging work, but it can also be immensely satisfying. Employees will be more productive, and leaders who embrace this approach will be the most successful. Of course, you can’t solve every personnel problem, and sometimes staff need to be let go — but only as a last resort.

Balance between people and work tasks is key. In the early 1960s, Robert

BY DOUG TESCHNER

Growing Leadership Blake and Jane Mouton developed a managerial grid for thinking about a leader’s “task versus person” orientation.

Their model is based on two behavioral dimensions when deciding how best to accomplish a task: Concern for People (staff needs, interests and areas for personal development) and Concern for Results (work objectives, efficiency and productivity).

Blake and Moulton describe “country club leaders” as those who focus exclusively on people and lose sight of business needs. Alternatively, those who focus only on results foster a “produce or perish” environment that is punitive and counterproductive. The best model, they argue, is the “team leader” who successfully integrates both dimensions.

Team leaders are passionate about work, while also doing their best for the staff, inspiring people to stretch themselves to deliver great results. As a result, employees feel respected, empowered and committed to the business mission.

What steps could you take to fully embrace the needs of your people while also adhering to the business mission? What kind of leader do you inspire to be?

We each have an extraordinary opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives (including our own). Don’t underestimate your impact!

Douglass P. Teschner, founder of Growing Leadership LLC, can be reached at dteschner@GrowingLeadershipLLC.com.

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FROM PAGE 1

NH’s public health plan for Covid-19 cluding retirees — as well as first responders and social workers. The teams are able to assess and triage patients and assist with running emergency treatment centers and vaccination clinics.

The emergency response teams are trained to assist in managing operations ‘Constant communication’ at screening, testing and vaccination sites Beland has visited the Belknap County along with staging and equipping facilities.

Nursing Home and other retirement comBeland said that the rosters of the reserve NASHUA REGION munities, explaining the protocols and corps and emergency treatment centers measures necessary to protect the most overlap and together number between 50 vulnerable population in the region. and 60 volunteers.

Shelley Richardson, administrator of the “We are in constant communication with county home, said the facility has been our people,” he said, adding that at the closed to all visitors while staff undergo moment both teams are “on standby,” preTOP ROW: BUSINESS TECH, ARCHITECTURE, ENGINEERING, HOSPITALS, BANKING, PERSONAL ENERGY screening before entering the FINANCE, building. pared to be mobilized at a moment’s noSECOND ROW: liaisons FEATURE STORY AND JUMPS, IN BRIEF,Within FLOTSAM, LAW, OPINIONS, THE LATEST, ABOUT TOWN Principal the building, residents are practic- tice.

THIRD ROW: REAL ESTATEwith + CONSTRUCTION, EDUCATION, TOURISM, NEWS, CHARITABLE GIVING, MORE ONLINE ing HEALTHCARE, social distancing, meeting only in small The RPHNs operate lean professionApart from preparing for the onslaught of FORTH ROW: AREA GRAPHICS, another TOURISM choice, CALENDAR, LAST WORD al staffs, supplemented by volunteers and groups and being closely monitored for re- the virus, the RPHNs have also planned and ringed by partners from the local medical spiratory symptoms. prepared for what is to come. Locations The RPHNs field two trained volunteer have been arranged for emergency shelters community, public safety departments, social service agencies, school district admin- units, the Medical Reserve Corps and Com- if required. The partnership has arranged istrators and local government agencies. munity Emergency Response Team. The to establish a point of dispensing at Lakes The RPHNs, Carita explained, plan and train MRCs draw on medical professionals — infor public health emergencies, then marshal resources and coordinate measures to address them.

“We provide the infrastructure,” she said, likening the agency’s role to the ringmaster at the circus.

The RPHNs are the principal liaisons between municipalities and NH DHHS, enUpper Valley Connecticut Valley Hospital suring that the directives, protocols and Colebrook, 16 beds guidance from the federal and state govThese regions are ernments are communicated to local offiAndroscoggin Valley Hospital NORTH COUNTRY used for public cials. Municipalities are required to appoint Berlin, 25 beds health planning a health officer.

Region Community College and is explorand the delivery of Weeks Medical Center After more than three decades with the select public health ing a second site at the Belknap County Lancaster, 25 beds Gilford Fire Department and Lakes Region services.

Complex to distribute a vaccine when it Mutual Fire Aid, John Beland is the emerbecomes available.

Littleton Regional Healthcare gency preparedness manager for the Part“We’re ready to do that,” Beland said.

Littleton, 25 beds nership for Public Health.

Meanwhile, Vanessa Stafford of the New “I am one person,” he said, “but I’m workHampshire Hospital Association said that Cottage Hospital ing with partners throughout the commuWoodsville, 35 beds hospitals are taking steps, like deferring nity. We’re the boots on the ground. We’ve elective and non-urgent procedures to planned and trained for this,” he continued, Memorial Hospital ensure maximum capacity, reserving “and we’ve been here before with Sars, North Conway, 25 beds limited resources and redeploying staff H1N1 and Mers, but this is unraveling faster in anticipation of spiking numbers of pathan we’re used to.”

CENTRAL NH Speare Memorial Hospital tients requiring hospitalization.

Beland said that the immediate priority Plymouth, 25 beds Cass Walker, vice president of adis building capacity to minimize the presministrative and support services at CARROLL COUNTY sure on hospitals in the event the number Huggins Hospital LRGHealthcare, said that already tight UPPER of cases outruns the space and resources Wolfeboro, 25 beds VALLEY staffing levels could be stressed furto isolate and treat them. ther.

She underscored the importance Rural areas, especially in the northern Alice Peck Day of sustaining the health of personnel, part of the state, are home to a disproporMemorial Hospital WINNIPESAUKEE especially medical staff, and realigntionate share of elderly residents who are Lebanon, 25 beds ing shifts to accommodate the circumat the greatest risk for Covid-19 complicastances of individuals while maintainValley Regional Hospital tions. Apart from Dartmouth-Hitchcock ing an optimal workforce.

Claremont, 25 beds Medical Center in Lebanon, nine of the 10 GREATER Walker described the Partnership SULLIVAN COUNTY hospitals in the three northern counties — STRAFFORD for Public Health as a “key partner” New London Hospital Coos, Carroll and Grafton — are critical acCOUNTY in bringing the resources of the New London, 25 beds CAPITAL AREA cess hospitals with approximately 25 beds community together and preparapiece. CAHs receive certain benefits, such ing for the emergency. “They Franklin Regional Hospital as cost-based reimbursement for Medicare grease the wheels,” she said.

Franklin, 25 beds services, designed to reduce their financial GREATER SEACOAST Covid-19 may prove the stiffGREATER MONADNOCK MANCHESTER vulnerability.

Monadnock est test for the RPHNs and their LRGHealthcare has as many as 100 beds SOUTH Community Hospital partners — the key elements in New in Laconia and another 25 in Franklin. He CENTRAL Peterborough, 25 beds Hampshire’s first local public health GREATER said the plan includes designated alternasystem.

NASHUA tive care facilities in the area. Beds and equipment to furnish them are stockpiled, ready for staging. Likewise, he said, there’s an inventory of other supplies, including personal protective equipment, but he acknowledged “it’s not an infinite supply.”

NH Regional Public Health Networks and critical access hospitals

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FROM PAGE 1 Despite setbacks and detours, the system matured in 2013 when, with funding from the state and federal governments, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services contracted with the 13 RPHNs. And three years later they had developed “community health improvements plans,” which include measures to prepare for and respond to public health emergencies.

LAKES REGION NORTH COUNTRY “The coronavirus is shining the light on us,” said Mary Cook, emergency preparedness manager at the Seacoast Public Health Network in Raymond. “People are beginning to realize that we exist.”

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An inventory of beds, linens, protective equipment and other supplies have been stockpiled to meet public health needs, but ‘it’s not an infinite supply,’ said John Beland, emergency preparedness manger for the Partnership for Public Health.

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NH OPINIONS

To our readers

A message to our community from the publisher of NH Business Review SOLIDARITY ● BY ERNESTO BURDEN

S

omewhere during the second week of March, the already strange-feeling reality we were all living in here in New Hampshire took a hard, fast lurch to the surreal. If your business, your work and your life has been anything like mine since then, it may feel like three weeks have gone by in the space of three days. It may also feel like your primary daily activity has become reacting and reorienting your plan to the daily, sometimes hourly, changes wrought KING, PERSONAL FINANCE, ENERGY ONS, THEby LATEST, ABOUT TOWN our government’s work to clamp down on the transmisRISM, NEWS, GIVING, MORE ONLINE sionCHARITABLE of the coronavirus.

ORD But despite the psychic whiplash we may all be feeling, we’re also all getting on with it. We know you are, too. And there have been very good parts to the last few days: I’ve witnessed great acts of kindness and compassion in our communities. Bravery and resolution on the part of public servants, laborers in critical industries from healthcare, to food supply, to sanitation. And a genuine coming-together (metaphorically if not literally, given the need for social distancing) of families, friends, neighbors and communities to adapt and overcome.

I’ve also been proud to see our team at McLean Communications regroup, without missing a beat, as remote-

working professionals, and fire up their webcams, laptops and VPNs to continue the business of providing news, entertainment, information and most of all, connection, to our readers and advertisers.

Our entire team, from editors, writers, designers, marketers, advertising staff and operations folks, cares deeply about the publications we produce, including NH Business Review, New Hampshire Magazine, ParentingNH, New Hampshire Home and more. That devotion to the publications grows out of a love for the communities these publications serve, whose stories we tell, whose lives are so deeply entwined with our own. In the end, these aren’t just places we write about. They are home.

And while our communities are enduring this extreme trial, we want you to know we’ll continue to be here to tell their stories. Not just the urgent, critical stories of today, but the fun, diverting delightful stories of tomorrow as well, because even as we do the hard work of today, we absolutely have to keep our eyes on that hopefully-not-toodistant patch of green grass and blue sky.

At the moment, we have had to cancel some of the events we host and postpone others. But we plan, by working remotely, to continue our regular publishing schedules, and even enhance some of what we offer online.

For example, there aren’t many events for us to populate

our calendars with right now, but instead we looked for ways we could promote our restaurants that are weathering the crisis by offering takeout and delivery instead of in-restaurant dining. We developed dynamic listings that could instantly be populated across all three of our larger sites. And we’re looking at other ways to support our state’s businesses as well.

On a recent afternoon, the temperature in Manchester crept up over 50 F, and I took the opportunity to get out for a much-needed lunchtime run. As I passed through our neighborhoods, I was struck by how many people were using their social-distancing time to clean up their yards, raking, clearing brush, turning over the soil, generally preparing for a spring they know is coming. I share that optimism.

We’re preparing too.

There’s no calendar that can predict the exact date, but we’ll all weather this, together, and before too long, true spring will be here. Businesses reopening, parties thrown, friends gathering on all of the lawns I saw being prepped, spring. I can’t wait until we’re telling that story.

Ernesto Burden is publisher of McLean Communications in Manchester and vice president of parent company, Yankee Publishing Inc., based in Dublin. McLean Communications publishes notable Granite State publications including NH Business Review, New Hampshire Magazine, Parenting NH and New Hampshire Home.

It’s up to all of us to fight secrecy

Knowing about our government is crucial to maintaining trust in public institutions TRANSPARENCY

BY JUSTIN SILVERMAN AND LAURA SIMOES

W

hen Dr. Ed Kois left his private practice after 30 years for a position at the Manchester VA Medical Center, he expected most of his new patients’ injuries to have occurred on the battlefield. Instead, he found many of them to have been caused by poor medical care.

Frustrated by the lack of improvements hospital administrators were willing to make, Dr. Kois and several colleagues in 2016 went public. They used whistleblower protections and the power of the free press to tell their story and shine a light on the deplorable conditions at the Manchester hospital. Just hours after The Boston Globe reported a story based on information provided by Dr. Kois, the federal government removed two top officials at the hospital and ordered a full review of the facility.

Dr. Kois died in 2019 and was posthumously honored by the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications. Whether through whistleblowers like Kois or the

use of state and federal freedom of information laws, knowing about our government is crucial to maintaining trust in public institutions.

This trust is essential to our democracy and increasingly, given the current coronavirus pandemic, our safety.

When government authorities provide guidance on how to slow the spread of the virus, for example, we need to know the facts and data supporting their remarks.

When difficult decisions are made regarding medical care or the curtailment of civil liberties, we ultimately need to know how these decisions were made and why. Only through this transparency can we understand for ourselves if government is acting in our best interest.

The need for trust in our public institutions is why we have whistleblower protections and the New Hampshire Right to Know Law. This law allows citizens to request certain records that can show us how our tax dollars are being spent and why public officials make the decisions they do. The law provides us, for example, payroll records of public employees, police logs,

government expense reports, school construction plans and restaurant inspections. The law provides insight into how our government is working so we can know if and how it can be improved.

While Dr. Kois relied on his experience at the VA hospital to inform the community, other citizen watchdogs are using public records to expose questionable public policies. Nashua resident Laurie Ortolano’s use of property records and Right to Know Law requests recently led to an overhaul of the city’s assessing office. Hampton resident David Lang and the Professional Fire Fighters of New Hampshire used public records several years ago to show that public employee health insurance premiums were commingled with other funds. Local municipalities received millions of dollars in refunds as a result.

We are all capable of sharing these kinds of stories, but only if we take steps to strengthen our state’s Right to Know Law. We can do so by: • Supporting efforts to establish a Right to Know Law ombudsman.

Requesters have few remedies when denied public records. An ombudsman

would resolve disputes and provide citizens recourse outside an often costly and time-consuming legal process.

• Resisting additional fees. A bill was recently proposed in the Legislature that would have allowed agencies to charge citizens for records that exceed a certain time to produce. Such fees can be prohibitive to many citizens and they undermine the spirit of public record laws. This information, after all, is already owned by the public.

• Demanding transparency. As a New Hampshire resident you are entitled to public records. While the majority of public employees act in good faith, there are some who will abuse exemptions in the Right to Know Law to deny you the right to learn about government. Don’t accept “no” for an answer. Dig in and fight for the information you’re entitled to under the law.

The burden is on all of us — not just those like Dr. Kois — to fight secrecy each and every day. Trust in public institutions relies on our ability to shine sunlight wherever we find shadows.

Justin Silverman is executive director of the New England First Amendment Coalition. Laura Simoes is executive director of the Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications.

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NH’s restaurants need you and deserve your trust Supporting your local restaurants through this time benefits us all HOSPITALITY

BY TOM BOUCHER

A

s the world faces the current pandemic, we must all focus inward toward our local communities and working together to survive whatever the future will hold. As CEO of Great NH Restaurants, I never dreamed I would face the situation we are now in. If you’re like me, you are filled with more questions than answers, but you then realize that we all must be strong and march forward each day knowing that this crisis will pass.

Restaurants are a driving force in New Hampshire, always generously supporting our communities in time of need with fundraising support. The Covid-19 concern is real, and it’s important that you understand that supporting your local restau-

rants through this time benefits us all.

There are over 69,500 foodservice jobs in New Hampshire … 10% of the New Hampshire workforce! We must work together to ensure that we can hit the ground running when this time of uncertainty is over.

With just 24 hours’ notice, we’ve had to respond to the mandated closing of our in-house dining. Our leadership team has worked around the clock to figure how we can support our employees as well as the people of New Hampshire that count on us every day.

We were happy to learn that our hourly employees would not have to forfeit insurance benefits in spite of not being able to schedule them with hours. They technically are still employed and weren’t laid off. With our guest counts down some 80%, we simply couldn’t keep the hourly

employees scheduled. We did issue out $120,000 in bonuses to them this week, to ease the pain a bit until unemployment checks start to arrive next week.

We are now focusing our efforts on making great takeout orders quick and easy and urge everyone to order as frequently as you can. This is the only way we can continue to schedule our salaried managers.

I’m pleased to report our guests have been incredibly generous with tipping and we are pooling those to give to our hourly employees over the next few weeks.

Every single order will make a huge difference to every restaurant.

I’d like to personally thank Governor Sununu for authorizing restaurants to be able to include beer and wine with takeout orders. This will make some difference in our ability to weather this storm.

It is also important to remember that our team has always adhered to the highest standards in sanitation practices and have always understood how important our “ServSafe” procedures are.

Please order takeout from your locally owned restaurants as much as you can.

We hope you not only enjoy your food as a bright spot in your day, but also as a time to know that your order has truly helped sustain the well-being of New Hampshire’s restaurant industry for the future.

I think I speak for all the restaurants in New Hampshire that we can’t wait to invite you back into our restaurants and bars!

Tom Boucher is CEO and owner of Bedford-based Great NH Restaurants Inc., parent company of TBones, CJ’s and the Copper Door restaurants.

Ensure investment in our critical infrastructure

During a time of crisis, maintaining highways, bridges, facilities, water systems is essential ECONOMY

BY PETER KING

T

he scope of the coronavirus pandemic is something we haven’t experienced in our lifetime. Each of us has been recruited to fight an unseen enemy that is disrupting our lives, businesses and overall economic health.

State and local leaders have called on President Trump to put the nation on a wartime footing.

In response, the administration is speeding production of medical supplies and tasking the military to assist states with expanding hospital capacity. Congress is putting partisanship aside to act on historic stimulus relief for employers and their displaced employees.

In such a time of crisis, maintaining the nation’s critical infrastructure is also essential. Not only facilities currently in service, but those that are in development.

Our retail and food supply chains rely on the capacity of our highways, airports and ports. They must remain open so rail operators, cargo shippers and truckers can deliver much-needed medical supplies, personnel and goods where they are most needed. The continuity of our power grid, water systems and utilities — the building blocks of public health — also cannot be disrupted.

Each of these efforts requires national coordination and a will to keep America open for business. Each of these systems also relies on the critical involvement of

America’s engineering industry and its essential role in keeping America moving.

In everyday life, engineers are the unseen force that designs the modern world and all the associated conveniences we take for granted. In times of crisis, our industry remains an indispensable resource for continuity of government and the economy.

Currently, segments of the engineering industry are working with healthcare clients to mobilize in response to the coronavirus. They are working hand in glove with construction firms to design new temporary testing and triage centers and to retrofit existing facilities to handle more hospital beds.

Additionally, engineering firms are aiding the government by leveraging data to maintain situational awareness during this crisis. Many more engineering firms are working with the lead crisis agencies that are responding on the front lines of the pandemic and have been called into service by FEMA, the Army Corps of Engineers and others at a moment’s notice.

At the state level, however, the decision by several governors to halt infrastructure-related construction projects is counterproductive to the nation’s goals and promises to extend this tremendous economic disruption. Now is not the time to shut these projects off. It’s time to leverage them further.

Continued progress on ongoing infrastructure projects will provide a muchneeded and strong economic footing

when the inevitable recovery commences.

We all know one day very soon we will emerge from this predicament. The underlying economy is strong, and the recovery will be helped by ensuring that public and private sector design and construction projects continue to move forward.

In particular, the engineering industry should be encouraged to design now so we can continue building later.

Congress must focus their stimulus policies to not only help those industries and citizens critically damaged by the Covid-19 response, but also to help

businesses and employees regain their economic foothold — including America’s engineering industry — with real assistance, such as cash flow relief by postponing payroll tax collection.

These are indeed challenging times, but we’ve faced challenging times before.

American industry played important roles in navigating the nation through those tragic events. Be confident, as I am, in its ability to do it again.

Peter King is president of the American Council of Engineering Companies of New Hampshire.

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INSURANCE

NORTH COUNTRY

Tackling cost of insurance charges in life policies

LAKES REGION

cause the trustee, who is supposed to have your best interests in mind, neglects to keep a close eye on policy beTOP ROW: BUSINESS TECH, ARCHITECTURE, BANKING, In ENGINEERING, the last fewHOSPITALS, years, I have beenPERSONAL read- FINANCE, havior. ENERGY SECOND ROW: FEATURE STORY AND JUMPS, IN BRIEF, FLOTSAM, LAW, OPINIONS, THE LATEST, ABOUT TOWN ing more frequently about owners of Many trustees and consumers simply THIRD ROW: REAL ESTATE + CONSTRUCTION, EDUCATION, HEALTHCARE, TOURISM, NEWS, CHARITABLE GIVING, MORE ONLINE permanent life insurance policies being don’t realize that all life insurance poliFORTH ROW: AREA GRAPHICS, another TOURISM choice, CALENDAR, LAST WORD subjected to rate increases based on cies (term and permanent) are a dynamcost of insurance charges, or COI. Per- ic, ever-changing financial instrument. manent policy COI charges are what in- It is not a set-it-and-forget-it purchase, surers factor in to their premium struc- and this is where problems often start. tures. How an insurer defines “cost of Perhaps they don’t pay the premiums on time. not in full or not at all. They insurance” can vary a lot.

Depending on the definition used, might not respond to notices from the variables that are taken into account insurer indicating something important when recalculating future COI charges needs attention. Perhaps they just don’t can include: future mortality experience have the staff with the critical associated (projections of when someone will die); skills to handle the life insurance aspect lapse rate (the number of policy own- of trust assets, especially COI problems. ers who drop coverage); underwriting Perhaps your brother-in-law, who while expenses; claims administration; sales being a trustworthy individual, is way charges; premium taxes; reinsurance out of his league as a trustee as it relates expenses; and interest rates (on the in- to insurance. surer’s investments). Most of these will Even if you have no reason to believe change at some point. that a permanent life policy you own has A major factor that affects cash valissues, I suggest you annually request a ues, from which COI charges are taken, very useful document from the insurer is how much premium you pay and how called an inforce illustration. Think of it often versus what is needed to keep the as a current financial statement for the policy “healthy.” policy.

In it, you will find very important Permanent products offer some flexiinformation, not all of which most peobility that can indeed be helpful, but they ple will understand, but you must start can also be a major source of trouble. there.

By paying less than needed to avoid Possible solutions to COI-related prepolicy problems, you start a process that can accelerate the rate at which cash mium increases include selling the polivalues are consumed by COI charges. cy in the secondary life insurance market Loans taken against cash value will fur- through a life settlement, surrendering the policy for what cash value may be ther accelerate this. left in it, converting it to a policy with a Permanent life insurance products reduced but paid-up death benefit, payand associated COI problems are not to ing the higher premium and evaluating be confused with guaranteed universal options for buying a new policy altogether. life, or GUL. As for cash values, most owners don’t If a GUL product is poorly designed or poorly explained to the buyer, it too realize that at the death of the insured will have problems. But a well-designed person, the beneficiary does not collect GUL product can and will avoid COI in- both the death benefit and the cash value. It’s one or the other, with rare excepcreases.

GUL products work because of what tions. This means taking the cash value is called a no-lapse guarantee or a sec- out prior to death or taking the death ondary guarantee that is intrinsic to it. benefit after death. The greater the cash So even if cash value drops to zero, the value, the lower your leverage is because an increasing cash value decreases the policy is in no jeopardy.

If there is a downside to a GUL product, obligation of the insurer. They will pay it is that the premiums must be paid in the death benefit but keep the cash valfull and on time, meaning not early and ue. When this happens, you need to take not late. Meet that obligation and your a look at what you have and why you still well-designed guaranteed universal life have it. Whole life insurance can be esso you don’t have to. product will perform perfectly with no pecially prone to this problem because risk of COI increases out to whatever it tends to maximize cash values. clarkinsurance.com age you need it to last to.

Hans Hug Jr., an Exeter-based independent insurLife insurance policies held in a trust ance broker, can be reached at 603-778-8939 or are often prone to COI problems be- hhug@apache1.net.

BY HANS HUG

BORN

to insure.

We love insurance 800.244.6257

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TECHNOLOGY

Remember cybersecurity as more work remotely

The crisis could become far worse for a business that also experiences a breach

BY CAMERON G. SHILLING

Businesses are rapidly transitioning to remote workforces to combat the transmission of coronavirus.

For those that already widely support remote work, that transition may occur fluidly. However, even businesses that are prepared in that way still should reinforce important cybersecurity principles.

For businesses unprepared for widespread remote work, the cybersecurity risks are more frightening. Those companies need to scramble to implement appropriate safeguards. The following are ten of the most important.

Home Wi-Fi networks are notoriously vulnerable. Businesses should ensure that home networks of their executives are protected with a firewall monitored by the company.

bust access and activity logging. Employees should not be allowed to use such a VPN to access the company’s network with a personally owned computer, unless the business manages the updating of anti-virus/anti-malware, operating systems and applications on the computer.

to store company information, unless it is an encrypted, company-owned drive. Effective methods to control the use of such drives are to disable the USB ports in company computers, or install an application that encrypts drives connected to such ports.

4. Mobile devices: At the very least, businesses should permit employees to access their company email accounts only using a mobile device that has a password or biometric and, thus, is encrypted.

More effective cybersecurity controls exist using a mobile device management (MDM) application, and a MDM should be implemented whenever employees are permitted to access the business’s network on a mobile device.

8. Phishing/social engineering and financial crime: Hackers are capitalizing on the coronavirus crisis by increasing phishing and social engineering attacks. If not implemented already, businesses should adopt safeguards for such threats, like headers alerting employees to emails originating outside the organization, a button permitting employees to forward suspicious email to IT, and a “sandbox” that executes links and attachments in a safe environment. Remote work facilitates financial crime since employees are not working in one location. Businesses should require employees to confirm the authenticity of every electronic monetary transaction via a second manner of authorization (like voice confirmation).

5. Email and cloud storage: Remote access by employees to their company email account and cloud storage (like OneDrive and Google Drive) should be permitted only using a company-owned computer or a mobile device with the controls discussed above.

1. Protocols and communications: Businesses that have existing protocols for remote working should reinforce them with employees by reiterating the principles set forth below. Businesses that do not should create temporary rules for remote work.

2. Laptops: Businesses should permit their employees to access their networks using only company-owned or -managed computers, which have encrypted hard drives, up-to-date anti-virus/antimalware, and periodically change passphrases (three or more unrelated words) or passwords (eight or more characters consisting of letters, numbers and symbols) and screensavers that lock after 15 minutes of inactivity.

With limited exception, non-IT employees should not have administrator privileges on any company computer, and employees with such privileges should have regular user credentials for non-administrator functions. Employees should be reminded to shut down company computers whenever not in use, and that they may not permit family members or others to use those computers.

3. Virtual private network (VPN): Access to the business’ network should be permitted only using a secure company controlled VPN, which has multifactor authentication, prevents downloading of information to a local drive, prevents access to local printers and other “internet of things” devices on a home or public network, and is configured with ro-

9. Privacy laws: Privacy laws remain in effect during this crises, including laws protecting health information (like HIPAA) and personal information (like GDPR and CCPA). Businesses cannot disclose health or personal information about an employee who is or may be affected by the coronavirus without complying with statutory requirements for disclosure.

The account should require a strong password and multi-factor authentication, and be configured with robust access and activity logging. Outlook Web Access should be disabled.

6. Wi-Fi networks: Home and public Wi-Fi networks are notoriously vulnerable. Employees should be prohibited from using any public network that is not secure (encrypted). While home networks are not necessarily more secure, it may be difficult for businesses to correct such deficiencies during the current crises. Businesses should at least ensure that the home networks of their executives are protected (including a firewall monitored by the company), and that other employees use a VPN described above whenever using a company computer at home.

7. External drives: Businesses should prohibit employees from using an external or USB drive

10. Prohibited activities: Businesses should remind employees that certain activities are strictly prohibited. Such activities include handling company information using a personal email account, personal cloud account (such as Dropbox or iCloud) or personally owned computer that is not managed by the company.

While this crisis can tempt businesses to facilitate remote work without effective cybersecurity, the crisis will become far worse for a business that also experiences a breach. Implementing the above safeguards does not have to be prohibitively costly or time-consuming and will establish a foundation for appropriate cybersecurity after the crises. Businesses should pause before rushing forward, and ensure that their remote workforces are cybersecure.

Attorney Cameron G. Shilling, a director at McLane Middleton, is founder and chair of the firm’s Information Privacy and Security Group. He can be reached at 603-628-1351 or cameron. shilling@mclane.com.

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Dartmouth-Hitchcock ramping up telehealth hub Coronavirus makes telemedicine more valuable The state’s hub of telemedicine is ramping up as the Covid-19 outbreak spreads and its leader says that there’s almost no limit to how much it should expand.

“Growing tenfold, at minimum. … I definitely want 10 times. I’m OK with 20 times, or more,” said Dr. Kevin Curtis, medical director of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Connected Care.

“We don’t know the demand. If almost every office visit becomes unavailable within our country, then you’re talking about hundreds of thousands of appointments a day that are canceled. We want to be ready to scale up to what the need is. That’s one of the advantages of having a system in place – we know the system,” he said.

Telemedicine, or telehealth, is a general term for doctors, nurses, therapists and other healthcare workers giving advice or making diagnoses over the internet. They use video or audio to talk with patients or with caregivers on site, as well as to gather information from connected medical devices like EKGs or pulseometers.

Long touted as a way to cut healthcare costs or expand medical expertise to rural areas, telemedicine has assumed greater importance in the current pandemic. It not only

allows medical expertise to be widely shared but cuts down on the use of masks, gowns, gloves, cleanser and other personal protection equipment, or PPE, during patient visits.

Such material is in short supply, to the point that hospitals are begging for donations.

The federal government has loosened long-established rules to increase use of telemedicine, allowing doctors licensed in one state to treat patients in different state as long as that state agrees, and also requiring health insurance to cover telemedicine visits.

That last rule change also allows telemedicine to take place over public video channels like Skype instead of being confined to dedicated channels like Vidyo, used by Dartmouth-Hitchcock, which are designed to protect medical privacy under HIPAA rules. That will make it easier to include new patients and connect with new clinics or offices, Curtis said.

Three tech buckets Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, the state’s largest hospital, opened its Connected Care unit in 2012 and now has seven spe-

cialty units, from TeleEmergency and TeleICU to TelePsychiatry and TeleNeurology. Other hospitals and medical facilities contract with Dartmouth-Hitchcock to use some portion of the services.

The telemedicine operates in three ways, which Curtis characterized as “three tech buckets.”

The technically simplest is video and audio consult with patients, sometimes in their homes using cell phones or tablets or laptop computers, and sometimes at doctor’s offices or clinics.

A second “bucket” is hardwired hospital or emergency rooms, where the local medical staff can quickly get a consultation from specialists at the Connected Care center, which is staffed 24/7, all year round, for emergency and intensive care.

“The hardware never leaves patient rooms, and connects with a remote doctor or nurse in teleEmergency and teleICU,” said Curtis.

“With TeleICU we’ve done almost 5,000 admissions. We’re covering around 70 beds at four institutions, including our own,” said Curtis.

Similar hardwired rooms with instant-connection buttons exist in 11 emergency de-

partments in New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine.

The third “tech bucket” uses what are called carts but are more like remote-controlled robots.

These are self-propelled units that are steered from afar and carry connected video and audio. They give the nurse or doctor a virtual presence in a patient’s room, creating what is sometimes called “telepresence.”

These are often used at hospitals that don’t have enough intensive-care patients for a full ICU or the need for a hardwired system, providing intensive-care expertise to staff on hand for less cost and more flexibility.

These telemedicine carts have limits – they can’t palpate an abdomen or check reflexes – but still allow the doctor who is not on the scene to participate to a surprising degree, Curtis said.

About 30 carts, made by a company called Abyssia, are deployed in the region, Curtis said.

– DAVID BROOKS/CONCORD MONITOR This story is being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information visit collaborativenh.org.

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HEALTHCARE

New Frisbie CEO tackles hospital’s top challenges

With the merger with HCA Healthcare March 1. complete, Frisbie Memorial Hospital’s According to Scionti, Frisbie officials are NASHUA REGION LAKES REGION new CEO says the hospital is now turning also gearing up for conversations in April its attention toward some of its biggest about the hospital becoming a Level III challenges and improvement projects. trauma center, putting together plans for New CEO Jeff Scionti says the Roch- a new behavioral health unit at the hosester hospital has already made gains in pital, and working on various other imaddressing its obstetrician shortage, fill- provements. Those other improvements HITECTURE, HOSPITALS, PERSONAL ing ENGINEERING, open positions usingBANKING, resources and FINANCE, includeENERGY infrastructure changes, as well as AND JUMPS, IN BRIEF, FLOTSAM, LAW, OPINIONS, THE LATEST, ABOUT TOWN personnel elsewhere in HCA’s system. things designed to help reduce the wait NSTRUCTION, EDUCATION, HEALTHCARE, TOURISM, NEWS, CHARITABLE GIVING, MORE ONLINE Scionti says the greater Rochester com- time patients experience before seeing a nother TOURISM choice, CALENDAR, LAST WORD munity will have better access to OBs and physician. primary care, among other things, now “Time is anxiety,” said Scionti. “[It’s that Frisbie is part of the same healthcare about] making sure we get the patients in network as Portsmouth Regional Hospi- as quickly as possible and allow them to tal, Parkland Medical Center in Derry and understand that they’re being taken care many other facilities. of right away. We don’t want patients wait“Some specialties are very hard to fill. ing in our waiting rooms. There’s nothing OB is one of them,” Scionti said in an in- that’s going to make a patient feel more terview this past week. “When we came anxious than just sitting there waiting.” in, we were already looking at a need to fill some critical staffing positions, and it was something Frisbie wasn’t able to do Behavioral health unit prior. So, we were able to really bring in Frisbie is embarking on those efforts all the HCA resources. Portsmouth, Parkland, our division office — [they] all ral- as the hospital has been extremely busy lied together to ensure we had adequate rolling out new internal precautions and staffing, which was one of the things that procedural changes in response to the was a critical need on day one.”

Covid-19 pandemic, according to Scionti.

Frisbie’s merger with HCA was finalized Those precautions include extra front

Frisbie Memorial Hospital’s merger with HCA Healthcare — a network that includes Portsmouth Regional Hospital among others — helped fill critical staffing positions, said Frisbie CEO Jeff Scionti.

desk and emergency department screening measures through which masked hospital employees ask visitors about potential exposure and symptoms. The hospital also formed a new internal response team and signage about the coronavirus strain, complete with tips and warnings, is now plastered throughout the hospital.

Scionti said the steps began almost immediately after Frisbie “flipped the switch” on HCA’s ownership March 1, in

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part because federal alerts and warnings intensified the same day. Scionti’s first day at Frisbie was also March 1. “[It] was incredible,” said Scionti, who worked at Parkland for 33 years before coming to Frisbie. “All the staff said this would’ve been very difficult as a single, standalone hospital without the resources of a very large company behind us, to be able to do this and also to have the expertise.”

Frisbie was founded in 1916 by Dr. Walter Roberts and nurse Minnie Eagle. The nonprofit acute care facility, which is licensed for 112 beds, merged with the forprofit HCA due to the increasing cost of healthcare and various financial issues, officials have said.

Frisbie’s financial issues include millions in debt and losses due to a problem-filled electronic records system changeover.

Under terms of the merger, Frisbie must create a new behavioral health unit within the next 24 months to replace existing behavioral health services that use beds in the hospital’s emergency department.

It must also replace the hospital’s MRI within 12 months and construct a pharmacy clean room within 24 months.

Scionti said he anticipates the behavioral health unit to be completed first. The exact size and location of the unit aren’t yet determined. The hospital’s old intensive care unit, located next to the emergency department, could be an option, though Scionti said they might look elsewhere because patients would have to walk through the ED to access it.

Scionti also hinted new HCA-affiliated practices and offices are a possibility, stating it’ll be important to look at locating subspecialists in “everything between” Rochester and Portsmouth to best service the Seacoast. “[That includes] looking at Somersworth, and looking at some of the areas between,” said Scionti.

— KYLE STUCKER/SEACOAST ONLINE

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MARCH 27 - APR I L 9, 2020

“ WHAT I REALLY WANT TO KNOW IS… WHEN IS EVERYTHING GOING TO RETURN TO NORMAL?” People have lots of questions about COVID-19. Some answers come easy, but this one is complicated. COVID-19 has upended lives here in our communities and across the world.

However, a return to normal can happen sooner if we all follow these precautions: • Wash your hands frequently • Practice social distancing – keep a six-foot distance between yourself and others • If you’re experiencing cough, fever or shortness of breath, remain at home and call your doctor We’re here to help you through these times. If you have questions, visit our website or call our hotline to get the answers you need.

Visit go.d-h.org/covid-19 or call (603) 650-1818.

Stay informed and stay healthy.

We will get through this together.

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HEALTHCARE

Coronavirus testing ramps up, but challenges remain

NASHUA REGION LAKES REGION NORTH COUNTRY DID YOU KNOW… THAT HEARING LOSS IS NOT REVERSIBLE AND WE MAY BE EXPOSED TO DAMAGING LEVELS OF NOISE EVERY DAY, BOTH AT TOP ROW: BUSINESS TECH, ARCHITECTURE, ENGINEERING, HOSPITALS, BANKING, PERSONAL FINANCE, ENERGY WORK AND THROUGH THE ACTIVITIES WE SECOND ROW: FEATURE STORY AND JUMPS, IN BRIEF, FLOTSAM, LAW, OPINIONS, THE LATEST, ABOUT TOWN TAKE PART IN OUTSIDE OF WORK? THIRD ROW: REAL ESTATE + CONSTRUCTION, EDUCATION, HEALTHCARE, TOURISM, NEWS, CHARITABLE GIVING, MORE ONLINE

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Testing capacity for coronavirus in New Hampshire is beginning to increase as the state and commercial testing providers ramp up their operations.

But as the number of available tests becomes less of an issue, other challenges to widespread testing in New Hampshire are likely to emerge.

On the larger end of the scale, the Manchester public health department, Catholic Medical Center and Elliot Hospital are collaborating to operate a drive-thru testing site at the National Guard Armory in Manchester.

It will only accept patients who are referred there by a doctor in the Manchester area. Anyone else will be turned away.

The drive-thru Manchester testing site was originally set up by state public health workers who provided training to local staff to take over operations.

An official in the mayor’s office said the site was able to collect 175 samples in one day earlier this week. Those samples are being run on test kits shipped by the CDC. The official said the continued supply of those kits will dictate whether they can maintain that pace of testing.

‘Worked perfectly’ Meanwhile, smaller-scale operations using commercially developed tests are beginning to take shape at some doctor’s offices.

Dr. Peter Loeser, who runs a family medicine practice in Concord, tested his first two patients March 17.

Loeser said the patients were tested inside their vehicles in the parking lot of the office. “It worked perfectly,” said Loeser.

Loeser sent those samples to Quest Diagnostics, one of the national reference laboratories that have developed their own Covid-19 test. Quest says it is accepting samples for coronavirus testing from providers nationwide.

But Loeser is still limited in the number of tests he can run, not by a shortage of kits, but by his supply of the special swab needed to collect the patient’s sample.

Loeser relayed a conversation he had with a representative of Quest.

“She said ‘a lot of clinics don’t have [the special swab], but we’re going to be shipping them to people.’ Fortunately, we had nine of them. So I put a rubber around them, put them aside, and said ‘don’t use these for anything else. We’ve got to conserve these.’”

That means he’s still being cautious about which patients he tests.

“We are not simply saying, ‘Oh if you’re concerned about coronavirus, we’ll test you.’ We’re definitely not saying that.”

Loeser says for otherwise healthy patients who are experiencing mild symptoms, knowing definitively whether they have Covid-19 is not a priority.

“A positive test is not going to change my management of that patient,” said Loeser.

— JASON MOON/NHPR This story is being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information, visit collaborativenh.org.

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MARCH 27 - APR I L 9, 2020

Greater cyber protections for health providers urged U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan is calling on the Department of Homeland Security to bolster its efforts to protect healthcare providers against ransomware attacks amid the coronavirus emergency.

At a hearing Wednesday, Hassan — a member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs — urged Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf to take steps to focus on healthcare providers as the coronavirus emergency spreads.

Hassan told Wolf that a cybersecurity firm recently “warned that public and private entities may be at an increased risk of ransomware attacks due to the spread of the coronavirus, as criminal hackers exploit staffing interruptions and decreased operational capacity.”

She told him that, while she was “pleased to see that the president’s budget request continues to increase investments in cybersecurity,” she stressed that “we must do more to protect our state and local partners — and specifically healthcare facilities — against ransomware.”

Wolf agreed that DHS will continue its outreach to state and local officials to help guard these entities against ransomware attacks.

“People are going to take advantage of any type of crisis — incident — that is going on out there, so CISA [the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency] is again pushing information out there that folks need to be aware of — a number of scams, incidents that are going on that are focused around corona or asking for money.”

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ASK THE EXPERTS

Financial Planning 101

When everyday routines are upended, a dependable financial road map can provide immeasurable peace of mind There are a variety of questions associated with creating a financial plan. We reached out to Dennis Mitchell, president and managing director of Ledyard Financial Advisors at Ledyard National Bank (ledyardbank.com), to learn more about why it’s important to have a reliable financial plan, what’s involved and how to get started.

What is financial planning?

Mitchell: “Financial KING, PERSONAL FINANCE, ENERGY planning is a process that will help determine your short, intermediate and long-term ONS, THEyou LATEST, ABOUT TOWN financial aspirations.

Think of it as your road map to RISM, NEWS, CHARITABLE GIVING, MORE ONLINE RD achieving your goals. Effective financial planning is es-

sential to help guide your decisions and actions throughout life. Whether you are just beginning to think about your financial future, your career, entering midlife or nearing retirement, financial planning can help you succeed. Further, a financial planner can expertly guide you through a myriad of potentially daunting exercises such as evaluating mortgage options, home equity loans, bank deposit accounts and investment management options.

Our goal is to educate and advise clients in a manner that delivers an easy, efficient and less time-consuming experience that puts you on a custom-designed and tailored path to reach your financial objectives.”

What is involved in the development of a financial plan?

Mitchell: “The first step is often referred to as ‘data gathering.’ This is when you develop an outline of your current financial situation — the ‘financial inventory.’ This important step will give your planner all of the important information to begin the process.

“The next step is to analyze and evaluate all of the information from the data-gathering process. This will provide a realistic look at your current financial situation.

“Next is to develop specific goals and objectives.

What do you want to accomplish? This can vary greatly for clients. A goal could be funding for college education in 10 years. Another could be for full retirement at age 60.

“Next is to develop specific and measurable action items that will be implemented to achieve stated goals.

An example would be to increase your retirement savings rate. Another would be to establish a 529 plan for college savings.

“Finally, it is very important to have periodic reviews with your financial planner. I typically recommend two meetings per year. This is when you evaluate the progress being made on goals and objectives, keeping in

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mind that those goals may have changed due to specific circumstances such as an inheritance. In those instances, it is an entirely appropriate opportunity to make needed adjustments or recommend new action items.”

How do you get started with financial planning?

Mitchell: “The first step is to develop a relationship with a qualified financial planner you can trust and feel comfortable working with. I recommend a Certified Financial Planner, CFP.”

What is a Certified Financial Planner?

Mitchell: “The CFP designation is awarded to individuals that have several years of experience and successfully completed a series of exams developed by the Certified Planner Board of Standards, Inc. The educational program includes specific areas such as tax planning, investment planning, estate planning and risk management. CFPs are required to complete ongoing continuing education programs to ensure they remain up to date on all areas relating to financial planning. CFPs are held to strict ethical standards. They are committed to working in your best interest.”

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QA &

INTERVIEW

BY BOB SANDERS

For nearly four decades, Arnie Alpert has been at center of New Hampshire’s social justice and peace movement as co-director of the American Friends Service Committee’s New Hampshire program. (Photo

by Allegra Boverman)

an interdisciplinary major. I had to look at the relationship between the different scientific fields as it related to issues that are affecting the environment. This was also the time of the Arab oil embargo, or what we call at the time an energy crisis.

American Friends Service Committee-NH co-director

Arnie Alpert

Over the past 39 years, Arnie Alpert, co-director of the American Friend Services Committee’s New Hampshire program, has been at the center of the movement for social justice, peace and nonviolent action for change.

He played a key role in the campaign for a state holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. — an effort that culminated in legislation establishing the holiday in 1999. He also was one of the founders of the New Hampshire Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty in 1997, which succeeded in repealing the state’s law in 2019.

Earlier this year, he announced his plans to retire in June.

n Q. What got you into all this?

A. I don’t come from an activist family. I

think we all assumed that I would follow my father’s footsteps and go to law school. He was a commercial lawyer in a small practice in Springfield, Mass. I finished high school in 1973 and went off to college. The times being what they were, I took a class my freshman year of college on the moral basis of politics, which included some readings about Gandhi.

I was interested in science. Wesleyan University had just developed a major that was called environmental science. That was a big magnet for me. I ended up with

n Q. Good thing that’s not happening now.

A. Nuclear power was being promoted

as an alternative to oil. I started learning about nuclear power. With my exposure to Gandhi, Cesar Chavez and Martin Luther King, when I then heard about this movement that was developing to try to stop the construction of a nuclear power plant in New Hampshire through the use of mass civil disobedience and nonviolent direct action, I thought, “I’m going to check that out.”

n Q. That’s

when you joined the Clamshell Alliance.

A. I drove up to Hampton Beach State

Park on Oct. 23, 1976. There was a rally and alternative energy fair there and plans for an occupation the following spring were announced. After a month or two, I remember seeing some of the people who had gone to this rally, saying, “Hey, this demonstration in Seabrook is coming up, maybe we should do something about that.” The reaction was like, “What do you mean ‘we?’ ” In other words, if something was going to happen, I could step up and make it happen. I contacted the Clamshell Alliance in Portsmouth, and they told me I needed to organize a non-violence training session. I booked a room, and there were so many people that we had to do role-plays out on the football field.

n Q. You’ve

been very involved in the immigration issues as well.

A. Around 2004, we started working

with immigrant workers at a meatpacking plant in Manchester called Jac-Pac, and working conditions there were terrible.

The workers all got fired, due to immigration status. A little while later Tyson bought the factory and then shut it down.

That required a different type of mobilizing. A group of xenophobic legislators started introducing anti-immigrant legislation at the State House. We started organizing an informal group we called the Immigrant Rights Task Force.

n Q. Talk a little

bit about other workers’ struggles.

A. We’ve been involved in economic jus-

tice in New Hampshire, in particular on the right to unionize, opposing right-to-work — we call it right to work for less — but also efforts to raise the minimum wage.

We’ve also played a major role in efforts promoting affordable housing.

We were using the leverage that’s available through the Community Reinvestment Act to encourage, convince or pressure New Hampshire banks to make financial services more broadly available to low-income communities.

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THE LATEST HEALTHCARE

Dr. Karolina Kozlova

of Family Physical Therapy Services, Bedford, has joined the adjunct faculty at Franklin Pierce University Manchester to ANCE, ENERGY OUT TOWN teach neuroanatomy the spring BLE GIVING,inMORE ONLINE term for the doctor of physical therapy graduate program.

All seven of Catholic Charities New Hampshire’s skilled nursing facilities have been honored by the American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living through its Quality Initiative Recognition Program. They are: Mt. Carmel Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Manchester; St. Teresa Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Manchester; St. Joseph Residence in Manchester; St. Ann Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Dover; St. Francis Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Laconia; St. Vincent Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Berlin; and Warde Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Wind-

ham. The program recognized each facility for achieving goals related to reduced hospitalization rates, increased customer/ resident satisfaction levels, off-label usage of antipsychotics and enhanced functional and physical ability of residents.

GOVERNMENT Tom Buckman of

Concord has joined the staff of Concord Hous-

ing + Redevelopment as head of the Special Projects group. Buckman, who has more than 30 years of experience in residential construction, project development and project management, has worked on several of the agency’s redevelopment projects over the years.

TECHNOLOGY Design-build firm Procon and Waypoint are teaming up again for the annual Waypoint SleepOut 2020 on Friday, March 20. There will be two SleepOut locations this year, in Manchester at the Stanton Plaza in front of the DoubleTree Hotel, and in Exeter on Pine Street at Christ Episcopal Church.

Waypoint hosts the yearly event to help raise community awareness and funds for homeless and atrisk youth. In supporting the event, Procon owners Mark and Sally Stebbins will match contributions from businesses sleeping out for the first time up to $1,000. Contact waypointnh.org or call 800-640-6486 for more information.

ment. Justin Kates, director of emergency management for the city of Nashua, has been named vice chair of the board.

rector, New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority; and Dr. Chuck Lloyd, president, White Mountains Community College.

The Nashua-based Partnership for Successful Living has hired Henry Och and Brian Tagliaferro as the newest additions to their staff. Och, the new chief operating officer, has more than 20 years’ experience in nonprofit healthcare, most recently as chief operations officer/chief information officer at Lowell Community Health Center in Lowell, Mass. Tagliaferro, the new director of fundraising and development, most recently was director of resource development and grants with Capstone Community Action in Barre, Vt.

Jeff Keefe, financial

The Monadnock Humane Society has added Kelly BrighamSteiner to its staff as director of development. She brings with her 30 years of development and nonprofit experience, including most recently as executive director of the United Way of Franklin County, Greenfield, Mass.

Franklin Savings Bank

employees recently pledged over $6,500 as part of their annual Pacesetter campaign to support Granite United Way. The bank also provided a dollarfor-dollar matching contribution for a total donation of $13,132.

Steve Epstein has been

named chair of the board of directors of Volunteer NH. He succeeds Gregg Stephens, who is stepping down after three years as chair of the board but he will remain an active member. Epstein is a retired business programs specialist at USDA Rural Develop-

Ledyard National Bank

recently donated $500 to West Central Behavioral Health in support of its programming and services that treat mental illness and substance use disorders in the Upper Valley.

Granite United Way recently added five new members to its board of directors: Dr. Larissa Baía, president, Lakes Region Community College; Joseph B. Bator, executive vice president and senior lending, Primary Bank; Doug DeLara, assurance manager, Baker Newman Noyes; Pat Donahue, managing di-

advisor and principal at Whole Wealth Management, Portsmouth, has volunteered to lead the campaign to renovate and make improvements at The Chase Home in Portsmouth.

Keefe said the home needs a new driveway, roof and walkways as well as enhanced exterior lighting and landscaping. To learn more about the campaign, visit chasehome.org.

Global American Inc.

of Hudson, a maker of embedded computer hardware, has begun partnering with MiTAC Computing Technology Corp., a Taiwan-based cloud and embedded computing company.

IBM Maximo with the Autodesk Revit, a process that normally takes hours of data input, according to the company. To learn more, visit microdesk. com.

Claremont-based IT firm Red River has named Jason D. Juranek its chief financial officer. Juranek most recently served as CEO and CFO of Globecomm, an integrated technology solution provider focused on managed services in the federal government and commercial marketplace. Before that, he was CFO of Harris CapRock Communications, which provides managed services for critical networks.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Claro Workforce Analytics of Nashua, a

technology company that makes workforcerelated information easily accessible, has announced the availability of new talent market supply and demand tools to support strategic workforce planning initiatives.

Claro technology helps companies perform competitive talent benchmarking and market-mapping, elevates organizational diversity and inclusion strategies, and enables employee attrition modeling, the company said.

Nashua-based

Microdesk, a pro-

vider of business and technology services for the design and construction industry, has released ModelStream 2.0, an enterprise asset management, or EAM, application that reduces the time and resources needed to combine assets from

tives on the economy, lending conditions and other issues facing community banks, credit unions and thrift institutions. In addition, Spencer Hayes has joined Ledyard National Bank’s Private Banking Division as assistant vice president and relationship manager, and Gail Trottier has been named an assistant vice president and private banking officer.

Glenwood Investment Group, Manchester, has announced that Thomas J. Stephen, an advisor with the firm, has earned the Retirement Income Certified Professional, or RICP, designation from The American College of Financial Services.

Meredith Village Savings Bank, Merrimack County Savings Bank and Savings Bank of Walpole — the three

banks that are part of Concord-based New Hampshire Mutual Bancorp — are migrating to Monet, Mo.-based Jack Henry & Associates’ cloud-hosted SilverLake System core platform. The banks said the move will result has in “significant efficiency gains” and strengthen disaster recovery capabilities.

Kathy Underwood, president and CEO of Ledyard National Bank has been appointed to the Federal Reserve’s First District Community Depository Institutions Advisory Council, whose members represent the six states in New England to provide diverse perspec-

Wealth management firm R.M. Davis

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Hughes named Wentworth-Douglass COO Wentworth-Douglass Hospital in Dover has named Jeffrey Hughes as its chief operating officer, a newly created position.

Hughes, who has more than 35 years of professional experience in healthcare strategy and clinical business development, previously was vice president of operations and chief strategy officer at Wentworth-Douglass.

Before that, he was vice president of planning at Holy Family Hospital, senior manager of business planning at Partners HealthCare and director of Healthcare Consulting with PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Mat Set, a variation of the play house cube it first introduced over 14 years ago and the newest item in its biophilia-inspired Nature View furniture collection for early learning environments.

The company said the product satisfies every state requirement for a dedicated quiet space in early learning classroom environments and coordinates with all other pieces in the brand’s Nature View collection.

BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS has announced that Matthew McFarland

of Portsmouth, vice president and portfolio manager of the firm, has been named a shareholder. McFarland works at the R.M. Davis Portsmouth office.

Bank of New Hampshire was recently

ranked as the No. 1 performing bank in the state of New Hampshire in 2019 by Financial Management Consulting Group, a nationally recognized consulting firm that focuses on the comprehensive analysis of financial institutions’ overall performance.

MANUFACTURING

David Darvish has

been named vice president and finance officer at First Seacoast Bank. He works out of the main branch at 633 Central Ave., Dover.

Springfield, Vt.-based One Credit Union has opened a new branch in the Shaw’s Plaza on John Stark Highway in Newport, NH — the credit union’s seventh branch and its second in New Hampshire. The building was designed by the NES Group of Massachusetts and built by JLN Contracting out of Auburn, NH. The branch will be managed by Patty Kober, who has over 33 years of experience in financial services.

The Corning Specialty Materials plant in Keene is among nine Corning Inc. facilities around the country recognized for exceeding energy-efficiency goals set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in its Energy Star Challenge for Industry program.

To meet the challenge, industrial sites must increase energy efficiency by at least 10% in five years or fewer.

The other Corning sites recognized are in: Port Elizabeth, South Africa; Kaiserslautern, Germany; Bedford, Mass.; Salt Lake City; Warsaw, Poland; Corning Optical Communications, Gebze, Turkey and Haikou, China.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS U.S. Cellular has added

two new cell sites in

Manchester, one along Mammoth Road that is aimed at enhancing U.S. Cellular’s network in the south Hooksett area, the other serving the Derryfield Park area and central Manchester. The new sites are two of more than 178 sites U.S. Cellular has across the state.

Atlantic Broadband

has announced the availability of 10-gigabit fiber service for its business internet customers in Rochester, NH, as well as southern Maine and western Pennsylvania, with additional deployments planned this spring in Belmont, NH, Connecticut, Maryland, Delaware and Florida.

ENERGY Energy consulting firm Eisenbach Consulting, headquartered in Tyler, Texas, has opened a satellite office in Manchester. The firm provides clients with energy purchase strategies with a goal of reducing energy costs.

MANUFACTURING Keene-based furniture manufacturer Whitney Brothers

has introduced its new Nature View Play House Cube And Floor

The Upper Valley Young Professionals organization has merged with the Upper Valley Business Alliance. Under the agree-

ment the board of the UVYP will become an advisory steering committee of UVBA and continue to coordinate the programming and events of the UVYP as well as work with the alliance’s board of directors and staff.

UVBA will provide UVYP with staff support, sponsorship and mentorship opportunities and help promote UVYP membership to companies with newly relocated young professional employees.

Newburyport Bank has donated $1,500 to the Hampton Area Chamber of Commerce as a sponsor of the Chamber’s 12th annual Toast to the Coast event, scheduled for April 23 at the Abenaqui Country Club in Rye. Jeremy Belanger,

senior project engineer at TFMoran, was recently selected by New Hampshire’s Joint Engineering Societies as the 2020 New Hampshire Young Engineer of the Year.

The American Society of Civil Engineers-New

Hampshire Section nominated him for his work ethic, integrity, enthusiasm for the civil engineering profession and his volunteerism in the community.

EDUCATION The Optical Society and the Society for Imaging Science and Technology have named Eric R. Fossum of the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth winner of the 2020 Edwin H. Land Medal. Fossum is being recognized for the invention and commercialization of advanced CMOS (complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor) optical sensor imaging technology and the Quanta Image Sensor. Fossum is Dartmouth’s Krehbiel professor for emerging technologies, has published over 300 technical papers and holds over 170 U.S. patents.

The medal will be presented in September in Washington, D.C.

CONSTRUCTION

The University of New Hampshire has award-

ed the Parsons HallIddles Wing renovation project to Chapman Construction/Design of Newton, Mass.

The 13,000-squarefoot project includes improvement of two large lecture halls, two flat-floor classrooms and adjacent corridors and stairwells as well as replacement of the associated HVAC system. In addition, a new student commons space will be created.

Architect and engineer is Harriman Associates, based in Portland, Maine.

RETAIL Versona, a retailer of women’s fashion and accessories, has announced it will be opening its first two locations in New England this spring — one at the Pheasant Lane Mall in Nashua and the other at The Mall of New Hampshire in Manchester.

REAL ESTATE

Manchester-based Clear Choice Home Improvements has

opened a second office in Taunton, Mass. “The decision to expand across New England and open a second office that allows us to service central Massachusetts, southern Massachusetts, Cape Cod and Rhode Island was a logical step in our business growth strategy,” said Jennifer Lanigan, marketing director.

Paula L. Scales, presi-

dent of Brookstone Builders Inc., Manchester, has been included in the 2020 Trademark Women of Distinction Honors Edition. The publication highlights the professional accomplishments and stories of women in business.

Nikki Barrett, managing broker of Peabody & Smith Realty’s Littleton office, is now licensed in Vermont. She has been a licensed real estate agent in New Hampshire for the past 15 years.

Brady Sullivan Properties recently secured

five new leases at two of its downtown Manchester office buildings. Forcivity, a Salesforce consultancy, relocated its headquarters into 5,438 square feet of space on the

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THE LATEST

eighth floor at 1000 Elm St., and Dallasbased global logistics company Worldwide Express has signed a long-term lease for 1,425 square feet on the seventh floor. In addition, Drummond Woodsum Law and Central Rivers Power moved into space on the second floor at the Jefferson Mill, at 670 N. Commercial St. Drummond Woodsum took 11,132 square feet and Central Rivers took 5,438 square feet.

ANCE, ENERGY OUT TOWN Also, staffing company BLE GIVING,MAS MOREMedical ONLINE relocated from the Jefferson Mill to the Waumbec Mill at 250 Commercial St. The lots at 1687, 1705 and 1725 Elm St. in Manchester have been sold by Cronin Properties LLC, Manchester, to Members First Credit Union. Mike Reed of Stebbins Commercial Properties represented the buyer and assisted the seller in the transaction. According to the Registry of Deeds, the sale price was $1,210,000. Reed also announced the sale of the 23,000-squarefoot retail building at 3 Rockingham Rd., Londonderry, by 3 Rock LLC of Londonderry to Richard Leiter of Derry. Reed

represented the seller and Ralph Valentine of the Valentine Group in Londonderry represented the buyer. In addition, Reed announced the sale of the 1,863-square-foot seasonal food and ice cream stand at 1391 Hooksett Rd., Hooksett, by Gary and Rosanne Cote to Nadia and Todd Smith, both of Hooksett. Reed represented the seller.

Munise Ulker has

opened HomeSmart Success Realty in Bedford, part of HomeSmart International, which has a 100% commission brokerage model. As part of HomeSmart, Success Realty agents will get to keep 100% of their commission and have free access to productivity software, online marketing materials, live and on-demand training sessions and agent support, Ulker said.

NONPROFITS The NH Dog Walking Club, a community

outreach effort of It Takes a Village Pet Care, Barrington, that partners with area pet professionals to raise funds for New Hampshire nonprofit organi-

zations, will raise funds and awareness this year for ElderPet of Durham, Mary’s Dogs of Northwood and Live and Let Live Farm in Chichester. The nonprofits were chosen through a member survey and invited to become a 2020 charitable partner.

The Bangor Savings Bank Foundation re-

cently awarded grants to three nonprofit organizations in New Hampshire: Colebrook Recreation Department’s Cultural Arts and Crafts Programs; New Hampshire State Library Services; and Seacoast Mental Health Center in Portsmouth and Exeter.

SLC Group Holdings of

Nashua has committed $100,000 to support construction of the Nashua Performing Arts Center through Community Development Finance Authority tax credits. Performing Arts Center, at 201 Main St. in Nashua, will be a flexible venue that accommodates musical and theatrical performances, corporate and nonprofit events, family celebrations and other private gatherings.

Summit Computer Services of Weare

is supporting the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center in Concord with the donation of equipment, services and consultation to replace and upgrade the facility’s entire IT infrastructure.

Summit’s owner and founder, Jeff Jackson, was praised by Jeanne Gerulskis, executive director of McAuliffeShepard, as their “IT hero,” saying that, after their server failed, he quickly got them back up and running with a cloud-based network solution.

Katie Sutherland of

kcs ARCHITECTS,

Michelle Bourassa,

Human Resources Consultant with The Main Street America Group, Alex Kapiloff, vice president of Kapiloff Insurance Agency, and Amy Matthews, chief nursing officer and vice president of patient care services at Cheshire Medical Center-Dartmouth Hitchcock, Keene, have joined the Monadnock United Way board of directors.

Youth-focused organizations in New Hampshire can earn up to $1,000 through

social determinants of health.

U.S. Cellular’s Community Connections program by signing

up their group at uscellular.com/communityconnections to start earning sponsorship support. Once registered, nonprofit academic and athletic groups representing youth up to 12th grade have 14 days to rally their friends, families and supporters to complete online activities that include taking short surveys, watching videos or following U.S. Cellular on its social channels. Each completed activity earns money that goes directly to the organization, up to $1,000.

The Granite YMCA has added four new members to its board of trustees: Brandon Pierre, community outreach worker at The Mayhew Program; Kellie Wardman, senior consultant with Donor

by Design; Sheryl McQuade, regional president of TD Bank’s Northern New England Region; and Dennis Malloy.

In 2019, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in New Hampshire

and its philanthropic arm, the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation, invested

more than $1.4 million in efforts to improve overall health by addressing issues such as food insecurity and the impacts of the opioid abuse crisis, the company announced.

Anthem also supported such health initiatives as cancer prevention, prenatal care, heart health, physical activity and addressing

Nashua Center, a nonprofit that provides services to children from birth to age 3 and adults with developmental disabilities or acquired brain disorders has named two new members to its board of directors: Donna Rosenstock, an associate at Aflac Insurance, and Lorri Hayes, an attorney who works within the National Education Association of New Hampshire.

Please send items for possible publication in The Latest to

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MARCH 27 - APR I L 9, 2020

FLOTSAM&JETSAM

“At certain points, desperate times demand desperate measures. In the best interests of our community, we really need people to self NASHUA REGION LAKES REGION isolate as much as possible.”

“I think we need to change our social expectations and make it OK for people to stay home when they are sick or symptomatic.”

– State epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan.

“‘Significant’ isn’t a significant enough word to describe the loss of that day, this week and this upcoming year.”

— Doni Ash, owner of Lab’n Lager in Keene and Jaffrey, lamenting the closure of his business on St. Patrick’s Day.

“Of course, the state stands ready to do whatever we have to do, but we’re nowhere near that level right now. It’s very serious.

It is an emergency. But that’s all the more reason we have to take that collective calm, take a breath.”

– Gov. Chris Sununu after being asked whether the state is prepared to ensure people have basic supplies, in the event that’s needed.

– Durham Town Administrator Todd Selig after issuing strict new “behavior recommendations” aimed atBANKING, limiting the HITECTURE, ENGINEERING, HOSPITALS, PERSONAL FINANCE, ENERGY spread of the coronavirus.

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“This is something that we have never seen in our lifetime.

I guess we’ll all be learning together.”

“They should be all closed down except for grocery stores because people need to eat. But it is what it is.”

— Liane McNamara, a Manchester mother of three reflects on the new world of remote learning in the Queen City and around the state.

– Sylvia Santana, walking out of a Concord liquor store with a fifth of Captain Morgan’s rum, after being asked what she thought of the store remaining open.

“I feel like we’re in a zombie movie, and, like, here all the old people are coming out. And I’ve got to tell you guys, I don’t get dressed until 11 o’clock in the morning, and here I am, one of the zombies.”

– 69-year-old Heather Kyriacopulos talking to a reporter on the first day of Market Basket’s seniors-only early morning shopping hours.

“The liquor store should be busy.”

– Kim Wong, owner of the Aloha Restaurant in the Eastside Plaza after being asked to comment on the sizable traffic flowing in and out of the nearby state liquor store.

“Regardless of how global we’ve all become with the internet, there is no foundation if you don’t also focus on the community around you. When times are tough – like they are now – we need each other to shore up our daily lives, but that support starts when things are good.”

— Mike Teixeira, founder of Deck Presentations in Portsmouth.

“It’s just unknown.

In my heart of hearts, I hope we can hire them all back. I do think, when we do reopen, it will be a slow trickle back, and we’ll hire people back as we can.”

– Tom Boucher, owner of the Great NH Restaurants chain after furloughing 550 of his 650 employees because of the coronavirus.

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N EW HAM PSH I R E B USI N ESS R EVI EW

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