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Stuart Arnett, director of economic development, New Hampshire Department of Resources and Economic Development, says New Hampshire is atypical in the Northeast and mirrors the Rocky Mountain states or Piedmont states in terms of its growth rate and its technology deployment.
"We are a good location for international companies that want to have East and West Coast locations," Arnett notes. "We are well positioned between the urban cores of Boston, New York and Montreal, without sacrificing location."
For example, Manchester Airport is typically ranked among the top three airports in the nation in terms of growth and is either ranked first or second as the most affordable airport. "We find a lot of companies are getting the same economic amenities as they would in a more urban setting but still have access to shorter commute times, better housing prices and more," Arnett notes.
New Hampshire also features some new incentive programs that corporations should take note of. The Community Reinvestment and Opportunity Program (CROP) consists of designated areas for investment. Companies that expand their employment in these CROP zones can take a credit against their business profits tax for new payroll, Arnett notes. He says agreements can be for up to five years.
The job credit program is targeted geographically toward two economically disadvantaged counties. The cash credit per job created in those areas is based on a sliding scale based on the wage paid. "Anything at $9 an hour and above is eligible for a $1,000 cash credit per job created," Arnett says. "It slides up to $20,000 per job for jobs that are paying in the low $20s per hour."
This credit program runs across a five-year period. Companies that receive the credit are eligible to request a moratorium on local property taxes from the host town. "This is not the ability to get cash back, but rather to have the ability to negotiate an attractive property tax rate for five years," Arnett notes.
Corporations should also note that New Hampshire has a new governor, Gov.-elect John Lynch. He stated on his Web site during the campaign that one of the biggest challenges facing New Hampshire businesses was the cost of health insurance. He says he will work to repeal SB 110, which has increased health insurance costs for small businesses.

Targets
Arnett says the industries best suited for expansion and relocation into New Hampshire include high-mix manufacturing, financial services and biosciences. Arnett notes that high-mix manufacturing includes companies that offer a mix of services where they become partners in the design and production process. "Our manufacturing world, which is still a strong part of our economy, is strong in medical products, electrical components, auto subcomponents, machines and circuit boards," Arnett says.
Arnett says financial services do well in the state because of the tax structure and the workforce. He says the state's business taxes are ranked in the middle of the pack and that the state consistently takes less income than other states. "Our personal taxes are low and our effective taxes are typically rated the lowest in the country," Arnett says. "We are a good second site for New York, Boston, and Montreal financial companies."
Arnett notes Fidelity Investments has a large presence in the state and is slowly moving more operations out of Boston to the state. He says the company's New Hampshire presence also features support operations for its international operations.
In the biosciences sector, Arnett says New Hampshire complements the R&D being conducted in the Boston area. "We are strong in manufacturing bioscience products," he notes.
Locally, in Manchester, the city is well suited for business services and high tech, says Jane Hills, assistant economic development director, City of Manchester Economic Development Office. She says New Hampshire has the labor pool and access to brilliant minds that come out of Boston that would rather live in the state, where it is less expensive and less crowded.
A highlight of the Manchester business community is the Mill Yard area along the Merrimack River. During the past 20 years the buildings have been refurbished into office space, and a small segment of light manufacturing operations. The area also features three colleges, the University of New Hampshire at Manchester, the Springfield College Graduate School and Franklin Pierce College.
In Rochester, medical device and composite materials companies do well in the community. Phase II Medical moved from another location to Rochester's Granite State Business Park and has hired 60 people.
In addition, "Composite materials, plastics, woods and all types of fibers have been a niche for us for a number of years," says Karen Pollard, economic development manager, City of Rochester. "We are assisting a number of those companies in further commercializing their products so they have a broader base."
Pollard notes there is an existing facility, a former Cabletron Systems building, in Rochester that would be well suited for a customer service fulfillment opportunity. She says another former Cabletron Systems building is being filled by Stonewall Kitchen, a gourmet food company, for its distribution and customer service facility. The company will also open an outlet store at this 100,000-square-foot facility. "Stonewall Kitchen employs 60 people and expects to grow to 250 in the next year," Pollard says.

Workforce and Education
Pollard says Rochester can draw a workforce from a 60-mile radius, which goes into Maine and into northern New Hampshire. "That is more than 100,000 people," Pollard notes. She says this workforce is well educated and experienced in both manufacturing and customer service industries.
Pollard adds that she is working with a company interested in moving to the city from another state. The company ran a blind ad for the 20 positions they would create and had more than 100 responses on the first day. "That is a clear message that we have the workforce ready and willing to do the job," she says.
Hills says Manchester imports people to work in the city. "We have more jobs than there are people who live in Manchester who are employed," she says. In addition, she says the 11 area colleges provide an untapped workforce for operations such as call centers and others that are looking to fill part-time positions or odd hours.
Rochester's higher education system features one of the New Hampshire Community Technical Colleges, access to the University of New Hampshire at Durham, which is 15 minutes away, a College for Lifelong Learning and a technical center, where customized training is conducted. The city covers half the training costs and the business pays the other half. "It is an effective way to get customized training, either at the work site or at the technical center," Pollard notes.

Business Climate
Arnett says a New Hampshire location offers corporations a good balance between economic opportunities and life opportunities. He says other states in the Northeast can offer one or the other: economic opportunity but with higher costs of living and urban-related problems; or beautiful rural settings without much economic opportunity. "We are a state where the two come together," he says.
Corporations will find that in addition to the state incentive programs, such as CROP zones, local communities can also offer assistance. Pollard says Rochester is examining the benefits of a CROP zone designation for the Granite State Business Park. The community is also looking at conducting its first TIF.
What?s more, there is a $1.7 million economic development fund in Rochester to assist businesses with construction and infrastructure improvements. The fund has also provided some small loans.
In terms of facility and site availability, corporations will find that Rochester had more than 1 million square feet of commercial development underway in 2004 and that another 1 million square feet are prepped for 2005. "We are a quickly growing area with low costs for living and business," Pollard notes.
Hills says Manchester has been making huge efforts in redeveloping its downtown in the last five years. The city-owned Verizon Wireless Arena was built with the idea of bringing people downtown. "The success of the arena has proven that this worked," Hills says. "Even when the building was under construction four years ago, new restaurants were beginning to open."
The city has also helped finance four downtown buildings that were rehabilitated into office or residential space, with retail on the first floors. A new baseball stadium will be located downtown on the riverfront. The minor-league New Hampshire Fisher Cats will call the new stadium home.
The city is also in the final stages of purchase and sales agreements with a residential developer and a hotel developer to build along the river. In addition, a 204-unit luxury apartment building is under construction in the downtown area, which will feature some retail on the first floor and a parking garage.
Hills says the next step for Manchester officials is to bring services to the downtown area, such as a grocery store and clothing stores.
For complete details about conducting business in New Hampshire visit www.nheconomy.com, www.manchesternh.gov and www.rochesternh.net.