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New Hampshire’s $100M Housing Investment Beginning to Pay Off

New Hampshire’s $100 million housing investment, InvestNH, is starting to pay off.

“InvestNH was absolutely critical in allowing more housing to be built,” said developer Jack Franks.

Franks, president and CEO of Avanru Development Group, said InvestNH’s help was key to some of his new affordable housing projects in Newport, Swanzey, and Hillsborough.

“Hillsborough would not have happened,” Franks pointed out.

Polls consistently show housing costs are a top priority for Granite Staters, and many of the state’s employers say housing is one their biggest challenges in attracting quality workers. Using federal ARPA relief funds to get more apartments and homes built, InvestNH is making a difference, though there’s still a long way to go.

“This crisis is not going to be solved overnight, but we are working with local leaders to get them the resources they need to match housing needs in their community,” said Department of Business and Economic Affairs Commissioner Taylor Caswell.

Administered by the BEA, InvestNH has already impacted more than 4,657 new housing units throughout the state, according to Caswell, with more to come.

BEA worked through InvestNH to create a capital grant program to fund the development of affordable housing; a demolition program to assist municipalities in preparing for or addressing housing challenges and project developments in older dilapidated properties; a per-unit incentive grant program that awarded municipalities $10,000 per unit of approved affordable housing, and the Housing Opportunities program, which assisted 67 communities to review and develop planning and zoning strategies to facilitate appropriate housing in their towns.

“The goal with these one-time funds has been to help accelerate affordable housing units getting to market and setting the stage for more private investment in affordable housing statewide by providing incentives and resources to local communities,” Caswell said.

BEA used InvestNH to fund: $64 million for the Capital Grant program that impacted 1,605 new units; $16.2 million for the Per Unit Grants program that impacted 1,910 units; $11.5 for the Demolition Grants program that impacted 2,302 units; and $7.9 million for the Housing Opportunity Planning Grants program that went to 67 communities throughout the state.

BEA’s new state Housing Champions program will soon be able to continue the InvestNH programs, thanks to state general funds totaling $15 million.

Even with InvestNH, New Hampshire has a vacancy rate of around 1 percent or less, according to Franks, leaving Granite Staters to pay more for rent or looking out of state for a decent home they can afford.

“It’s beyond critical mass at this point. It’s at absurdity, the amount of housing that’s needed in the state,” Franks said.

Of his three new developments, two were fully rented soon after opening. Both the Swanzey and Newport apartment projects now have waiting lists, and the Hillsborough development is taking applications now.

The biggest obstacle to building more affordable housing that Franks encounters are the sometimes redundant and contradictory local regulations that slow construction, or stymie projects altogether. Franks hopes incoming Gov. Kelly Ayotte will work to streamline those regulations and cut the red tape that make the housing crisis worse. 

Ayotte told NHJournal she’s ready to help.

“Tackling New Hampshire’s housing crisis is a key priority for my administration — we need more housing for our workforce, our seniors, our families, and every community across our state,” Ayotte said. “As Governor, I’ll work to streamline the state permitting process, cut unnecessary red tape that creates barriers to construction, and bring stakeholders together to discuss how we can incentivize construction of more affordable housing while respecting local control. Working together, we’ll keep New Hampshire moving in the right direction.”

Bunny’s and Chocolate Win Big at NH SBA Awards

Pramod Nyaupane and his wife, Bibhuti Thapa, may take a moment to enjoy their award as the 2024 NH SBA Small Business Week Minority-Owned Business of the Year—but only after they’ve finished working.

“We work seven days a week. Hard work and long hours at work help keep peace at home,” Nyaupane said. “Our goal is to cut back. We want to work five days a week…starting 10 years from now.”

The owners of Bunny’s Superette, the convenience store that’s been a Manchester fixture since the 1950s, were among this year’s New Hampshire SBA Small Business Week winners honored during a celebration held Tuesday at the Tupelo Music Hall in Derry.

SBA Director Administrator Isabel Guzman, who took photos with the winners, delivered a message on behalf of the Biden administration.

“The SBA can power up business success stories,” Guzman said, touting the $50 billion in funding the agency handles annually to aid small businesses. She noted the Tupelo Music Hall itself needed SBA help at one point.

The small businesses honored on Tuesday are among 170,000 in the Granite State, according to Guzman, who said her agency has received about 40,000 new business applications from New Hampshire since 2021.

Nyaupane and Thapa both came to the United States separately in the early 2000s and made their way to Manchester. The couple got together in the Queen City, married, and began their business life.

After buying Bunny’s in 2010 and working hard to keep it successful, Nyaupane and Thapa expanded the business. They opened a new Bunny’s location on Elm Street in 2017, betting the store would thrive with the city. Nyaupane said Thapa is the secret behind their success.

“When your wife works twice as hard as you do, things go well,” he said.

District Director Award winner Richard Tango-Lowy was a physicist when he fell in love with chocolate in the 1980s. He spent years researching chocolate and teaching himself how to work with a confection with a history dating back to the Mayan civilization. When he decided to leap into the professional world of chocolate, Tango-Lowy’s wife was skeptical.

“I never planned to be a chocolatier. My wife said, ‘You’re going to make a living doing what?'” Tango-Lowy said.

He spent more years studying chocolate with masters in the field. He went to Vancouver to take the Ecole Chocolat’s Professional Chocolatier course, to France and later Tuscany to earn his Master Chocolatier certifications, and to Ecuador to learn how to go from chocolate bean to chocolate bar. In 2011, he opened Dancing Lion Chocolate, which is a shop, cafe, and production kitchen in Manchester. Dancing Lion has gone on to be recognized as one of the premiere chocolate shops in the country and Tango-Lowy as one of the best chocolatiers.

Both New Hampshire Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan were on hand to honor the small business owners.

Businesses like Bunny’s and Dancing Lion drive the economy and innovations, Shaheen said.

“I think most of us know that about two-thirds of jobs are created from small businesses. But my favorite statistic about small businesses is that you create 16 times more patents than large businesses. I think most people don’t realize that. And I think it’s one reason that the U.S. Patent and Trade Office just decided to locate its northern New England office in New Hampshire, which is very good news for all of us,” Shaheen said.

Hassan’s message was that freedom is essential to small business success.

“All the small business owners here are also a testament to the difference that freedom can make. And I want people to just focus on this for a minute, a lot of things that we can take for granted living in New Hampshire, living in the United States. I think one of them is democracy and freedom, and it’s something that is essential to the kind of progress and the kind of strength that you all exhibit here today,” Hassan said. “Because to be individually free is to be free to innovate, to be free to do the thing you love to do, to contribute your talents, to be able to try something and fail and then try again. There is no limit to our creativity, but we all have to be free and live in this democratic society in this democratic system.”

Among the other winners Tuesday:

Small Business Persons of the Year, Susan Borchert and Betsy Harrison, Counseling Associates, PLLC, New London; Home-Based for NH and New England, Logan Snyder, HasOptimization, LLC, Canterbury; Young Entrepreneurs for NH and New England, Bryce Harrison – Ian Lubkin – James Gaudreault, Cheese Louise, Portsmouth – North Conway – Portland, Me.; Veteran Owned, Ken Whitten and Joseph Whitten, Apparel Impact, LLC, Hooksett; Woman Owned, Danielle Jones, Abenaki Trail Restaurant and Pub, North Conway; Financial Services Champion, Patricia Grauwiler, Enterprise Bank and Trust Co., Salem; Small Business Manufacturer, Justin Sousa, Sousa Signs, LLC, Manchester; Jeffrey Butland Family Owned Award, Tom and Sally Wilkins, Wilkins Lumber Co., Inc., Milford; Micro-Enterprise, Andrea Lee Daniels, and Quality Press, Inc., Concord.

New NH Business Filings Are Booming, NHSOS Reports

New Hampshire’s economy keeps booming, and more residents are looking to themselves to create the next opportunity, according to the New Hampshire Secretary of State’s (NHSOS) Corporation Division.

The state reached the milestone of 100,000 LLC and corporation annual reports processed this year, a 7.5 percent increase over last year.

“The number of LLC formations in New Hampshire also continues to increase each year as a result of New Hampshire’s strong economy,” the NHSOS office said in a statement. “On average, over 2,000 new businesses are forming each month with our office, most of which are small businesses.”

The numbers are getting rave reviews.

“This is what a strong economy looks like,” Greg Moore, director of Americans for Prosperity/New Hampshire said on Twitter.

The Granite State is outperforming the rest of New England economically, becoming one of the country’s leading economies, with a population of just 1.4 million people. 

“Despite the national narrative around the state of the U.S. economy and a potential slowdown, New Hampshire’s economy is healthy and continues to attract entrepreneurs and new business owners given our pro-business climate,” said Michael Skelton, president and CEO of the Business and Industry Association, the statewide chamber of commerce and leading business advocate.

New Hampshire’s economy, freedom from sales and income taxes, and overall business-friendly environment is attracting more people to move here, and they are succeeding.

New Hampshire’s unemployment rate is a stunning 2.4 percent, a full percentage point below the national average of 3.4 percent. The poverty rate for the state is 7.2 percent, well below the national rate of 11.6 percent. On top of that, the state’s GDP rose again this year to $84 billion, up 2.5 percent from last year. 

More young people are moving to New Hampshire as well, as 25-29-year-olds looking to start careers after college are choosing the Granite State. New Hampshire is the second favorite destination in the age group, after Utah.

The influx of people attracted to New Hampshire’s freedom and independence means more people are starting businesses, the engine that is driving New Hampshire’s boom.

The state is also blowing past old records when it comes to export revenue. Last year, New Hampshire businesses brought home $1 billion more in revenue than they did in 2021, up to $7.3 billion in total.

The export revenue increase is just another reason for people to move to New Hampshire, Gov. Chris Sununu said at the time.

“I encourage any business, small or large, to make the Granite State their home. We are open for business!” Sununu said.

The number of LLC, limited liability corporations, formed in New Hampshire continues to increase each year as a result of New Hampshire’s strong economy, according to the Secretary of State’s Office. On average, more than 2,000 new businesses are forming each month with the state, most of which are small businesses, the NHSOS office reports.

“We understand business owners are busy, so we strive to make it as simple as possible for businesses to stay in compliance with the requirement to file their annual report,” said Thomas Connolly, Director of the Corporation Division. “Our corporate database is an essential tool to support business activity throughout the State.”

Medicaid Expansion Bill Gains Steam in State House

As the bipartisan bill to reauthorize New Hampshire’s Medicaid expansion program, Granite Advantage, moves through the legislature, backers are making a conservative case for the expansion.

Senate President Jeb Bradley (R-Wolfeboro) is one of the bill’s prime sponsors. He says expanding Medicaid has lowered healthcare costs, improved healthcare for Granite Staters, and helped get more people into the workforce.

“The program has worked as intended,” Bradley said.

The Granite Advantage bill, SB 263, won unanimous support in the Senate last month. It’s scheduled for an executive session discussion on Wednesday before the House Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee. If approved, the bill will then head to the full House for a vote.

Granite Advantage was last reauthorized in 2018 and is set to expire at the end of the year without SB 263’s passage. Enrollment in the program was around 94,000 residents at the start of the year, though the national COVID-19 emergency inflated those numbers. Those figures are expected to return to around 60,000 residents in the coming months.

SB 263 would reauthorize the program and remove the requirement that the legislature pass legislation to reauthorize it every few years, instead relying on a study commission to send an annual report to the legislature reporting on the effectiveness of the program. Even if SB 263 were to pass, the legislature could sunset this program at any time by a vote of the legislature.

According to Bradley, providing coverage through Granite Advantage is taking a bite out of healthcare costs. The program is driving down the cost of uncompensated care hospitals are required to provide to people without insurance. That protects people with private insurance from being stuck picking up the tab when someone without insurance goes to an emergency room for treatment, he said.

“[Uncompensated care] is a hidden tax on any individual or any business with private insurance,” Bradley said.

According to the New Hampshire Hospital Association, Granite Advantage has led to a 63 percent decrease in the number of uninsured people going to emergency rooms. There has also been a 57 percent drop in uninsured people being admitted to hospitals and another 41 percent reduction in the number of outpatient visits by the uninsured.

In 2014, hospitals reported $174 million in uncompensated care costs before Granite Advantage went into effect. In 2021, that figure dropped to $69 million, according to the NHHA.

Sen. Lou D’Allesandro (D-Manchester) said permanently expanding Granite Advantage makes sense beyond the numbers.

“I just feel it’s the right thing to do,” D’Allesandro said. “We take care of a lot of people.

And, he pointed out, the bill does not use any money from the state’s General Fund.

The bill’s costs are 90 percent covered by the federal government. In 2022, Granite Advantage cost $558 million, but the federal government covered $502 million. According to Bradley, the remaining $56 million was paid through healthcare taxes and fees, with money from the state liquor fund also available to cover costs.

New Hampshire Business and Industry Association (BIA) President and CEO Michael Skelton said abandoning Medicaid expansion would hurt both the state’s economy and the people who make New Hampshire’s growing economy possible.

“We benefit from an overall healthier population,” Skelton said. “Hospitals and other caregivers avoid catastrophic loss of revenue, and employers and employees across the state will benefit from individuals being healthy enough to work.”

In addition to the BIA, numerous other NH-based business organizations including the NH Retail Association and several chambers of commerce have advocated for the reauthorization of Medicaid expansion.