For better and worse: Some NH industries are weathering the Covid storm; others struggle to stay in business

Tuesday, June 11, 2024Friday, December 18, 2020

In hindsight, 2020 may be remembered as a train wreck — the biggest and strangest recession in the nation’s history, the most sudden, the shortest, the most savage. But, thanks to an acceleration of technological trends, one that might open the economy up in profound ways that we are just beginning to understand.

Economic uncertainty increases demand for financial guidance

Tuesday, June 11, 2024Friday, October 16, 2020

Fidelity Investments is expanding its New Hampshire workforce by roughly 20 percent despite high unemployment and economic upheaval – or rather because of it.

Veto override day: A guide for NH businesses

Tuesday, June 11, 2024Tuesday, September 15, 2020

Bills that would set up a paid family and medical leave program, raise the minimum wage, boost clean energy initiatives and provide tenant protections are all on the chopping block following vetoes by Gov. Chris Sununu. And, although the bills’ backers will try to rescue at least some of them when the New Hampshire Legislature meets Wednesday to try to override those vetoes, they are not likely to succeed.

Number of employees returning to work stalls before $600 in extra benefits ends

Tuesday, June 11, 2024Saturday, July 25, 2020

or the first time in four months, the initial claims have gone up slightly, showing that layoffs are starting to pick up again, especially in manufacturing, perhaps reflecting the impact of the upsurge in the virus in the rest of the country and the world.

Number of NH bankruptcy filings continues at ‘stunning’ lows

Tuesday, June 11, 2024Friday, July 10, 2020

There were only 81 bankruptcy filings in June, four more than in May, and the third double-digit filing in a row – something we haven’t seen since the late 1980s, save for three months following October 2005 when the law was changed to make it harder to file for protection.

NH Re-Opening Task Force begins taking up second phase guidelines

Tuesday, June 11, 2024Tuesday, June 16, 2020

On Monday, Sununu turned his order into an advisory, lifting the 10-person gathering limit, and allowing many other businesses to reopen, including bowling alleys, gyms and wedding venues. He also allowed restaurants to have indoor dining and said day camps and overnight camps could open June 22 and June 28, respectively. And movie theaters, performing arts centers and amusement parks could open on June 29. (The task force voted on guidance for the last three, but the governor hasn’t approved it yet.)

As NH slowly emerges from shutdown, not every business and not all customers are ready to follow

Tuesday, June 11, 2024Tuesday, May 19, 2020

The pressure to open from cash strapped-businesses and cabin fevered consumers is immense, despite the federal government flooding the state with billions of dollars in economic aid and despite a still-rising coronavirus caseload and death toll – a death toll that, in mid-May, only two months after the shutdown – stood at nearly half the number of opioid-related fatalities recorded in all of 2019.

Economic Injury Disaster Loan program falls short in New Hampshire

Tuesday, June 11, 2024Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Some 126 New Hampshire businesses – less than 1 in 200 –have received emergency loans directly from the U.S. Small Business Administration, according to figures released by the agency earlier this week on its website.

Demand has been crazy’ for ‘lifesaver’ federal assistance

Sunday, June 16, 2024Friday, April 10, 2020

The mad rush is on, as businesses spent the last week filing for some of the $349 billion worth of federally guaranteed loans, loans that – for the most part – they won’t have to pay back. Those funds, however, are finite and going fast.

NH Department of Employment Security scrambles to keep up with unprecedented number of claims

Monday, June 10, 2024Wednesday, April 1, 2020

If your business was forced to shut down and you attempt to apply for benefits under New Hampshire’s new coronavirus eligibility rules, you will be denied. But don’t worry about it. Ignore it. It doesn’t mean anything.

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