February 26, 2009

News in brief

People
Gov. John Lynch signed legislation Friday, Feb. 20, aimed at addressing this year’s projected revenue shortfall, which is predicted to be about $275 million. Lynch’s signature will allow the state to save another $16 million, according to a release from the governor’s office. The state has already cut about $175 million from its budget.

U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen concluded a three-day tour of small businesses across New Hampshire in Salem Monday, Feb. 23. Shaheen traveled to seven towns and met with more than 30 small-business owners to listen to accounts of how the economic crisis has affected businesses.

St. Mary’s Bank waved goodbye to President and CEO Ronald Rioux, who retired last month. Rioux, of Exeter, served 16 years as CEO. He was the bank’s seventh CEO in its 101-year history.

Londonderry’s Jessica Eshleman was named executive director of Main Street Concord, replacing Nan Hagan. Eshleman was formerly the marketing manager for Nashua’s downtown revitalization group, Great American Downtown.

Lynch and state Department of Environmental Services Commissioner Thomas Burack urged local communities looking to upgrade drinking water or wastewater systems to apply for federal stimulus funding through DES. DES has been working with local communities to identify projects that fall within the scope of the federal stimulus law. The department will continue accepting pre-applications from communities through Friday, Feb. 27. New Hampshire could receive $39 million for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund program for grants or loans for municipal wastewater system upgrades, and $19 million for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund program for drinking water system upgrades. Visit des.nh.gov/organization/commissioner/pip/stimulus.htm. 

Goal-setting online
Setting goals is one thing. Accomplishing them can be quite another. Becky Steed of Inner Glow Concepts, LLC, is hoping to help people achieve their goals through the Web. Friday, Feb. 13, Steed, who owns the small Candia-based business, launched a community-based, goal-setting Web site, www.amiglowz.com.

After a friend of Steed’s did some searching for a goal management Web site and came up empty, Steed started thinking about it and, “it just kind of cascaded into a two-year project,” she said. The site is now packed full of features for people looking to track and manage their goals. Users have the ability to achieve goals on their own or to look for help and inspiration from others in the community.

Steed said that when people physically document their goals with some structure they are more likely to be successful.

“It’s giving you the tools to outline what you need to do,” Steed said.

People can go to the site, create a profile, which they can make public or private, and then write down a goal. They can pick inspirational quotes, create deadlines, upload pictures and explain their purpose for the particular goal. People can also list their challenges and obstacles, Steed said. Steed said people can search for others who have similar goals and then use the internal messaging option to talk about goals. She said people can efficiently gather a team to accomplish community projects.

“We’re trying to get people involved,” Steed said. “It’s fun reaching out to the other people.”

People can try the Web site and use all of its features free for 30 days. It costs $9.95 per month after that. So far, she figured about 20 to 30 people had signed up.

Just Be at the Oscars
Just Be Products, LLC, a New Hampshire apparel and accessories company, was selected to participate in the exclusive celebrity gift bags given away at the Academy Awards last Sunday. Their new line of T-shirts was featured in gift bags given to celebrities at the Academy Awards. Each Just Be item has its own Just Be saying, such as “Be Beautiful” or “Be Green.”

“It’s a state of mind, a way of life and a philosophy,” said owner and founder Michelle Pratt-Lienhart. After applying a while back, she said it was only about two weeks ago that she found out the Academy Awards wanted her shirts, so she immediately sent a bunch of her most popular designs. She included “Be Yourself,” “Be the Change,” “Be Natural,” “Be Organic,” “Be Fabulous” and “Be Pink,” in which a portion of the proceeds goes to breast cancer research.

Pratt-Lienhart said it’s “been a wonderful up and down roller coaster ride ever since” she opened last June. She’s waiting to hear back from the celebrity gifting company that represented Just Be Products at the Academy Awards and that documented which shirts went to whom. “I’m anxious to see who got what,” she said. Visit www.jb-justbe.com. Call 369-3699.  

Happenings
The state Department of Environmental Services and Home Builders and Remodelers Association of NH recently signed an agreement to work together on environmental education, protection of the state’s natural resources, strong and economically diverse communities, encouraging local land use decision-making consistent with the state’s smart growth principles, and state policy initiatives resulting in more affordable housing and more land conservation, a state press release said. This partnership was signed as part of the Partners Program that DES initiated with a wide range of organizations across New Hampshire. To see the agreement, visit des.nh.gov/organization/commissioner/partners_program.htm. Call Sharon Yergeau at 271-2918.

The state Department of Health and Human Services Division of Public Health Services announced the release of
the New Hampshire Childhood Cancer Issue Brief, which is the first compilation and review of current data on childhood cancer of state residents. About 73 children are diagnosed with cancer each year in the Granite State. The most common forms are leukemia, lymphoma, cancer of the central nervous system and soft tissue sarcomas, which together account for 68 percent of cases in children statewide. Most childhood cases occur in children ages 15 to 19. To see the brief, visit www.dhhs.state.nh.us/DHHS/HSDM/cancer-data.htm.

The French departments at 36 area high schools have been invited to participate in the 10th annual Marcel Bourque French Oratorical Contest on Saturday, March 7, at 2 p.m. at Pembroke Library. Participants will choose a contemporary French-speaking individual and will describe that person’s importance in their life in five-minute presentation. The winner will represent the Gens-Unis Club at the regional contest March 21 in Manchester, where people from Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire will compete.

Student Leadership
The Social Entrepreneurial Student Leadership High School Challenge kicked off Feb. 11. More than 100 students from 11 New Hampshire high schools will compete in teams to design a project that aims to solve a local, regional or national problem, an SESL release said.

“What really happens ... is students experience amazing growth from the start of the program to the finish,” said Elizabeth Foy this past fall. Foy is co-founder of the SESL Challenge. “The roadblocks to learning that they overcome when they unite around something they are passionate about is amazing. Their confidence grows. Their recognition of their own skill sets grow.” Students spend eight weeks constructing their project and will compete regionally April 4. For the first time this year, the Challenge is also featuring a college division, which includes 10 teams from New Hampshire colleges. College students will compete regionally April 17.