Trained to be hospitable
part 4

By Christine Philp
HippoPress.com

Every time I go to my Granite State Ambassadors class, I learn something new and exciting about this great state. ?Business and Industry? was the focus of this class. I thought I was in for a boring class, but once again, I was wrong.

New Hampshire is a state rich with resources, including talented artisans and craftspeople. In order to promote the people and products of the state, New Hampshire Stories, Inc. was created. This organization assists small NH businesses in telling their unique stories and in providing opportunities to reach greater markets.
One of the ways that NH Stories markets is via its retail store on Interstate 95 in Hampton. Located near the NH State Liquor Store, The New Hampshire Store sells a variety of NH-made products from food to artwork.
When you drive home from your vacation and you realize that you forgot to pick up a little memento for Grandma, you have options.

You can shop at the State Liquor Store and buy her a good strong bottle of whiskey or shop at the New Hampshire Store and buy her a big slab of authentic New Hampshire goat cheese.

When considering these two choices, you really need to think of what Grandma likes. Is she a rambunctious, knee-slapping, whiskey-drinking Grandma? Or is she more of the traditional grandmotherly type? Personally, I think buying her an authentic New Hampshire product is a little more thoughtful than getting her drunk. Unless, of course, your Grandma is lactose intolerant, and that could just end up being one big mess.

Our speaker was Robin Comstock, president of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce. She explained to us that the Chamber is an organization ?dedicated to developing economic oppertunities? and ?a strong business climate.? Together, she said, businesses can work towards promoting and revitalizing the local economy.
While I find this an extremely honorable and worthwhile cause, what I found most interesting was the origins of this institution.

The New Hampshire Chamber of Commerce began many years ago in Portsmouth. Local merchants had a major problem on their hands: wild boar.

These gangs of wild boar were causing havoc in the village; messing up the sidewalks, frightening customers, kidnapping small children and spraypainting profanity on the shop doors.

The merchants could take no more! They gathered secretly by candlelight, called themselves the ?Chamber of Commerce? and vowed to fight these gangs of boar to the death.

The rest is history. The Portsmouth shopping district is alive and kicking and the wild boar of yesteryear are just a faint memory.

Robin also revealed that the Manchester Chamber currently hopes to institute a trolley system between the Manchester Airport, the mall and some of the local universities. I think it would be a nice gesture to offer to train the wild boar to drive these trolleys, although there may still be too much pain from events of the past for this to be feasible.

Like I said, there is nothing boring about NH business and industry.

Christine Philp can be reached at christinephilp@hotmail.com.