Small Business

One Man's Quest to Save Pinball

Virginia Prescott — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 14:39:27 +0000

The steadfast fixture of arcades and bars has dwindled as the gaming industry has moved towards handheld devices and home consoles. Only one pinball production company remains. However, Jack Guarnieri is looking to revive the once uber-popular gaming machine.

How New Hampshire Is Helping Nanobreweries Revolutionize Craft Beer

Emily Corwin — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 14:35:32 +0000

While beer sales have been down, nationally, since the great recession, the craft beer industry has been going strong – growing 15 percent in 2011, according to the American Brewers’ Association.

How New Hampshire Is Helping Nanobreweries Revolutionize Craft Beer

Emily Corwin — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 20:20:03 +0000

Read, listen and view a slideshow about New Hampshire's nanobrewery laws and Throwback Brewery at StateImpact New Hampshire.

The 10 Best NH Employers

Virginia Prescott — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 16:13:28 +0000

Some employers are willing to try anything to incentivize employees to work harder and increase productivity. But what exactly are employees looking for in a job these days, aside from the pay? Business NH Magazine's annual competition identifies the top ten best New Hampshire companies to work for and what makes them so great. Matthew Mowry is editor for Business NH Magazine and he joins us to talk about who came out on top.

Google's Get Your Business Online Event Launches In Hooksett

Emily Corwin — Sat, 21 Jul 2012 14:30:36 +0000

53 percent of small businesses in New Hampshire aren't online, says Jamie Hill, a Google spokesperson. That, she says, is bad for Google, and bad for small businesses, too.

Greening A Small Business

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 04:00:00 +0000

EarthTalk®
E - The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: I own a small business and would like to do what I can to minimize its impact on the environment. Can you help me?-- Jacob Levinson, New York, NY

Public Insight Network: How are Businesses Faring in Manchester?

Brady Carlson — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:10:16 +0000

We'd like to know more about how small businesses are doing in Manchester. Tell us your experiences and share what you know through our Public Insight Network! Click here.

Most Small Businesses Don't Quite Fit The Political Picture

Tamara Keith — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 22:28:00 +0000

The House is scheduled to vote Thursday on a GOP measure to cut taxes on small businesses.

Now, the mental image most of us have of a small business is probably something like this: a handful of employees, a shop, maybe a restaurant or a little tech firm.

It turns out the reality of the nation's 28 million small businesses is, in many cases, quite different.

House Republicans say their tax cut would help millions of small businesses.

"This is a bill which will directly help small businesses create jobs," says Rep.

National Trend 'Mobs' Local Businesses With Cash

Daniel Robison — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 07:13:00 +0000

You may have heard of "flash mobs," where a mass of people invade a public space to make a scene. Now the idea has been turned on its head by "cash mobs," where large crowds of consumers show up at small businesses to spend money. But it's not just about propping up the local economy.

It's 5 o'clock on a Friday, and mostly quiet in the Lander's Men's Store, a mom-and-pop clothing store in Jamestown, N.Y. But shop owner Ann Powers is anticipating a mob.

"You get kind of nervous thinking, 'Oh, nobody is going to show up,'" she says.

House Votes Against State Run Health Insurance Exchange

Rachel Gotbaum — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 21:13:40 +0000

A bill which prevents the state from creating its own exchange passed overwhelmingly in the house on Thursday

A Federal vs State Health Insurance Exchange-Does It Matter?

Rachel Gotbaum — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 19:42:37 +0000

As part of the Affordable Care Act, every state must have a health insurance exchange in place by January 2014. An exchange is a clearinghouse of sorts where people and small business can go to buy insurance and also find out which tax rebates they may use to help them buy coverage.

Lawmakers Consider State Monitoring of Prescription Drugs (Again)

Rachel Gotbaum — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 21:26:50 +0000

New Hampshire has one of the worst prescription drug abuse problems in the country. The state now ranks 5th in the nation for percentage of residents who abuse medications such as percocet, vicodin, and oxycodone, according to the Federal Centers for Disease Control. The problem is especially alarming among young people. New Hampshire has the second highest rate of 18-25 year olds who abuse prescription drugs in the nation.

Danielle Fiore , 24, says she was addicted to painkillers for most of her childhood.

"I had fractured my ankle and I was prescribed vicodin and it felt good. I was ten or eleven," she says. "As time went on I would get something else hurt or a toothache or something and I would get more painkillers. I have a bunch of teeth missing because I would complain and get them pulled so I would get pain killers."

Currently New Hampshire has no prescription drug monitoring program. The program, which is up and running in 48 other states, is initially funded through federal grants. The proposal to create a centralized prescription database that doctors and law enforcement could check to track so called "doctor shoppers" has been defeated several times in the state Legislature. A new bill is now being considered this session and its sponsor Senator Majority Leader Jeb Bradley, R-Wolfeboro, is hopeful that there is enough support for a statewide prescription monitoring program this time. He cites the growing number of overdose deaths in the state from prescription drugs. In the last decade overdose deaths from these medications have more than tripled .

Data source: NH O ffice of the Chief Medical Examiner

"There are more people dying because of abuse of prescription drugs that are legal than automobile accidents, he says. "We ought to have a tool to try to sort out the legal use of these drugs and the appropriate use and those that aren’t."

For those who oppose a statewide prescription drug database privacy is a major issue. Rep. Neal Kurk, R-Weare, says such a program goes against the Granite State's core philosophy.

"This is New Hampshire, this is the 'Live Free or Die' state, " says Kurk. "One of the major reasons this bill has not been adopted is because most people feel it’s the independent philosophy, personal responsibility philosophy that prevails and that government should be small and not interfere with people’s lives."

Many of the state's independent pharmacists are also against a monitoring program because they worry they will end up footing the bill. The database would be drawn from pharmacy records. Rick Newman, a lobbyist for the New Hampshire Independent Pharmacy Association, says the small business people he represents will be end up carrying the burden of the costs of such a database.

"I can’t sit here as anyone with any kind of intelligence and disagree that’s there's a problem with people abusing prescription drugs in this country, of course there is," says Newman. "The question becomes whose burden is that? We can’t pass laws to put the burden on the small business person because they happen to be one part of the pipeline."

Emergency room doctors and those that treat pain say they are often confronted by patients who may be faking symptoms to get narcotics for their addiction or to sell on the street.

"I want people who have legitimate pain to get the proper pain medications that they need," say Dr. David Heller, an emergency room physician at Portsmouth Hospital. "But I don’t want to feed somebody’s addiction and I don’t want to write a prescription for drugs that are going to be sold to my kids or my kid's friends."

NH Drug Deaths 1995 - 2010 (ppt 236 kb) provided by the office of the Chief Medical Examiner

America's Funeral Industry Sees New Life

Virginia Prescott — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:48:19 +0000

Funeral homes are adapting to recent trends of eco-friendliness and personalization in effort to keep the business thriving. We take a look at what consumers are asking for and how the traditional spirituality of a funeral is becoming less common.