Things May Be Looking Up In Colebrook

By Trish Anderton on Tuesday, December 28, 2004.

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The economy in the North Country town of Colebrook is looking up.

The small town just a few miles south of Canada has faced some struggles in recent years.

But the expected arrival of a new high-tech business, plus some new construction, has residents feeling optimistic.

NHPR correspondent Trish Anderton has our story.

In the run-up to Christmas, holiday music played nonstop at the Radio Shack in downtown Colebrook.

The economy here hasn't always inspired the Christmas spirit.

But this year the town is getting a gift many have wished for.

It's the promise of jobs.

And Santa is coming in the form of a high-tech venture called Project SRX.

Beno Lamontagne manages the Radio Shack.

He's also the head of the Colebrook Economic Development Corporation.

11 216 the initial workforce will involve about a hundred. from there its unclear, we?ve heard figures of 300, 350, 375. for the north country
its huge, it?s a huge influx of jobs.

Project SRX is a collaboration among Honeywell, IBM, and a number of other companies.

Michael Bergeron of the State Department of Resources and Economic Development or DRED, says the collaboration is designed to help those companies work on defense projects.

008 10 many different companies will be working together and they have to speak a common language. so it?ll be a way of combining all this data into one data set that is in a common language but at the same time protects proprietary info that is unique to that company.

Three hundred or more jobs would be quite significant in a town of 2400.

Bergeron predicts the impact will be felt across the region too.

BERGERON: these people will be living everywhere from whitefield and Littleton to berlin and these other towns will see business result from
that because these areas will probably see other high tech companies move to those locations as well.

Bergeron says Colebrook became the destination because one of the key collaborators, Wisconsin-based Banta Corporation, favors rural locations.

But He also credits local officials.

12 33 the local community is really proactive, they work as a team, they?re really positive, they stay in communication with dred here a lot, and they?re doing a great job

FACTORY AMB

Meanwhile two other major employers in the area are at least holding steady.

In nearby Dixville Notch, a latex glove factory is still open, after nearly collapsing under latex-allergy lawsuits.

And just over the border here in Beecher Falls Vermont, workers go on sawing, sanding and finishing furniture at the Ethan Allen factory.

The company had threatened to close this facility a couple of years ago.

At a recent tour of the Ethan Allen plant, DRED Commissioner Sean O?Kane said, contrary to popular opinion, not all manufacturing jobs are
leaving the U.S.

03 130 when we talk about outsourcing its interesting to hear in the uk and Europe they have the same concern. outsourcing has been going on for years and years, its happening over there, they?re seeing manufacturing opportunities coming to the u.s. because of the valuation of the euro
and the pound.

O?Kane said he hopes to drum up some more manufacturing contracts for the area through upcoming trade missions.

He added that he believes the North Country has great potential as a vacation market too.

And that?s where people at the local coffee shop are pinning their hopes.

COFFEESHOP AMBIENCE

At Howard?s Restaurant in downtown Colebrook, people say the local economy is doing pretty well ? and it?s tourism that?s making the difference.

Clifton Boudle is a retired gas station owner.

20 26 I ran a Texaco station in town for 28 years and I used to run in the red from December to May. Now I guess they don?t do that. I didn?t,
the last few years. The recreational kinda took over ? the snowmobiling and skiing.

The restaurant patrons say new houses are going up all over.

Tom, who doesn?t want to give his last name, is a massage therapist.

TOM: there?s all kinds of building going on. theyr?e homes that are second homes, vacation homes, and they?re beautiful homes.

Colebrook officials say they?ve issued 24 building permits for new houses and camps over the last couple of years.

It?s hard to call that a boom, but in a town of 800 single family homes it may be enough to signal a trend.

If vacationers continue to come, and the new business delivers on the promise of jobs, the town could soon face a new challenge: how to
control growth.

For NHPR news I?m Trish Anderton