Business

A new federal grant is going to be helping small businesses in the North Country. NHPR’s Chris Jensen reports.

About $400,000 is now available in grants under a federal program aimed at helping  small businesses in Grafton, Coos and Carroll Counties.

Molly White is with the Northern Community Investment Corporation in Lancaster. It is administering the funds.

“Typically I find that most business owners know their type of business or the industry they are in very well but they have trouble with the other types of support services such as marketing or web design.”

Some New Hampshire residents are still dealing with power outages from the aftermath of the October snowstorm.

But in the Upper Valley, many businesses are still recovering from the aftermath of Tropical Storm Irene.

It’s been more than two months since Irene flooded the heart of the shopping district in Lebanon, New Hampshire.

Three shopping plazas in Lebanon were hit hard during Tropical Storm Irene.

Tax collections were off in the month of October by $4 million dollars. The drop in tobacco revenue makes up the majority of the shortfall.

The tobacco tax brought in $2.6 million less than expected in October.

That shortfall has prompted criticism of the GOP push to cut the tax by a dime back in June.

In a sharply worded press release about the overall budget House Democrats said it doesn’t make sense to “make college more expensive and cigarettes cheaper.”

The Hotel Wentworth by the Sea owes dozens of its former employees nearly $72 thousand dollars in back wages. The hotel and its sub-contractor failed to pay kitchen and housekeeping staff for over a month.

The U.S. Department of Labor investigation found that Wentworth by the Sea and its subcontractor Eco-Clean New England failed to pay some workers for a 4-7 week period.

The hotel also didn’t pay overtime to workers, who primarily are non-native English speakers and live in the Boston area.

Faced with strong, statewide opposition officials from Northern Pass say they are reworking parts of their plan, including finding a better route through the North Country. NHPR’s Chris Jensen reports.

NorthernPass officials say they want to change some important parts of their plan to bring 1,200 megawatts of hydro-electric power from Canada.

 Their possible changes include finding a new route between Canada and Groveton, one that will calm the furor in the North Country.

 Last month at least 2,300 people attended seven public hearings on the project.

By JOHN DILLON

While some critics are lining up to oppose the Northern Pass Project in New Hampshire, others are following those wires to their source.

And that source is a series of dams in Quebec Canada run by Hydro-Quebec.

As Northeast states increasingly look to satisfy their demand for low cost renewable energy, opponents are arguing that big hydro is not as green as it appears.

As part of a collaboration of Northeast stations John Dillon of Vermont Public Radio reports: