2026-10-20 - Planning and Economic Development Committee

00:06It doesn't say she I don't know on the

00:07script it doesn't say she was coming so.

00:09>> Yeah.

00:10Okay.

00:17>> All right, 7:00 I think we should start.

00:23Everything's okay over there, right? All

00:24set to go?

00:25>> Ready to go.

00:26>> All right. Um

00:29I'm going to uh call the meeting of

00:31planning and economic development

00:33committee

00:34uh

00:35I'm going to call it to order. So, a

00:36meeting of the planning and economic

00:37development committee was held Tuesday,

00:39October 20th, 2026 at 7:00 p.m. in the

00:43Aldermanic Chamber and duly noticed in

00:45two places including the city's website

00:47in accordance with the requirements of

00:49RSA 91-a-2

00:52uh Roman numeral two. Uh

00:54can the clerk please call the roll?

00:57>> Uh Alderman Sullivan is not here.

00:59Alderman Clee?

01:01>> Here.

01:02>> Alderman at large Morgan is here.

01:04Alderman at large Ben Clemens

01:07and Alderman Derek Tibbetts.

01:08>> Here.

01:10>> And we have three in attendance.

01:13>> And

01:13>> Also in attendance

01:16is Alderman

01:19Johnson.

01:22>> And

01:23we should also have

01:26uh Mr. Steve Lee, business service

01:27representative for New Hampshire

01:29Employment Security.

01:33Um

01:36All right, I will call public comment.

01:40There is no one.

01:43Um discussions and/or presentations.

01:48Um I'd like to recognize Steve Lee,

01:51business service representative for New

01:52Hampshire Employment Security.

01:55I don't know if you want to poke your

01:56head out there if can poke their head

01:57out there and

01:58He was here, so

02:03When I said we call him into the

02:04chamber, I just meant he could sit in

02:05those chair like the benches. He didn't

02:07have to stay out there.

02:08>> He didn't have to stay out there. You

02:09could have come in here.

02:12Uh we don't have the overhead

02:14presentation that

02:17>> Okay.

02:18>> Do you have it or

02:19>> I do have my laptop.

02:20>> Okay. Um we can connect

02:22>> Yeah, you can sit over here and Alicia

02:24sit.

02:25>> You can sit here?

02:27If the Where's the wires?

02:29They used to be here.

02:30>> Underneath? I don't know.

02:42>> Yes. You have an HDMI, right?

02:44>> Um yes, I do.

02:47>> And you know how to convert it over to

02:48here?

02:50On your On the screen? No, on the little

02:52recording box. It'll say right and left.

02:55>> You're going to want to go to the right.

02:57This is right.

03:00>> So click on it.

03:01>> Yeah. He hasn't plugged in yet, so it's

03:02going to

03:02>> Yeah, once he plugs in he'll see it.

03:04>> You'll see it once he plugs in.

03:10We're just going to give him a second to

03:11plug in and get ready.

03:20>> We should see something.

03:23>> Is it our right or is our Is it

03:27Left this way.

03:28Try left for the heck of it.

03:32>> Nothing.

03:32>> I go back to the clerk just so we can

03:34see if that

03:36if they went out. Okay, the clerk is

03:38>> So that's the side

03:39>> There's clerk working again. There's

03:41left.

03:44Here is right.

03:48You don't have like a thumb drive or

03:49anything like that, do you?

03:50>> I do not.

03:51>> Okay.

03:52>> No.

03:53>> I always carry one. I don't have it

03:54today.

03:54>> But you know what? I do have uh sheets

03:57where we can go off of that.

03:59>> Oh, I'm there.

04:00>> Oh, I see.

04:01>> It's always good to have

04:03Let me see if this the plug over here is

04:05working.

04:12You're trying that one?

04:13>> Yeah, let's try Do you mind coming over

04:14this way? We can try this one.

04:17Yeah, this works.

04:26>> It's got to be riveting TV right now for

04:27the people at home.

04:39If not, we can just Oh, there we go.

04:41>> Nice.

04:43>> Yep. That worked.

04:45>> I have one.

04:46Yeah, go to the packet.

04:48I guess we need to put a ticket in to

04:50get that fixed.

04:51>> Yeah, if it's not working, right?

04:53>> Yeah, then we don't have coffee.

04:54>> Talk We'll just tell Donna and Donna

04:56will do it for us.

04:57>> Yeah, let Donna know that one's not

04:59working.

04:59>> I mean, these still Yeah, they're still

05:01not working. Okay.

05:02>> I actually didn't know what it was.

05:05I want to get this wire out of the way

05:06so no one trips on it.

05:09I'll send you a message.

05:12>> All right, so uh this is uh Mr. Steve

05:15Lee, business service representative for

05:16New Hampshire Employment Security.

05:19Um I'll take it over to you and and you

05:21can start. Um just introduce yourself

05:23and uh and you can go through the

05:25presentation.

05:26>> Okay. Well, first of all, thank you,

05:27committee, for giving me uh the time to

05:29present today.

05:30Uh my name is Steve Lee from New

05:32Hampshire Employment Security. Most

05:34folks know us as the unemployment

05:35office. We're located right here in

05:37Nashua.

05:38So, my role is um an employer services

05:41rep.

05:43Most folks, when they when when they

05:45hear about the unemployment office, they

05:46think of uh folks being laid off and

05:49collecting benefits, which is true. But

05:51on the flip side of that, we also work

05:54with employers because we need employers

05:56to to post jobs for our job seekers. So,

05:59my role is to educate New Hampshire

06:01employers and make them aware of the

06:03free services, recruitment and retention

06:06services that are available to them.

06:09I say free, but it's mostly for New

06:11Hampshire employers that pay

06:13New Hampshire unemployment taxes that

06:15qualify.

06:16Of course, municipalities, cities, you

06:19know, they

06:20we also they also take advantage of our

06:22services. We work with Nashua police,

06:25the city of Nashua, and we have about 12

06:28we have 12 offices located throughout

06:30the whole state.

06:32So, do you see the first page? The This

06:34is our website. And this is for both

06:37candidates and employers. And and again,

06:40my role is to work with employers, and

06:44you know, we have job fairs, we have our

06:46job match system, we have training

06:48programs, we have veteran services

06:50available for both employers from a

06:53employer's perspective and for job

06:54seekers.

06:57Next page.

07:01So, this is our NH Works job match

07:03system.

07:04And I call this New Hampshire's

07:06indeed.com.

07:08So, this is where New Hampshire

07:09employers register with our database,

07:12and they post jobs.

07:13From a job seeker's perspective, it's

07:16mandatory for them if they're collecting

07:18benefits to register in this database,

07:22put all their information in there, and

07:23put a resume in there. So, now that New

07:26Hampshire employers who have registered

07:28with our database have access to their

07:30resumes. And as a as a New Hampshire

07:33employer who is active in our database,

07:36they have access to all the resumes of

07:38all the job seekers in the state of New

07:39Hampshire.

07:40Again, I call it New Hampshire's

07:42indeed.com, but these services are are

07:45again free for New Hampshire employers.

07:48So, it's it's very easy. Um,

07:50you need a federal ID number. You need,

07:52of course, your New Hampshire

07:54unemployment tax ID number. You need to

07:56be in good standing with the New

07:58Hampshire Secretary of State.

08:00Um, and you register and you post jobs

08:02and then you'll get access to all the

08:04resumes and it works two ways. Uh, job

08:06seekers will have an email like

08:08indeed.com. Emails [clears throat] would

08:10be sent to them with with suitable jobs

08:13uh based on their resume.

08:15And and employers on the other side can

08:17view as many candidates as they want.

08:21And at that point, uh it's between the

08:22employer and the candidate. We're out of

08:24the picture. So, the so the employer

08:27has, you know, total control

08:29uh

08:30of who they want to work with and who

08:31they don't want to work with.

08:35Next page.

08:38Work Invest New Hampshire. This is a

08:39program

08:40uh

08:41for retention for New Hampshire

08:43employers.

08:44Uh uh

08:45most of the New Hampshire unemployment

08:47taxes goes to uh the unemployment tax

08:50base, you know, to to pay the benefits.

08:52But, uh the there there are uh

08:55there are monies put aside to assist

08:56employers from a recruitment perspective

08:58and from this perspective uh a retention

09:01uh program. So, Work Invest is when an

09:04employer uh does professional training

09:07for their employees, gets their

09:08employees certified, and anything that's

09:11business related, they would submit a

09:13grant for these uh certifications to the

09:16to the state, uh go through the

09:18training. I mean, once the uh once the

09:20state has approved it, they go through

09:21the training, they pay for the training,

09:24and then they send the receipt to the

09:25state and the state will pay up to 50%

09:27of those costs.

09:29So, that's that's free money for New

09:30Hampshire employers.

09:32And we have many many new uh New

09:34Hampshire employers taking advantage of

09:35this. I I've got a company like

09:37Fidelity, they do it on

09:39like 3-4 months. They're doing

09:40professional training for for their

09:42employees. They submit their They submit

09:44their grant, and you know, every 3-4

09:46months they're getting 50% of those

09:48costs taken care of.

09:50Uh

09:51large companies, there's a cap up to

09:52$76,000,

09:54and if a company needs more than that,

09:57then they would work with the the

09:58commissioner

10:00uh our department to see if there's any

10:01more money available.

10:03Uh the commissioner actually had a

10:05employer seminar here last uh last

10:09I I think in the summertime when he was

10:10going through all these programs, and he

10:12said with the WorkInvest, we we actually

10:14left about a million dollars on the

10:16table that employees did not take

10:18advantage of.

10:19So, the challenge is, you know, we want

10:21to get the word out. We want to make New

10:23Hampshire employers aware of all these

10:24resources that are available to them.

10:28A- Any questions so far?

10:30>> Uh Alderman Cleek.

10:31>> Yeah, please.

10:32>> Uh thank you. You talked about large

10:34businesses, but does this also work for

10:36like a small business um who who's

10:39looking to recruit employees?

10:41>> Yeah, great question.

10:42>> Yeah.

10:43>> Uh I would absolutely. If they're doing

10:45any type of professional training that's

10:47business related for their employees,

10:50uh and and they're going to get

10:51certifications, yes, they they qualify.

10:54And it could be their vendor of choice.

10:57Um we have a lot of companies like Fi-

10:59Fidelity going using the National

11:00Community College, Manchester Community

11:02College, but it can be any vendor that

11:05that they choose. I've got manufacturing

11:07companies that are getting CDL licenses,

11:10welding uh certifications for their

11:11employees. So, almost anything. ESL, uh

11:15software, hardware, you know, anything

11:18that's business related. Uh they just

11:20submit the grant. It takes about 60

11:22days, and it's a it's a pretty easy,

11:24straightforward process.

11:26>> Just one more thing.

11:27>> Alderman Cleek, yeah.

11:27>> Yeah, thank you. Um also, you talked

11:29about that prior to this you we're

11:31talking about the free services and so

11:33on that you like for recruitment and so

11:34on.

11:35Um so when you talk about recruitment,

11:37you're talking about basically um you

11:39have a page where they can put what

11:41their openings are and people can go

11:43there and look for it or

11:45>> Yes, I absolutely. That's

11:46>> That's what that service is. Yeah.

11:48>> That's our database. It's called the job

11:49match system.

11:50>> Job match.

11:51>> And again, I I make the analogy, it's

11:52very very similar to indeed.com.

11:55>> Yeah.

11:55>> Biggest difference there when employers

11:57use our utilize our database, it doesn't

11:59cost any.

12:00>> Sorry.

12:00>> Right.

12:01>> We also have the other services for

12:02employers like recruitment events. We

12:05assist

12:06when they're having job fairs on their

12:07site. Uh we we can assist with the

12:10recruitment events on our site. And so

12:12what I do is if I have an employer

12:14coming into the natural office, uh I ask

12:16for at least 2 weeks notice.

12:18I I ask them what jobs are available and

12:20then I will do an email blast through

12:22our job match system to all our job

12:24seekers in the territory to make them

12:25aware of when the recruitment event will

12:28will be held and what jobs are

12:29available. So we do that on a weekly

12:31basis.

12:32>> Right.

12:32May I just make a comment? The reason I

12:34asked that was um I

12:37you had mentioned something about it was

12:39similar to indeed and I have a number of

12:41small businesses within my

12:43my ward and so on and I know they use

12:45indeed. I was just curious whether or

12:47not they knew about this job match and

12:49that would be

12:50>> I guess that's my my job and my

12:52colleagues to get the word out. And it

12:55it's a challenge. It is because um

13:00how do we get the word out on a on a you

13:02know from a large volume perspective? So

13:05what I do personally is I'm trying to

13:07get meetings like this to you know make

13:09to make the committee aware because of

13:10course you work with all businesses. So

13:13it's through word of mouth.

13:14Uh we're members with the Chamber,

13:16Nashua Chamber. I also work with the

13:18Amherst Chamber and the Hudson Chamber.

13:20These these are my territories. We're

13:22also a member of the Salem Chamber.

13:24>> Right.

13:25Again, just one more comment. Again, you

13:27know, he's talking different size

13:29business. It could be like a

13:32even though they're playing they pay

13:33unemployment, they don't necessarily lay

13:34their people off. Their people leave.

13:36Could be

13:37the restaurant industry and so on that

13:40might be constantly looking for people

13:42or

13:44I actually have a friend who does dog

13:46walking and she's constantly having that

13:48kind of but I know she does pay

13:50unemployment. I know the restaurants do

13:51as well.

13:53You said as long as they're in good

13:54standing with the Secretary of State and

13:56they they do the unemployment insurance.

13:59>> Yeah,

14:00of course [clears throat] having their

14:00federal ID number.

14:02We work with all types of businesses

14:04whether they're you know

14:06small businesses or large corporations.

14:09This is this is open to any New

14:11Hampshire employer that pays

14:13unemployment taxes.

14:14>> Thank you. I appreciate that.

14:15>> And and of course it's free and where I

14:18see the advantage is for a lot of small

14:20businesses that only have one or two or

14:22maybe three employees that they can't

14:24afford to use indeed.com. So we're a

14:27great

14:28alternative for them

14:30and you know, we also promote their jobs

14:32through email blast. They can send us

14:34flyers and we have job boards in our

14:36offices and we have 12 offices

14:38throughout the state and so that's

14:40another way of getting the word out to

14:41them.

14:43What I also do is we have mandatory

14:45sessions benefit they're called benefits

14:47rights interviews for our job seekers

14:49who are

14:50collecting benefits. So they come to

14:52these sessions and we invite our

14:54employers to come and you know, give us

14:56give a five-minute pitch of who they are

14:58and what jobs are available and I

15:00usually go through a list of companies

15:01too. I talk about the post office. I

15:03talk about came one here in Nashua.

15:08Whatever types of jobs are available. We

15:10just try to promote that and and make

15:12our job seekers aware of it.

15:14>> I'm I'm just going to make one quick

15:16comment.

15:16>> No, no, please.

15:17>> And and the reason I the reason I

15:18brought up small business cuz not all

15:20the small businesses belong to the

15:21chamber either.

15:22>> Right.

15:23>> small literally to belong to that, which

15:25always is a good asset to help, but so

15:28it's nice to see that the NHES does

15:30that. Thank you.

15:31>> Yeah, no well, no no, thank you.

15:33For us it's a challenge of just making

15:37making New Hampshire employers aware

15:38because you're right, so many employers

15:40are unaware of our free services for all

15:43of them. And WorkInvest is is a big one,

15:45you know,

15:46if they're doing professional training

15:48for their employees, the state will pay

15:50the 50% of those costs. I mean that's a

15:52huge savings.

15:53>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

15:55>> Thanks.

15:59So, next page, um

16:04This is a federal program

16:06it's a tax credit program.

16:09And if employers hire veterans, there's

16:11a potential of up to $6,500

16:14of tax credits for the company.

16:16Uh there are other type of recipients

16:18like like TANF or if

16:21employees are receiving SNAP benefits or

16:24they're disabled, depending on the

16:26group, there are all types of tax

16:28credits that are available. And this

16:30federal program has been around for for

16:32quite a while now. And again, a lot of

16:34employers are unaware of this.

16:36And from our perspective, too, we we

16:38have veterans reps, we have

16:40veterans employer reps also, and it's

16:43their job to get out get the word out,

16:45you know, to employers to make them

16:47aware of, you know,

16:50the benefits of hiring veterans

16:52and the resources available for

16:54veterans.

16:56>> Uh Alderman Morgan.

16:58>> What is a designated community resident?

17:01>> I'm sorry.

17:02>> Designated community resident, what is

17:04that?

17:05>> Designated community resident.

17:08>> Fourth one down.

17:09>> Oh.

17:10Uh I'm not sure.

17:12I'm not sure. I I don't want to

17:13misspeak. I I get back to you on that.

17:16>> Okay, thank you.

17:19>> If you just want to let Liz know and she

17:21can send out something to us.

17:22>> Absolutely.

17:23>> It'd be great.

17:29>> So, it was a short presentation and this

17:32is another database that we

17:34have. It's called the

17:36economic labor market

17:38uh

17:39database. And so we have access to to

17:42this database. And you know, it's just a

17:47a summary of of uh

17:50geographies uh of you know, I've got

17:53companies for example that have asked me

17:55about

17:57uh

17:58moving to New Hampshire. I have one

18:00company that has just moved to Salem,

18:02New Hampshire from from Massachusetts

18:04and they asked me, "Steve, can you get

18:06me a report regarding what rent cost in

18:10the Salem area? What does child care

18:12cost? What are the competitive salaries

18:15for uh uh field representatives and

18:19technicians you know, in manufacturing

18:21for my company?" So, I got a report for

18:23the director of HR and it was very very

18:25beneficial because now that they had a

18:27better idea of you know, how we compare

18:30with Massachusetts. And the people that

18:33were commuting from Massachusetts

18:34wanting to move to New Hampshire had a

18:36better idea of what rent cost uh and how

18:39much child care would cost if they made

18:40that move to New Hampshire.

18:42We also have

18:44the next detail level of proprietary

18:47information that is available to any

18:50employer and you know, it's my job also

18:52to make them aware that you know, what

18:55type of questions do you you interested

18:57in? You know, what does your industry

18:58need? And I've had companies come up to

19:01me and say, "Steve, how many how many

19:02manufacturing companies in Nashua

19:05uh sell the same products as me?" I can

19:07get that information for them. What's

19:09the demographics of employees here?

19:12What's the age group? You know, it can

19:14be very, very detailed and I find these

19:16these labor market reports very, very

19:18helpful. So, that's another

19:20value add that we offer to our

19:22employers.

19:26>> Any questions?

19:29>> No.

19:30>> A quick presentation, but hopefully this

19:32was helpful and I just wanted to share

19:34this information with the committee. So,

19:36you know, when you're talking with

19:37businesses too, please make them aware

19:39of you know, what we have to offer as a

19:41value add to our employers in New

19:43Hampshire.

19:44>> Yeah, that was great. I appreciate you

19:45coming in and

19:47you know, I hope more employers are are

19:49listening and and uh

19:51you get more employers to to take

19:53advantage of the stuff that you guys

19:54have to offer. I've used it as a

19:56employee. When I was laid off, I used

19:58the the the

20:00same tools that you're showing. So,

20:02um it's definitely helpful for people

20:04and uh I hope uh

20:07I hope they're listening and I hope we

20:08can spread the word that you know, like

20:10I said, you guys offer some things that

20:11maybe they don't know about. Um that

20:13would be great. I know I know someone in

20:15this chamber that knows a lot of small

20:16businesses in the area. So,

20:18>> Yeah.

20:18>> maybe they can help out.

20:19>> happy if there are any um

20:22if you have any ideas or any type of

20:25events, you know, we'd be more than

20:26happy to present and and just make you

20:29know, our New Hampshire employers aware.

20:30You know, and we see it it's a win-win

20:32for employers and it's a win-win for our

20:34job seekers in in the state of New

20:36Hampshire. So,

20:37>> All right.

20:38>> Well, thank you so much.

20:39>> I'm Mr. Chairman.

20:40>> Yeah, all those in favor

20:41>> Uh just quick question. Um

20:43I know they can just Google N H E S or

20:46New Hampshire Employment Security, but

20:48what is your website?

20:50>> It's uh right here. It's the first page.

20:52>> Oh, did I That was looking at it. I

20:54thought I

20:55Yeah.

20:56>> it This is the first page N H

20:58N H E S. You can just go to the N H

21:00>> Okay, I see it below it. Okay.

21:02>> .nh.gov

21:03>> Okay. Um and there there's probably uh I

21:06think resources and so on but it help if

21:08they needed to send an email to someone

21:10they'd be able to find it on there.

21:11>> Yes, absolutely. And of course

21:14we always recommend if you have any

21:16issues come into the local office. We

21:17have them you know, that's what our

21:19colleges are there to to assist both

21:21employers and job seekers.

21:24>> May I ask

21:24>> Yeah, I know what you're going to ask.

21:25>> Yeah, where are your local offices to

21:28Nashua?

21:28>> Yeah, 6 Townsend West.

21:30>> Okay, 6 Townsend.

21:31>> Right off of 101.

21:32>> Okay.

21:33>> Next to the Academy of Science.

21:35>> Yep.

21:35>> Yeah,

21:36I

21:37I'm also responsible for Salem. Our

21:39Salem office is 20 29 South Broadway.

21:45>> Okay.

21:46Thank you so much. I really do

21:47appreciate all this information.

21:49>> Thank you.

21:49>> Thank you so much.

21:50>> Please if if you have any questions,

21:52please feel free to contact me. We're

21:54here to help.

21:55>> Okay, awesome. Thank you so much.

21:56>> Thank you for your time.

21:57>> This is great Mr. Chairman.

21:58>> Thank you.

22:00Um all right, communications.

22:02>> None.

22:03>> Uh petitions.

22:04>> None.

22:05>> Unfinished business.

22:06>> None.

22:06>> New business resolutions.

22:07>> None.

22:08>> New business ordinances.

22:09>> None.

22:10>> Tabled in committee.

22:11>> None.

22:12>> General discussion.

22:17Public comment.

22:18I see no one.

22:20Remarks by alderman.

22:22>> Just

22:23>> Alderman Cleek.

22:24>> I just wanted to say thank you and thank

22:25you to Director Hanem for suggesting

22:28this

22:29I when I looked at it I was like

22:32what is this going to be about and how

22:33does it relate to planning and economic

22:35development but I do see it and I

22:37appreciated it. Thank you.

22:39>> Well, I I too want to thank Director

22:41Hanem.

22:42You know, I think it you know, anytime

22:43we can get it the word out that there's

22:45some benefit for someone out there

22:46whether it's employee, employer or

22:48someone that needs help with something,

22:50you know, it's a good idea to do that

22:52and

22:53I also want to thank today I went went

22:55on a tour with

22:57President Wilshire of the library. So I

22:59want to thank Jennifer McCormick for

23:01giving me an intensive

23:03deep dive into the library, deep into

23:05the bowels of the basement and around

23:08to see what kind of condition that's in.

23:10I know Alderman Johnson's going later in

23:11the week.

23:12>> Me, too.

23:12>> I did warn Director McCormick. I'm

23:14kidding. I'm kidding. I'm kidding.

23:17But I just want to thank them because it

23:19was a good tour. It was good to see the

23:21condition before, you know, we have to

23:22vote on it in a couple weeks. Alderman

23:24Johnson.

23:25>> I guess word gets around that I planned

23:27on Thursday

23:29>> Me, too.

23:29>> to get a tour.

23:30>> There you go.

23:31>> of the library.

23:33And I appreciate Director McCormick

23:35being able to work around my schedule.

23:38It's my day off and I'm still busy on my

23:40day off.

23:41But I'm interested in taking a look.

23:43I've been through the library for a long

23:45time. I just want to see, I guess,

23:47basement, I guess.

23:49Um and

23:50kind of go from there.

23:52>> Yeah, it was good to see the the places

23:54that we can't go when we're just walking

23:56around. So, I've never been in the

23:58basement, never been in behind some of

23:59those doors. So, it was good to to see

24:01all that.

24:03>> Halloween, is it?

24:04>> [laughter]

24:04>> Well, there was a Halloween event there.

24:06So, that was kind of cool. Kids were

24:07dressed up and doing some different

24:09things there. So, that was neat. So, it

24:11looked pretty good.

24:13Um all right. Anybody have anything

24:14else?

24:16All right. Alderman Cleary.

24:18>> Uh yes, I'd like to make a motion for

24:20adjournment.

24:21>> All in favor?

24:22>> Aye.

24:22>> Aye.

24:23We are adjourned at 8:00.

24:317:24. Wow. That was a quick one.

24:33>> That's probably the fastest PEDC

24:34meeting.

24:35>> Yeah. All right.

25:03>> Mhm.

```*