WEST ENFIELD, MAINE: Stored Solar LLC has acquired four offline wood chip power plants in New Hampshire and is attempting to bring them back online. The Valley News reported that the company acquired biomass power plants in Whitefield and Springfield, both previously owned by EWP Renewable Corp., and the Pine Tree Power biomass power plants in Bethlehem and Tamworth. The company also owns biomass plants in Maine, Vermont and Massachusetts.

CONCORD: New Hampshire’s unemployment rate for March was 3%, a decrease of three-tenths of a percentage point from February, according to the state Department of Employment Security. The March 2020 seasonally adjusted rate was 2.7%. Seasonally adjusted estimates for March placed the number of employed residents at 736,460, a decrease of 50 from the previous month and a decrease of 11,840 from March 2020, when the Covid pandemic first started, the agency said.

CONCORD: Nearly four decades after it was originally conceived, construction of Exit 4A on Interstate 93 has taken another step closer to completion after the Executive Council approved a $10.8 million contract with engineering firm VHB of Bedford to complete design of the project. The contract provides for the design work to be completed by May 1, 2025. The project, expected to cost $56.8 million, was delayed last year when bids came in $30 million over the estimate. With another $30 million in land acquisition costs, the total cost climbed to $120 million.

LACONIA: Chris Logan has been named president and CEO of the Bank of New Hampshire. Logan, who joined the bank in 2017 as chief operating officer, has over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry. He succeeds Michael J. Long, who served as interim president and CEO and will remain as vice chair of the bank’s board of directors.

LITTLETON: White Mountains Community College has purchased the Paul McGoldrick Learning Center, the building it has been leasing, with an eye toward expanding its offerings there. The college, which has had a location in Littleton for 25 years, says its main campus location will remain in Berlin. In Littleton, plans call for expanded college programming and workforce development offerings. WMCC said it is seeking funding to build advanced technology space to provide a modern lab for its Diesel Heavy Equipment Technology program, the only one in the community college system.

WASHINGTON, D.C.: The state of New Hampshire and the cities of Manchester and Nashua will be receiving a total of $18 million in federal grants to help expand affordable housing and fight homelessness. The grants, announced by members of the state’s congressional delegation, through the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, which is funded through the recently passed American Rescue Plan. Under the latest allocation, Manchester will receive $2.5 million, Nashua will receive $1.6 million and the state will get $13.8 million.

MANCHESTER: Jeff Bartlett, who for 20 years has been president and general manager of WMUR-TV, has announced his retirement this summer from the station, closing out a five-decade career in broadcasting. Before joining WMUR, Bartlett led another Hearst Television-owned station in Arkansas, and before that was news director at WBBM-TV, the CBS station in Chicago and previously worked in Philadelphia; Tulsa, Okla.; Tucson, Ariz.; Miami, Fla.; and WBZ-TV in Boston.

MANCHESTER: Stay Work Play has begun accepting nominations for its 12th annual Rising Stars Awards, which honor young people and organizations making a positive impact in their communities and helping to shape the future of New Hampshire. The awards this year are the Covid-19 Crusader Award, Civic Leader of the Year, College Student of the Year, Coolest Employer for Young People, High School Student of the Year, Intern of the Year, Young Entrepreneur of the Year and Young Person of the Year. Deadline for nominations is Friday, July 16. For more information, visit stayworkplay.org/risingstarawards.

MANCHESTER: Manchester aldermen have approved a plan to construct a vertiport, a spot where a new generation of electric aircraft could land. The aldermen approved a proposal to help DEKA, the company owned by inventor and entrepreneur Dean Kamen, apply for a federal grant to initiate the project. Kamen has said that a vertiport — a pad for electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft that can fly at speeds of 150 miles per hour — is a key component of his Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute’s efforts to establish a new manufacturing industry for tissue-engineered medical products in the Queen City. The Economic Development Administration grant will help fund planning for the project in areas like engineering cost estimates, environmental narrative and other various logistical needs.