HAVERHILL: eX2 Technology, the Nebraska company chosen earlier this year to build out a broadband network in the town of Bristol, has been picked by the Grafton County Broadband Committee to oversee an expected $30 million broadband expansion project. The company will design, build, manage and operate the 350-mile fiberoptic network over the coming year. The network will reach all 39 towns in the county.
PORTSMOUTH: Will Arvelo, until recently director of the state’s Division of Economic Development, will be taking over in September as the new executive director of Cross Roads House, the homeless shelter in Portsmouth. He will succeed Executive Director Martha Stone, who has worked at the organization for 17 years and in May announced she would be stepping down from the job. Arvelo, who will assume leadership Sept. 13, is also former president of Great Bay Community College.
CONCORD: Gov. Chris Sununu has signed into law Senate Bill 101, which increases the threshold for businesses paying the business profits tax from $50,000 in gross receipts to $92,000. The change to the $92,000 threshold is intended to account for inflation since the floor was set at $50,000. The law also adds a provision to automatically adjust the threshold to the rate of inflation every two years as the Department of Revenue Administration does for the Business Enterprise Tax.
DURHAM: UNHInnovation, which manages and promotes intellectual property developed at the University of New Hampshire, has been awarded a U.S. Small Business Administration grant through the agency’s FAST — Federal and State Technology — partnership program. It is one of 32 grants awarded by the SBA to promote specialized training, mentoring and technical assistance for research and development-focused small businesses involved in the SBA’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.
WASHINGTON, D.C.: The Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health are offering a free heat safety app that they say can be a resource for planning outdoor work activities based on how hot it feels throughout the day. The app is available in English and Spanish for iPhone and Android phones.
ROCHESTER: Tim Jones, a top executive at Concord Hospital, has been picked to head Frisbie Memorial Hospital in Rochester. Jones will take over as Frisbie’s CEO on Sept. 1, according to an announcement from the hospital’s parent company, HCA Healthcare, owner of over 180 hospitals in the U.S., including Portsmouth Regional Hospital, Parkland Medical Center in Derry and Frisbie. Jones most recently served as CEO of Encompass Health Corporation, an 80-bed rehabilitation hospital in Springhill, Fla. Before that, he was chief operating officer and senior vice president of Concord Hospital.
CONCORD: New Hampshire Public Radio has voluntarily recognized a union made up of content staffers. The decision came after a neutral third party certified that a majority of the bargaining unit wanted to unionize. In an email to staff, CEO Jim Schachter said the decision was “an important milestone on the path to our shared goal of making NHPR the best place to work and serve.” The bargaining unit includes 31 employees in roles such as producers, reporters, hosts and editors, according to the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, which represents the union.
