CONCORD: Dianne Martin, former chair of the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission, has been named director of the Administrative Office of the Courts. Martin, of Deerfield, will lead the office responsible for the judicial branch’s statewide functions of audit, communications, facilities, fiscal, legal, human resources, information technology and security. Martin succeeds Christopher Keating, who left earlier this year upon his confirmation as a circuit court judge.

CONCORD: The New Hampshire district office of the SBA reported that it engaged in $210 million in traditional lending in its 2021 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30. The agency said 413 businesses received 7(a) loans — which are used for working capital, refinancing, inventory and other needs — that totaled some $150 million. A total of 137 businesses received 504 loans for long-term, fixed-rate financing for purchasing and renovating land, buildings and equipment.

MANCHESTER: New Hampshire’s congressional delegation announced that 14 Granite State airports will be receiving federal funding to help them continue their recovery from the effects of the pandemic. The largest share will go to Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, which will receive $8,735,862, followed by Pease International Tradeport, $2,064,222, and Lebanon Municipal Airport, $1,051,081. Elsewhere, airports in Keene, Laconia and Nashua each received $59,000; airports in Claremont, Concord, Newport, Rochester and Whitefield received $32,000 each; and airports in Berlin, Haverhill and Plymouth received $22,000 each.

LACONIA: Bob Lawton, founder of Funspot in Laconia — dubbed the largest arcade in the world by Guinness World Records in 2008 — died Nov. 11. He was 90. Bob Lawton founded Funspot with his late brother, John, in 1952. After borrowing $750 from their maternal grandmother, the brothers built a nine-hole miniature golf course in rented space on the second floor of Tarlson’s Arcade on Lakeside Avenue in Weirs Beach. In 1964, the business relocated to Endicott Street North and eventually expanded into a 7,000-squarefoot family entertainment venue featuring a 20-lane candlepin bowling alley, the D.J. Long Tavern, Skee-Ball, kiddie bumper cars and rides, a replica of the 1952 original indoor mini-golf course, a 400-seat bingo parlor, a free party room, prize games and more than 500 video games.

CONCORD: New Hampshire is receiving more than $8.3 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to support marketing, workforce and other projects to boost business and travel in the state. The grant from the Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration, which makes investments in economically distressed communities in order to create jobs, promotes innovation and accelerate long-term sustainable economic growth.

CONCORD: The Charitable Trusts Unit of the New Hampshire Department of Justice has extended a deadline for completing its review of the proposed partnership that would merge Catholic Medical Center and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. The review should now be completed by Dec. 15. The two organizations proposed their combination in late 2019, and the Charitable Trusts Unit initially faced a deadline of Oct. 15 to render a decision. In addition, the Justice Department’s Consumer Protection and Antitrust Bureau is conducting a separate review, and the Federal Trade Commission must also review the proposal.

CONCORD: The New Hampshire Community Development Finance Authority will be receiving a $2.5 million grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration to launch a Community Navigator Pilot Program, which aims to address the barriers for businesses owned by women, socially and economically disadvantaged businesses, and underserved entrepreneurs, with a particular support focus on microenterprises, cooperatives and early-stage business development. Under the program, CDFA will invest in partner organizations, including the Belknap Economic Development Council, Coos Economic Development Corporation, Grafton Regional Development Corporation, Hannah Grimes Center for Entrepreneurship, New Hampshire Small Business Development Center, Regional Economic Development Center of Southern New Hampshire, River Valley Community College Upper Valley Entrepreneurship Center, and Wentworth Economic Development Corporation.