NASHUA: Local, Latino-owned small businesses gathered last week as part of the inaugural Latin Festival in Nashua, organized by Latinos en Vivo, a radio station program of First Gen Multimedia. Participating in the event were traditional food trucks, a football league, a dog groomer shop, a boutique, a butcher and an auto parts stand — all Latino-owned businesses. The festival was produced to celebrate Latino culture and communities right here in New Hampshire, and welcomed passionate entrepreneurs to share their stories with attendees.
WASHINGTON, D.C.: Last week, the U.S. Senate passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which will lower costs for Granite Staters and Americans, fight inflation, and reduce the deficit by more than $300 billion. The bill includes key priorities that Senator Maggie Hassan pushed for to bring down prescription drug costs and home energy costs, and includes Senator Hassan’s bipartisan measure to cut taxes for innovative small businesses and startups. The bill is now in the hands of the U.S. House of Representatives.
CONCORD: Beginning this fall, student identification cards issued by New Hampshire’s community colleges will include mental health resource information to ensure students have access to help when experiencing a crisis or other mental health challenge. To support and expand this effort, IDs issued by the community colleges will include the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence helpline and the 741741 Crisis Text Line, in addition to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline toll-free and new three-digit helpline.
MANCHESTER: Renee Crawford, former vice president of finance at Saint Anselm College, has pleaded guilty to embezzlement. The 35 year old admitted that she took more than $66,000 from the school between April 2019 and February 2020, and used the money for personal reasons including theme park tickets and family vacations. Under the terms of her plea deal, Crawford is facing two years of probation and will have to pay back the funds she stole. She is scheduled to be sentenced in November.
CONCORD: The NH Department of Revenue Administration recently received a 2022 Federation of Tax Administrators (FTA) Award for its strategic and innovative Meals & Rooms Tax Monitor Forward Audit Program. To both increase compliance with the state’s Meals & Rooms Tax obligation and to ease the burden on New Hampshire’s restaurants, the Monitor Forward Audit Program allows auditors to initially review a single tax period, rather than an entire year, providing an accurate picture of sales, without requiring businesses to provide a full year of data.
NASHUA: About 117 school districts in New Hampshire may receive electric school buses in the near future, with Nashua eyed as the first city to deploy an electrified fleet for its students. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed last year included $5 billion for school districts to replace older diesel school buses with new, clean or zero-emission buses. In the first round of funding for the EPA’s Clean School Bus Rebate Program, the rebate may include up to $375,000 for an electric bus plus an additional $20,000 for charging infrastructure. The first electric bus could be rolling by the 2023-24 school year.
SALEM: All Ninety Nine Restaurants in New England will participate in the annual Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Jimmy Fund fundraiser beginning Aug. 8 through Aug. 21, with 100 percent of the funds raised going to the Jimmy Fund, supporting pediatric and adult patient care and cancer research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Guests who dine in will receive a $5 off $25 coupon for every $5 donation; and guests who order online at 99restaurants.com and make a $5 donation or more will immediately receive $5 off their online orders.
