ROCHESTER: A Rochester resident has been indicted on charges of fraudulently obtaining more than $1 million in CARES Act loans for nonexistent companies and using the identities of dead people in his applications. The federal indictment alleges that Heath Gauthier, 46, fraudulently applied for more than a dozen loans under the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan programs between February 2020 and March 2021. The indictment alleges he listed dead individuals in some loan applications as owners or employees of the fictitious companies, and submitted false tax documents and counterfeit driver’s licenses. He was charged with multiple counts of wire fraud, attempted wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
BOSTON: The Conservation Law Foundation has filed a formal petition under the Clean Water Act urging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to regulate stormwater pollution from large commercial, industrial and institutional properties surrounding Great Bay. The runoff, CLF says, is a significant source of harmful nitrogen pollution in the Great Bay estuary. The petition requests that the EPA regulate stormwater runoff from large properties in the watershed, including large parking lots, big box stores and strip malls, which are not currently regulated by EPA.
UNION, N.J.: The troubled housewares retail chain Bed Bath & Beyond has announced it will be closing two more stores in New Hampshire, one in Plaistow and the other in Amherst. The move came as a result of the company’s announced series of “initiated incremental store closures,” with the goal of closing 360 stores overall. Bed Bath & Beyond announced it would be closing its Keene store earlier this year. The closings leave five Bed Bath and Beyond outlets in New Hampshire.
MANCHESTER: Justin Jennings has been named regional president of New Hampshire for NBT Bank, the Norwich, N.Y.-based regional bank with offices in Keene, Manchester and Nashua. Jennings, who has more than 20 years of experience in commercial banking and finance, joined NBT in 2021. Before that, he was a senior vice president with People’s United Bank serving commercial customers in Manchester and Portsmouth.
HANOVER: Dartmouth College has been named a member of the Interior Northeast Hub through the National Science Foundation’s Innovation Corps (I-Corps), an immersive entrepreneurial training program. Dartmouth is part of a hub led by Cornell University that will address rural innovation. Participating teams will focus on issues that are particularly important for rural communities, including agricultural technology and biotech.
NASHUA: Bank of America has donated another $250,000 and acquired the naming rights to the longawaited Nashua Center for the Arts, which is set to open April 1. The newly named Bank of America Theater will offer a 750-seat performing space with flexible seating arrangements on the main floor. The bank previously donated $250,000. The total project will cost $25 million.
NORTH CONWAY: The new 88-room Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott North Conway opened to the public on Wednesday. Located at the base of Cranmore Mountain Resort, the hotel is managed by Lafrance Hospitality, which owns other hotels throughout New England, including the Marriott Residence Inn in North Conway. The opening comes at a time when the Conway Planning Board is proposing a one-year moratorium on hotel construction to give the town time to update its master plan.
MANCHESTER: Paul LeBlanc, president of Southern New Hampshire University for the last two decades, has been named the next Citizen of the Year by the Greater Manchester Chamber. He will be honored April 11 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Manchester Downtown. Under his leadership, SNHU has grown from 2,800 students to more than 175,000 learners and became the largest nonprofit provider of online higher education in the country, according to the announcement.
