LONDONDERRY REACHES FACTORY DEAL WITH NEW BALANCE
New Balance has worked out a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement with the town of Londonderry as part of its plan to build its sixth U.S. sneaker manufacturing facility near the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport.
The Union Leader reported that the deal calls for a reduction in taxes based on increased value of planned construction at the site. New Balance plans to invest at least $60 million in the building.
The agreement will apply to 17.8 acres of the 21.8-acre parcel, which is being subdivided.
The Boston-based athletic footwear company is working with the NH Business Finance Authority to secure a bond of up to $72.5 million. Under the proposal, the BFA will use state-backed bonds to construct the new facility and lease it to New Balance. The company eventually will purchase the building through a lease payment arrangement.
FREEDOM CYCLE ACQUIRED BY MOMS
Freedom Cycle of Concord, a full-service motorcycle and snowmobile dealership, has been acquired after 45 years of ownership by Rupert Dance.
Dance, who founded the dealership in 1977, has sold the business and real estate to MOMS, the growing powersports company founded in 1973 as Motorcycles of Manchester.
The dealership will remain at its current location at 100 Manchester St. in Concord.
Joel Wheeler, president of MOMS, said in a press release that Freedom Cycle is “a very complementary and strategic fit for our growing platform of powersports dealerships in New England.”
MOMS has been steadily expanding its market around the region, growing to 11 dealerships with the Freedom Cycle acquisition. Besides Manchester and now Concord, it has locations in Groveton and Gorham in New Hampshire, Foxboro, North Chelmsford, Boston, Tyngsboro, Topsham and Northampton in Massachusetts, and Enfield, Conn.
RESTAURANTS ORDERED TO PAY BACK WAGES
Miguel and Crescencio Reynosa, owners of two Mexican restaurants — Cinco’s Cantina in Epping and Cinco de Mayo Bar and Grill in Dover — are being ordered to pay $215,675 after the U.S. Department of Labor determined they did not adequately pay overtime to 47 employees, and also had four employees younger than 16 who worked longer and later hours than permitted by law.
The Labor Department found the owners did not calculate tipped employees’ overtime properly, basing overtime on their cash wage rates rather than their regular rates of pay. They also said the owners failed to maintain complete and accurate records of hours worked and payments issued to employees.
In addition to paying the back wages and liquidated damages, the owners will pay $29,795 in civil penalties. The department said the “willful nature” of the overtime violations resulted in $26,631 of the fine. The remaining $3,164 resulted from child labor violations. In addition to paying the back wages and liquidated damages, the owners will pay $29,795 in civil money penalties. The department said the “willful nature” of the overtime violations resulted in $26,631 of the fine. The remaining $3,164 resulted from child labor violations.
EVERSOURCE LEAVES AMERICAN GAS ASSOCIATION
New England’s largest energy utility, Eversource, has parted ways with the American Gas Association — a powerful industry group that environmentalists say has been instrumental in blocking efforts to address climate change around the country.
Eversource spokesperson Chris McKinnon told WBUR that the utility canceled its membership with the group in early 2022 as part of a broader, strategic effort to prioritize “decarbonization” and reduce planet-warming emissions.
Eversource’s departure appears to mark the first time a major utility has left the influential gas trade group over diverging climate agendas, a move some energy experts call “unprecedented” and say could be a harbinger of things to come.
McKinnon noted that the utility’s decision to leave was “not necessarily based on an incompatibility with the AGA.”
But an AGA spokesperson said he thinks the company was just being politically cautious.
