1. Plymouth State University’s Marketing Association recently hosted its seventh annual Teddy Bear Toss, benefiting patients at the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. The toss took place at two hockey games on Dec. 8 and 9 at PSU’s Hanaway Ice Rink, with a total of 1,077 stuffed animals thrown onto the rink between both games, all of which are donated to children at the hospital. Over the past six years, the annual event has donated more than 8,900 stuffed animals to Children’s Hospital patients.
2. Meredith Village Savings Bank recently purchased $10,000 in tax credits through the Community Development Finance Authority to support the Children’s Museum of NH in Dover. The museum plans to add two new exhibit spaces to the second floor of its facility in an expansion project this year.
3. BankProv recently purchased $12,500 in tax credits to benefit the NH New Americans Loan Fund tax credit program, run by the Regional Economic Development Center in Raymond. The program is intended to provide technical assistance and loans to first-generation Americans who are prospective or current business owners throughout New Hampshire. Microloans made from the program are used for working capital, equipment acquisition, inventory and renovations. Pictured left to right: BankProv Relationship Officer Paige Witham; BankProv Vice President of Commercial Lending Shaylah Begley; REDC President Laurel Adams; and REDC Chief Lending Officer and Executive Vice President Joe Kenney.
4. The new Manchester location of an Ellie Mental Health center opened on Dec. 8 at 25 Sundial Ave. with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Ellie is a Minnesota-based mental health service business with independent practices nationwide, including in Salem and Portsmouth. Pictured is Assistant Clinic Director Emily Turcotte, left; owner Jim Glanville, center left; and Assistant Clinic Director Felicity Bernard, right.
5. Granite VNA’s annual “Lights, Life and Memories” campaign raised more than $56,800 to support hospice services and included community remembrance services in Alton, Concord (pictured), Meredith and Wolfeboro. Nearly 100 people combined attended the four services which featured music, readings, reflection and remembrance.
6. Developers of North & South Construction, economic officials and housing advocates gathered on Dec. 13 for a ceremony to open Signature on Elm in Manchester as Mayor Joyce Craig cut the ribbon. The 60,000-square-foot $12.8 million development at 1217 Elm St. is a property renovated to include seven commercial spaces and 35 residential units, including 15 workforce housing units. Investors include the Strafford Economic Development Corporation, Eastern Bank and private contributors, and the project received InvestNH Housing Grant funding.
7. A ribbon-cutting ceremony in Salem on Dec. 11 to celebrate the opening of The Medical Skin Clinic, a medical spa business offering customers services to smooth their fine lines and wrinkles, contour their figure or clear up their acne, among other treatments. The facility is the business’s second location after its first one opened in Nashua in 2019.
8. Merrimack County Savings Bank, known as The Merrimack, has pledged $28,600 to Concord-based nonprofit Overcomers Refugee Services, a resource center for refugees and immigrants in New Hampshire with an emphasis on greater Concord. The contribution is intended to help the nonprofit expand its programs and community economic development efforts. Pictured: Overcomers Executive Director Clement Kigugu, left; RVP Branch Manager Rachel Perri, middle; and AVP Branch & Business Development Manager Brittany Saucier, right.
