CONCORD: Now through the end of the year, The Merrimack will be collecting new handmade or store-bought mittens, hats and scarves as part of its Annual Mitten Tree Drive. For every item collected, The Merrimack will donate two dollars to be distributed among the Bow Food Pantry, Friends of Forgotten Children (Concord), Henniker Food Pantry, Hopkinton Food Pantry, Hooksett Food Pantry, Nashua Soup Kitchen and Shelter, Shepard’s Pantry (Windham) and Twin Rivers Food Pantry (Franklin). Donations can be dropped off at any of The Merrimack’s nine locations.
GRANTHAM: Solaflect Energy has teamed up with the Eastman Charitable Foundation to install an off-grid Solaflect Apollo EV charger at the Eastman Golf Links in Grantham. Solaflect’s sun-tracking units will offer a reliable charging option for the growing number of EV drivers in the more than 3,000 residents in the Eastman community, including those who frequent the golf course or the associated facilities. Apollo chargers operate off-grid, powered by a dual-axis solar tracker that generates 40% more energy than fixed-panel solar systems, producing about 40,000 miles of EV charging annually in the Northeast, according to the company.
LEBANON: Fidium has expanded its multi-gig speed network to Lebanon, NH, bringing new all-fiber internet access to more than 6,000 homes and businesses. This milestone is part of a broader effort that now delivers fiber access to over 26,000 locations across the Upper Valley region of Vermont and New Hampshire, including Lebanon, White River Junction, Hartland, Croydon, Grantham, and Newport. The company has invested approximately $1.7 billion in fiber infrastructure since 2020.
EXETER: Phoenix Tailings has opened one of the first domestic rare earth metallization facilities with zero reliance on Chinese inputs, equipment, or technology in Exeter, NH. The facility is said to produce 200 tons of both light and heavy rare earth metals each year, with the capacity to scale to more than 1,000 tons per year. The Exeter facility will initially produce neodymium-praseodymium and dysprosium-iron alloy and expand to include dysprosium, terbium, samarium, yttrium, gadolinium, germanium, gallium and other key metals. Phoenix’s facility in Burlington, Mass., which opened in 2023, will also continue production of heavy and light rare earth metals.
PLYMOUTH: Plymouth State University (PSU) has received a $1.56 million federal grant to launch a new four-year program aimed at strengthening the rural behavioral health workforce and expanding access to treatment for substance use disorder, particularly opioid use. The Plymouth-Area Rural Opioid Training (PAROT) Collaborative will support workforce development and professional training to address the ongoing shortage of behavioral health providers in northern New Hampshire by offering up to five PSU Social Work students with financial support each year for two semesters of classroom education and practicum placements with local behavioral health partners. Funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) Rural Communities Opioid Response Program, the initiative will be led by PSU’s Social Work program in partnership with Archways, Lakes Region Mental Health Center, and Mid-State Health Center.
