BUSINESS. I’M FRED KOCHER. IT’S OFTEN SAID THAT THE SEVEN REGIONS OF NEW HAMPSHIRE ARE EACH DIFFERENT, AND THEY HAVE THEIR OWN DISTINCTIVE STRENGTHS AND ATTRACTIONS AS WELL. TAKE A LOOK AT THE NEXT TWO GRAPHICS. I HAD ASKED MY GUESTS WHAT THEIR BIG ISSUES WERE IN THEIR REGIONS. HERE’S WHAT THEY TOLD ME. AND MONADNOCK REGION AND WHICH IS CHESHIRE AND WESTERN HILLSBOROUGH COUNTIES. WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, CHILD CARE, HOUSING. AND NOW MY OTHER GUEST, THE SEACOAST REGION, WHICH IS EASTERN ROCKINGHAM AND SOUTHERN STRAFFORD COUNTIES, FINDING WORKERS, AFFORDABLE HOUSING AVAILABLE, CHILD CARE CLEARLY NO DIFFERENCE IN THESE REGIONS WHEN IT COMES TO WORKER SHORTAGE. CHILD CARE SHORTAGE AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING SHORTAGE THAT ARE PLAGUING THE ENTIRE STATE. SO TO BRIEF US ON WHAT THIS IS DOING TO THEIR BUSINESSES AND REGIONS ECONOMY IS CODY MORRISON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE MONADNOCK ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, AND DARIN WINDHAM, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR AND EXETER AND MEMBER OF SEACOAST ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. STAKEHOLDERS. WELCOME. NICE TO HAVE YOU BOTH. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, FRED. SO WHAT IMPACT IS THAT COMBINATION HAVING ON YOUR BUSINESSES AND ON JUST DEVELOPMENT BECAUSE YOUR LONG RANGE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IS LONG RANGE. THESE ARE SHORT RANGE AND REAL PROBLEMS RIGHT NOW. CODY. SURE. UM, WELL THANK YOU FRED. WELL, THE PREMISE IS SIMPLE. BUSINESSES NEED SKILLED WORKERS, WORKERS NEED HOMES, AND WORKERS NEED SUITABLE CHILD CARE TO SUPPORT THEIR THEIR GROWING FAMILIES AND BUSINESSES ARE HAVING TROUBLE FINDING WORKERS, WHICH ALLOWS THEM OR WHICH PREVENTS THEM SOMETIMES FROM BEING ABLE TO EXPAND FROM BEING ABLE TO PURSUE NEW OPPORTUNITIES, EVEN BID ON CONTRACTS WHICH CAN HAVE A DIRECT IMPACT ON THE LOCAL ECONOMY. SO YOU’RE DEALING WITH THESE SHORTER TIME ISSUES TO GET AT THE LONGER TIME ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT? ABSOLUTELY. YEAH. AND DURHAM DITTO. EXACT SAME ISSUE. YEAH I KNOW EXACT SAME ISSUE. WE HAVE OBVIOUSLY OUR WORKERS, UH, THERE’S A LACK OF WORKERS BECAUSE THEY CAN’T FIND HOMES AND PLACES TO LIVE. APARTMENTS ARE OUTRAGEOUSLY PRICED NOW. THERE’S NOT A LOT OF THEM. SAME WITH FINDING HOMES. MY REGION OBVIOUSLY A LITTLE MORE EXPENSIVE, SO IT’S EVEN MORE DIFFICULT. YEAH, OUR EMPLOYERS, THEY HAVE OPENINGS LEFT AND RIGHT AND THAT’S NOT JUST THAT’S ACROSS THE WHOLE SPECTRUM. THAT’S MANUFACTURING, THAT’S RETAIL, THAT’S RESTAURANTS, THAT’S THE WORKS OFFICES, ETC. YEAH, JUST KEEP GOING. WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH SOME OF THOSE ISSUES? SO YOU’VE GOT SOME INNOVATIVE THINGS GOING? YES. SO EXETER IS DEFINITELY FORWARD THINKING WHEN IT COMES TO THAT. WE HAVE A PROJECT, FOR EXAMPLE, WE INVEST IN H, PUT SOME MONEY TOWARDS IT THAT IS LOOKING AT A PROJECT THAT’S GOING TO BE MIXED USE, WHICH IS MY FAVORITE THING, MIXED USE. AND THE FRONT OF IT IS 50,000 SQUARE FOOT OF COMMERCIAL. AND THEN THE BACK 224 APARTMENTS, 56 OF WHICH WILL BE WORKFORCE APARTMENTS. INTERESTING. SAME QUESTION CODY. WHAT’S INNOVATIVE THAT YOU’RE DOING TO DEAL WITH ANY OF THESE ISSUES IN THE KEENE AND MONADNOCK AREA? SURE. SO OUR ORGANIZATION, THE MONADNOCK ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, IS LAUNCHING A REGIONAL HOUSING DEVELOPMENT FUND, WHICH WILL PROVIDE FLEXIBLE CAPITAL TO LOCAL PROJECTS THAT WILL RESULT IN REHABILITATED OR NEW UNITS. ONE PROJECT, WE AFFORDABLE HOUSING, AFFORDABLE AND MARKET RATE HOUSING AND MARKET RATE. SO ONE PROJECT THAT WE RECENTLY HELPED CLOSE ON WAS A 57 UNIT EXPANSION IN DOWNTOWN KEENE THAT WILL RESULT IN THREE STORIES BEING BUILT ON TOP OF ABOUT AN 80,000 SQUARE FOOT AND EXISTING INDUSTRIAL BUILDING RIGHT DOWNTOWN, RIGHT IN DOWNTOWN, RIGHT DOWNTOWN. UM, LET ME GO TO THIS GRAPHIC. THESE ARE THE MEDIAN HOUSE PRICES ON THE SEACOAST AND MONADNOCK REGIONS. UH, TAKE A LOOK AT THESE. UM, WE OFTEN TALK ABOUT THE 500,000 STATEWIDE, UH, MEDIAN HOUSE PRICE IN ROCKINGHAM IS 665, AND STRAFFORD COUNTY IS 482. AND THAT’S IN THE SEACOAST REGION NOW ON THE MONADNOCK REGION. 347 500IN CHESHIRE COUNTY. AND AND THEY HAVE PART OF HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY ALSO IS 5.31 UH THESE HOUSE PRICES ARE FORCING WORKERS TO LOOK FOR APARTMENTS BUT APARTMENT THE VACANCY RATE FOR APARTMENTS IN THE STATE, AS YOU KNOW, IS BELOW 1%. HARD TO FIND. AND AND THAT’S TRUE IN BOTH OF YOUR AREAS, I’M SURE. RIGHT? YES, ABSOLUTELY. YEAH. APARTMENTS. YES. I CAN’T FIND THEM. ARE THEY BEING BUILT. WELL THEY’RE THEY’RE WELL IT’S IN THE WORKS. THEY’RE HE’S GETTING HIS FINAL APPROVALS AND THEN WE’RE GOING AHEAD WITH IT. YES. AND AND SAME WITH DARREN. HOW HOUSES I MEAN APARTMENTS ARE BEING BUILT. OH CERTAINLY FINDING AN APARTMENT NOW IS REALLY A GAME OF WORD OF MOUTH. UH, VERY RARELY DO YOU EVER DRIVE THROUGH A NEIGHBORHOOD ANYMORE AND TAKE THE OLD SCHOOL APPROACH TO FINDING A PLACE, AN APARTMENT UNIT, TO LIVE IN. YOU JUST DRIVE AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD AND YOU TRY TO SEE FOR RENT SIGNS THAT REALLY DOESN’T EXIST ANYMORE. SO YEAH, RIGHT. RIGHT, RIGHT. AND, UH, I HAVE A FAMILY MEMBER THAT HAS THAT PROBLEM. UH, ANYHOW, ON MY THANKS TO CODY MORRISON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE MONADNOCK REGION ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, AND DARREN WINHAM, EXECUTIVE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR OF EXETER AND MEMBER OF THE SEACOAST ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STAKEHOLDERS, STAKEHOLDERS. I LIKE THAT WORD. ANYHOW, THANKS FOR BEING HERE. THANK YOU. IF YOU MISSED PART OF THIS BRIEFING, YOU

NH Business: Strikingly similar economic realities in the Monadnock and Seacoast Regions

Fred Kocher is joined by Cody Morrison, the Executive Director of the Monadnock Economic Development Corporation and Darren Winham, the Economic Development Director for Exeter/Seacoast Economic Development Stakeholders to discuss the similar economic realities in both the Monadnock and Seacoast regions.

Updated: 7:11 AM EDT Apr 14, 2024

Fred Kocher, NH Business host

Strikingly similar economic realities in the Monadnock and Seacoast Regions.On the latest edition of NH Business, host Fred Kocher sits down with Cody Morrison, Exec. Dir., Monadnock Economic Develop. Corp. and Darren Winham, Econ. Develop. Dir., Exeter/Seacoast Econ. Develop. Stakeholders, to discuss why the economic realities for workers, housing and childcare is so similar in the Monadnock and Seacoast regions.

Strikingly similar economic realities in the Monadnock and Seacoast Regions.

On the latest edition of NH Business, host Fred Kocher sits down with Cody Morrison, Exec. Dir., Monadnock Economic Develop. Corp. and Darren Winham, Econ. Develop. Dir., Exeter/Seacoast Econ. Develop. Stakeholders, to discuss why the economic realities for workers, housing and childcare is so similar in the Monadnock and Seacoast regions.