The Buzz Online

This Week's The Buzz Online Spotlight  

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Virtual Learning Academy Charter School in Exeter received a $150,000 grant from the Next Generation Learning Challenges (NGLC) grant to develop its ASPIRE program. On top of the original grant, NGLC offered an additional $300,000 to match a donation by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, making the total donation $750,000.

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North Branch Construction in Concord moved Bruce Blazon from his position in field operations to a project management and estimating position. Blazon still serves as VP and principal of the firm.

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Dartmouth-Hitchcock Nashua, Southern NH Health System, and St. Joseph Healthcare, all in Nashua, partnered to establish The Surgery Center of Greater Nashua, a nonprofit center that will provide an alternative for outpatient surgical procedures.

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Bretton Woods Ski Area in Bretton Woods was ranked among the top 10 ski resorts in the east for 2014 by SKI Magazine.

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Optima Bank & Trust in Portsmouth hired three Shelley-Ann Cullen as commercial loan assistant; Catherine Dawson as assistant branch manaager at its Pease International Tradeport location; and Robert Tucker as senior network engineer.

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McLane Law Firm in Manchester hired Laurie Jirak, previously a staff attorney at the NH Public Defenders in Concord, as an associate in its litigation department.

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wedu in Manchester hired two new employees: Shawna Frechette, previously a project manager at SilverTech in Manchester, and Nicole Manning, previously production and traffic manager and account executive at Rumbletree in North Hampton. Both will serve as account managers.

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MVP Health Care in Schenectady, NY, has decided to withdraw from the NH market. It says only 1 percent of its policies are held here.

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DeStefano Architects in Portsmouth completed its 100th project, which was the renovation of the upstairs bar at Ristorante Massimo in Portsmouth.

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Jewett Construction Company, Inc. in Raymond completed the construction of the Department of Works garage in Hopkinton.

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ProEx Physical Therapy in Portsmouth hired Kayla Bermudez as an exercise technician to work from their Stratham and Epping locations. Previous to joining ProEx, Bermudez was a health project enroller at the University of Rochester in Rochester, NY.

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Hage Hodes, P.A. in Manchester hired Margaret Byrnes as an attorney in its litigation and municipal law practice groups.