The Buzz Online

In the Spotlight: Following several years of planning and design, the Stone Mountain Business Park in Winchester is under construction. The nonprofit developer, Winchester Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), has been working in partnership with the town for the last six years.  A former gravel pit, the site is zoned for business and manufacturing. Federal funding of $666,000 was matched by the community with about $500,000 to install all the necessary infrastructure. WEDC also entered into an informal partnership with New England Solar Garden, for a solar farm adjacent to the town’s neighboring landfill; which will substantially reduce electric costs for future park tenants.

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Lisa Ford joined NH Housing’s homeownership division as the senior manager, partner relationships. Ford previously was a mortgage loan officer with Bank of New Hampshire. She is a certified mortgage professional (CMP) and a licensed real estate broker. She serves on the board of the NH Mortgage Bankers and Brokers Association and is VP of the Gilford Rotary.

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The law firm of McLane Middleton in Manchester hired attorney Stephanie J. Lee as an associate in the corporate department. Prior to joining McLane Middleton, Lee practiced law in New York and Boston, where she focused on mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructuring, and securities law issues.

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Ohm Lifestyle Center in Wolfeboro is doubling its funding for its grant program in New Hampshire, now providing $10,000 to a qualified cosmetologist looking to establish and build his or her cosmetology practice. Ohm launched the program in June to support and foster NH’s salon industry.

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Cornerstone VNA in Rochester appointed Kathy Boyd a community palliative care nurse practitioner. Boyd is one of several new medical providers who has joined this unique program, first launched in 2014, that specializes in caring for individuals of all ages with chronic medical conditions.

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The Governor’s Office for Emergency Relief & Recovery and the NH Department of Agriculture, Markets & Food has expanded the NH Agriculture COVID-19 Relief Program to include farms that did not qualify initially or missed the registration deadline to support smaller farms with less than $50,000 of 2019 gross sales that were ineligible initially. 

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Squam Lakes Natural Science Center in Holderness was named a 2020 Champion in Action in the category of environmental stewardship. The award announced jointly by Citizens Bank and NH Union Leader includes $35,000 in unrestricted funding as well as promotional and volunteer support for the organization’s work.

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Cindy Hemeon-Plessner, SVP and marketing officer for NH Mutual Bancorp and sister organizations Merrimack County Savings Bank, Meredith Village Savings Bank, and NHTrust, was recognized as Volunteer of the Year for 2019 in NH’s Central and Lakes Regions by Granite United Way.  

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The American Independence Museum in Exeter received a multi-year operating grant from the NH Charitable Foundation, payable in $10,000 installments over three years, which will enable the nonprofit museum to continue to develop both on and off-site programs.

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Meredith Village Savings Bank presented its James D. Sutherland Memorial Scholarships to Lydia Clapp of Center Harbor, attending St. Michael’s College in Colchester, Vermont; Myles Currier of Moultonborough, attending Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida; Autumn Faris of Center Ossipee, attending NH Technical Institute in Concord; Molly Edmark of Plymouth, attending Keene State College; Riley Huneke of Portsmouth, attending the University of Southern Maine in Portland; Lily Michaud of Alton, attending the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma; Maya Minnick of Laconia, attending Castleton State University in Castleton, Vermont; and Maddison Rector of Gilford, attending the University of New Hampshire in Durham.