The Buzz Online

In the Spotlight: North Branch Construction of Concord hired Pedro Sanchez in a dual-role position that includes project coordinator. Sanchez was a cyberanalyst and IT manager for the U.S. Census and is a 16-year veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps. Elsewhere at North Branch, Ken Hadley joins the firm as a project manager/estimator. Last, Thomas Hannan was  hired as a project coordinator after originally joining North Branch Construction in June as an intern. He brings over six years of experience working in construction.

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Artisan chocolatier and chocolate maker La Cascade du Chocolat in Exeter opened Chocolate Room in Portsmouth. Chocolates are made by hand in the company’s Exeter kitchen and cafe from sustainably sourced ingredients that are local, whenever possible. With the onset of the pandemic, co-owners Andy Brown and Thomas Nash accelerated their e-commerce and shipping capabilities, created new product offerings including brownie and cake mixes, and introduced curbside pick-up and local delivery.

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Offering an array of business services, a new full-service consulting firm has been formed by Ken Chalifour and his son Craig Chalifour. The Chalifour Consulting Group, with offices in Loudon and Dover, plans to provide companies with growth strategies.

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Joanne Pearce will be the first chief digital officer at New Hampshire Mutual Bancorp. In her new role, Pearce will create and implement NHMB’s digital transformation strategies, enhancing the customer experience for sister companies Merrimack County Savings Bank, Meredith Village Savings Bank, Savings Bank of Walpole and NHTrust.

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Girls Inc. of New Hampshire hosted 30 teams at its second annual Granite State Golf Challenge on August 10, at the Nashua Country Club, raising more than $51,000. All proceeds will go toward helping Girls Inc. continue its mission of inspiring girls during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Concord Hospital has a new partnership with Granite State College, which will provide a significant tuition discount to all Concord Hospital employees. Granite State also assessed the surgical technologist training program so that upon successful completion, hospital employees will be eligible to receive up to 30 credits toward their associate or bachelor’s degree at Granite State College.

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Exeter-based Nancy Phillips Associates facilitated the sale of Denecker Chevrolet owned by Tom Denecker to Chris Mackey of Mackey Auto Group, a New York and Vermont based regional group. The new dealership will be known as Middlebury Chevrolet and will be operated by the father and son team of Chris and Christopher Mackey while Tom Denecker himself will remain in place as general manager.

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The Federal Transit Administration awarded approximately $822,000 in transit infrastructure funding to the city of Nashua to renovate and upgrade the Nashua Transit Center to improve safety and add technology, which includes improved lighting and camera systems as well as incorporating on-time bus arrival and departure data, WiFi and automatic announcements and displays.

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The Federal Emergency Management Agency awarded $644,296.35 in federal funding to support Granite State firefighters to the following cities and towns: Londonderry, $210,909.09; Allenstown, $189,489.52; Gorham, $134,619.05; Goffstown, $109,278.69. The grants can be used for training, equipment acquisition, personal protective equipment, wellness and fitness activities, and modifications of fire/EMS stations.

Pictured above are Pedro Sanchez, Ken Hadley, Thomas Hannan of North Branch Construction.