The Buzz Online

HealthForce NH and Foundation for Healthy Communities in Concord named Kate Luczko as their new senior director. The organizations work to promote partnerships and cross-sector collaboration to grow, retain, and sustain the NH’s healthcare workforce. Luczko was the founding president and CEO of Stay Work Play NH focused on young workforce recruitment and retention. She most recently served as the president and CEO of the Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce. In her new role, Luczko will serve as a statewide leader promoting solutions to healthcare workforce challenges by engaging, collaborating with, and soliciting input from partners, employers, higher education, policymakers, funders, the public, groups representing historically under-served populations, and other stakeholders. 

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The NH State Council on the Arts announced the winners of the 2023 Governor’s Arts Awards: Arts Education: Racial Unity Team in Stratham; Arts in Health: Currier Museum of Art in Manchester; Creative Communities: Creative Guts in Epping; Distinguished Arts Leadership: Sculptor John Weidman of Milford; Folk Heritage: Fiddling Thomsons in Lee; Individual Arts Champion: the Labrie Family of Portsmouth; Lotte Jacobi Living Treasure: Greg Gathers, co-artistic director of Pontine Movement Theatre in Portsmouth.

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Joe Collie joined MVSB (Meredith Village Savings Bank) as business development officer based out of the bank’s Laconia office. He has held positions in vehicle sales, as a local radio personality, and as executive director at the Central NH Chamber of Commerce.

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Savings Bank of Walpole appointed as corporators for NH Mutual Bancorp: Elana Baron, an attorney with Bragdon, Baron & Kossayda, PC in Keene; Caitlin Caserta, co-owner of Walpole Valley Farms, The Hungry Diner, and The Inn at Valley Farms, all located in Walpole; and Alona Florenz, senior VP, corporate development and financial planning and analysis for C&S Wholesale Grocers in Keene. 

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The NH Center for Nonprofits in Concord elected three new members to its board of directors: Kendra Bell, a CPA with Cohos Advisors in Lancaster; Joshua Meehan, executive director of Keene Housing; and Charla Stevens of Charla Stevens Consulting.

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Northeast Credit Union in Portsmouth has been named to the Forbes list of America’s Best-In-State Credit Unions for 2023 in both Maine and NH. 

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The Seacoast Operations Center for Unitil in Exeter, a provider of natural gas and electricity, has become the first building in NH to achieve WELL Certified designation. The building’s design and construction partners include PROCON in Hooksett and Stibler Associates in Bedford as well as Resilient Buildings Group in Concord, which supported Unitil’s WELL Certification process. The 54,000-square-foot facility was designed to meet the rigorous standards of the WELL Building, which focuses on the health and well-being of building occupants and the environment. The new facility is also LEED certified.