The Buzz Online

Kristy Merrill, president of NH Bankers Association, and Mark Bodin, president of Savings Bank of Walpole.

Mark Bodin, president of Savings Bank of Walpole, has been named the 2023 Community Banker of the Year by the NH Bankers Association. Bodin has been instrumental in leading the the bank toward ongoing positive growth while also serving as the driving force behind many internal initiatives that support career growth and mentorship of employees such as “Women in the Workforce”. Bodin serves on the board of Cheshire Medical Center, Kurn Hattin Homes for Children, Monadnock Diversity Equity Inclusion & Belonging Coalition and the Keene Family YMCA’s Development and Community Impact Committee.

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The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) appointed Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute (ARMI),  bio-manufacturing firm in Manchester, and Celdara Medical, a bio-tech company in Lebanon, as members to newly established Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Advisory Committee (IIEAC). The advisory committee’s main objective is to promote, expand, and strengthen the innovation ecosystem, including innovation commercialization, lab-to-market translation, and constructing a more equitable inclusive federal innovation ecosystem.

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The Franklin Pierce University Board of Trustees appointed as new members: Ellen Arnold, an attorney who most recently served as Of Counsel Attorney at McLane Middleton in Manchester; Trent Spiner, ’07, editor-in-chief for the American Psychological Association; and Alexandra (Marella) Johnson, ’15, who is employed by the NH Department of Health & Human Services and appointed as the first Graduate of the Last Decade (GOLD) board member. The GOLD seat was created to foster greater collaboration and input from younger alumni.

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Simplified Clinical, a Portsmouth-based provider of clinical trial software to biopharmaceutical and medical device companies, universities, and teaching hospitals, introduced AI-driven text analytics as part of its Clinical Discovery Platform (CDP). Using this tool, clinical trial teams—including investigators, clinicians, and researchers—can extract clinical trial data from unstructured medical texts to better identify relevant keywords and phrases, infer meaningful connections, compile statistics, and streamline data analysis.

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The Point32Health Foundation announced $750,000 in grants awarded to 19 nonprofit emergency food response organizations and those working to advance food justice efforts in Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. In NH, the foundation awarded $75,000 to NH Food Bank in Manchester and $25,000 to Community Kitchen in Keene.

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The NH Women’s Foundation awarded a total of $125,000 in community grants to: Amoskeag Health, Boys & Girls Club of Greater Nashua, Breakthrough Manchester, Circle Program, Claremont Learning Partnership, Community Action Partnership of Strafford County, Cornucopia Project, Granite State Roller Derby, Haven Violence Prevention and Support Services, Hope on Haven Hill, International Institute of New England, Joan G. Lovering Health Center, Kimball Jenkins, Manchester Community Action Coalition, Overcomers Refugee Services, Reproductive Freedom Fund of NH, Shelter From the Storm, Spark! Community Center, Turning Points Network, United Way of Greater Nashua, and Waypoint.

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Becker's Hospital Review featured Dartmouth Cancer Center in Lebanon on its list of 100 hospitals and health systems with oncology programs that are accelerating innovation, discovery and greater access to care. Dartmouth Cancer Center, with 14 locations around NH and Vermont, is one of 56 National Cancer Institute designated comprehensive cancer centers in the United States. 

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The law firm of McLane Middleton in Manchester achieved certification under the Mansfield Rule, the national certification for law firms committed to diversity in their workforce and leadership. The firm is the first law firm in NH to receive the certification.  The Mansfield Rule is a national initiative through Diversity Lab that helps close the gender and diversity gap in the legal profession. The Rule measures law firms’ processes for considering women lawyers, lawyers of color, LGBTQ+ lawyers, and lawyers with disabilities for employment as well as leadership and governance roles and equity partner promotions.