The Buzz Online

Steve Saltzman, president and CEO of the NH Community Loan Fund

The NH Community Loan Fund’s President and CEO, Steve Saltzman, was recently named a recipient of the Rural Development Under Secretary's Award presented by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for his efforts to expand meat and poultry processing across the country. Saltzman was honored, along with eight others on the Rural Business Cooperative Service Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program team, for their work in building “a fairer, more resilient, and more competitive meat and poultry supply chain,” says Farah Ahmad, USDA’s Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development. 

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Rivier University in Nashua has been awarded a $2 million grant by the Bedford Falls Foundation to launch the Joanne and William Conway Nursing Scholarship. The largest foundation gift in Rivier’s history, the transformative grant will increase enrollment of full-time undergraduate nursing students over the next five years and support the region’s workforce needs.

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New Hampshire Businesses for Social Responsibility presented its Cornerstone and Partnership for Innovation Awards at its Prosperity Unleashed Conference on May 2. The Cornerstone Award, which recognizes an individual or company exemplifying corporate social responsibility principles and promoting them within the NH business community, was presented to Beth Tener, principal of New Directions Collaborative. The Cornerstone Innovator Award was presented to Stonyfield Organics. The Partnership for Innovation Award was presented to Monadnock Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Coalition.

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Dartmouth Health’s Cheshire Medical Center in Keene received $750,000 from over $103 million awarded across NH from congressionally directed funding. U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) secured the funding in late March as part of the final government funding package for fiscal year 2024. Overall, Dartmouth Health received $3,092,000. The grant will allow Cheshire to purchase medical devices with robotic technology for therapy services in both Inpatient and Outpatient Rehabilitation.

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Wentworth-Douglass Hospital in Dover awarded a $30,000 community benefit grant to support Gather’s Fresh Food Bus, which provides a mobile market of fresh foods for food insecure families. Portsmouth-based Gather, a nonprofit dedicated to food insecurity, introduced the bus last year to make fresh, nutritious food more accessible to underserved families who face transportation barriers. The bus makes about 14 stops per month, including biweekly at Wentworth-Douglass. It serves an average of 40 families per visit to the hospital, most of whom are either patients or part of a hospital-affiliated social service program.

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The Foundation for Healthy Communities named Haylie Robinson, RN with the VA Manchester Healthcare System, as the 2024 recipient of the Clint Jones NH Nursing Award, marking the first time in the program’s 18-year history that a nurse from the VA Manchester Healthcare System has received the award. Robinson received the annual award during a special Nurses Week celebration held May 8.
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Father and son team Joseph Guyton, owner of Portsmouth-based The Guyton Group, and Andrew Guyton, Founder of Forge Financial, also in Portsmouth, have each earned the designation of President’s Council Qualifier. Joseph is winning for the 16th time and Andrew is winning for the third. The President’s Council Qualifier is an industry award for financial professionals that provide exceptional customer service and nurture long-term relationships.

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The Newburyport Bank Charitable Foundation has donated $5,000 to the Portsmouth Historical Society to support its Community Programs.