The Buzz Online

Heather Shank, (pictured here), senior planner with the NH Office of Planning and Development, has been appointed director of the newly created Division of Planning and Community Development, which is part of the NH Department of Business and Economic Affairs. The reorganization incorporates the Office of Planning and Development, Office of Broadband Infrastructure, InvestNH and Housing Champions programs.

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Albany International Corp., a Rochester-based developer and manufacturer of engineered components, appointed Merle Stein as president of its Machine Clothing business segment. Stein most recently served as served as division COO for the business segment.

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Spaulding Academy & Family Services in Northfield promoted Meaghan Emmons to president and CEO. Emmons has served as CFO for Spaulding since 2022. Prior to joining Spaulding, she spent nearly two decades with Granite Group Benefits and Alera Group. Spaulding serves youth from ages 4 through 21 at its 500-acre campus and offers services such as foster family licensing, Individual Service Option foster care and in-home services, as well as child health support services.

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Easterseals NH, based in Manchester, named Jamie Staton, formerly a news anchor with WMUR-9, as a major gifts officer. Easterseals NH provides early intervention, autism, intellectual and developmental disabilities, behavioral health, family and physical disability services, substance use treatment, and care coordination to18,000 children, families, adults, seniors, and veterans annually.

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The Upper Valley Arts Alliance was relaunched by 20 arts organizations in the Upper Valley to increase access to the arts. The Upper Valley Arts Alliance (UVAA) was formed in 2004 to serve as an umbrella organization for arts and arts education organizations throughout the Upper Valley to network and form collaborations. In 2021, UVAA became a program of the Upper Valley Business Alliance.

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Great Bay Community College is sponsoring a new U.S. Department of Labor, Medical Assistant Registered Apprenticeship Program supported by ApprenticeshipNH. This collaboration provides support for employers to fill the workforce shortage of medical assistants in the Seacoast area.

Unitil Corporation in Hampton broke ground on a new 4.9-megawatt solar array in Kingston that will be among the largest in NH once completed in 2025 and the first to be owned and operated by a regulated distribution utility company in the state. The 11,232-panel solar array will be built on vacant land off Towle Road. Unitil hired ReVision Energy in Brentwood to serve as the engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the project, which will generate enough electricity to power over 1,200 homes.

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The Friendly Toast, an all-day brunch and bar restaurant, opened its fourth NH location at Tuscan Village in Salem. As part of its opening celebration, The Friendly Toast donated $4,640, to the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Salem. The Salem location marks The Friendly Toast’s 13th location across New England.

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Phaneuf Funeral Homes and Crematorium, based in Manchester and one of the oldest family-run funeral homes in New England, acquired Zis-Sweeney and St. Laurent Funeral Home in Nashua. This marks a return to the community for the Phaneuf family, which ran a funeral home in Nashua for 80 years before closing in the mid 1980s.