FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Dave Juvet
Business and Industry Association
Office: 603.224.5388 x115
Mobile: 603.731.7756
djuvet@nhbia.org
Manufacturing plant tours highlight tough times, importance of industry to state's economy.
CONCORD, N.H. – Nov 10, 2009 – Eleven manufacturers from across the state played host to New Hampshire state legislators in a series of plant tours held in late October and early November. The tours were organized by the Business and Industry Association of New Hampshire, in partnership with the NH Department of Resources & Economic Development, to highlight the critical importance of advanced manufacturing and high technology to the state’s economy, and to demonstrate the
challenges facing this sector as it competes with businesses in other states and countries that have lower costs of doing business.
“This is our second year introducing public policy makers to some of New Hampshire ’s top advanced manufacturing high tech facilities,” said Jim Roche, BIA president. “The advanced manufacturing high technology sector is the most important component of New Hampshire ’s economy, contributing more to our gross state product than tourism, finance, retail trade, construction, health care, wood products and virtually all other industries,” Roche added. “The health of this sector directly impacts
government tax revenue, private sector job growth, per capita income, and our quality of life. It is important for legislators to appreciate that the decisions they make during the upcoming legislative session, especially as we emerge from the worst recession in the post World War II era, will impact whether advanced manufacturing high technology companies stay in New Hampshire or expand or relocate elsewhere.”
The three-hour plant tour sessions, which were attended by more than 60 state representatives and senators, were held at Timken Aerospace, Lebanon; PCC Structurals, Tilton; Hitachi Cable, Manchester; New England Wire Technologies, Lisbon; Isaacson Structural Steel, Berlin; Monadnock Paper Mills, Bennington; Whelen Engineering, Charlestown; Turbocam, Barrington; Teledyne D.G. O’Brien, Seabrook; GE Aviation, Hooksett and Worthen Industries, Nashua.
Each session began with an economic overview from Dennis Delay, deputy director of the New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies, and was followed by a tour of the host facility. During the last hour, host company officials presented information about their operating costs and comparative data with sister companies, or in some cases competitors, doing business in other states and/or countries.
Participating companies noted that New Hampshire ’s high cost structure often puts them at a disadvantage in competition for new customers. New Hampshire businesses frequently pay higher wages, taxes, healthcare expenses and electricity rates, which increases the overall cost of producing goods. This can mean lost business, especially in a period of extreme price sensitivity by business customers.
According to Roche, the goal of these plant tours was to raise awareness among legislators about the business climate that advanced manufacturing high technology companies currently face in New Hampshire and to urge them not to make decisions in the coming legislative session that will further erode companies’ ability to compete in the global marketplace.
“The business community already carries the bulk of the state’s tax burden,” said Roche. “It is the source of job creation and wealth generation. To attempt to solve the state’s budget challenges by further burdening businesses, especially during the worst economy in decades, is penny wise and pound foolish. In the short term, businesses will be forced to constrict operations and cut jobs. In the long term, they will expand operations elsewhere or relocate to other states or countries, which means
lost employment, decreased economic activity and lost revenue to the state.”