Submitted by Anonymous on Sun, 04/01/2007 - 05:00.
New Hampshire Housing Shortage Hurting Business
By Nancy Foster, New Hampshire Union Leader Correspondent
New Hampshire businesses are having a tough time bringing in enough workers to fill their white-color middle-management positions, and the problem, if it continues to grow, may have far-reaching economic impact, experts say.
At the crux of the workforce shortage is the absence of affordable housing, said May Balsama, director of the Souhegan Valley Chamber of Commerce, and if more attention isn't paid to creating reasonably-priced homes for average families, businesses are going to be forced to pack up and move elsewhere.
"We're hearing continually that companies that are trying to recruit managers and can't find adequate housing for them here in New Hampshire," Balsama said. "The middle class can't afford the McMansions that keep popping up all over."
The Souhegan Valley Chamber of Commerce and Greater Nashua Workforce Housing Coalition are sponsoring a Business Leaders Breakfast on Tuesday from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at Hampshire Hills in Milford to discuss the workforce housing shortage in the region.
During the breakfast, Denny Nesbitt, chairman of the Greater Nashua Workforce Housing Coalition and the plant manager at Anheuser-Busch in Merrimack, will explore the link between housing affordability and economic vitality.
Nesbitt will be joined by speakers Kevin Peterson of the Housing and Conservation Planning Program, and demographer Peter Francese, who will offer his take on the problems involving southern New Hampshire's housing stock.
Though he refused to go into detail, Francese said the biggest issue facing New Hampshire's economic stability is not the size of its population, but the age distribution of the people who make the Granite State their home.
Balsama said the point of the breakfast is to pull business leaders together and get them thinking about ways to put workforce housing on the front burner.
"People won't come here because they can't afford to get started here," Balsama said. "If they can't find enough workers, businesses are going to end up going elsewhere, and that out-migration of job opportunities will be just the tip of the iceberg of what will happen to the economy of the area."
Source: http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?
headline=Experts%3A+Housing+shortage+hinders+businesses&articleId=
a8aec39d-6560-422a-a7b2-ffbe70af17b5
New Hampshire businesses are having a tough time bringing in enough workers to fill their white-color middle-management positions, and the problem, if it continues to grow, may have far-reaching economic impact, experts say.
At the crux of the workforce shortage is the absence of affordable housing, said May Balsama, director of the Souhegan Valley Chamber of Commerce, and if more attention isn't paid to creating reasonably-priced homes for average families, businesses are going to be forced to pack up and move elsewhere.
"We're hearing continually that companies that are trying to recruit managers and can't find adequate housing for them here in New Hampshire," Balsama said. "The middle class can't afford the McMansions that keep popping up all over."
The Souhegan Valley Chamber of Commerce and Greater Nashua Workforce Housing Coalition are sponsoring a Business Leaders Breakfast on Tuesday from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at Hampshire Hills in Milford to discuss the workforce housing shortage in the region.
During the breakfast, Denny Nesbitt, chairman of the Greater Nashua Workforce Housing Coalition and the plant manager at Anheuser-Busch in Merrimack, will explore the link between housing affordability and economic vitality.
Nesbitt will be joined by speakers Kevin Peterson of the Housing and Conservation Planning Program, and demographer Peter Francese, who will offer his take on the problems involving southern New Hampshire's housing stock.
Though he refused to go into detail, Francese said the biggest issue facing New Hampshire's economic stability is not the size of its population, but the age distribution of the people who make the Granite State their home.
Balsama said the point of the breakfast is to pull business leaders together and get them thinking about ways to put workforce housing on the front burner.
"People won't come here because they can't afford to get started here," Balsama said. "If they can't find enough workers, businesses are going to end up going elsewhere, and that out-migration of job opportunities will be just the tip of the iceberg of what will happen to the economy of the area."
Source: http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?
headline=Experts%3A+Housing+shortage+hinders+businesses&articleId=
a8aec39d-6560-422a-a7b2-ffbe70af17b5
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