Nashua: Economy

Major Industries and Commercial Activity

Nashua is home to a number of industries, including computers, health care, and high technology. Since the 1950s, Nashua has become a virtual incubator for high technology, and a wide variety of electronic components and computer products are produced locally. Nashua ranks high for its business environment as a result of having acceptable corporate tax and wage rates, the educational level of the work force, the interstate highway system, and the absence of New Hampshire sales and income taxes. While maintaining a strong manufacturing base, Nashua is the major retail, service, and financial center for southern Hillsborough County and adjacent Massachusetts communities. The absence of a sales tax makes the city a shopping mecca.

Items and goods produced: printing and publishing, electronic equipment (especially software), fabricated metal products, machinery

Incentive Programs—New and Existing Companies

Local programs

The State of New Hampshire, which levies no state sales or income tax, is considered one of the most favorable climates for doing business in the nation. Because so much is provided at the state level, few incentives are offered at the city-town level. In fact, by state law, New Hampshire cities are prohibited from offering tax breaks to private industry. In Nashua, the Office of Economic Development is a one-stop source for resources needed to start or expand a business. The city's revolving loan fund, in partnership with private financial institutions, provides small businesses and industries with gap financing.

State programs

The state's incentives include no general sales or use tax, no general personal income tax, no capital gains tax, no inventory tax, no property tax on machinery or equipment, one of the lowest unemployment insurance rates in the country, investment tax incentives, job tax credits, and research and development tax incentives. In 2004, the State of New Hampshire instituted the Community Reinvestment Opportunity Program (CROP), which offers tax credits that may be used against business profit taxes and business enterprise taxes. Qualifying CROP projects must create new jobs as well as expand the state economic base.

Job training programs

The Small Business Development Center, which is funded by the Small Business Association, the State of New Hampshire, and the University of New Hampshire, offers management counseling, training, and resource information to the state's small business community through six sub-centers. The New Hampshire Employment Program (NHEP) aids individuals in obtaining financial aid to prepare for and find employment. The NHEP On-The-Job Training Program offers employers incentives to hire and train eligible applicants.

Development Projects

In July of 2004, Southern New Hampshire Medical Center broke ground on a $17 million construction project that will expand the hospital's cardiac care and emergency room offerings. In 2005 Nashua's other main hospital, St. Joseph Hospital, broke ground on a $25 million expansion and relocation of its Cardiovascular Center, Oncology Center, Endoscopy Surgicenter, and Phlebotomy department. The 64,000 square foot addition with adjoin the main hospital via a central atrium that will serve as the hospital's new main entrance.

Nashua plans to introduce commuter rail service to the city that will provide access to Boston via Lowell, Massachusetts. The city is developing the project in conjunction with the New Hampshire Department of Transportation and the Nashua Regional Planning Commission. The estimated cost of the project, which includes a station, parking, track improvements, train set, and an operating subsidy, is $70.1 million.

Economic Development Information: Office of Economic Development, City of Nashua, 229 Main St., Nashua, NH 03060; telephone (603)589-3070. New Hampshire Small Business Development Center, Rivier College, Sylvia Trotter Hall, 420 Main Street, Nashua, NH 03060-5086; telephone (603)897-8587

Commercial Shipping

While at one point Nashua hosted four different railroad depots, train travel declined with the advent of the automobile. Today, only the Guilford Industries rail line runs through Nashua. Several motor freight carriers service the city, which is home to a number of warehouses.

Labor Force and Employment Outlook

Nashua boasts a reliable, abundant, highly skilled and trained workforce. The expansion of high-technology companies in the region during the last decades of the twentieth century created a core of experienced workers in technology development and management. The Nashua region has a labor force of nearly 130,000 workers, with skills ranging from software and electronic engineering, to component assembly and bench work. Although recent years have seen the relocation of long-established businesses and a loss of manufacturing jobs to lower cost foreign labor markets, new businesses such as software firms and major retailers and franchises continue to establish themselves in Nashua. Other established businesses have expanded as well. Since 2003 the unemployment rate in Nashua has continued to drop and is slightly below the national average. The fastest growing economic sector is retail and services, especially services connected to travel, tourism, and recreation.

The following is a summary of data regarding the Nashua metropolitan area labor force, 2004 annual averages.

Size of nonagricultural labor force: 129,100

Number of workers employed in . . .

construction and mining: 5,900

manufacturing: 26,000

trade, transportation and utilities: 30,500

information: 2,000

financial activities: 8,000

professional and business services: 12,700

educational and health services: 15,300

leisure and hospitality: 10,300

other services: 4,500

government: 14,000

Average hourly earnings of production workers employed in manufacturing: $15.97

Unemployment rate: 3.7% (state average, March 2005)

Cost of Living

New Hampshire has been called one of the last great tax havens in the United States. The state depends more upon real property taxes for revenue than most states as it does not have general income, sales, or use taxes. Substantial revenue is collected from taxes on gasoline, tobacco and alcohol, and parimutuel betting.

The following is a summary of data regarding several key cost of living factors in the Nashua area.

2004 ACCRA Average House Price: Not reported

2004 ACCRA Cost of Living Index: Not reported

State income tax rate: None on salaries and wages of residents; limited tax upon interest and dividends received by individuals, trusts, estates and partners in excess of $2,400. There is a $10.00 "Resident Tax" on all persons between 18 and 60 years of age with some exceptions.

State sales tax rate: None

Local income tax rate: None

Local sales tax rate: None

Property tax rate: $19.85 per $1,000 of assessed value, 2004)

Economic Information: Office of Economic Development, City of Nashua, 229 Main Street, Nashua, NH 03060; telephone (603)589-3070

Nashua: Recreation

Sightseeing

The Nashua Historical Society's collection of local history details the city's beginning as part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and its evolution as a mill town in the 1800s. The Society also maintains a collection of Native American artifacts and a library. The Abbot-Spaulding House, which is owned by the Society, is a restored Federal-style home built in 1804 for Daniel Abbot, owner of the first cotton mill in Nashua. Among the home's many fine period pieces are glass, china, and portraits, including one of President Franklin Pierce. Nashua's North End, a residential neighborhood which includes the Nashville Historic District, features many handsome homes from the early nineteenth century to the early twentieth century, many of them in the Victorian style. Downtown Nashua's buildings of historic and architectural interest include the Hunt Memorial Building, built in the Gothic style.

Canobie Lake Park in nearby Salem combines an amusement park with a pool, small bird and animal zoo, train rides, and riverboat cruises. In nearby Merrimack is the Anheuser-Busch Brewery, which offers tours as well as performances by the brewery's 12 Clydesdale horses.

Arts and Culture

The Nashua Symphony Orchestra, a professional symphony comprised of professional musicians from southern New Hampshire and the Boston, Massachusetts area, is New Hampshire's oldest professional orchestra. The orchestra and the Nashua Symphony Choral Society, a volunteer chorus with 125 members, perform year-round (sometimes together) at the Edmund M. O'Keefe Auditorium. The Nashua Chamber Orchestra performs both classical favorites and avant garde works written for small orchestral ensembles. The 16 players of the Nashua Flute Choir use piccolos and a variety of flutes to produce their music. Dance is presented by the Granite State Ballet Company, which performs classical ballet and contemporary works throughout Northern New England. The city's Actorsingers stage two musicals each year and one children's production.

Ten miles away, in Milford, the American Stage Festival offers Broadway dramas, musicals, comedies, and a children's series. The group also offers some Nashua performances. Nashua Theatre Guild produces comedic and dramatic plays throughout the year, with some summer performances at Greeley Park. The Granite Statesmen, an all-male a capella singing chorus, preserve the All-American art of Barbershop harmony.

The Nashua Public Library offers a variety of activities for young and old, including lectures, a free outdoor film series, a weekly noon-time concert series, art shows, and exhibits. The Rivier College Art Gallery presents five exhibits annually, and offers films, lectures, and workshops. An ongoing series on multicultural events, including ethnic cooking classes and dance classes, is presented at the Chandler Memorial Library.

Arts and Culture Information: Nashua Center for the Arts, 14 Court Street, Nashua, NH 03060; telephone (603)883-1506

Festivals and Holidays

Downtown Nashua's Spring Awakening is an annual event; springtime also brings the annual art show at Greeley Park and the Taste of Nashua, in which downtown restaurants offer samples of their favorite dishes to a background of live jazz. The Summerfest Program annually sponsors a Downtown Block Party and Pancake Breakfast, a Sidewalk Art Show, and jazz and ballet concerts. A Fourth of July field day and fireworks are held at Holman Stadium. Twist The Night Away in September provides residents with a trip back in time. Antique cars line the street and people dressed in poodle skirts and leather jackets be-bop to fifties and sixties music on three stages.

Held in Downtown Nashua along the river, October's free River Harvest Festival celebrates Nashua's heritage. Highlights include live ethnic entertainment, boating exhibits and seasonal foods. Downtown is the site of November's Winter Holiday Stroll, a Victorian-style, candlelight stroll followed by a tree-lighting ceremony, musical, theatrical and dance performances, and ice sculptures. Many shops stay open and offer creative displays or goodies.

Sports for the Spectator

Nashua's Holman Stadium is home to the National Pride baseball team, a member of the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. Rivier College, a member of the NCAA Division III, fields teams in basketball, volleyball, soccer, baseball, cross country, and softball.

Sports for the Participant

A federal fish hatchery is located in Nashua, whose two rivers supply some excellent fishing. Among the city's parks are the popular Mine Falls Park, located between the Nashua River and a three-mile long canal. Seven points provide access to hiking, walking, snow shoeing, and fishing. Three public swimming pools are open June through August. The Parks and Recreation Department sponsors several recreational sports leagues, including baseball, softball, lacrosse, and basketball. Golf is played at a dozen public and private courses in the region.

White-water rafting enthusiasts can enjoy weekend trips on the nearby Contoocook River. Silver Lake State Park, seven miles from Nashua, offers camping and hiking. Bicycling in the city and surrounding hillside is a popular pastime. Proximity to the White Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean guarantees fine downhill skiing, swimming, and water sports.

Shopping and Dining

Nashua lives up to its reputation as the retailing center of southern New Hampshire, offering tax-free shopping at a number of ultra-modern malls, as well as traditional downtown shopping. Pheasant Lane Mall, with one million square feet of space, is the largest shopping center in New England, boasting two stories and 150 stores. It is anchored by Filene's, JCPenney, Macy's, Target, and Sears. Royal Ridge Mall caters to the shopper in search of collectibles. Downtown Nashua features several blocks of small specialty shops, including one of the outlets of the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen. The League, founded in 1932 to encourage practitioners of the dying home industries, features art works by local artisans. Items include blown glass, leather bags, ceramics, jewelry, woven pieces, wood carvings, furniture, prints, and homemade jams. A weekly farmer's market operates downtown in the summer.

Both casual and elegant dining experiences are available in Nashua and at nearby country inns. Menus offer a variety of ethnic dishes and New England traditional cuisine, such as chowders and fish stews, seafood, baked beans, and Indian pudding. Asian, Brazilian, and Italian cuisines are among the city's ethnic offerings.

Visitor Information: New Hampshire Division of Travel and Tourism Department, 172 Pembroke Road, Concord, PO Box 1856, Concord, NH 03302-1856; telephone (603)271-2665

Nashua: History

Canal, Mills Establish Nashua

Long before European settlers ventured into the Merrimack River Valley, the 14 tribes of the Algonquin Federation lived there. They fished in the rivers and streams, hunted in the heavily wooded forests, and harvested pumpkin, squash, and corn from the sandy soil of the plain. The first white men to penetrate the Merrimack's wilderness came in 1652 and were scouts from the Massachusetts Bay Colony sent in search of the colony's northern boundary. An area of 200 square miles around present-day Nashua was then declared for the colony. Trading and land grants followed, and the first permanent settlement, called Dunstable, was founded in 1673. The hostility of the Native Americans toward the encroaching settlers flared into a series of "Indian wars." The fighting was so constant and so fierce that Dunstable could count a citizenry of only 25 persons some 50 years after the town was founded.

In 1741 a boundary settlement placed Dunstable within New Hampshire. Growth was slow, hampered by difficult transportation, poor soil, and the loss of many men to the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. Then, in 1804, the Middlesex Canal opened, making Dunstable the head of navigation on the Merrimack River and connecting the city with its most important market, Boston. The first to seize advantage of the town's location was Daniel Abbot, a lawyer. In 1823 Abbot and his partners chartered the Nashua Manufacturing Company, a mill run by water power to make textiles. At one time, the Nashua Manufacturing Company was the largest producer of blankets in the world, employing one-fifth of the city's workers. In addition to the Yankee farm girls who worked in the mills, the steady work attracted first Irish and then French-Canadian immigrants. Over time, the Nashua Manufacturing Company laid out the city's streets, built its Olive Street Church, encouraged business enterprises, and erected homes and boarding houses for its workers.

Dunstable changed its name in 1837 to Nashua, the name of one of the tribes in the Algonquin Federation. The city briefly split in 1842 over the location of a new town hall, but the factions were reunited in 1853 when the city became chartered. The Civil War followed and the Nashua mills produced thousands of suits of cotton underwear for the Union Army soldiers.

Economy Diversifies Following Mill Closings

The railroad had put Nashua on the line between Concord to the north and Boston to the southeast. Ethnic groups seeking work in the mills, including Greeks, Poles, and Lithuanians, used the trains to reach Nashua. The mills prospered and so did the mill owners, who erected their stylish mansions along Concord Street. In the twentieth century the advent of synthetics and competition from the southern mills combined to bring the New England mills to their knees, including the Nashua Manufacturing Company. In 1948, just four years after receiving a government award for service to the military during World War II, the mill shut its doors. The blow was made more severe because the area's largest employer, Textron, also shut down its Merrimack River Valley operation after the war. More than 3,500 Textron workers were left jobless and thousands of feet of mill space stood empty.

Through the efforts of an organization called the Nashua, NH, Foundation, Nashua's impending economic disaster was averted. Sanders Associates, among others, elected to occupy the mill space and helped diversify the city's economy. Heavy industry was attracted to the area in the 1950s and 1960s, followed by the service and high-technology industries in the 1970s and 1980s. While some manufacturing firms have recently left Nashua, new employers have cropped up to take their place.

In the past two decades, Nashua's evolvement into a regional commercial and industrial hub has positively impacted the city, resulting in the expansion of employment, housing, educational facilities, and medical services. In his 2004 State of the City address, Mayor Bernard Streeter called Nashua a "premiere city," one that is considered by other New England cities to be "progressive" and "citizen and business friendly."

Historical Information: Nashua Historical Society, 5 Abbott Street, Nashua, NH 03064; telephone (603)883-0015

Nashua: Education and Research

Elementary and Secondary Schools

Among the Nashua School District's special offerings are nursery school and kindergarten, special education, English as a Second Language, an enrichment program, classes for the learning disabled and handicapped, and adult education. The district's "Credit Recovery" program offers learning additional opportunities to high school students at risk of dropping out. A number of Nashua schools have been "adopted" by local companies that provide tutoring, career guidance, field trips, minicourses, and faculty training. In the 2002–2003 school year the district opened two new schools: Nashua High School North and the Academy of Learning & Technology.

The following is a summary of data regarding the Nashua School District #42 as of the 2003–2004 school year.

Total enrollment: 13,325

Number of facilities elementary schools: 12

junior high/middle schools: 4 senior high schools: 2

Student/teacher ratio: 15:1

Teacher salaries average: $43,969

Funding per pupil: $7,433

Private and parochial schools in Nashua include Small World Country Day School, Bishop Guertin School, Nashua Catholic Regional Junior High School, and St. Christopher School.

Public Schools Information: Nashua School District #42, 141 Ledge St., Nashua, NH 03061-0687; telephone (603)594-4300

Colleges and Universities

Daniel Webster College, founded as a junior college in 1965, now offers bachelor's and associate's degrees in aeronautics, computer science, business, and engineering. The college abuts the Nashua Airport, where aeronautics students intern. The college's MBA program is designed specifically for working adults. New Hampshire Community Technical College, which is supported by the state, offers associate's and applied science degrees, as well as technical and business certificates. The college is one of seven in the state vocational-technical college system. Rivier College, a private Catholic institution, awards associate's, bachelor's, and master's degrees in 20 areas of study, including business, education, liberal arts, sciences, nursing, and paralegal support. Its nursing program is affiliated with St. Joseph Hospital. Satellite campuses of many larger area colleges are located in Nashua.

Libraries and Research Centers

The Nashua Public Library maintains the state's second largest collection and circulates more items than any other library in New Hampshire. Its collection comprises more than 200,000 volumes. Extensive reference, business, and periodical sections are supplemented by computerized research services, a large media collection, and an active program for children. The library also has materials in more than 24 foreign languages. Public computer terminals provide access to the Internet, research databases, and software applications. The Chandler Branch Library and a bookmobile complete the public library system.

The Anne Bridge Baddour Library at Daniel Webster College maintains a collection of print, media, and electronic resources. Specialized resources are available to supplement all of the college's academic fields. Rivier College's Regina Library includes three floors of books, meeting rooms, a reference room, and an "electronic classroom" for hands-on instruction sessions. Other special libraries include those of Nashua Corporation and Sanders—A Lockheed Martin Company.

Public Library Information: Nashua Public Library, 2 Court Street, Nashua, NH 03060-3465; telephone (603)589-4600

Nashua

The City in Brief

Founded: 1656 (incorporated 1853)

Head Official: Mayor Bernard A. Streeter (since 2000)

City Population

1980: 67,865

1990: 79,662

2000: 86,605

2003 estimate: 87,285

Percent change, 1990–2000: 8.7%

U.S. rank in 1980: 289th

U.S. rank in 1990: 270th (State rank: 2nd)

U.S. rank in 2000: 324th (State rank: 2nd)

Metropolitan Area Population (PMSA)

1990: 168,233

2000: 190,949

Percent change, 1990–2000: 13.5%

U.S. rank in 1990: 5th (CMSA)

U.S. rank in 2000: 7th (CMSA)

Area: 30.8 square miles (2000)

Elevation: 169 feet above sea level

Average Annual Temperature: 47.6° F

Average Annual Precipitation: 41.46 inches of rain; 55 inches of snow

Major Economic Sectors: Manufacturing, retail, finance, service

Unemployment Rate: 3.7% (state average, March 2005)

Per Capita Income: $25,209 (1999)

2004 ACCRA Average House Price: Not reported

2004 ACCRA Cost of Living Index: Not reported

2002 FBI Crime Index Total: Not reported

Major Colleges and Universities: Daniel Webster College; Rivier College; New Hampshire Technical College

Daily Newspaper: The Nashua Telegraph