Concord: Economy

Major Industries and Commercial Activity

Concord, the capital of New Hampshire, is a major distribution, industrial, and transportation hub. As the state capital and county seat for Merrimack County, Concord is headquarters to numerous state, county, local and federal agencies. It is also the site of several major law firms and professional agencies.

While government forms a portion of its economic base, its proximity to highways and railways makes it an excellent site for distributing goods. Many of the products manufactured in Concord are known and used worldwide. The fastest growing segment of the economic base is the service industry, comprising education, finance, and medical services.

More than 5,000 people in are employed in the delivery of healthcare services in Concord, making it one of the largest concentration of healthcare providers in the state. Tourism is important to the city and the region; the New Hampshire International Speedway in nearby Loudon brings approximately $50 million in tourism dollars to Concord annually.

Items and goods produced: printed goods; mobile and modular structures; electric components; electrical instruments; non-ferrous foundry products; heat treatment equipment; architectural and structural granite; communication testing equipment; dictating supplies and equipment; belting, brass, and leather products

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. However, cities such as Concord do aid businesses indirectly by helping to market industrial sites and by promoting available energy/utility savings programs.

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 & 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

The City, in conjunction with the Capital Regional Development Corporation (CRDC), the Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce, and other state and federal agencies, recently completed construction of the Corporate Center at Horseshoe Pond. Through the creation of a $5 million Tax Increment Finance (TIF) District, the city was able to acquire and develop the land, which was then sold to the CRDC, who cleaned up the land and marketed parcels to developers. With $4.4 million in private donations, the city was able to construct the Grappone Conference Center.

The cities of Concord and Penacook have partnered as part of a Neighborhood Revitalization Project with a plan that focuses on enhancing quality of life within the two communities. The Revitalization Plan utilizes input from residents and builds partnerships between the city, residents, and civic minded organizations.

Economic Development Information: Concord Economic Development Department, City Hall, 41 Green Street, Concord, NH 03301; telephone (603)225-8595; Capital Region Development Council, 91 North State Street, Concord, NH 03301-0664; telephone (603)228-1872

Commercial Shipping

Concord, located at the hub of several major New England interstate highways, is a center for motor freight activity. Ten carriers service the area. The New England Southern Railroad provides freight service. Freight is also handled at the Concord Municipal Airport, about two miles from downtown.

Labor Force and Employment Outlook

Concord's labor force is described as competent, dedicated, plentiful, skilled, available, stable, and with excellent education and training. Unemployment insurance costs remain relatively low. Recently, Concord was ranked fourth in terms of per capita income in "The New England Rating Guide to Life in America's Small Cities."

The service industry, the fastest growing segment of Concord's economy, is anchored by education, finance, medical services, and insurance. Concord is the headquarters of six insurance companies and the site of several banks. It also is one of the few communities in the state with both industrial park space and construction sites available.

The following is a summary of data regarding the area labor force, 2004 annual averages (Nashua, NH-MA MSA).

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 workers employed in manufacturing (Nashua, NH-MA MSA): $15.97

Unemployment rate (New Hampshire): 4.0% (March 2005)

Cost of Living

New Hampshire 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, alcohol, and parimutuel betting.

The following is a summary of data regarding several key cost of living factors in the Concord 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 "Resident Tax" on all persons between 18 and 60 years of age with some exceptions. Concord has passed an ordinance eliminating this tax for residents of the city.

State sales tax rate: None (business profits tax is 8.5%)

Local income tax rate: None

Local sales tax rate: None

Property tax rate: $28.07 (Union) or $31.53 (Merrimack Valley) per $1,000 (2003)

Economic Information: Concord Economic Development Department, City Hall, 41 Green Street, Concord, NH 03301; telephone (603)225-8595. New Hampshire Department of Resources and Economic Development, 172 Pembroke Road, Concord, NH 03302; telephone (603)271-2411

Concord: Recreation

Sightseeing

Capitol Square contains most of Concord's public buildings, including the State Capitol, a state office building, the state library, the Concord Public Library, the New Hampshire Historical Society, City Hall, the post office, and several churches. The State Capitol, the nation's oldest, features New Hampshire granite and Vermont marble. The legislature still meets in the original chambers of this 1819 neoclassical structure, which also houses 157 portraits of famous native sons. Among the statues and historical markers in the square flanking the Capitol is the Memorial Arch, erected in 1891 to honor the state's soldiers and sailors.

The Pierce Manse, the Concord home of President Franklin Pierce, was built in 1838; it has been restored and is maintained by the "Pierce Brigade." The Conservation Center demonstrates the many uses of passive solar energy and wood-heating energy through a number of exhibits. Among its attractions are an envelope room, a wood-chip gasifier furnace, and fiberglass water tubes.

The Canterbury Shaker Village allows visitors to experience the Shaker way of life at the country's oldest Shaker community. Among its 25 original and reconstructed buildings are an eighteenth-century Meetinghouse and Dwell-inghouse, both intact and on their original sites.

The Christa McAuliffe Planetarium, named for America's first teacher in space, offers expeditions through space at a 92-seat theater with a domed screen featuring the wraparound images and sound.

Arts and Culture

The Capitol Center for the Arts presents touring theatrical groups, dance companies, and musical acts. Concord City Auditorium is home to the Concord Community Concerts and the Walker Lecture Series. The New Hampshire Philharmonic Orchestra, a resident professional group, performs classical works at concerts in the Concord and Manchester area. The Community Players of Concord, a non-profit performing theater troupe, stages its offerings at Concord's City Auditorium. Danse Papillon/Petit Papillon presents holiday performances locally and throughout New England. The historic Never's Second Regiment Band, in continuous existence since 1861, plays military marches, overtures, musicals, pop tunes, and symphonic works. This semiprofessional performing band plays at parks and theaters throughout the state. Other area performing arts groups include the Youth Symphony and the Concord Chorale. The Granite State Symphony Orchestra, which plays at the Capitol Center for the Arts, is comprised of the state's finest professional musicians who play classical music at a cost accessible to people of all ages.

The Museum of New Hampshire History has exhibitions about the state's landscape, people, and traditions. From the world-famous Concord Coach—the stagecoach that won the American West—to superb nineteenth-century White Mountain paintings and rare examples of New Hampshire-made furniture, more than four centuries of Granite State history unfold in its award-winning exhibitions.

The prestigious League of New Hampshire Craftsmen makes Concord its headquarters. Founded in 1932 to encourage the preservation of dying home arts, the League now is nationally recognized, and its craft items are eagerly sought by retailers. The League maintains its own stores throughout the state to sell the items made by members, who are local artisans. Craft items range from glassware and ceramics to leather and wood products, textiles, jewelry, prints, furniture, and jams.

Arts and Culture Information: Community Development Department, 41 Green Street, Concord, NH 03301; telephone (603)225-8595

Festivals and Holidays

More than 80 regional artists and craftspeople display, demonstrate, and sell their wares at the annual Merrimack County Artisans Craft Show in April. The Summer Band Festival, which runs from June through August, features the Historic Never's Second Regiment Band in performances of military and symphonic music. The New Hampshire Folk Festival is held on the last Sunday in August in Concord. Begun in 1958, the August Antiques Show in Concord is cosponsored by the New Hampshire Historical Society and features displays and sales by 75 dealers. Other antique shows include the Tri-State Collectors' Exhibition in mid-October and the April Concord Antiques Fair. Race Fever takes over downtown Concord in early July. The annual Arts and Crafts Fair, held at Mt. Sunapee State Park in Newbury the first week in August, showcases the works of more than 300 craftspeople and artists. The annual Concord Christmas Tree Lighting Event happens at the State House Plaza in November, with a concert, petting zoo, hayrides, a visit from Santa, and other family-friendly activities. New Hampshire's New Year's Eve Celebration of the Arts is held in Concord. Performances of all kinds are held at 30 different sites throughout the city, culminating in a fireworks display.

Sports for the Spectator

Concord is the site of two excellent sports facilities, which makes it a natural choice to host statewide sports meets. Everett Arena, with its indoor ice rink, sees much high-school level hockey competition, while Memorial Field, with its series of playing fields, hosts football, baseball, and track meets. From April through October, area auto racing enthusiasts are attracted to the New Hampshire International Speedway, located in nearby Louden. The 70,000-seat speedway is the largest in New England.

Sports for the Participant

Concord, an hour's drive from the Atlantic coastline to the east and a 90-minute drive from the White Mountains to the north, is a sports enthusiast's paradise. Swimming, fishing, and water sports are popular along New Hampshire's eighteen-mile stretch of ocean coastline, as well as in neighboring Maine and Massachusetts. Premium downhill and cross-country skiing, as well as camping, hiking, and rock climbing can be enjoyed in the White Mountain resort area. More than 1,000 acres of publicly-owned land have been reserved for the future open-space and recreational needs of the community.

Within the city limits are more than 300 acres of well-equipped parks and playgrounds. One municipal and two private golf courses are located in Concord; the city maintains three public swimming pools. Hikers enjoy an extensive trail system. The city's Recreation Department offers tennis, swim, and archery lessons, as well as youth soccer and track and field teams. The Everett Arena hosts an active hockey team and sponsors summer training in the sport.

Shopping and Dining

Concord's main shopping area consists of 10 blocks along Main Street surrounding Eagle Square Park and several adjacent streets downtown. Steeplegate Mall, anchored by The Bon-Ton, Circuit City, JCPenney, and Old Navy, has more than 75 stores and specialty shops. Other shopping plazas in the city feature department, discount, and specialty stores. The most famous of Concord's stores is the Concord League Gallery, operated by the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen, which offers crafts fashioned by local artisans. The shop is housed in the five-story former Eagle Hotel and Tavern on Main Street.

New England fare is the standard offering at most of Concord's restaurants, along with fish and seafood fresh from the nearby Atlantic coast, and apple pie sweetened with New Hampshire's own maple syrup. A variety of ethnic cuisine, including Asian, Italian, and Mexican, can also be found.

Visitor Information: Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce, 40 Commercial Street, Concord, NH 03301; telephone (603)224-2508

Concord: History

Merrimack River Site Becomes State Capital

The site of present-day Concord was occupied as early as 1660 when a trading post operated on the west bank of the Merrimack River. The Pennacook tribe called the area "penna cook," which meant "crooked place" or "bend in the river." The Pennacooks and the area's European settlers coexisted for many years, sharing the bounty of the Merrimack River Valley. The real influx of European settlers began in 1727, when the Massachusetts Bay Colony gave permission for a settlement to be built called Pennacook Plantation. The town was incorporated by Massachusetts in 1733 and renamed Rumford. In 1741 New Hampshire challenged Massachusetts's dominion over Rumford and a series of border arguments ensued. The town was reincorporated by New Hampshire in 1765 and called Concord to mark the ending of the strife. The townspeople subsisted by farming, later supplementing their crops with a saw mill and a grist mill powered by the waters of the Merrimack River.

Partly because of its friendly relations with the neighboring Native American tribes, the town grew rapidly. By the time of the Revolutionary War, Concord could muster three companies of troops who saw service in the battles of Lexington, Concord (Massachusetts), and Bunker Hill. The town's war hero, General John Stark, is remembered with a statue in front of the State House. New Hampshire played a key role in U.S. history when it became the ninth state to ratify the Constitution in 1788. Only nine states were required and the signing is commemorated with a plaque at Walker and Boutin streets.

In 1808 Concord became the capital of New Hampshire and the site of the biennial meeting of the General Court, the largest state legislature in the country. At one time, the lower house sat more than four hundred legislators who were elected at the township level. Industry began to flourish after the War of 1812, when the newly dug Middlesex Canal facilitated water transport between Concord and Boston. This transportation-distribution link was strengthened when the rail lines began operating between the two cities in 1842.

Distribution Needs Shape Concord's Future

History of another sort was made in 1813 when wheelwright Lewis Downing opened his Concord wagon building business. After coach builder J. Stephen Abbot arrived to offer engineering improvements in 1827, the business grew rapidly. The Concord stagecoach became the vehicle of choice for the Wells Fargo Company, which hauled both freight and passengers to the American West. From 1826 until 1900, the Abbot and Downing Company built three thousand coaches in shops that occupied six acres and employed 275 people. Orders for the wagon were received from around the world, including Peru, Mexico, Australia, and South Africa. The Civil War created a further demand for Abbot and Down-ing's wagons, which were used as ambulances and to haul army supplies.

Two other industries that thrived in Concord in the mid-nineteenth century were granite quarrying and publishing. The granite quarries north of town yielded stone used in the facade of the State House and the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Printing was the forte of the Rumford Press, at one time the third largest printer in the country. Among the prestigious magazines printed by Rumford were the Atlantic Monthly and Reader's Digest. Rumford Press grew to employ six hundred workers, whose products required the establishment of a separate branch of the U.S. Post Office to handle the extra mail.

Franklin Pierce, the only New Hampshireman elected to the Oval Office, served as the nation's fourteenth president. He lived in Concord from 1857 until his death in 1869. Mary Baker Eddy, founder of the Christian Science religion, was born five miles from Concord and later lived in the city. She built the granite First Church of Christ, Scientist in the Gothic Revival style in 1905. Concord's economy diversified as the years passed. By the mid-1900s, the city was established as a distribution point for dairy products and apples. Concord also supported growth in manufacturing, especially electrical products. Insurance and services are expected to remain important economic sectors into the twenty-first century.

Today's Concord, though by all accounts a small and still-charming city, thrives with a strong economic, educational, arts, and cultural climate. Downtown developments in the last years of the twentieth century and early in the new century, particularly in the form of tourist attractions and retail, have made Concord even more attractive to its residents and visitors.

Historical Information: New Hampshire Historical Society, 30 Park Street, Concord, NH 03301; telephone (603)228-6688

CONCORD, also agreement. In GRAMMAR, the relationship between units in such matters as number, person, and gender: ‘They did the work themselves’ (number and person concord between they and themselves); ‘He did the work himself’ (number, person, and gender concord between he and him). Lack of standard concord occurs in sentences like The books is on the table and I says do it but he don't do it. Although ungrammatical in the standard language, such usage is consistent with the requirements of concord within some non-standard varieties.

Number and person concord

In standard English, number concord is most apparent between a singular or PLURAL subject and its verb in the third person of the simple present tense: That book seems interesting (singular: book agreeing with seems) and Those books seem interesting (plural: books agreeing with seem). The verb be involves concord for the first person singular (I am, etc.) and uniquely among English verbs has different forms for singular and plural in the past (was, were). Number concord, requiring that two related units should both be singular or both be plural, can involve complements and objects: That animal is an elk, Those animals are elks, I consider him a spoilsport, I consider them spoilsports. Both number and person concord are involved in the use of pronouns and possessives, as in ‘I hurt myself’ and ‘My friends said they were coming in their car’.

Singular THEY

Controversy surrounds the use of they as a third-person singular pronoun, in defiance of number concord. It is common after indefinite pronouns: If someone puts themselves forward in showbiz, they should be prepared for exposure if they err (Observer, 18 Dec. 1988). The practice is popular as a way of avoiding the alleged sexism of the traditional use of masculine pronouns and the awkwardness that often attends he or she phrases. It has a long history: ‘Here nobody hangs or drowns themselves’ ( Horace Walpole, 18c). It can occur where a masculine or feminine word could be used: ‘He manages to think at least fifty years ahead, which for someone in their nineties is quite remarkable’ ( Prince Charles on the Earl of Stockton, Daily Telegraph, 22 Nov. 1985). Some grammarians claim that the usage is informal; others use it freely in their own formal writing: ‘I have had a heart for years, but I would not know whether anyone else had a hole in theirs’ ( David Crystal, Linguistics, 1971).

Gender concord

This is an important part of the grammar of languages such as French or German, in which all nouns belong to a gender category, and articles and adjectives have to agree with them, as in the French une petite plume (a little pen), in which feminine agreement runs through the phrase, and un petit livre (a little book), in which the concord is masculine. In English, gender concord does not exist apart from personal and possessive pronouns, as in Mary hurt herself badly in the accident but my father only broke his glasses.

Notional concord

This stands in contrast to grammatical concord and means agreement by meaning rather than grammar, where the two are in conflict. In BrE, notional concord occurs when plural verbs are widely used with collective nouns: The Opposition seem divided among themselves; The committee have decided to increase the annual subscription. Some of the controversial uses of they can be accounted for in this way: Everybody has left now, haven't they? In both BrE and AmE, singular verbs are usual with apparently plural forms that are notionally felt to be singular, as in: Fish and chips is no longer cheap; ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ is a classic novel; $50 was a lot to pay. Usage is divided in some areas. With various negative structures, some people favour grammatical, singular concord and others prefer notional, plural concord: Neither John nor Mary knows about it in contrast with Neither John nor Mary know about it, and None of the bodies so far recovered was wearing a life-jacket in contrast with None of the bodies so far recovered were wearing life-jackets.

Proximity concord

Clauses as subjects are usually treated as singular: To err is human; That you don't agree upsets me. With long noun phrases, the head word is relevant for number concord, as in One of your friends is here, not *One of your friends are here, and He is one of those people who always interfere, not *He is one of those people who always interferes, but in the heat of creation the concord in such constructions is often overlooked. In such cases, proximity concord operates, the verb agreeing with the nearest noun. It can also operate in awkward constructions like *Neither my sister nor I am going and occurs in the traditional use of a singular verb after More than one, where both grammar and meaning require a plural verb: More than one person has remarked on this strange fact.

Concord: Education and Research

Elementary and Secondary Schools

Notable among the offerings of the Concord School District are the Artist-in-the-Schools Program, which brings professionals into the classroom to teach their crafts, and the Environmental Education Program, which is supplemented by a centrally located Science Center and the thirty-acre White Farms classroom. The Concord Regional Vocational Center is located on the premises of Concord High School. Concord High School/Area 11 Vocational Center offers training in the requirements of high-technology companies. Every classroom in the district, from Kindergarten through 12th grade, is equipped with Internet access.

The following is a summary of data regarding the Concord public schools as of the 2003–2004 school year.

Total enrollment: 5,358

Number of facilities

elementary schools: 9

junior high/middle schools: 1

senior high schools: 1

Student/teacher ratio: 15.5:1

Teacher salaries (2003-2004)

minimum: $29,757

maximum: $52,373

Funding per pupil: $8,593

Concord's parochial facilities include two Catholic schools (one elementary/junior high school and one high school) and a Christian school. Its Episcopal school, St. Paul's Preparatory, is one of the most famous feeder schools for Harvard, Yale, and Princeton universities.

Public Schools Information: Administrative Offices, Concord School District, 16 Rumford Street, Concord, NH 03301; telephone (603)225-0811

Colleges and Universities

Concord is home to the Franklin Pierce Law Center (Franklin Pierce College's Continuing Education campus) and the New Hampshire Technical Institute. Founded in 1973, the Franklin Pierce Law Center's aim is to help students of diverse backgrounds develop as attorneys in a non-competitive atmosphere. The center promotes a strong sense of community responsibility in its graduates. The New Hampshire Technical Institute, a public two-year college, offers associate's degrees in engineering, business, health, and computer science. Manchester-based Hesser College offers courses at its Concord campus in the Gateway Office Center in South Concord. The college is best known for its criminal justice program, in which graduates go on to work in law enforcement, probation and parole or corrections. Other degree programs offered include business, early childhood education and computer sciences.

Libraries and Research Centers

The Concord Public Library system consists of the main library, the Penacook Branch Library, and a bookmobile. The system holds more than 150,000 volumes, which include an extensive periodical collection, DVDs and video recordings, and audio books. The Concord Room at the main library is a research facility with materials about local history. Framed prints, reproductions, and photographs are displayed throughout the library. The library has an extensive children's collection and a youth program promotes reading by the young. Special services for cardholders include interlibrary loans and Internet training.

Located in Concord and boasting more than 500,000 volumes are the New Hampshire State Library, the oldest in the country, and the State Supreme Court Law Library. The Franklin Pierce Law Center Library adds another 220,000 volumes to the area's overall legal holdings. Collections in the State Library cover transportation, pollution, public utilities, and statistical and historical resources. Other special interest libraries in Concord include the Governor's Office of Energy and Community Service library, the New Hampshire Historical Society Library, which specializes in genealogy and rare documents, and the Patent, Trademark and Copyright Research Foundation Library. The Ohrstrom Library on the campus of St. Paul's School is housed in a graceful building that combines Gothic influences with the style of Frank Lloyd Wright. Research centers in the city include New Hampshire Chapter of Nature Conservancy research library which focuses on rare plants and animals, and the PTC Research Foundation of Franklin Pierce Law Center which studies practical problems dealing with industrial and intellectual property.

Public Library Information: Concord Public Library, 45 Green Street, Concord, NH 03301; telephone (603)225-8670