Category: economy

Packed…

My two bags are packed to the limit, and I still don’t have a place for my cameras. I’ve got ice tools, crampons, a tent and sleeping bag, ropes, a harness, and all sorts of other gear.  I’ve still got to add socks and flip-flops to the mix, but mostly I’m there.

This is a project that might make me a couple thousand dollars, in addition to providing me with a great vacation. Working at the paper is a good job, but it isn’t lucrative enough to convince me to give up other opportunities. I’ve got to chase them just to make it all come together.

In many ways I’m like Berlin: I’ve got to diversify. My staple industry just doesn’t pay the bills the way I’d like it to, so now I’ve got to figure out how to spread myself around to make that work.

I just finished a video project for a nonprofit client, making three short videos aimed at their various demographics. (These are the rough cuts. I just burned the final DVD today, but I’m not going upload updated clips to YouTube before we leave tomorrow.)

These are another example of what working in the modern media landscape means. It pays to have multiple skills, because as newspapers change they are edging out the promise of a secure profession. Having a bit of photo, video and audio skills, plus some design experience and website development, really helps. It makes it possible to live in the most seemingly impossible places, like northern New Hampshire.

I’ll be chasing after another branch of my diversification in the coming weeks, and then again when I head to Iraq (hopefully) this fall. And piecing it all together, if I can make it happen, should be quite rewarding.

It’s like reviving your economy with a prison or two, a biomass plant, a resurgent paper mill and some tourism dollars—not the same as the old model, but it can work if it’s the right combination.

So while my packs are almost packed, in some ways it’s my schedule that’s even more packed. At least every piece is baggage I’m excited to carry.

More Energy, as Always

Again, as is usual, this week I wrote about energy in Berlin. I found something interesting when looking over the power purchase agreement between PSNH and Laidlaw. If you’re following the discussion be sure to check out the Reporter on Wednesday. If you can’t wait until then get a copy of the PPA and look on page 11. I don’t think anyone will be surprised, but it is confirmation of lots of people’s speculation.

Aside from that, there was good news on the Cascade mill gas pipeline project this week. We shift from biomass to methane and natural gas. If that mill goes down it’ll be pretty dark for a number of families around the Androscoggin Valley. It seems AVRRDD might have averted that fate. Quite a task for a refuse district. I’m not sure how that fits with their mission, but it certainly is something they’ve been working hard on for several months. Again, to learn more check out Wednesday’s Berlin Reporter. I’m headed to Berlin shortly for my last day before flying to Peru tomorrow, so I better get on my way.

Planning and Development

Zoning has been big news in Berlin recently, with the council working to amend the zoning ordinance to deal with non-conforming lots. The council screwed up by rushing the effort. They had to redo it the other night, which pushes the time-line of at least one project back another couple weeks, but they are moving forward still, with the goal to make it easier to start and run a business in Berlin.

There are members of the planning board, however, who don’t favor relaxing the standards. The city should get rid of non-conforming lots over time, they argue, and the way to do that is by restricting their use.

I’m no urban planner, but both sides of the debate have merits. Berlin needs development. The city is in no position to turn away people looking to invest. But the city needs investors willing to do things right, on the other hand. All the slumlords in the world don’t help revive the housing market, for example.

I watched this talk recently about redevelopment of suburban areas that had been abandoned, and parts of it echoed the challenges in Berlin.

Planning and zoning are such interesting tools for development, and at the same time complex. The city needs to consider carefully how to implement them. What does it mean to make this change? Hopefully it creates real opportunity in the city, like jobs, taxes and growth in the near future. In the end, two weeks doesn’t matter.

Full Plate

It’s the end of my week, and already I’m looking at four stories. Each one is “major,” in that each one is worth at least a day of my time. When it comes to issues like the Fraser mill, slumlords in Berlin, Clean Power, Laidlaw and PSNH, or any of the development opportunities the city is looking at, each one should get at least a solid eight hours. Think about it: I’ve got to talk to a bunch of people, digest and understand it all (sometimes starting from no knowledge) and explain it to readers.

Sometimes there just isn’t the time. These four stories are all going to happen, to be sure, but never with the depth and breadth I’d like.

In a city of this size it’s remarkable there are two papers at all, particularly considering the economic conditions. I have to guess a big part of why the Reporter is able to function is because the only real expense is me. Without an office, and by sharing administration with the Democrat, the paper avoids racking up large expenses. It’s essentially my salary and mileage.

But four more reporters would be awesome, wouldn’t it? I often make a call on one story, receive a call on another and get an email about a third in a matter of minutes. Multiply that by every day of every week and you’ll understand my week. I love it.

But the city needs more coverage. It needs more people asking questions. I hate to drop stories because I don’t have the resources, but it undoubtedly happens. Luckily there is another paper able to pick up the slack, but even between the two papers there are only three reporters. Not exactly a fleet.

I’m noticing, however, that I’m starting to understand things here a little better. I’m starting to know where to poke and prod to get some interesting stories. My year plus here is starting to pay off with enough institutional knowledge and personal connections to put pieces together.

I’ve been reading that one of the challenges of modern journalism is that too many reporters spend a year or two in a place and then move on, and they take their knowledge and connections with them. I understand that perspective better now, as stories are starting to grow out of those relationships.

Berlin needs those types of reporters, those with ties to the community. Without an office, however, that will be hard for the Reporter to achieve. I work out of the community college–not exactly the center of the city. With no permanent presence in Berlin, the Reporter loses out. As the reporter, I lose out. No one can drop in to drop off a tip. People need my email or phone number to make something happen.

How do you balance community connections with budgets? Beats me. I just keep running with my full plate and hope I can work fast enough for the residents of Berlin.

Speaking of, I think my phone is ringing.

Week Beginning…

And ending.

It’s always funny to me how my deadline is Monday morning. Tomorrow I’ve got the council meeting and the police log to do, but otherwise if it’s a quiet day I just finished my work week. (Only sort of, but it feels that way.)

This week is good. Real good. I got to delve into the CPD/Laidlaw issue as it pertains to the Coös County Commissioners. It’s quite a story, I think, definitely worth reading.

On top of that, I had a good discussion with the folks the New England Forest Rally about why they decided to uproot and go to Errol. It’s an interesting perspective on how Berlin works with people looking to make things happen. It’s not a glowing review, but maybe the city can learn from it.

I also hung out with Charlie Bass for a little while when he came through town to reconnect with voters. Politics is funny: he railed against earmarks, but then he said he tried to bring whatever he could back to New Hampshire. That’s his job, but the about-face is interesting to watch.

I was talking with Councilor McCue about politics just the other day. He mentioned being one of two conservatives in his left-leaning family. I’m luckier—I’m unaffiliated. I try to get honest answers out of both sides, which is tougher than picking one or the other.

I got a great response offline to my comments about dedensifying the city, and then a few day later I heard a story on Marketplace about a related topic. There are city eliminating highways, and they wind up with less congested cities. Planners thought it would create chaos, but instead it disperses traffic and supports local businesses. It’s an argument perfect to combat those people who want to see a highway to Berlin. Why? To route shoppers away from the downtown merchants?

OK, it’s late, I’m done my week (but not). I’m going to get to sleep so I’m not yawning when I get to the police department in the morning. And hopefully nothing has happened that will require scrambling tomorrow morning (did I just jinx myself?).

Busy Weekend

I just got back from the ATV festival, which certainly brought a crowd to the region. Estimates ranged, but I heard as many as 700 people yesterday, 900 today. I’m not sure if that’s accurate, but there were certainly a lot of people enjoying the trails, the mud pit, the demo rides and the helicopter tours.

I also stopped by Mayor Grenier’s house to get an update on the Fraser mill. He’s hoping a plan will move forward that can save the 240 jobs, though the project has hit a snag. I’ve been hearing a lot of rumors that suggest it’s dead in the water, but no definitive proof one way or the other. It’s a big deal, 240 jobs, and hopefully something good will be announced soon.

I saw a post on Facebook this morning about how the farmers’ market is the only bright spot in Berlin’s otherwise bleak economic picture. It was from a local merchant, who said she’d seen too many $0 days. She implored residents to shop local, to support Main Street businesses so they don’t all go the way of JC Penney. That heartfelt plea is ubiquitous, but it seems to fall on deaf ears. Walmart never has a lack of customers, even when Main Street does. But it is encouraging what impact an event like market can have. It livens the downtown and brings people out in a way no other Berlin event I’ve seen does. Too many events are after closing time, so people can’t go in and support local merchants.

But what a distance a little ingenuity goes. How much could WREN have spent on this project? I’m sure not much. And yet it has an impact. Thank goodness they took the plunge, but why does it take a group from away to make these things happen. There is creativity and spirit in Berlin. The city just has to figure out how to put it to work.

I’m about to launch into a bit of writing for this week’s paper, but I wanted to post some images from the weekend. I went to the coast of Maine to visit my wife’s family, and when we left we happened upon a fantastic sunset.

Not bad, although it’s no sunset in the mountains.

What Size Should It Be?

I was up north today having a conversation about Berlin, and the person I was talking with said Berlin shouldn’t be a city. It’s 10,000 people, the person said, which is more appropriate to a town. The government and expenses are disproportionate to the population, the person said, and everyone should be doing everything they can to bring those things in line.

Councilor Robert Danderson has said that numerous times. There is no good way to solve the problem, however. How do you shed infrastructure? How do you drop the expenses associated with the remains of a city that flourished a half decade ago?

I am always amazed when I walk into the city hall. It’s a classic building, with stone steps and high doorways. It fits with the city’s industrial past, but not its present.

And possibly not its future. Berlin will grow again, but it will never get back to 25,000 people. It will see a boost from the prison and any biomass developments, in addition to recreational traffic, but it will never be the draw the pulp and paper industry was. So what should the city do?

The city council, like most elected bodies, should be averse to change. Rocking the boat reduces the chance of getting reelected, so it seems doubtful they will take dramatic steps to revamp the way municipal government is run without an emergency.

Councilor Danderson is always pointing out how much more expensive Berlin is to run than similar sized communities. Berlin faces additional challenges, being the largest community in the county, but there may be some ways to cut expenses. The problem is there is no way to do that while still maintaining services. Residents are going to have to pay for services, or else accept they live in a community shackled by its past. The city will have to pay for street repair no matter what, unless they can actually close established streets in Berlin. They will have to pay to rebuild bridges. They will have to pay to maintain aging buildings, because they don’t have the funds to restore them.

That’s why the Neighborhood Stabilization Program is so impressive: it’s allowing the city to demolish houses, to reduce what there is too much of. The city could to do the same thing with roads. It could to do consolidate its footprint as houses go down to fewer miles of sidewalk, fewer stormwater drains and less pipe in the ground. It could try to reel in its infrastructure so it matches the population.

The city is already trying to play the game. It is working increase its population while reduce its infrastructure. How far can it go with it? A shrinking business, some people say, is a failing business, but with Berlin it is the key to rebirth. Now the city needs to take its success with housing and apply it across all fields. Maybe then, as a town of 10,000 or 12,000, it will be poised to flourish again.

Green Shoots

Did anyone else go to the farmers’ market today? I got there an hour after it opened, and already all the produce was gone. The bread sold out shortly after I arrived, and the other goods were going fast. It was a good start to something Berlin needs: something to draw people in.

It exemplified some of what Berlin needs. I drive across Pinkham Notch every time I go to work. Yesterday was the first time I ever saw a sign at the intersection of Route 16 and 2 near the Gorham Commons directing traffic to Berlin. Who put it up? WREN.

It took a group of 40 and 50-something women to come up with the idea to direct traffic to Berlin. In the lead up to no other event have I ever seen a sign there, in over a year of coming to Berlin. Drive in to the 50’s? No. Northern Forest Rally? No. Heritage Festival? No.

Why is that? I’ve heard people say Berlin doesn’t have anything to offer, but when these types of things are happening it does. This is a major thoroughfare to the North Country, the major thoroughfare to the eastern section of Coös County. Why wouldn’t everyone advertise there?

Now, granted, everything didn’t run perfect. The signs didn’t say Berlin, I was told, and some people were looking around Gorham for the market, to no avail. But there was a buzz in the city today, and at least one business reported some extra sales. Unlike the forest rally and other events, this isn’t a one-time deal. This will be there next Thursday, and the Thursday after that, with more vendors and more produce and more traffic. If people get to recognize this it can be a real draw, and one that reoccurs every year.

These opportunities are all around the region. The North Country needs economic stimulus, but the assets are there, in the people, the place, and the atmosphere. Who is going to put on a concert series at Northern Forest Heritage Park? And if someone does are they going to advertise it in Bethel?

It was energizing to see the market doing so well today, and to see so many familiar faces there. It isn’t like most of the state, where “community” rings hollow. I shook more hands and knew more people than I would had the market been in my own town. Part of that is certainly the nature of my job, but part of it is Berlin. It is a friendly city, where people smile when they see you instead of walking on past. To so many North Country residents those qualities are unremarkable, but in reality they are an invaluable asset as well.

Al Qaeda and BP: Bringing Speed and Traffic to the North Country

I was at a meeting last week discussing business challenges in the North Country. Berlin doesn’t face this as much, but the lack of high speed Internet was one of the key complaints. But one person there had an interesting comment: Al Qaeda has done more to improve rural online access than any local effort.

Check this out — because of security concerns at the US border with Canada the US government put loads of money into the upgrading their facilities. They ran high-speed cable up to the border to connect their border checkpoints, and in the process they brought faster Internet access for people along the way.

Here’s another one that I thought was crazy — the spill in the gulf is helping New Hampshire travel. A resort manager said he’d fielded calls from people who had canceled their vacations at the beach out of fear the beaches would be covered in oil from the BP Gulf spill. Instead they booked northern New Hampshire. And, mind you, these weren’t vacations booked to Lousiana or Florida, these were trips to North Carolina and other places. People are scared the oil will get into the Gulf Stream and be to their planned vacation spot, so they aren’t taking any chances.

It’s interesting how mixed up these outcomes are. It’s sad to point out silver linings on disasters, but they are much needed silver linings here in the North Country nonetheless.

Bounty of Berlin

I started a post about all the jobs things I’ve been going to lately, but then I got sidetracked. I was writing it at one of the meetings, and I figured I had better pay attention—I might want to write down what some of the speakers were saying.

That didn’t actually happen, although it was a meeting worth reporting on. But it did get sidetracked, and then I moved on to this: the Bounty of Berlin.

It’s from SaVoir Flare, one of the newer Main Street stores with attitude. The owner, Elizabeth Ruediger, has great taste and sass. She sees Main Street’s potential, and she’s trying to make it happen. Today, while talking about the possibilities in the downtown, she kept using that line: the Bounty of Berlin.

The impact is in how different the line is from people’s perceptions of Berlin. People who live less than an hour away don’t give Berlin a second thought. Why not? Because they have written it off. Mrs. Ruediger’s suggestion is to get what the city offers into people’s faces. I couldn’t agree more.

At the meeting I was at this morning a representative from the state Department of Resources and Economic Development told the crowd the majority of their spending on advertising about the state is spent outside the state. They advertise New Hampshire in Philadelphia, New York and Europe, he said, not in Manchester, Nashua and Conway. When is Berlin going to start doing the same thing? When is the city going to start taking its future into its own hands?

“Bounty” is right. One July 1 the WREN farmers’ market will open, bringing more “bounty” to the city. Soon BIDPA is going to pour $400,000 into a park next to their building on Main Street. The flower boxes line the sidewalks and fill the vacancies left by the two buildings the city cleaned up. Berlin looks beautiful in the summer; it’s time to get people there.

I know there are empty buildings and storefronts. Very soon JC Penney will join them. But the city has to work with what it has, and with Tony’s Pizza open, the Tea Bird’s Cafe sign up (as well as NCIA’s), WREN and SaVoir Flare in and running and Rumorz still open for business things are on the upswing. Now is the time to get behind things, time to really get them going. Now is the moment to capitalize on the fantastic layout of the city, it’s walkability, the treasure that is Tondreau Park, the beautiful architecture and all that makes Berlin special. This may be the best moment the city has to start something new, so it better not let things pass it by.

Just remember: “bounty.” The attitude needs to change inside the city, but it needs to change outside as well. “The Bounty of Berlin” should be the new catchphrase for everyone who talks about the city. It’s time to change some minds. It’s time to keep this ball rolling.