Scott Merrill

F ormer small group health care enrollees are slowly bleeding into the individual market, and this could result in rising premiums, fewer plan options and greater financial burdens for small business owners. Small group market membership has experienced a gradual decline at least as far back as early 2018, while individual market membership has experienced significant increases in recent years.

Finding the right insurance plan to cover an entire fleet of vehicles is not as simple as finding a personal auto insurance plan. A host of variables must be considered, and technology—such as electronic logging devices, dashcams and telematic systems that monitor everything from hard stops to stops at the donut shop—have changed the game.

Hearth Market in Portsmouth. (Photo Courtesy of Hearth Market)

When Heidi Barker, a field specialist with UNH Cooperative Extension in Nutrition and Healthy Living, was looking for “teacher champions” to start a farm to school program, Carlene Taylor, a third-grade teacher in Berlin, got involved right away. Teachers were taught gardening skills, taste testing, composting, and other skills. “There were a potpourri of lessons in the curriculum and UNH was able to fund a portable kitchen,” Taylor says.

Crystal Dionne has spent her career in the finance industry and is proud to join the small club of women leaders in the banking industry as president and CEO of Primary Bank. Prior to joining the bank, Dionne served as the CFO for the town of Bedford for almost 15 years and also worked as the CFO for the NH Lottery.

Heather Needleman admits she isn’t one to turn down a challenge. So, when the mother of two young adults with disabilities was challenged by her twin sister, Veronica Mellor, to make jelly out of tea, she learned everything she could and got busy experimenting at her home in Derry.

At Gather ’s food pantry on West Road in Portsmouth, Priscilla Carr, 77, shops for the various organizations that she delivers to around the Seacoast, including Crossroads House shelter and St. Johns Church. Carr, who lives in Portsmouth and has an autoimmune disease, has been delivering food to others while using Gather’s services herself for years. “But for this place, as a single parent, my life would be even harder,” she says. “I’m widowed now, disabled, and I have two disabled [adult sons]. I’m still alive to talk about it though. It’s all good.”

Caitlyn O’Connor of Littleton has struggled at times to afford healthy food options to feed her family. The married mother with two young daughters, ages 4 and 9, works part-time and often plans ahead to purchase healthy food at the Littleton Co-op...

There’s a growing realization that making affordable housing more available could be a key to enabling Granite Staters to lead healthier lives.

Thousands of Granite Staters fall victim to the insidious traps set by scammers each year. From 2019 until April 2024, fraud of various types accounted for losses of nearly $80 million in NH, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The most common type of fraud is imposter scams, where the fraudster pretends to be an official and requests information, money, or a gift card to solve the supposed problem. These account for almost half of all Granite State scams.