Seacoast business leaders named to Sen. Shaheen business council
Local leaders named advisers
PORTSMOUTH - Several Seacoast business leaders were named to a new Small Business Advisory Council created by by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.
Shaheen, during a visit on Monday to W.H. Bagshaw Company, a small business in Nashua, also offered details about an upcoming Small Business Financing Fair she is organizing to help local small businesses learn about lending resources.
Seacoast business leaders named to the 26-member, statewide Small Business Advisory Council include Dianne Mercier, president of Ocean National Bank in Portsmouth; Julie Vogt, president/CEO of Integrisys Communications Group in Greenland; Patti Kemen, broker/owner of Re/Max Legacy in Dover; Jameson French, Chief Executive Officer of Northland Forest Products in Kingston, and Warren Daniel, director of the N.H. Small Business Development Center's Seacoast Regional office in Rochester.
Several members of Shaheen's Small Business Advisory Council will also be present at the June 29 Small Business Fair. The council will advise Shaheen on challenges and opportunities confronting New Hampshire small businesses.
"The lack of access to credit, rising health care costs and decreased demand are just a few of the major challenges facing New Hampshire small businesses," Shaheen said.
The council includes a cross-section of businesses leaders from banks, renewable energy companies, an auto dealer, a restaurant and more.
"Now more than ever, small businesses and entrepreneurs show how they are the backbone of New Hampshire's economy," Vogt said. "As CEO and owner of a small business and through my work on the board of directors of the Women's Business Center, I am well aware of the responsibilities that we small businesses have to our customers, our employees and their families, and our communities."
Shaheen said the financing fair will help put New Hampshire small businesses in touch with financial and business counseling resources they need in the difficult economic climate. The fair will bring together government, private and nonprofit organizations dedicated to helping businesses secure financing they need. Businesses from around the state are encouraged to attend and participate in the event.
For information on the council and the June 29 fair, visit www.shaheen.senate.gov.
