YOUR COMMENTS

Let's see now: We have "the e-coast" with lots of hi-tech jobs. Then we have over 1,000 acres of industrial land opeing on the airport access road in Londonderry - perfect for new technology companies. Then there is the 93-corridor filled with growth companies. Then there is the ultra-modern airport...and soon-to-be rail service to Boston. Now comes the Fisher Cats, Monarchs, UNH Hockey, and SNHU - St A's sports and arts. Stir in housing that costs up to $100,000+ less than in a lousy Boston suberb. Rents that are easily 1/3rd of those in metro-Boston. How about affordable MBA programs from the members of the NH College & University Council. Oh, ya...world class healthcare from the Elliot, CMC, Portsmouth Regional, Dana Farber and Wentworth Douglass for starters. Ohhh...no bars and restaurants? Ever been to Portsmouth, Manchester, Nashua. Broadband and cable almost completely wired-out in NH. And then, of course some companies even will pay part of your student loans. Hey, if they like you they might even pay-off the entire thing...did you ask? Round it all out with the thought that you could work a regular day, pay no sales or income taxes, go kayaking after work, and still never be more than a hour away from your home or job on modern, regularly plowed streets and highways. Did I forget to say that if you are hired in a small to medium sized company in NH that your chances for advancement are greater simply because there are not 52,000 other employees ahead of you in the big, metro company? Ya, I think I'd really rather leave NH to find a job today...living in the metro cities is sooooo much more attractive. Oh ya, if you don't pay your parking tickets in Bosotn, say goodbye to your car. You'll probably find it in Panama! And how do I know all this? I've been a NH employer for 35 years and I 've hired mostly NH college and university graduates into high-paying jobs right here. Over a dozen have gone on and started their own companies with my best wishes. NH employers are good employers...look for them. They're out there. And, we'll all party this weekend at the beach or mountains. Live free or die...and enjoy every minute of it!
- Gary, Manchester

Rich, I completely agree with you. First of all no US State is going to be perfect. Second, I for one grew up in NH and after college I left the state to gain work experience in NYC. Now I am ready to move back and buy a house. If people think NH is expensive try living in NYC. Rents are so high still and forget buying anything. Plus they bleed you dry in taxes.
- Jill, New York, NY

"The New Hampshire High Technology Council and the Governor's Task Force for the Retention and Recruitment of a Young Workforce for New Hampshire"

What!? Why is the government sponsoring or promoting age discrimination in the workplace? Isn't it bad enough for older workers already?

As for this statement:
"Almost all high-tech companies in New Hampshire can't find enough engineers and technicians to replace the baby boomers who are retiring,"

Mr. Kocher, you've got to be kidding! The only thing there is NO shortage of is laid off tech workers looking for a job at a fraction of their past salaries.
- tom, candia

Don,

If you seriously believe that it the fact that "you have to drive everywhere in NH", that is driving our younger workers to the Southern and Southwestern exurbs that they have been disproportiantely moving to, I don't know what to say to you.

You seem to be implying that housing could even be MORE expensive, as long as we had more bars and trains. That is absurd.

Young professionals who are 24 might like to party. Young professionals who are 29 like to be able to contemplate someday owning a home for their family.
- Rich, Bennington

Yes, I understand the issue. If you are a company that needs tech workers then pay them a comparable wage to what they would make in our neighbor to the south minus the taxes, the fuel charge, the hassle. That shouldn't be too hard. If you really just want to party then yes, you will end up in Boston but do you need to replace a boomer with a punk kid right out of school that needs "ambience"?? These kids need to wake up. As the global economy crumbles they need a JOB more than anything and if that means you don't get to party all the time, too bad. The party is over.

As for these companies - you need to compete with MA employers but you have a no income tax, no sales tax zone to offer. You can pay a little less but not that much less. A lot of these places want experienced professionals yet don't want to pay. That's the problem.

I have always believed that the Manchester/Nashua corridor could be a major technology zone in the Northeast if this state could attract a critical mass or larger employers. But that would take effort and maybe some business tax breaks and when you need to budget in 17.5% spending increases, that's difficult.
- Mark, Amherst

I'm seriously laughing right now. $8,000 over four years? Are you kidding me? I went to the University of NH from 1998-2002. I had a couple of scholarships that equaled out to about $2,000/year, not to mention federal student grants like the Pell Grant, but most of my tuition still had to be paid via loans. It's 2009, and I'm still over $15,000 in debt from student loans.

If the state really wants to keep more young workers, here's what they have to do: BRING IN BUSINESSES THAT PAY DECENT SALARIES. I graduated Summa Cum Laude, GPA 3.86, with a BA in communication, and I'm a secretary making $14/hour. I'd love to get another job that pays more, but there's nothing out there. I could commute to Mass, but what I make up for in salary would be eaten by gas, tolls and parking. I can't afford to relocate. I feel stuck, stranded and forgotten. I'm not saying the State needs to help me -- no thanks, I'll work it out myself somehow; the last thing I want is government involvement in my personal affairs. But if NH genuinely wants to hold onto a younger workforce, they've got to make it worth their while.
- Melissa, Franklin, NH

Low salaries (often 40% of Eastern Mass. levels). Slow job growth. High cost of living. Preference given for out-of-staters in the job market (if you're a native Granite Stater, it's almost a strike against you). Too many college-educated kids, too few young tradesmen. Harsh climate. Ivy-League snobbery in many fields. Enough said.
- Shackelford, Plaistow

Where in the State Constitution does it say this is the governments job to do...... social engineering.

I dont believe the Govt has the right to do foreign trade missions either.

Simply NOT the Govt job.

The fact they dont understand what their jobs are explains the mess we are in.
- Robert, Sunapee

Far to many of you keep making the comment that the cost of housing is driving away all of the young. Having lived and worked in a lot of the US I can tell you that you don't get it. The graduates move out of this state because the job opportunities are not here and the life style younger people want are not here. They want places where they can go to party and relax plus have something else to do. Here in New Hampshire the "younger professional" bar scene where you can "hang with your peers" places are few and far between. There is little to do on a spur of the moment idea. A lot of the younger people have moved into areas like the Mid Atlantic areas of the Baltimore , Washington DC , Charlottesville Va. corridor. Why , well the houses cost more but there is many "life style" centers that have multiple venues for entertainment including multi screen cinemas next to multiple restaurants and close to ice skating rinks and in the summer multiple outdoor concerts , food venues and huge arts and craft shows.

I lived in Herndon Virginia and when I moved there in 1978 there was not much to do , just like here in NH. When I left and moved back to NH in 2001 there was multiple concerts and festivals to go to that were within 10 miles of my Northern Virginia house. I could relax at Tyson's Corner or go to George Town or stay closer in my own town. There was the Red Skins or the Ravens Football. The Capitols Hockey and the Orioles Baseball along with a day at Baltimore Harbor place to pig out. In Georgetown there was plenty bars and food places to go and party plus you could go on the waterfront to relax , see and be seen at the multiple places that had huge outdoor seating and bars. In Charloestville it was a college town with plenty to do and see. During the summer my own town near Tyson's Corner had concerts on both Thursday and Friday night. The Friday night concerts had beer and food stands that drew the crowds to the downtown area and other entertainment venues did well. There was few troubles and no claims like we have in New Hampshire that "It will draw the wrong crowd". My 1600 sq foot town house there on a zero lot cost $100,000 more than my house here. When you get older the party life starts to fade and you want to kick back but when you are younger you like to "PARTY". With all of these entertainment venues there was also a lot of high rise white collar jobs in the area. They practiced smart growth with rail transportation that has apartment buildings clustered around it and many office buildings within walking distance so many of the young could walk or bike to their offices.

Here in New Hampshire we don't want anything built anywhere near us and we have abandoned our downtown cores and our rail transportation for a community ideal that enforces the fact you have to drive to go anyplace. That driving includes all the people heading across the border to Mass to work because companies can not get the workers to move to NH. We build shopping malls out in the biggest open space we can find and it might have one restaurant with a bar and the young professionals don't want to go there because it really has zero "ambiance". We call that the entertainment center and some how label all of that the "New Hampshire" advantage and think it will draw the young to New Hampshire.
- Don Armstrong, Henniker

$8,000.00 over four years isn't much when the cost of living in this blue state wonderland is considered.

If you want young people to stay, pay them enough to give them a quality of life comparable to that they have in the states they are moving to. Gimmicks aren't going to cut it.

And this still fails to take into account weather, crumbling infrastructure, etc.
- Tom, Campton

Simple solution to this problem:

An RSA forbiding cities and towns from implementing zoning ordinances with minimum lot size requirements exceeding one acre.

Even if it weren't good public policy (which it is) the wailing and gnashing of teeth out of Bedford would be worth it, simply on entertainment grounds.
- Rich, Bennington

To Mark from Amherst, Many people understand that a salary could be used to pay down loans, that is not the issue. The issue is that graduates are going to other states to earn that salary. Primarily they are going to the state just south of us to find better paying jobs. The whole incentive to stay in NH is that even though you may not make as much, your loan debt will get paid down for you. Sounds like an interesting program, Maine has tried one similar in the past with mediocre success so I will be interested to see how this pans out.
- Bill, Manchester

The reasons why college grads or local young people do not stay here is because of only one reason - the cost of housing and other living expenses. Why stay here to raise a young family when you can transplant to another part of the country such as Texas and have a quality life for your family. That is why the average age in New Hampshire or New England for that matter is among the highest in the country. You can thank "snob zoning" for that. Build neighborhoods of affordable ranches and young people will stay here with thier families.
- Scott, Salem

I graduated from UNH with a hefty debt and yes, my employer paid it down. It was called a SALARY. Yes, amazing as it may seem I was paid market value for my services and I then paid off the loans. The PAY was my incentive. What more incentive is needed? Why does the employer need to pay off the loans directly. Why does everyone need a bailout these days?

Get a job. Earn some money. Pay off your debt. Is it that difficult?!?!
- Mark, Amherst

I like this idea but what about the grads who got their loans from the Bank of Mom and Dad? You can argue that I shouldn't complain if I could afford to pay. However, the parents of many of the kids who took loans could have afforded it also. Another inequitable program.

How about an effort to publicize these "entry level jobs" if, in fact, they exist? My son would love an entry level job in his field but he can't find one. Maybe a separate entry level listing on the state website should go along with this program? Entry level positions should be open to all applicants. I can see, if state aid is involved, that many of these positions stay internal (read nepotism) and never see the light of day.

Does this mean that a NH candidate gets preference over a candidate from another state? Again, another idea that sounds good but I can see problems with that also.
- George, Manchester