NH groups receive AmeriCorps funding

WASHINGTON — Volunteer NH has announced that three organizations in the Granite State have received AmeriCorps grants from the Corporation for National and Community Service.

The grants will support more than 103 AmeriCorps members across the state who will tutor and mentor at-risk youth to help with the state's dropout prevention plan, provide health services in the area of prevention for domestic violence and stalking, and enhance and protect the natural areas.

Volunteer NH said it will distribute more than $1,320,289. The grants include:

--AmeriCorps Victims Assistance Program, $350,688 for 27 members to address critical health prevention needs for victims of domestic and sexual violence and stalking.

--Student Conservation Association-NH Corps, $390,000 for 30 members to enhance and protect the state's natural areas and provide extensive environmental education.

--City Year NH Corps, $579,601 for 46 members who will provide in-school and after-school tutoring and mentoring to third- through fifth-graders in five elementary schools in Manchester to assist with dropout prevention.

Labor schedules webinar on FMLA

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division will host a free webinar to help workers and employers understand the Family and Medical Leave Act Wednesday, at 2 p.m.

The FMLA provides eligible employees with 12 work weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period for the birth or adoption of a child; care of a spouse, son, daughter or parent with a serious health condition; and qualifying events from “active duty” military service by the employee's spouse, son, daughter or parent.

The webinar will let workers and employers submit questions that will be answered by an FMLA expert from the department. Participants can register at http://s.dol.gov/T2.

The department also has published a booklet, “Need Time? The Employee's Guide to the Family and Medical Leave Act,” which is available for download at dol.gov/whd/fmla/employeeguide.htm.

Ground broken for state liquor store

CONCORD — The state Liquor Commission recently broke ground on a New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlet on Route 9 in West Chesterfield, a half mile east of the current store and minutes from the Vermont border.

At 10,000 square feet, double the size of the present location, the outlet will offer a widely expanded selection of wine and spirits.

The store is slated to open in November.

State Liquor Commission Chairman Joseph Mollica said the store in West Chesterfield will be the second state liquor and wine outlet to be built from the ground up. Last July, the commission celebrated the grand opening of its first constructed store on Coliseum Avenue in Nashua, which has seen a steady increase in sales.

The commission operates retail locations throughout the Granite State and serves more than 9 million customers each year (LiquorandWineOutlets.com).

Governor announces job-training grants

CONCORD – Gov. John Lynch announced that four companies received Job Training Fund grants in June.

The state grants totaled nearly $40,000, with the four companies providing matching funds. In all, 236 workers will receive training.

Gov. Lynch made it a priority to reinstate the fund in 2007 as part of the state's economic strategy. Since then, the state has issued nearly $5 million in grants to help train nearly 14,000 New Hampshire workers.

The four companies that received grants are Stahlman Group Inc. of Concord; NH Ball Bearings Astro Division of Laconia; CHI Engineering Services Inc. of Portsmouth; and Leading Edge Design Group, Inc. of Enfield.

Companies interested in applying to the fund should visit nhjobtrainingfund.org.

Equipment borrowing up, group reports

WASHINGTON — U.S. companies borrowed more in May — mainly to replace equipment — with worries about unemployment and Europe keeping many businesses hesitant to spend for new projects, the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association said Monday. Demand for equipment financing is on the rise, and credit quality has steadily improved this year, but are restrained by euro-zone turmoil and global economic uncertainty.

The financing is for everything from industrial equipment to computer systems and officer furniture. Companies took on $6.2 billion in loans, leases and lines of credit to fund equipment in May, up 10.7 percent from $5.6 billion a year earlier.

“There's nothing to say that it's any kind of expansion; we're still hearing it's mostly for replacement,” the group's chief executive, William Sutton, said in an interview.

Still, Sutton said many industry members are optimistic that momentum can be maintained in the second half of the year.

“The increase in new business volume, very low aging of receivables, very low average charge-offs, credit approvals continuing to stay high – all these trends are really going in the right direction.”

New business loan volume has increased by 16 percent so far this year, according to the association, a trade group with more than 550 members that reports economic activity for the $628 billion equipment finance sector.

Energy, transportation and technology businesses are leading the increased borrowing for equipment in the first half of the year, and there has been some pickup in the manufacturing sector for new goods purchases, said Maureen Carr, managing director of the corporate asset finance group at CapitalSource.