We're looking for the state's up-and-coming citizens. Click here to nominate someone.

Meet the eighth class of "40 Under Forty," the honors program that recognizes the state's emerging leaders, started by the New Hampshire Union Leader in 2002.

For tickets to the March 11 reception honoring the 2009 class, click here.

THESE are the stories of young people who are making a difference in New Hampshire.

►Make your nomination for the Class of 2009
►Click here to see all 40 profiles

Merrimack - BRYAN LEE, 33, grew up in a middle-class neighborhood in Silver Springs, Md., just north of the Washington, D.C., Beltway, and from a young age he was interested in computers.

CONCORD - FOR YEARS, salt marshes were filled in because they harbored mosquitoes and green heads and - more importantly - they were prime spots for development.

PORTSMOUTH - DAVE KARLOTSKI USES the Web to connect Portsmouth with the world.

CANDIA - LOCAL RESIDENT and engineer Sean James is leading the way to preserve some of New England's most time-honored structures.

DERRY - LAST YEAR WAS eventful for Brent Carney: At age 30, he won a seat on the town council and, months later, became a father.

PORTSMOUTH - TOM HOLBROOK BELIEVES a business should help make the community a better place to live.

Manchester - WHEN JEREMY HITCHCOCK first started out working as a student volunteer for Dynamic Network Services Inc. during his time at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, he didn't have any inkling he would end up running the company.

CONCORD - JAY SURDUKOWSKI'S interest in politics began at a young age and broadened when he found a couple of mentors to lead the way.

THE BALLPARK WON'T be bustling until April, but Jeff Tagliaferro and the Fisher Cats have been working at a fever pitch all winter. What off-season?

Manchester - BACK IN 1999, Web services firm SilverTech Inc. was a small, two-person company with a 400-square-foot office on Candia Road. In May, the company plans to move into the old Ash Street School on Bridge Street, the latest larger space it needs to house its growing operation, which now has more than two dozen employees and revenues in the millions.

Manchester - WHEN GRAY CHYNOWETH was six years old, the Canterbury native's father took him to a political rally for then-U.S. Sen. Gary Hart, who was making the rounds in New Hampshire during his first run for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. And at that rally, something pretty amazing happened.

WOLFEBORO - THE WALL OF the broadcast studio at WASR is filled with awards that Joe Collie, 29, has won for himself and this community-based station.

CONCORD - THE FIRST TIME Olivia Zink borrowed her parent's car after she had her license was to go to a political rally in Manchester for then-President Bill Clinton's 1996 reelection campaign.

BRADFORD - IT'S NOT GLAMOROUS, it's not easy and it won't make you rich, but for Kimberly Firth of Bradford, working to improve New Hampshire's social services is the only thing that ever made sense.

MANCHESTER - FOUR YEARS AGO, Kelly Hurst was living in Massachusetts, working for then-Gov. Mitt Romney when that state's Supreme Court deemed that gays and lesbians should be able to marry.

DOVER - AS ACTING STRAFFORD COUNTY Attorney, Thomas Velardi has the power to change lives for better or worse.

PETERBOROUGH - WHILE STILL JUST a college student, it became clear to Peter Joseph that he wanted to work in local government. Now, at the age of 25, Joseph is making serious strides as assistant town administrator for the town of Peterborough.

ALTON - NEW HAMPSHIRE'S "brain drain," the concern that young and talented people are leaving the Granite State for opportunities elsewhere, is becoming something of the conventional wisdom.

WOLFEBORO - For Suzanne Figueroa-Rich, north region manager and senior vice president of Citizens Bank, making New Hampshire an attractive and welcoming place for young people is a key element in being able to maintain the fastest-growing economy in New England.

HOPKINTON - AS THE DIRECTOR of external affairs at the New Hampshire Political Library, Celina Hurley is on the frontline in the battle to protect and promote the state's first-in-the-nation presidential primary.

GILMANTON - HELPING FAMILIES make it through difficult times and stay connected despite separation is difficult enough when it involves a situation like a military commitment.

PORTSMOUTH - A TIME WHEN development is gobbling up the state's open land, Craig Welch works in both development and conservation.

ASK MEGAN BRACY when her social conscience first became her guide and she is hard-pressed to put a finger on that particular Jiminy Cricket moment.

YOU CAN'T ACCUSE the artistic director at the Palace Theatre of being impatient. Carl Rajotte says it may take 10 years for the Palace to become a widely known and important regional theater, but he's confident it will happen.

CONCORD - AFTER JENNIFER FRIZZELL graduated from Franklin Pierce Law School, she became N.H. Legal Assistance's only attorney in the North Country.

RYE - BENJAMIN T. KING considers being a lawyer not just a job but a blessing because it allows him to help so many people.

BELMONT - MAKING NEW HAMPSHIRE an attractive place for young people to develop their careers and raise a family is one of the major missions of Stephanie Soule Lesperance, leadership development coordinator and program coordinator at Campus Compact for New Hampshire.

DOWNTOWN MANCHESTER has lots of bars and restaurants. Few, however, have been celebrated in quite the same way as Murphy's Taproom.

WHITEFIELD - FIVE YEARS AFTER departing the sunny climes of Florida, Larry Berg has found his place in the North Country, dividing his time between running a business, raising a family and volunteering his time to an organization that provides companionship to elder citizens.

BEDFORD - EVAN AS A TEEN, Donny Guillemette had a special place in his heart for older people.

FRANKLIN - AS CITY MANAGER of a former industrial center whose mills once employed hundreds of factory workers, Franklin city manager Gregory Doyon has been facing the challenge of bringing that city toward a new future which preserves its historic structures while finding new uses for them in an economy in which manufacturing no longer plays a dominant role.

ASHLAND - DURING THE DAY, Craig Moore, environmental health and safety manager for EFI-VUTEk, is in charge of making sure that no one gets hurt or is exposed to dangerous chemicals at the company's two locations on Route 104 in Meredith.

SALEM - TO HIGH SCHOOL teacher Ben Adams, learning is a two-way street.

HAMPTON - AS NEW HAMPSHIRE'S chief of liquor enforcement, Eddie Edwards is a leader in the fight against underage drinking and alcohol abuse. It's a cause he believes in, because he sees the state's biggest problem as the social cost involved with the abuse and illegal use of alcohol, tobacco and drugs.

MANCHESTER - BRENDAN McCAFFERTY would like to run his own school someday.

CANTERBURY - THE APPLICATION OF ideas to the realities of the physical world has been going on ever since the wheel was invented and changed human history.

RAYMOND - POLICE CHIEF David Salois says outreach to local youth is a role he takes on as readily as his nearly 20-year ongoing task of ensuring the safety of thousands of residents.

AUBURN - LOCAL RESIDENT Ami Elizabeth D'Amelio says the more than half-dozen volunteer roles she's taken on give her a front-row seat to the fast-growing business world throughout the Manchester area.

Manchester - NOT EVEN FIVE YEARS out of the seminary, the Rev. Jason Y. Jalbert spends his days encouraging others to follow in his path.

HERE are the stories of 40 people who are making a difference in New Hampshire.

For the sixth year in a row, the New Hampshire Union Leader honors 40 up and coming people, all under the age of 40, who are making a difference in our state.

This year's 40 will be honored in mid-March when the Business and Industry Association of New Hampshire hosts a recognition ceremony with support from Ocean National Bank.

LITTLETON - Growing up in his dad's pharmacy in Lancaster, David Rochefort had little doubt that he would follow in his father's footsteps.

The pharmacy was Sullivan Drug Store, established in 1856, which was New Hampshire's oldest pharmacy until it closed in late 2005.

MANCHESTER - Michael Brunelle is a young man on a mission. At 22, his resume is no quick read - executive director of the Manchester City Democrats since 2005; District 17 state representative; chair of the Manchester Legislative Delegation, two-term ward 11 selectman, student body president at UNH Manchester for two years (he graduates in the spring with a degree in history - 3.8 GPA), and a 2003 delegate to the Democratic National Convention.