RECENT NEWS

After much deliberation, the GBCC Board has voted to postpone the Peeper Race, Fall Festival and Annual Dinner because of COVID-19 concerns.  The chamber will continue to hold member meetings at Nippo Lake Golf Club with necessary safety protocols.

The board will use the remainder of the year to plan and strategize 2022 events.

We did not come to these decisions lightly... committee members, chamber members, volunteers and board members have put untold hours into planning these events.  We hope that 2022 is a MUCH more event-friendly year!  

At 18, Kaden was in serious financial trouble. “Sweeping my debts under the rug when the monthly bills came in was the norm.” But, he was curious about credit scores and knew his was not good. He just did not know how bad his score really was. By the time Kaden was 31, he knew he had:

• A low credit score
• Student loan debt
• Mounting credit card debt
• Other bad debts weighing his credit score down

With nowhere to turn, Kaden kept sweeping until he tripped over the pile under the rug. He was working low-paying jobs, adding to his family and thus, his responsibilities and expenses. Kaden increased his debt load every day just living his life.

Kaden’s life began changing in the spring of 2019 when he attended a workshop at work about financial wellness – led by NHFCU’s Centers for Finance & Education.

“At 31 years old, with debt “following” me throughout my adulthood, for the first time, I felt safe, thinking there might be hope, and help. NHFCU’s representative gave me hope that there would be no judgement about my debt situation.” And, after 13 years of continuing to accumulate debt, he saw an opportunity to change his thinking and habits about debt – and eventually change his life.

Fast forward to December 2020 - Here’s what Kaden has accomplished:

• He began to clean up the pile of debt buried under the rug and increased his credit scores – up a total of 541 points when combined among the three major credit bureaus:
• • Experian – Up 268 points
  • Trans Union – Up 183 points
  • Equifax – Up 90 points
• He and his spouse pay their bills on time, every month.
• They’ve expanded their family to care for a child who needed help and hope – yet continue to live within their means.

“If you are struggling financially, please do this one thing … Make one phone call to NHFCU’s Centers for Finance & Education. Take that step to talk with someone and just go from there. There’s no obligation and they won’t do anything that isn’t beneficial to you. They REALLY care!”

- Kaden T.

NHFCU helped Kaden. How can we help you? Contact us today at (603) 224-7731 ext. 330.

Rochester, NH:  Cornerstone VNA, your local nonprofit home care provider, is pleased to announce that the COVID-19 vaccine is now being administered to their homebound patients. On March 17, Cornerstone VNA’s Quality Improvement Director, June Gallup, RN, MS, made her first stop at a patient’s home in Farmington, who was thrilled to receive her first dose. New Hampshire Public Radio (NHPR) reporter, Alli Fam, joined Gallup to document this important milestone in distributing the COVID-19 vaccine to homebound patients. 

When the patient was asked by the NHPR reporter what it meant to get the vaccine in her home, as opposed to going elsewhere, Audrey replied, “Oh, wonderful! I was so worried. I don't walk well anymore, and I get extremely tired every time I have to go out. I kept thinking, ‘how am I going to get to a clinic to get my shot?’ And when they told me I could get it at home, I was very happy.” Audrey added, “It's made a world of difference. The walking would have been very difficult for me to get to a clinic. It's wonderful.”

Cornerstone VNA has been working closely with the State and Regional Public Health Networks, as well as the Home Care, Hospice and Palliative Care Alliance of NH on a plan to get vaccines for truly homebound patients, and their eligible caregivers, who cannot get to a fixed vaccine distribution site.  Due to strict COVID-19 protocols, administering vaccines at home takes an extremely coordinated effort. Cornerstone VNA nurses travel to patient homes, fill out the required paperwork, and then wait 15-30 minutes after the vaccination is given to be sure the patient does not have an adverse reaction. Additionally, with any of the COVID-19 vaccines, there is a time limit of 6 hours to use all the doses from the time the first dose is drawn up from the vial. 

Cornerstone VNA’s COVID-19 Response Coordinator is managing a list of patients who have documented their desire to get vaccinated at home. Due to the time sensitive nature of administering the vaccine, the Response Coordinator is scheduling patients who live within a close proximity to one another.  In addition to Gallup, Sandy Powers, RN, Wellness and Gerontology Nurse, and Home Care Team Manager, Lisa Romanovitz, RN, will join in the effort to administer vaccines to patients at home. In a significant and poignant show of support, two Cornerstone VNA retired nurses have offered to temporarily return to assist the COVID-19 vaccination team if needed.

According to Gallup, “I am very excited that we as an agency will be able to help get people vaccinated. I am grateful to the State of NH, Public Health Networks, and more importantly the staff at Cornerstone VNA who have worked together to make this a reality.  I am proud to do my part to be part of the solution.” Gallup adds, “The opportunity to administer the vaccine to our most vulnerable homebound citizens is a reward in itself, but the hope that we all feel in moving past this pandemic is what gets us all through these challenging times.”

To learn more, call 800-691-1133 or visit cornerstonevna.org/covid-19. 

About Cornerstone VNA:

Cornerstone VNA is a nonprofit home health and hospice care provider, currently serving Rockingham, Strafford, Belknap and Carroll Counties in New Hampshire and York County in Maine. The team at Cornerstone VNA provides award-winning care and support through five distinct programs: Home Care, Hospice Care, Palliative Care, Life Care-Private Duty and Community Care. For 108 years, Cornerstone VNA has been committed to bringing services to people of all ages so that families can stay together at home, even when facing the challenges of aging, surgical recovery, chronic or life-threatening illnesses or end-of-life care. To learn more about Cornerstone VNA, visit www.cornerstonevna.org or call 800-691-1133.

Mark your calendars! The 16th Annual Seacoast Half Marathon, one of coastal New Hampshire’s longest-running half marathons, has been set for Sunday, October 31st in Portsmouth, NH. This year, the Seacoast Half Marathon is offering a hybrid model, giving runners the opportunity to participate either in-person or virtually. Virtual participants can select from three distance options, which can be completed on the route of their choice between October 23rd and October 31st.

Each year, 100% of the net proceeds from the event are donated to a mindfully selected seacoast nonprofit organization. Traditionally, the Seacoast Half Marathon committee selects a new nonprofit beneficiary each year, but this year is different and has been billed as a rerun! Since the 2020 race transitioned to a virtual event due to COVID-19, and did not produce the same level of fundraising for Cornerstone VNA, the Race Committee decided to remain with Cornerstone VNA as their 2021 beneficiary. This all volunteer committee is proud to continue this beloved autumn race tradition, as well as maintain their philanthropic tradition of supporting a local nonprofit beneficiary.

This year’s beneficiary, Cornerstone VNA, is an independent nonprofit organization providing home care, hospice, palliative care, private duty services, and community health and wellness programs. As a local health care provider, Cornerstone VNA has been on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic, caring for patients of all ages, from birth through end-of-life. “The pandemic certainly posed some unique challenges for last year’s event, so we are deeply honored that the committee has chosen us as their beneficiary once again,” states Erika Lee, Advancement Director at Cornerstone VNA.

According to Bruce Hurley, longtime Seacoast Half Marathon committee member, “We feel like Cornerstone VNA certainly deserves a shot to do this when there is not a global pandemic underway and would like to have them continue to be the beneficiary for 2021 when hopefully, maybe the world is closer to normal.” Jay Diener, Seacoast Half Marathon Race Director adds, “We are looking forward to working with our friends at Cornerstone VNA again this year, their frontline work this past year has been paramount to the wellbeing of our communities and we cannot think of a more powerful way to illustrate that than to once again partner with them on our historic race.”

Visit seacoasthalfmarathon.com to learn more about the race and how participation, either as a sponsor or as a runner/walker, helps Cornerstone VNA.

Cornerstone VNA is a nonprofit organization currently serving Rockingham, Strafford, Belknap and Carroll Counties in New Hampshire and York County in Maine. The team at Cornerstone VNA provides award-winning care and support through five distinct programs: Home Care, Hospice Care, Palliative Care, Life Care-Private Duty and Community Care. For 108 years, Cornerstone VNA has been committed to bringing services to people of all ages so that families can stay together at home, even when facing the challenges of aging, surgical recovery, chronic or life-threatening illnesses or end-of-life care. To learn more about Cornerstone VNA, visit www.cornerstonevna.org or call 800-691-1133.

ROCHESTER, NH – HRCU has announced promotions for four members of their management team. Tyler Hudson has been named Senior Vice President of Operations and Digital Services, Travis Bissonnette has been named Vice President of Member Business Services, Nicole Huntress has been named Director of Operations and Carlynne Pouliot has been named Director of Branch Administration.

“Our staff is a key to our success. These staff members have made such a difference in our operations, servicing our members and being great co-workers, it gives me great pleasure to announce their promotions. As HRCU grows so does our staff in meeting their career goals”, said Brian Hughes, HRCU President and CEO.

Hudson has been with HRCU for since December 2019 and has been key to HRCU’s growth in digital services, including June’s successful conversion to a new online and mobile banking platform. Tyler will now also have additional responsibilities within the entire HRCU Operations Department and help to set HRCU’s direction for the future.

Bissonnette has been with HRCU over five years and has been overseeing consumer lending throughout his tenure, building a strong lending team in the process. In this new role he will be responsible for building member business programs and overseeing business development, including business lending and relationships. Travis will also oversee relationships with local auto dealers through our indirect lending program and working on building our team of outside mortgage originators.

Huntress has been with HRCU for 16 years and has held several roles including Teller, Teller Supervisor, Branch Manager, Branch Operations Manager and Operations Manager, which included becoming the Bank Secrecy Act Officer. She is a key leader in the growing Operations Department. Nicole’s expertise in operations help support staff and members with many complex situations that may come up.

Pouliot has been with HRCU since November 2018, joining the team originally as the Dover Branch Manager, which included overseeing both the downtown Dover and Dover Point branches. More recently, Carlynne has served as the Branch Administrator, making noticeable improvements to branch operations. Her contributions have also been key to keeping HRCU branches operational throughout the pandemic.

HRCU is a state-chartered and federally insured community credit union that has been serving the New Hampshire community since its inception in 1962. With several locations throughout the seacoast, HRCU prides itself on helping its members achieve their financial goals through convenient, technology-driven, services and a compassionate, personalized approach.

(Concord, NH) New Hampshire Federal Credit Union (NHFCU) announces the retirement of John R. Young, President/CEO. Mr. Young plans to retire at the conclusion of 2021 after having served NHFCU and its membership for more than thirty-five years, the last twenty-seven as President/CEO.

In his tenure, Mr. Young led NHFCU’s growth from a $60 million organization to nearly $315 million today. In addition, he championed financial education and financial wellness for the both the Credit Union’s members and the surrounding New Hampshire communities, including the award-winning CU 4 Reality® financial education program and the inception of NHFCU’s own Centers for Finance & Education, where financial education and coaching are provided for all.

NHFCU, established in 1941, is a consumer-oriented full-service cooperative financial institution with offices in Concord and Lee, New Hampshire. To learn more about NHFCU and the Centers for Finance & Education, call (603) 224-7731 or visit their website, www.nhfcu.org.

NHFCU’s Board of Directors has engaged Humanidei + O’Rourke to assist them with their search process. Humanidei’s executive search division, O’Rourke & Associates, has been the gold standard for executive recruiting in the credit union space for over 35 years. www.humanidei.com

The Barrington Early Childhood Learning Center (ECLC) is having a Read-A-Thon in hopes of encouraging more reading and raising some funds to update their playground.

The Read-A-Thon is through a platform called read-a-thon.com. Students will log in and track the time they've read and invite their family and friends to sponsor their reading.

One aspect of the website is business logos. Local businesses can donate a minimum of $100 and have their logo seen each time our readers, families and friends login. They'll see your logo and learn more about you and your business and see that you're supporting our reading project.

If you're interested, check out the flyer attached for the email and code. PLEASE know, there is no pressure to do this. This is the first time we've tried this. It officially launches this coming Monday, March 8th and will run for 2 weeks. They sent out a preliminary email last week and we've already had enough traffic on the site to raise almost $1000.

If interested, just check out the attached flyer and follow the link and use the code.

Two years ago, Mary Bouzan and her husband “hit rock bottom.”  They were $50,000 in debt. She and her husband turned to the Centers for Finance & Education for help.  Nine months later, during the NHFCU 77^th Annual Meeting, in March, 2019, Mary spoke in front of a crowd of 200 people. They’d already successfully achieved two of their biggest goals:

• Removing $11,000 of their total debt
• Moving into their own apartment after relying on family for some time. 
•  Mary and Steve continued toward their goal of being debt free … “rock-bottom” is no longer!  Where are they today…?

Here’s what they’ve accomplished:

•  They both purchased new vehicles.  A first time for “new” versus “pre-owned.”
• They closed on their first home the summer of 2020.
• They adopted two “furry” children.
• They have emergency savings.
• Mary became a Certified Financial Social Work Coach last summer.
• Mary was just promoted to Head Teller at NHFCU.
• Their dreams have become reality!

Mary and Steve's "furry children," Sassy & Bindi strike a pose.

Here are Mary and Steve now, enjoying home sweet home.

 
 Above-NHFCU's President/CEO, John R. Young congratulates Mary on her Certification.

“Get a financial education and work with someone who will hold you accountable. It’s a life changing event!”
-Mary B.

ROCHESTER, NH – HRCU is pleased to announce that Donna West has been hired as their Director of Human Resources. West takes the lead on overseeing the credit union’s HR efforts companywide.

West brings nearly a decade of HR experience to HRCU. Most recently, serving as the HR Manager at RiverWoods Durham, in Durham NH. In this role, West oversaw HR, while facilitating professional development, managing all benefits, and onboarding new employees. Prior to RiverWoods Durham, she also ran HR for Anchor Insurance Managers in St. Petersburg, Florida, as well as, ReEnergy Holdings LLC, of Latham, New York.

“Donna brings a great deal of human resource experience to HRCU. With the growth we have experienced and the challenging times we are in to keep staff well informed and safe, Donna will be a tremendous asset to our organization”, said HRCU President & CEO Brian Hughes.

West is a member of both the Society of Human Resource Management and the Southeast Human Resource Association. She and her husband Mike reside in nearby Alton Bay, NH.

HRCU is a state-chartered and federally insured community credit union that has been serving the New Hampshire community since its inception in 1962. With several locations throughout the seacoast, HRCU prides itself on helping its members achieve their financial goals through convenient, technology-driven, services and a compassionate, personalized approach.