Growth target

Hooksett Editor — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 17:19:00 GMT

Pembroke is poised for development

Despite its maxed-out sewer plant, Pembroke is ripe for new businesses, according to representatives from the state’s Economic Development Department.

“Pembroke is right in that bullseye in the Concord market that is growing rapidly,” said Michael Bergeron, business development manager for the state Department of Resources and Economic Development, or DRED. “You’re in an excellent location and you’re not that far from the highway.”

At a Nov. 20 workshop hosted by the Pembroke Economic Development Committee, Bergeron told several town leaders that attracting quality new businesses to the area, however, isn’t simple a matter of location.

“Time is of the essence,” he said. “If you can’t respond quickly, then you’ll lose the opportunity.” Bergeron and his colleague, DRED Regional Resource Specialist Deb Avery, gave the 16 residents gathered at the workshop a slew of tips for retaining Pembroke’s current businesses and attracting new ones.

Bergeron said he liked the direction the town charted by creating a tax increment financing, or TIF, district, in which some tax revenue generated from within the district returns to pay for infrastructure intended to lure new businesses into the district.

Currently, Associated Grocers is the only tenant in the town’s Route 106 TIF district. Townspeople haven’t yet approved a bond to spark new infrastructure there, said Pembroke Planning Director Laura Scott. Said Bergeron, “That’s an example of you’re almost there, but not quite.”

Bergeron, who’s worked closely with outdoor retailer Cabela’s and the town of Hooksett, which are jointly negotiating an $18 million TIF arrangement, suggested Pembroke seek partnerships with other towns and private businesses to find funding mechanisms to add capacity to the maxed-out sewer plant shared jointly by Pembroke and Allenstown.

Lack of sewer, he said, is one of the first things that will cause a business to look elsewhere when scouting prospective sites. Bergeron also said 75 percent, and growing, of businesses scout new locations through the Internet and urged officials to make the town’s Web site more business-friendly by including things like maps, building inventories and links to local real estate brokers.

“It just so happens we’re meeting tomorrow afternoon to hopefully begin the overhaul of our Web site,” said selectmen Chairman Larry Preston.

Bergeron urged the group to clearly spell out the processes for getting a commercial or industrial site plan approved. “Tell them in layman’s terms how long it’s going to take to do a deal here,” he said.

Bergeron said Pembroke has an advantage over most similarly sized communities in southern New Hampshire in that it’s retained much of its character despite growth over the last decades.

He said businesses on the lookout for spots to expand or relocate will be heavily swayed by a community’s culture. He displayed an image of a toothy, frowning monster. The image, he said, is one many New Hampshire towns – from employees at town hall to volunteer planning and zoning boards – exude when dealing with prospective businesses.

When faced with such an attitude, Bergeron said, “They company decision-maker will wonder how they’ve landed at Oz’s front door.”

Pembroke News : business

Growth target