Board of Aldermen — State-of-the-City-Address Page 2
February 16, 2016
In order to make our economic development efforts more effective, | am focusing on five economic
development priorities — first jobs, particularly technology jobs; second, working to bring commuter rail to
Nashua; third, making sure that Nashua has well qualified people to fill jobs in all sectors of the economy;
fourth, strengthening public education; and finally, energizing our downtown.
Technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship are in Nashua’s DNA. In the nineteenth century our historic
Mills and our Millyard was a major technological center of America’s industrial revolution. The mills and all of
the Millyard facilities were ingeniously organized as one gigantic machine. Back then, the mill workers like my
wife’s grandparents whose names were Costie and Victoria — thousands of them were immigrants - produced
textiles for the whole country and the world. We still have a deep bench of technology expertise in Nashua.
We have BAE Systems, an advanced leader in defense, aerospace, and cyber security which employs 4,500
people. We have numerous tech successes that have been founded by former employees of Digital
Equipment Corporation, the computer systems giant that in the 80s and 90s employed 6,000 people in Nashua
and southern New Hampshire. | want to grow even more tech jobs in Nashua — in our south end, on Simon
Street and in our Millyard.
We are fortunate to have businesses that are established members of Nashua’s culture of innovation. Our
south end is home to Oracle, Dell, Benchmark, Data Gravity, Plexxis, XCube, Simquest and many other tech
businesses. These companies employ thousands of people and their presence in our community continues to
grow. The Flatley Company runs the annual Flatley Challenge in the south end which brings numerous tech
companies into that area. Flatley bought the huge 750,000 square foot former Digital facility which was empty
as recently as 2007. Now over 1,500 people work in that former DEC space. The Flatley Company has plans
to double the size of their tech footprint with as much as 750,000 square feet of new tech R & D space at their
Gateway Hills development in the south end. In our downtown we have Make-It Labs, New Hampshire’s first
makerspace, which provides budding entrepreneurs with the tools they need to generate ideas and prototypes
for products. We need to build upon this progress in the years ahead. | also will be working on a summer jobs
program. A summer job teaches a young person the fundamentals of holding a job and is a good foundation
for a successful life of work. Nashua should have a summer jobs program that includes public and private
sector jobs.
A second economic development priority is commuter rail service for Nashua. Rail will add jobs, connect our
people with the growing biological sciences industry and the industrial internet companies to our south, and
help us to retain and attract the young people that we need for Nashua’s success. General Electric, which has
recently announced that it’s moving its headquarters to Boston, understands the importance of connecting with
Boston’s growing economy and we should learn from their example. The initial groundwork for rail service has
been laid but ultimate success has as much to do with all of us as it has to do with the Mayor’s office or city
government. The $4 million that is necessary for the next steps in the rail project are included in the
Governor's 10-year transportation plan. The Governor has proposed taking these steps in a way that costs the
State of New Hampshire not one dime. The funds consist of federal money that cannot currently be
repurposed for any other use and a state match of $800,000 of toll credits. These credits satisfy state
matching requirements and they have been awarded by the federal government — they are not state dollars.
The State has a $250 million surplus in toll credits, more than it can use, according to the DOT, in the
foreseeable future.
| went to the House Public Works Committee to testify in favor of keeping the rail money in the Governor’s 10-
year plan, and | can tell you that there is a lot more work to be done. | was grateful to other Nashuans who
came to express their support. Tracy Hatch from the Chamber testified effectively again, Sister Buley of Rivier
University attended, and several Nashua residents, like Paul Patti from Ward 8, came in support. Some
members of the house committee expressed opposition to taking this next rail step even though it requires no
expenditure for any state money. This of course is hard to understand.
In the coming months, | will bring together a coalition of businesses in the Nashua region who will work
together to advocate for commuter rail. This effort will be in partnership with the Greater Nashua Chamber of
Commerce, an organization that for years has been advocating effectively for rail service for our city.
