NH town still reeling but on cusp of a comeback

BERLIN, N.H. (AP) ? Erik Guilbeault of Berlin could be the symbol for Berlin's economic despair and its prospects for revival.

A lifelong resident, 30-year-old Guilbeault had worked at Isaacson Steel 11 years when he was laid off in February. A welder by trade, Guilbeault was on the brink of leaving his wife and two children to go on the road seeking work when he was hired recently to be warehouse supervisor at the new federal prison that begins housing inmates this month.

He said he hasn't negotiated his pay yet, but at a range of $21-$25 an hour, he'll be making more than he did at Isaacson. And his wife was among the first hires at the prison, leaving Androscoggin Hospital to work in medical records at the prison for a "big-time" salary boost.

This once-thriving mill city appears on the cusp of crawling out of its steep economic woes, with residents and officials pinning hope on the federal prison's annual $20 million payroll and a biomass plant that promises to resuscitate the logging industry when it opens late next year.

But lifelong residents of this once-thriving mill city temper hope with caution and the manager of the local employment security office is bracing for one of the toughest winters yet.

"We talk about all the hope, but this is scary right now," said Mark Belanger, manager of the Berlin office of the state Department of Employment Security. "It's a very flat job market."

Berlin continues to be in a state of flux. Job losses this year outpace new hires. Isaacson Steel and Car Freshner both shut local plants this spring, putting about 200 people out of work.

"Every year we seem to lose something," said Diana Nelson, DES's employer services representative in Berlin and a member of the city council. "We keep saying 'What more can we lose? It has to be over.'"

Berlin's unemployment rate stands at 9.4 percent compared with 5.4 percent statewide. Its population of 9,000 is half what it was in 1960. Schools and churches have shut down and vacant storefronts dot downtown.

Nelson, who's been at the Berlin office for 13 years, can recall the boom years when the mills and other employers "were willing to take anyone with a heartbeat."

"Now it's way reversed," she said. "Everyone's fighting for every job."

Belanger received 300 applications for a dozen positions open at the recently revived Gorham Paper and Tissue Mill. "That's how many people are dying to work there," he said.

But there are some strong signs Berlin is about to turn the corner.

The prison as of last week had 100 of its anticipated 341 employees in place and will take in its first group of minimum-security inmates by month's end. Spokeswoman Pamala Tharp says the prison is hiring aggressively, with an emphasis on hiring the balance of the employees locally.

The Jericho Mountain State Park in West Berlin and its 75-miles of ATV trails is luring summer tourists. Its annual festival in late July drew about 2,000 people.

Parallax Partners, developers based in Maine, announced plans last week to build a Hampton Inn on a vacant block in the city's downtown. The city currently has no hotel. ATV and snowmobiling enthusiasts stay in neighboring Gorham, city officials said.

The $275 million biomass power plant has created about 250 construction jobs and is expected to employ 30 to 40 workers when it opens.

Belanger said he thinks the biomass plant could have the largest ripple effect on the region by creating a need to log and haul wood to burn.

"Everything we lost with the paper industry has the opportunity to come back," Belanger said.

The 1,280-bed federal prison, high on a hillside and hidden from most sightlines by trees, was completed in 2010, but Congress didn't allocate funds to operate it until last year.

Prison officials held a job fair last month that drew 76 applicants. Nelson said that was a strong turnout given the credit and background checks required by prison officials.

Tharp said the facility is still on schedule to take in about 128 minimum-security inmates this month. The 1,152 medium-security inmates will arrive when the prison is fully staffed.

Because the federal system sets a mandatory retirement age of 57 for corrections officers, no one above age 37 is being hired for those positions, which has generated grumbling. The median age in Berlin is 45 and two-thirds of the population is over age 35, according to 2010 census statistics.

Belanger and Nelson emphasize the ripple effects prison employees will have on the local economy ? buying or renting homes, eating in restaurants, shopping, buying cars. They say there's already a demand for more services.

Larry Lombardi of Milan, an insurance investigator, says he may retire and expand his dog kennel if the demand for dog day care increases.

Joanne Roy, owner of the 250-seat Northland Restaurant and Dairy Bar, says she's already seen an uptick in business from prison officials.

The city reaped the benefits of the state prison that opened in Berlin in 2000 "and this is much bigger," said Roy, who is president of the Androscoggin Chamber of Commerce.

RE/MAX realtor Steve Grone said the influx of federal employees "is definitely giving us renewed hope."

"It's baby steps, but the federal prison opening is bringing in a whole lot of families and they want to buy," Grone said.

Sheila Bagley has lived in Berlin for all of her 61 years. She works downtown at the Hall of Greetings Jewelers and gift shop. She recalls when the downtown was thronged with people on Friday nights. She met her husband on one of such night. He was seated on a bench in front of the Woolworth's store that went out of business long ago.

"A lot of things are in the works," Bagley said. "But we've got a long, long way to go."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nh-town-still-reeling-cusp-comeback-163738430--finance.html

Leryn Franco The Campaign mitt romney Meteor Shower August 2012 Kinesio tape NBA Foo