COVER STORY
Pease looks to continue its upward trend
More companies, jobs, diversity expected in coming year
By Michael McCord
Published: December 2006
At Pease International Tradeport, the top measure of success — its chartered main mission, in fact — is the number of jobs created.
In 2006, that measurement was good enough to set a record — an estimated 6,400, which surpassed the old mark of 6,300 set in 2004, said David Mullen, deputy director of the Pease Development Authority.
Mullen said that Pease continues to be “a location in demand” as it fills up with businesses of all sizes.
“We continue to have a significant amount of interest and activity,” Mullen said about the tradeport’s 6 percent overall vacancy rate.
Pease indeed continues to be a hot business address as it completes its 15th full year as one of the state’s most prominent industrial and office complexes with hundreds of multi-sized businesses.
Mullen said the PDA plans to increase its efforts to develop more on the airport side of the tradeport. He did hail the arrival of Alpha Flying, Inc. of Manchester, which specializes in corporate jet service, is a “major step” that could lead to more niche draws for the airport.
In October, the PDA approved plans for Alpha Flying to build 40,000-square-foot hangar and 35,000 square feet of office space to establish operations at Pease.
As 2006 comes to an end, Ventures talked to some of the owners and executives of those Pease-based companies to capture their impressions, most of which were very optimistic, about what they see ahead for 2007.
William Hurley, the president of Infinite Imaging, a printing and graphic design firm, said his company “had another growth year in 2006 and we anticipate continued growth in 2007.”
Hurley, whose company opened a new satellite office in Dover in October, said that his Pease operation in particular has seen a major boost in clients from smaller firms locating at the tradeport.
“We’re getting more business all the time and we also see smaller businesses doing more marketing,” Hurley said. Because of technological advances in printing, more businesses “are able to get their messages out” efficiently and cost effectively.
He also expects that the local economy and Pease “will at least stay strong in 2007.”
Dermot O’Brien, the campus director for Franklin Pierce College, said his school had a good enrollment year and saw “very strong growth, particularly in graduate programs.”
O’Brien, who been at FPC since 2000, has witnessed dramatic growth in the amount and diversity of educational offerings at the tradeport from satellite campuses such as FPC, Daniel Webster College, the N.H. Community Technical College, Granite State College, and Southern New Hampshire University.
“There’s tremendous strength at the tradeport and we believe the local economy is going to remain strong,” he said. “We are seeing a greater diversity of businesses at the tradeport.”
To fit a growing need in the health care sector, Franklin Pierce — whose student body includes workers from Lonza Biologics, Liberty Mutual, N.H. Air National Guard, and the National Visa Center — is adding a new program in March, a health management-focused MBA which will combine on-line and classroom components.
Bill McKernan and Lindsay Gee of IVS 3D are optimistic about their location at Pease and the prospects for their software mapping company.
Michael McCord Photo
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The sophisticated software mapping company IVS 3D, which landed at Pease in 2003, was recently presented with the Information & Computer Technology Global Business of the Year Award by the Software Association of New Hampshire and the New Hampshire International Trade Association.
IVS 3D takes the long, global economic view, said Lindsay Gee, chief executive officer. The private Canadian company, which has its American headquarters at Pease, said about 57 percent of its business comes from international clients — and it had a significant 61 percent growth in revenue from 2005 to 2006.
Gee said he is feeling “very optimistic about the coming year” and the company plans soon to open an office in London to handle more expected business in Europe, Africa and the Middle East as oil and gas exploration efforts continue to grow.
One of the factors likely helping IVS 3D’s growth has been the assistance it has received from the state International Trade Resource Center.
“I think it is critical for Seacoast companies to realize that we have a terrific resource at Pease to assist in their international business development,” said Bill McKernan, director of sales and marketing for IVS 3D
Martin’s Point Health Care, which arrived at Pease in 2000, also expanded its program base in 2006 and plans to do more in 2007.
Andrea Clanchette Maker of Maine-based Martin’s Point said it has added a primary care physician to its staff of 35 health care providers.
Martin’s has also increased what Maker called “group visits for people with chronic diseases” such as diabetes, asthma, obesity and cardio-vascular.
The company also has expanded what it calls a “travel medicine” program – which offers the most up-to-date advice for someone who is traveling, business or pleasure.
Maker said the company thinks the Seacoast economy will remain strong and growing. Martin’s has begun leasing space to Health South, the physical therapy specialists to help its patients.
Joe Fiorentino, CEO and president of Ecora, which specializes in security and compliance software, says company growth could reach as much as 10 percent by the end of the year.
Michael McCord Photo
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At Ecora, which specializes in security and compliance software, CEO and President Joe Fiorentino said company growth could reach as much as 10 percent by the end of the year.
Fiorentino, who joined Ecora earlier in the year, said next year should also be strong as the company’s product offerings, such as Auditor Lite, continue to grab market share — in part driven by strict regulatory requirements.
“It has become impossible to manually gather all required data to pass an IT audit,” Fiorentino said. “These organizations are desperately striving to find the means to comply with government IT mandates.
The question at Loftware, which moved to Pease from York, Maine, in April, isn’t one of growth but how much.
“Loftware is very optimistic; we have big plans for 2007,” said Dana Anderson, president of Loftware. His company specializes in the fast-growing RFID, or Radio Frequency Identification market.
“Our client base is growing and our technology offerings are growing, as such, we have a need to fill many departments that are low in resources to feed the needs from our customers and our new product offerings,” Anderson said.
Loftware is hiring across the board — in areas such as technical support, customer support, engineering and sales — and Anderson said that “we will continue to hire in each department as we role out new products in 2007.”
Anderson said the move to Pease “has helped us attract more talent with a more neutral location that we had in Maine.” It has also helped the company develop its state-of-the-art RFID lab and training center, the largest on the East Coast, which should be completed by spring of 2007.
Loftware’s move into one of the old Flextronics buildings has also helped fill vacancies at Pease, especially at large, mostly vacant former industrial sites once inhabited by Flextronics and Celestica.
It was the departure of those component manufacturing companies in 2004 that saw Pease-based job numbers drop by more than 25 percent to 4,300 jobs.
Since then, David Mullen of the PDA said, the job growth has been steady.
(Seacoast Media Group, the parent company of Seacoast Ventures, will begin moving to its newly built location on new Hampshire Avenue at Pease in December.)
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