EDITOR'S NOTE

Welcome to the first edition of Seacoast Ventures: A Business Journal

It is our intent to provide informative and thoughtful stories and information to business men and women in the Seacoast of New Hampshire and Southern Maine.

We intend to look at the issues that are important to the local economy and to you, its business leaders. We want to do so in a manner that is serious and thorough.

Yet, it is our hope and fervent desire that you, our readers, will develop a sense of ownership in the content of this publication and contribute material, ideas, and requests that will help you conduct your business ventures and share information with the entire business community.

That is because Ventures is a business-tobusiness publication. It is an avenue for you, the men and women who do business on the Seacoast, to reach each other with innovations, new products and information about your employees, upcoming events, and your successes.

You will be able to do this through our Names and Faces column, our Planner listings and our Networking photos of area business social events.

Access to us is only an e-mail, a fax or a phone call away. We urge you to send your news and photos to news@seacoastventures.net or to e-mail me at ckilleen@seacoastventures.net or call me at 603-926-1193. To get your message out through advertising, you should call Kathy Witherell at 1-800-439-0303 or e-mail or fax her at kwitherell@seacoastventures.net.

In addition, you will be able to contact us and monitor local and regional business developments on our Web site: seacoastventures.net. The site will be updated on a daily basis in between our monthly print editions.

The print edition is being direct mailed to approximately 10,000 people who are in business on the Seacoast or interested in business developments in the region. Part of our mailing list includes subscribers to the Wall Street Journal and Barron’s, publications that are part of our larger corporate family, Dow Jones & Company. Seacoast Ventures is published by Seacoast Media Group.

Seacoast Media Group provides comprehensive coverage of the region through Sunday, daily and weekly newspaper publications on the Seacoast and Southern Maine and a Web site, seacoastonline.com; yet we concluded the local business community could be and should be better served.

When we asked some of you what you would like to see in this journal, you told us, and this first edition is an effort to respond to those requests.

In addition to some of the regular features mentioned above, the main theme of this issue is Money & Medicine, subjects that are entwined with each other in both our business and private lives. Our writers, including Michael McCord, who wrote the cover story, look at the extent of the local health industry, how it touches on other aspects of local businesses. They look at how the cost of health insurance will affect your business and what is happening on the subject at the state Legislature in Concord.

Our centerpiece looks at some of the ingenious new products being made in the Seacoast.

With small business being as important as it is in New Hampshire and the Seacoast, there will be a monthly interview with a local entrepreneur. This month, it’s Marc Dole, who founded Hatchling Studios in 1999 and now is raising $30 million for a full-length animated film for Hollywood. Another feature will be an interview each month with nationally known demographer and Seacoast resident Peter Francese. This month he talks about the opportunities and threats to small businesses and health care as our population changes. Shir Haberman will keep an eye on the Legislature to see what bills have been proposed that could affect the local business economy.

But, once again, we want to hear from you. Let’s share, and maybe do a little bragging about your ventures here on the Seacoast.