Business View Civil and Municipal | Volume 2, Issue 9

73 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 2, ISSUE 9 ROCHESTER , NEW HAMPSHI RE We are one of the few communities that still has developable land in their business parks, although the parcels are getting fewer and fewer.” Many different industries are represented, including Albany International, a global textiles and materials company with a variety of applications including aerospace; Laars, an HVAC manufacturing facility; and Lydall Inc., a specialty filtration products manufacturer. The city depends on their relationship with Creteau Technical Center, through the local high school, along with Great Bay Community College, to ensure a skilled workforce for local industry. Scala reports, “They work with the local manufacturers to develop courses to provide either new hires that don’t have training or people that are transitioning. Everyone has a need for skilled workers and New Hampshire is no different. Our unemployment rate is just slightly above 2%, so, businesses find themselves poaching a lot. The Portsmouth Navy shipyard is just 30 minutes south of us, and they are a huge employer of the trades, so we’re competing with them also. We do have a lot of skilled folks in the city, but there are not any extra.” The city and state have funded $6 million in upgrades to the high school over the last few years to connect students to skilled trades, and continue to provide a skilled workforce. Rochester has a population of approximately 35,000 and is poised for growth. City Manager Blaine Cox notes, “We are right on the Spaulding Turnpike, with five exits, so you can be from Portsmouth Route 95, into downtown Rochester in 20 minutes. Also, we do have some undeveloped land, unlike our sister cities to the south, who are saturated. Our prices are attractive compared to our sister cities. So, all those things make us very attractive right now.” The expanding population has created a lack of available housing in the community, a situation that Scala is hopeful will improve as more investors are showing an interest in Rochester. He explains, “We have a lot of developers that are very interested, for a couple of reasons.