290 in loans and investments totaling $47 million in the district in 2022
Stories from the District
Client Spotlight: A Place to Grow
Brentwood,
New Hampshire
Rockingham Economic Development Corporation
A Place to Grow is a nature-based early learning center in Brentwood, New Hampshire. REDC began working with A Place to Grow and its owner, Jennifer Legere, in 2013, with in-depth business advising. REDC provided financing to assist the growth of her business in 2015, and we have continued to support the business with technical assistance.
The dedicated entrepreneur behind Auspicious Brew, Helen, is a trained herbalists, seasoned gardener, brewer, and service industry veteran. She had a dream to produce vibrant fermented herbal beverages using their extensive understanding of growing and preparing medicinal and culinary plants stems from formal herbal trainings and ongoing practice as an herbalist in the community.
Dunk's Mushrooms Products & Foraging received financing from REDC in the fall of 2019 for renovation and equipment costs in their commercial kitchen. Dunk's Mushrooms Products & Foraging is located in Brentwood, New Hampshire.
REDC loan client Swell Oyster Company was founded in 2017 by Conor Walsh and Russ Hilliard - two friends who met while earning Aquaculture degrees at the University of Rhode Island. While working as servers at a well-known Seacoast NH oyster restaurant, the two decided farming oysters was the perfect complement to their interests, friendship, and passion for locally grown food.
We spoke with Carole Mannino and Rachel Hamilton, the President of the Board and the Recording Secretary of the Board, respectively, of the Derry Oak Village Cooperative — the 150th resident-owned community (ROC) that we helped establish. Together they painted a picture of the process of learning that their manufactured-home park was for sale, learning how to establish a cooperative that empowered the park residents to buy Derry Oaks, and how we helped them go from frightened to optimistic.
New Hampshire Community Loan Fund, Partners for the Common Good
Fear of losing their homes prompted the residents to organize the Exeter River Manufactured Housing Project Cooperative (MHP) to buy and renovate their 89-acre park with a loan from Partners and the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund.
