Experts weigh in on city's economy

by Albert KcKeon
Telegraph Staff
October 19, 2007

NASHUA, NH - Nothing validated two experts' commentaries on New Hampshire's robust economy more than the speaker who followed them.

Armen Aftandilian and his firm, Packard Development [affiliated with New England Development], will build 600,000 square feet of shops and restaurants in the already bustling retail corridor of south Nashua because Nashua-area residents have disposable incomes, he said.

"Nashua is a proven destination," Aftandilian said Thursday at a breakfast forum hosted by Mayor Bernie Streeter at Rivier College. The city generates $3 billion in retail sales annually, he said.

The essence of Aftandilian's presentation - high-skilled jobs pay good salaries and those workers will want to spend that money in the high-end shops, restaurants and a movie theater that will constitute Nashua Landing - tied a bow on the speeches of two state economic experts.

George Bald, commissioner of the state Resources and Economic Development department, listed the strengths of New Hampshire: It's a livable, safe, environmentally friendly state with a strong economy.

Nashua's offerings, particularly, have been a boon to the region and state, Bald said. But the state and city need to stay on their toes and not slip in the many key economic and social indexes in which they thrive, he said.

On the state level, the task of staying at or near the top falls to Mike Vlacich, the director of Bald's department.

Vlacich spoke of the initiatives aimed to help New Hampshire's economy. Among the current or soon-to-be-unveiled programs he mentioned: connecting state businesses with high school and college graduates, a $1 million job training fund that offers dollar-for-dollar matching grants, and an improved branding of the state's many offerings to a national audience.

The state and Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce are also working on a youth retention task force that will keep young minds in their home state after graduation, Vlacich said.

But the bells and whistles of the breakfast forum was a visual presentation of what Nashua Landing will look like upon its 2009 opening.

The shopping center will offer the state's first Whole Foods Market - a popular natural and organic food store - a sporting goods store Aftandilian wouldn't name, a movie theater and retail stores.

Nashua Landing will have three entry points along Daniel Webster Highway and offers the final piece of the retail puzzle along that area, he said. Packard will add a traffic light and widen the road, but he didn't detail how the work would affect an already congested traffic path.

The numbers justify this project, Aftandilian said. The average annual household income in the region is about $90,000, and Nashua Landing would fit the state's larger retail picture, he said.