Seventy-five members of Congress are asking the Food and Drug Administration to allow further comment on sweeping food safety rules that farmers say could drive them out of business. The group sent a letter Monday asking the agency to propose a second set of rules to implement the 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act, which would require farmers to take new precautions against contamination. New England farmers have argued that many aspects of the rules were derived from large-scale practices that don’t apply to the region’s smaller farms. Read more »
Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen and U.S. Representative Annie Kuster have issued a letter to the federal Food and Drug Administration about proposed food safety rules. The New Hampshire lawmakers are concerned about unintended consequences resulting from the 2011 Food Safety and Modernization Act. Read more »
Patricia Legenc said now is the ideal time to start searching for a more professional, better-paying job. “I am underemployed,” said Legenc, of Milford. While she appreciates her full-time job, the paycheck does not provide Legenc with enough income, forcing her to tap into her savings account to make ends meet. On Friday, Legenc initiated her hunt for a new job, a process she says is both nerve wracking and exciting. Read more »
Hundreds of New Hampshire’s unemployed and underemployed searched for their next big opportunity among dozens of local businesses at a job fair at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Friday. Corporate recruiter Christine Hassard, 23, a college student from Salem, represented Windham Professionals, a college loan collection agency based in Wouburn, Mass., and Salem. “I get some terrible looks sometimes,” Hassard said. Read more »
Kuster has made job growth a priority. And in New Hampshire, craft beer is one fast growing area of the state’s economy. She is co-sponsoring a bill, called the Small BREW Act, that would cut the federal excise tax in half for small breweries across the nation. The proposal would save more than $1,000 a year for a place like Seven Barrel. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but consider that small businesses generally don’t have a lot of discretionary money for things like marketing or advertising. The money could help Seven Barrel cover some of the expense of recent upgrades, Lubold said, or go toward a pay bump for staff. Read more »
More than two dozen companies, including Manchester tech firm Dyn Inc., Crotched Mountain ski area, and the U.S. Postal Service, will be part of a job fair in Nashua on Friday. The fair will take place from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, 2 Somerset Parkway. Read more »
U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster, D-N.H., will host a Career and Opportunities Fair on Friday at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Nashua that will feature employers from the manufacturing, finance, health care and recreation industries, among others. Read more »
U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster wants Congress to extend benefits for long-term unemployed workers into 2014. The emergency jobless benefits were extended at the beginning of the year as part of a deal designed to avert a so-called fiscal cliff of tax increases and across-the-board spending cuts. Read more »
The Food and Drug Administration has extended the comment for food safety rules for farmers by an additional week after people said they had technical problems submitting their views online. New Hampshire Rep. Annie Kuster led a New England delegation in asking for the extension. The original deadline was Friday; the new deadline is Friday, Nov. 22. Read more »
New Hampshire Rep. Annie Kuster wants the Food and Drug Administration to extend the comment period for sweeping food safety rules that farmers say could drive them out of business. Earlier this year, farmers attended FDA sessions on the rules, which would require them to take new precautions against contamination, including ensuring workers' hands are washed, irrigation water is clean and that animals stay out of fields. New England farmers say many aspects of the rules were derived from large-scale farming practices that don't apply to the region's smaller farms. Read more »