BUSINESS RESOURCES

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No one said starting and growing a successful businesses was easy, but you don’t have to go it alone. Business owners and aspiring business owners in the Derry-Londonderry region have access to a plethora of resources to help their make their entrepreneurial dreams a reality.

Start A Business

Do you have a great idea for a great business, but don’t know where or how to get started? Entrepreneurs in the Derry-Londonderry region have access to free and low-cost resources to assist them as they work to make their dreams a reality.

SCORE

The Merrimack Valley Chapter of SCORE is comprised of approximately 70 volunteer mentors who assist start-ups and existing small businesses by providing free business counseling, small business training, and a vast library of resource information, most of which is available online at no cost.

SCORE’s mentors—current and former business professionals—boast a wide range of business experience, including marketing and sales, engineering, manufacturing, contract management, finance, general management, human resources, retailing, service and more. Employing their individual skills, they assist clients in evaluating and developing plans for new businesses, solving business problems, and directing them to needed resources, including financing.

NH Small Business Development Center

The New Hampshire Small Business Development Center offers one-on-one, confidential business advising, training programs, educational programs and workshops, and access to information referral. The Center offers help with environmental management and innovative economic development initiatives.

To learn more, contact the Center’s Manchester Regional Office.

Finance Your Business

In addition to traditional lenders like banks and credit unions, business owners in the Derry-Londonderry Region have access to a number of alternative financing options to assist with start-up or expansion costs.

Regional Economic Development Center of Southern New Hampshire

The Regional Economic Development Center of Southern New Hampshire serves new, growing and challenged businesses. Whether you need to find a lending partner, finance an expansion, or need assistance with restructuring, REDC can help. Services include business counseling, pre-loan packaging, confidential real estate site searches, alternative financing (gap and bridge loans), and training.

REDC also administers the Derry Revolving Loan Fund for businesses locating in or moving to the Town of Derry.  The fund offers flexible alternative financing and can be used to finance real estate, machinery and equipment, working capital and leasehold improvements.

New Hampshire Community Loan Fund

The New Hampshire Community Loan Fund‘s business financing connects business owners with the loans, investments, and expertise they need to compete in a changing marketplace. Programs included Business Builder loansVested for Growth, and Farm Food Initiative.

Community Development Finance Authority

The Community Development Finance Authority helps municipalities, businesses, and nonprofits obtain the resources needed to create thriving, vibrant communities. Created in 1983, CDFA support affordable housing and economic development activities that benefit low and moderate income citizens in New Hampshire.

Vested for Growth

Vested for Growth provides capital in the form of royalty, or “mezzanine,” financing to established New Hampshire-based businesses.

VFG’s innovative and flexible investment style gives businesses access to expansion capital without the collateral requirements of bank debt, while also avoiding the need to sell the business to pay equity investors.

Female Entrepreneurs

All business owners face certain challenges, but women, because of their gender, often face additional challenges and obstacles that their male peers are less likely to encounter. Working women who have children experience even more demands on time, energy, and resources.

But this does not mean women are less successful than men. In fact, statistics show that women are starting businesses at more than twice the rate of male-majority-owned businesses. The growing success rate of women entrepreneurs shows that they are resourceful, and able to succeed, despite the odds.

Center for Women’s Business Advancement

If you are thinking of starting your own business or you are a seasoned business owner who needs to develop new solutions to grow your business, the Center for Women’s Business Advancement is here to support you through all phases of business ownership.  The mission of our staff and volunteers is founded in a devotion to empowering women to be financially successful in business ownership and entrepreneurship by providing individual business counseling, training, education, networking opportunities, and peer mentoring.

Linked to the Southern New Hampshire University School of Business, the CWBA offers training and assistance throughout the state of New Hampshire. The CWBA, with the backing of SNHU faculty and staff, as well as our business development partners, provides access to numerous resources to help you grow your business.

Sell Internationally

For many companies, the idea of venturing into the world marketplace can be an intimidating project—and even those businesses now selling in foreign markets may be missing emerging opportunities for growth. The fact is, 96 percent of the world’s consumers live outside the United States. That means your company may have significant untapped sales potential in the international market—if you know how to export successfully.

New Hampshire International Trade Resource Center

The Office of International Commerce, part of the New Hampshire Division of Economic Development, is charged with planning, developing and administering programs for international trade promotion and foreign market development and coordinating other public and private organizations involved in similiar efforts. Together, these public and private organizations are New Hampshire International Trade Resource Center (ITRC).

The IRTC offers New Hampshire businesses a network of programs, services, and contacts to benefit and enhance the efforts of the New Hampshire business community to perform competitively in the global marketplace. Examples include workshops and webinars; strategic export planning and market entry strategies; industry-specific and country-specific research; export finance programs; shipping, logistics, customs, and export documentation; and advocacy and intervention.

Sell to Government

Did you know the U.S. federal government buys nearly $100 billion worth of goods and services from small businesses each year? Add to that state and local government procurement and it’s a lucrative business opportunity, indeed!

However, selling to the government demands a completely different go-to-market approach than does the commercial sector. And because a certain amount of Uncle Sam’s budget is specifically set aside for small businesses, you’ll also need to meet a few regulatory formalities to make sure you’re qualified and registered to sell to the government.

Sounds like a time-consuming and daunting process? Well, yes it can be, particularly for resource-constrained small businesses.  However, done right and with plenty of pre-planning and research, small business owners can successfully land their share of federal business.

NH Procurement Technical Assistance Program

The New Hampshire Procurement Technical Assistance Program is a cooperative program of the Division of Economic Development and the US Department of Defense, Defense Logistics Agency, providing specialized assistance for contracting and subcontracting opportunities with Department of Defense, other federal agencies and state and local governments.

Employee Training

The business environment is ever changing. Thankfully, businesses in the greater Derry-Lodonderry Region have access to a number of programs and facilities that work with businesses to train and retrain employees, sometimes creating customized training opportunities.

New Hampshire Works

New Hampshire Works promotes life-long learning by partnering with businesses, agencies, and organizations to bring the state’s education, employment and training programs together into a workforce development system that will provide the means for residents of New Hampshire to gain sufficient skills, education, employment and financial independence.

New Hampshire Job Training Fund

Talent development is a major component of New Hampshire’s economic vitality, and businesses large and small realize the importance of a skilled and educated workforce. That’s why the New Hampshire Job Training Fund was created, and we hope your company takes advantage of this matching grant program designed to enhance worker skills and help you stay competitive in the global marketplace.

Workforce Development Center at Manchester Community College

The Workforce Development Center at Manchester Community College has, and continues to foster strategic partnerships that lead to quality, learner-centered professional and personal growth opportunities for the community in the areas of personal enrichment, professional development, and corporate and customized training.

The Workforce Development Center offers non-credit courses and training in numerous fields including: Allied Health,Business & IndustryConstruction, and English as a Second Language.

AMPed

AMPed – Advanced Manufacturing Partnerships in Education – is a New Hampshire initiative created to educate and train eager, motivated people for high-wage, high-skill jobs in the advanced manufacturing industry.