Coos Conversations

Big plans create jobs in Berlin. NOT!

It seems every few years there's a new plan to create massive jobs for the North Country, Reviving the mill, building a prison, Laidlaw, a casino, but his just another example. When Senator Gregg shoved this federal monstrosity down the throats of local residents, it promised hundreds of jobs for local Berlin residents. But today comes the news that the job of building the new prison in Berlin went to a California contractor . So the questions IS: How much of the federal monies will go to Craig Martin and his croneys in Pasadena and how much will actually benefit Berlin? Can we please ask this question of Laidlaw next time they come to town? If they're so anxious for our input, how about putting stipulations about how much of the actual revenue from the plant stays in the county?

Would you trust a $100 million project to a company with a Market Cap of $600K?

That's the current Market Cap of Laidlaw Energy Group who's stock today is valued at $.0004.
Yes, that's three zeroes after the decimal point. A year ago there were only 2 zeroes, so in the last few months, Laidlaw had lost even more value. Even with 1.5 billion (yes, that's billion with a B) shares outstanding that makes its market cap around $600,000 -- about half the revenue of KDPaine & Partners!

Because of these and other concerns, I listened with interest to Laidlaw's presentation to Berlin's City Council last night. 

The first bombshell to drop was that Berlin  has no legal authority to impact development on the Burgess mill site. It's entierely up to Concord. Lets hope Governor Lynch and the PUC have Berlin's best interests at heart, because no Planning Board, no Zoning board can override the authority of the state energy facility site evaluation committee.  (EFSEC) The only opportunity the city has to impact the process is through the actual application process. Laidlaw's attorney's declined to be specific about when that process would start. When it does begin, it will take approximately 9 months to move through the system, and that would be the time that Berlin could negotiate with Laidlaw to put stipulations and contingencies into their plans.So the question is, how much do Berlin residents trust Concord  to look out for our interests?

Laidlaw's CEO, Michael Bartosek was on hand to explain that they wanted to work with Berlin, and proposed purchasing the remaining acreage on the former mill site and setting up a non-profit group to develop it. (Of course who would want to be up wind from a noisy, dusty power plant, remains to be seen. A "River Walk" was mentioned, but again, who wants to go walking along a river, in the shadow of a power plant? I've never seen anyone walking anywhere near this biomass plant in Newington.

Bartosek used all the right "green" words in his presentation, saying that the plant would be part of a "new energy economy" and "be sustainable" and "reduce our dependence on foreign oil." What he didn't mention was that since Berlin is already energy self-sufficient thanks to 5 hydro plants, all the revenue generated by the plant would go out of the county.

Bartosek also discussed the "40 jobs" he's promised to create. He hopes to use a contractor to build the plant that would employe Coos County workers.  Right, like the prison -- which is being built in Pennsylvania and trucked here in pieces.

He also talked about the dozens of  logging jobs that he hopes to protect.   I'd love to survey local truckers and find out just how many will be waiting around for that Laidlaw order in 5 years if/when the plant goes on line.  Bartosek was so emphatic about his helping local loggers that it occurred to me that Dillon was probably deeply involved in this project.

Another big topic was the relationship with PSNH. It was clear from their presentation that as had been spectulated, Laidlaw is essentially just a front for PSNH to build a biomass plant in Berlin. Which of course explains former mayor and PSNH employee Bob Danderson's enthusiasm for the project.

I applaud Mayor Bertrand and the city council for their excellent questions last night. And I acknowledge that Laidlaw did a good job of providing the answers. I just don't believe them. 

If you care about the city of Berlin, show up tonight

Regardless of how you stand on Laidlaw's plans to put a biomass plant in the middle of our downtown, anyone who lives within 20 miles of Berlin should be at City Hall tonight at 6:30 when Laidlaw officials meet with the City Council for the first time to present their plans. 
Laidlaw's plans will impact far more than just the downtown Berlin area. Sure, downtown merchants will be affected by the noise and pollution the plant will create as people avoid shopping in Berlin and take their business to Gorham or Lancaster. Sure, residents of Berlin will be impacted by the return of heavy industry to the middle of downtown as prospects for tourism, light industry and a creative economy fade once again. But Laidlaw's plans have implications that go far beyond the borders of Berlin.
Berlin has the opportunity to be the capital of a resurgent north country, attracting tourists, small businesses artists and all the other ingredients of a thriving rural economy. It's already starting to happen, with the relocation of www.yoparts.com and KDPaine & Partners to the area, and the reopening of the Princess Cinema, it's becoming increasingly evident that the availability of broadband enables entrepreneurs to live and work in one of the most beautiful places on earth. But that moniker will no longer hold true when the mill is reborn as Laidlaw's biomass plant. The beautiful views of the mountains and river that Laidlaw now owns  will be obscured by heavy equipment, trucks and emissions from the stacks. Who will want to visit then.
We urge the City Council and Laidlaw to quickly resolve this issue. KDPaine & Partners has directly added 20 jobs to the local economy since we arrived 2 1/2 years ago and we planned to add more. But if the future of the town is as a heavy industrial zone, we probably  won't be adding many jobs. It's one thing to attract people and talent to one of the most beautiful places on earth that embraces a new creative economy.  It's another thing to try to get people to move to an industrial wasteland.

If you're thinking of starting a business or already have one

Stonyfield Farm Entrepreneurship Institute is the place to be. It's a one day crash course in entrepreneurship from a socially responsible perspective. This year's its moved to UNH and added a  hands on social media workshop in the afternoon. Hope to see you there

Best news of the year!

The Princess Theater in Berlin is reopening! .