MANCHESTER — Hiring continues to be a prime concern for New Hampshire businesses, a survey by Congressman Frank Guinta released Thursday showed.

With half of businesses planning on not hiring this year, Guinta, R-N.H., said, “That’s a deep concern for the economy and for the workforce that are seeking opportunities.”

Just 23 percent said they are going to hire in the next 90 days, 18 percent in the next six months and 9 percent within the next year.

A combined 59 percent have no plans to hire either this year or next.

At a meeting attended by about two dozen businessmen and women at the 1st District Congressman’s Manchester District Office off Lowell Street, Gary Brown of Raymond-based www.WebPageDesignUSA.com and The Image Factory said he can’t afford to hire any more staff and is fighting to keep his current 12 employees working.

“I’m at tipping point, where if I hire any more folks, I will have to pay for national health care,” Brown said.

“Health care, that could cripple me,” he said. “The fuel tax; the one thing I came here today for is I implore you to go back to Washington and start talking aboupt drilling.”

His server farm in Los Angeles depends on electricity, but he can’t raise his prices, Brown said.

“How an I going to survive? I’m not going to hire,” he said.

High fuel costs

Guinta related how it cost him $71.50 to fill the tank in his Ford Edge the prior night.

High fuel costs affect everyone, he said. “We’ve got to look as a nation.”

Choosing to continue down the current course means spending billions of dollars trying to keep the Middle East stable because that’s where the U.S. gets most of its oil, he said.

“I don’t think that plan is effective,” Guinta said. “I don’t think in January anyone could have predicted what was going to happen in March or April in the Middle East.”

“You’re seeing oil prices shooting through the roof, you’re seeing OPEC reduce their production,” he said. “Our country uses 18, 19 million barrels a day while producing about 7 million.”

“If we don’t do anything differently, you’re going to continue to see in the next five years the spiking of prices,” Guinta said.

“if we decide that we want to become self-sufficient and just at least increase our production from the 7 million barrels a day up to the number of barrels a day that we’re using in this country, which would also have an affect on the global market, yes, it does mean that, guess what, you have to drill, you have to access that natural gas through fracking.

“We can through a legislative processs be responsible and include alternatives like solar and wind, through the revenue sharing and the profit sharig of the fossil fuel system, and bring all kinds of energy to the table,” he said.

“I think that makes sense for the long-term,” he said. “We do have to be responsible to consumers, to taxpayers, to ratepayers.”



On the Net:

guinta.house.gov