The Fedtrade® podcast recently interviewed Adam Boltik, Program Manager for the Office of International Commerce of the State of New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs, as part of our SelectUSA Investment Summit Spotlight series. The Department of Business and Economic Affairs (BEA) is the premier resource for businesses considering expansion in, or relocation to, New Hampshire, as well as people seeking a home in a place where they can balance their careers amid the natural beauty it offers. Members of the BEA will be attending the 2025 SelectUSA Investment Summit in National Harbor, Maryland, from May 11-14, 2025.

Learn more about the New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs on their website or follow them on LinkedIn. Connect with Adam on LinkedIn.

Key Takeaways:

  • The state’s low tax burden, highly skilled and educated workforce, and responsive and lean government make it attractive to international companies seeking to establish a presence in the U.S.
  • It is critical for international companies to come prepared for the U.S. regulatory environment and to understand that success is a journey.
  • With a lot of advanced manufacturing companies in New Hampshire, broad-based tariffs will mean a lot of disruption and will cause a lot of companies to think how can they change their supply chains.

[a copy of the written transcript is here]:

Welcome to Fedtrade®. I’m James Hastings of Rothwell Figg. Joining us on the podcast today is Adam Boltik, Program Manager of the Office of International Commerce of the New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs. Adam will share his insight on how New Hampshire attracts global companies and investors, and what makes New Hampshire a preferred destination for innovative companies to establish a business. Adam, welcome to Fedtrade®.

Thank you very much, Jamie. A pleasure to be here and thank you for having me.

Adam, what is the mission of the New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs?

Sure, so the Department of Business and Economic Affairs, we like to refer to it as BEA, is really meant to be a resource for New Hampshire companies or any global companies that are interested in doing business with or in New Hampshire. We provide everything from international trade services to promote export and import, to helping companies locate in New Hampshire with the assistance of a lot of different services that we offer.  We also try to figure out how we can have and build the best economy we can in the state. Our agency has taken the lead on helping to develop workforce training programs, on making sure that we have enough affordable housing, and that these businesses and their workers, no matter where they are, have access to high speed, reliable internet. So all of that is kind of rolled into the work we do with BEA. We approach everything with how do we do this to continue to ensure that New Hampshire is the best place for companies to start up, companies to invest, and to keep doing business.

For international companies who are seeking to do business in the United States, it can be sometimes overwhelming in terms of what state to locate in. What are some of the factors that make New Hampshire a preferred destination in your opinion?

Well, I definitely want to echo your point, which is for some companies, there sometimes could be 50 different states they’re looking at when they’re talking to the U.S. States have different tax programs, they have different benefits and things that they provide to businesses that locate there, they have different ways of tackling workforce issues, supply chains, or anything else. But what I really like about New Hampshire, and I think is really, really our strength, is that we have a low tax burden. Basically the only sort of tax that we would be applying on businesses that come here is a business income tax, which you’d find in any other state. But for those that are working here, we don’t have any personal income tax, we don’t have any sales tax, there’s no use or inventory taxes. So it becomes a lot more affordable for businesses to come here. And that’s really the first thing that draws them in. But we also have a very lean and responsive government. It’s very easy to be walking down the street in Concord, for instance, and see legislators and talk with them, or even see to the governor. All of them are very, very focused and dedicated to helping businesses and helping to identify and solve any sort of problems they have. 

I would say the other really important factor is that we have a highly educated and skilled workforce. More than 40% of New Hampshire workers have at least a bachelor’s degree and many more of them have master’s or higher level degrees in business-focused and business important fields. It’s very attractive to manufacturing companies and research-oriented companies, such as life sciences or advanced manufacturing. They love to come here to New Hampshire. They love to see the kind of training and education programs we have. They love to see the educated workforce because that means they’re going to be able to draw on the people they need to have success in New Hampshire.

I know you talked to my colleague in Vermont, and he mentioned quality of life. We have very similar things like that as well. Tons of recreational assets, wonderful places to go see no matter what time of year. That is also important, but I really think what businesses respond to is that responsive government and especially that available, educated workforce.

You had mentioned the life sciences sector. Are there any other sectors that align well with New Hampshire and its benefits?

Yeah, so we have a lot of companies that come here in the advanced manufacturing space. When I say that, I mean particularly in aerospace and component manufacturing, and we also have a strong optics hub in the western part of the state that again draws on that skilled workforce because a lot of that is focused on very detailed work and having an educated workforce is helpful with that. So I would say the advanced manufacturing space. And we are seeing a lot more success as well in IT/cybersecurity-type companies that come here because again, they’re benefiting from having that educated workforce.

For the innovative sectors that you just mentioned, intellectual property can be very important.

Yes, it’s huge. It’s the foundation of so much of what these companies do, either what they’re selling or even just how they produce what they do. And I can’t stress enough the importance of making sure that IP is protected, and understanding that IP protection in one place does not mean you’re protected worldwide. So being able to come into the U.S. market already well prepared with an IP protection strategy is hugely important.

What are some funding opportunities available to companies seeking to go to market in New Hampshire and specifically international entities?

We work very, very closely with a number of other partners at the state, regional, and local levels to find different ways that we can help companies meet their financial needs. I talked about how we have a very, very low tax government. That means we don’t have the kind of big pockets of direct immediate subsidies that might be available in other states. Not to say that those aren’t good. I think if companies are interested in that, one of the questions they should be asking any state is, what’s available in this space and how to do it.  But for companies that want to come to a place like New Hampshire and set up and thrive, we work with groups such as the Business Finance Authority. It’s sort of a New Hampshire public-private agency that has the authority and ability to come up with innovative funding or financing schemes to help businesses with all sorts of needs. They have a lot of former bankers who understand how the system works and how to help with them. We do have very strong relationships with local and regional banks that have an interest in supporting company growth here and especially helping to keep companies here. We are also happy to talk about some of the tax benefits that we have, again, because we’re a low tax state. Not a lot of taxes to offer credits against for investors, but that is something that we can offer. A lot of it is really based on the individual company’s needs and what they’re looking for. We have a lot of different tools and a lot of different resources and partners we can draw on to help find a solution that would work for companies looking to come here.

Does your department also work with private sector partners in the professional services and other areas?

Absolutely. They’re actually probably some of the best contacts that we have in large part because they bring so much knowledge, expertise, and ability to the table that could help international companies. You talked about IP earlier, for instance. I think that’s a great one. We work with a number of law firms that provide a lot of business-focused assistance that can help companies with, you know, here’s what you need to know about registering your IP. Here’s the regulatory system, both in the state of New Hampshire and the U.S., and different services they can provide around there. They even have ties to their own other funding sources or other partners that they work with that can help bring financing together as well. A number of our international law firms have that kind of really important business focus and so we love to engage them and draw on them early in the process to again make sure businesses have everything that they need so when they come here they’re ready to set up and they’re ready to go.

Regardless of the sector, are there common mistakes or misconceptions of international companies or investors who are seeking to do business in New Hampshire or elsewhere in the United States?

I think there are some things that companies wish they’d done differently. One of the biggest ones I think is just coming in unprepared thinking, okay, great, I can set up a facility, hire workers and we’re off to go. Related to making sure that companies are ready to deal with the legal and regulatory framework in the U.S., while it is very pro-business, it is different than what companies might be used to. So just making sure that you have a partner that can work with you to make sure that you have, again, your IP protected, that you’re going to be complying with regulatory rules on whatever product or service you’re offering. Having that done beforehand is absolutely important and I think understanding that this is a journey. You’re not going to come in and make a whole bunch of sales right away. You have partners in the private sector, in the public sector, at the state level, at the national level that are willing to work with you. But you’ve got to be prepared to be a part of this for the long haul if you really want to see good results.

New Hampshire borders Canada, and as we know, tariffs have been in the news recently. What do you think the impact of tariffs could be on Canada-New Hampshire trade and international trade in general?

Well, anytime that you put something like this in place it’s a barrier. It is going to change the landscape. I think some industries may benefit, I think some industries may not. It should be clear that at least as of right now as we’re recording this, they haven’t gone into effect yet. But having broad-based tariffs in place, it is going to mean a lot of disruption, a lot of change. Particularly, we have a state that, again, as I’ve talked about, is very, very focused and very, very involved in advanced manufacturing. That’s not something that just comes here once, is made, and exported and that’s it. There are a lot of times where these products are crossing the border several times, at different levels of production, and that’s going to be a tariff that’s going to be hit on them every time. I think that’s going to really cause a lot of companies to think how can they change their supply chains and how can they make a difference. I think a number of our companies are also concerned about retaliation because that’s a very real thing as well.

The federal government has recently funded tech hubs throughout the country. Does New Hampshire have any tech hubs?

We do. We have a regenerative manufacturing tech hub that’s based in Manchester. It is really focused on developing technologies and promoting commercialization of basically medical treatments that can be used to grow organs or find new sources of medical equipment or medical products that might otherwise not be available. It’s a fascinating, fascinating place.

Does New Hampshire attend SelectUSA? And if so, can you briefly describe what it is and the benefits of attending?

Yep, so the SelectUSA Investment Summit is held annually just outside of Washington, D.C. and brings together representatives from, I think, nearly every state and territory and literally thousands of potential investors from around the world. It is basically a trade show where all of these potential investors can go meet with the different states and learn about what opportunities they might have. They also have access to a lot of different service providers. And the private side as well as the U.S. government to talk about what other programs are available. But it really is kind of the one place to go for an international investor if they want to know everything there is to know about investing in the U.S. and what options are available to help them out. We’ve gone every year and we’re excited to go again this year in May. We’ll actually be I think right next to our friends in Vermont. So there’s probably going to be both some cooperation and a little bit of friendly rivalry. But it’s absolutely important for us to go because you don’t make these deals, you can’t make these connections, without first having the introduction. And being able to be in a position where we can just introduce ourselves to these potential investors and talk about New Hampshire is a benefit.

Can you share any success stories that New Hampshire has had at SelectUSA?

We’ve definitely developed a lot of good leads at the SelectUSA Summit and we’ve had a lot of those good initial conversations. I’m hoping soon that we can have some big success stories where I could point to individual companies. We’re not quite there yet, but having those conversations, if we don’t have that, then we’ll never have success at all. These investment questions and decisions can be a long time in the making. And that’s why we’re there, to really be able to meet with these companies. Sometimes they’ve been to the SelectUSA Summit more than once. We’re happy to just kind of check in with them, see how things are going and what else we can do to help. But being there is what’s going to eventually lead to some real successes. 

I do want to share really quickly a story. Last year we met with a company that was looking to locate a specialty steel mill in the U.S. They were very, very interested in New Hampshire’s low tax climate. They were asking, what about access to markets, and we happen to have that since we are close to Boston and Montreal. Then they started getting into, “well, we’d like 700 people who can be in this factory. We want to make sure we have access to coal and iron.” It was a great conversation. It very interesting. But we had to kind of come up and say, “New Hampshire’s probably not the best. Why don’t you go talk to some of our colleagues maybe in Pennsylvania or other states where they have 700 people who could work here and have access to coal and iron and all the other resources.” It’s always kind of interesting to have those stories too, right? Like, of course, everybody wants to be able to say “I had this big investment worth billions of dollars in my state that came from SelectUSA,” but being able to have these other conversations too and helping guide investors to a direction that maybe they didn’t consider but that’s more right for them is also an exciting opportunity and it is another reason why we love to go to events like SelectUSA.

You raise an excellent point regarding states knowing their niches and what their specialties are in terms of the best fit for a certain entity seeking to do business in the United States. Would you agree that the best fits for New Hampshire include high tech sector entities?

Absolutely, I would definitely say high-tech. Again, those that are focused on kind of that advanced manufacturing or innovative modes of production that don’t necessarily require a lot of people but that do require a lot of education experience, that’s going to be a much better fit for us. Those kind of companies can partner with, for instance, the state or even with our university system to get training programs or access to students to get them into the workforce. But I’m gonna say again, even if you have a very high-tech company, if you’re hiring 700 people, it’s going to be tougher in New Hampshire than other states. So we tend to focus on and really try to attract the small and medium-sized businesses that are being innovative and really trying to push things forward. They’re going to have a lot more success in New Hampshire.

How can people find out more about the international trade resource component of the BEA in New Hampshire?

Well, all of the information about all of the services that BEA offers are available on our website at www.nheconomy.com. We keep that website regularly updated with different sort of program offerings. There’s a lot in there on the Office of International Commerce, which is where I’m from, that talk about the services we provide to foreign investors and to New Hampshire companies that are looking to import and export and how we can help them out. But any business of any size, no matter where they are, can access this website. And they contact us and figure out different ways that we might be able to help them either enter the U.S. market or do business in New Hampshire.

Adam Boltik, International Trade Resource Manager of the New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs. Thanks for joining us today.

Thank you, Jamie, and I’ll see you at SelectUSA too this May.

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