Spotlight On: George Maglaras, Commissioner, Strafford County

Spotlight On: George Maglaras, Commissioner, Strafford County

2023-05-10T12:45:53-04:00May 10th, 2023|Boston, Economy, Spotlight On|

3 min read May 2023 – Strafford County provides a range of social services including those aimed at elder care and pioneering the implementation of same justice sooner of our criminal justice system focused on behavioral health. Invest spoke with George Maglaras, Chairman of the Board of Strafford County Commissioners about the evolution of the local economy, sustainable growth in the area and their outlook going forward.

What differentiates Strafford County and its business community from other areas in the New England region?

Strafford County is uniquely positioned geographically. We have mass transit and a small urban feel. Being in New Hampshire, we have a lot of economic advantages. We have no sales or income tax. The increase in the workforce has fueled the demand for affordable housing which has been a challenge. We’re about 30,000 units short in New Hampshire, based on present demand. We are an hour from Boston, Massachusetts; home of the University of New Hampshire; 20 minutes from the beautiful Atlantic Ocean coastline and beaches with Dover having 22 miles of coastal waterfront; and one hour from White Mountain recreational opportunities.

How does Strafford County complement the region’s economy?

There has been an increase in population growth in the last 1O years as well as a renaissance that we’re going through with the adaptive reuse of the old mills in town for housing and retail. Through zoning incentives, the communities have been able to leverage a ton of private investment, which has been great for our region.

How do you see Strafford’s economy evolving in the near future?

During COVID, many people were working from home and later on, most people didn’t change their business models—resulting in office building owners putting their properties up for sale. An example is the City of Dover working with Liberty Mutual (one of our largest employers) officials to discuss what we can do to create zoning incentives to cater to changing dynamics of office zones. lt allows us to take another look at those particular properties and see what we can do from a regulatory perspective to help those folks leverage more private investment for more diversification. Some of these zoning ordinances in our towns have been slow to change because most of the planning across our country has been based on the old-World War II model of suburban living. Nationally we probably had 2,500 malls 15 years ago, and we’re likely down to less than 500 now because malls that we had created 30 years ago are having great difficulty filling their stores because of e-commerce. With that, I’ve been calling for the adaptive reuse of those small strip malls and those larger malls in our region.

What do you think of the sustainable growth that’s happening in Strafford County?

Right now, industries are driving demand for housing, otherwise, employers cannot employ people. We’ve got new synergy taking place that creates an opportunity for the private sector to step up to the plate. Most of our major manufacturing facilities in the county are looking for workers as they expand, but they can’t hire anybody because the bodies don’t exist. We have great school systems here and are uniquely poised because of the natural resources we have available and all the lifestyle amenities close to us. When I was mayor of Dover 30 years ago, about 60% of our disposable income was leaving the county. There’s been a greater share of disposable income being spent locally as economic diversification took place over time. So, we’re not solely relying on large employers. There are also two things going on with our population. Our population is getting younger but then we also have challenges with the aging population here in New Hampshire. We’ve got a lot of folks that are working into their 80s.

They’re staying healthy and living longer. Those folks tend to have more disposable income, which drives the economy in different ways. But the aging population is something that the counties are focused on because we’re trying to get prepared for that baby boom. The shift that’s taking place as a result of the technology is just a different dynamic than we’re used to. And in that case, we’re looking at leveraging investments in businesses and individuals.

What are the challenges to economic growth in the region?

We’ve had a history of manufacturing goods across the board and I’d like to see us have more manufacturing opportunities. The manufacturing of goods here has shifted tremendously in the last 40 years. We have a broad spectrum of manufacturing but that needs to be expanded upon to help the workforce. We have a tremendous lack of skilled labor in the construction industry, with huge demand for electricians, carpenters and landscape folks because of the housing crunch. We have a bunch of business owners here who are in manufacturing and are looking to our federal partners to try to level the playing field as it relates to tariffs, which is a big issue for manufacturing. They’ve been saying that we need to level the playing field for Americans as it relates to competing in the global economy.

What steps are you taking to tackle workforce development?

it’s a double-edged sword with the ability to create attainable housing. We’ve got a report that’s coming out covering the entire housing inventory and finding out what we’re lacking in terms of housing opportunities for folks. There have been structural changes in businesses due to COVID. We needed this report to build the focus on specific goals in the areas of what we ought to be working on. 1 want to ensure we foster young entrepreneurs starting from scratch so they can afford and pursue their dreams. It’s what America’s all about. AII of those different aspects of investment for smaller folks and little guys is important for their well-being, economic health and also mental health.

What is your overall outlook for Strafford County’s economy?

The overall outlook for the economy is very strong. People are migrating out of bigger cities to come to these small urban areas like Strafford County. Our economy here is going to continue to be strong because we have a lot of folks interested in growing their businesses. I’m trying to build solar farms to produce electricity, and also build a brand-new healthcare facility to meet the aging population’s needs. 1 want to create the expansion of home and community-based services for those who are in need and do as much as we can on the obtainable end for housing the more vulnerable of our population. l’m asking the municipalities to look at the commercial strip revamp because the way we do business has changed. So, l’d like to be able to change the zoning in those areas to leverage private investments to go up three or four stories and put some housing above it. That would help support the commercial aspect of it down below. 

For more information, please visit:

https://co.strafford.nh.us/

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