The past year flew by at Plan NH! We doubled our full time staff with the hiring of Program Manager Alissa Del Tufo in January, said goodbye to Membership Coordinator Cecilia Azzi in December, and saw an overall 15% increase in Plan NH Membership throughout the year. Reflecting on the year, I am impressed with what our team, largely comprised of dedicated volunteers, was able to accomplish!
From networking at JSA, to our virtual Town Hall, to a standing-room only workshop on solar energy, spring was a busy time. In the summer, we celebrated recipients of the Plan NH Merit Awards and Scholarship program, hosted a networking event at The Westbrook Inn, and organized a walking tour in Franklin, NH. By the fall is was time for our golf tournament as well as our fall conference. At the conference we explored how the built environment can be harnessed to tackle critical issues ranging from connectivity and housing to workforce and childcare concerns.
Our team also completed Community Design Charrettes in Brentwood, Campton, and Manchester in 2023! These charrettes made for three very unique, but equally energizing weekends of participatory visioning and planning.
Throughout the year we continued to partner closely with NH Housing on the InvestNH Municipal Planning & Zoning Grant Program and presented about this and other Plan NH programs at the NHPA Spring Conference, UNH’s Housing Academy, ACCESS 2023 hosted by the Greater Manchester Chamber, and the NNECAPA Planning Conference held New Castle, NH.
We closed the year by presenting the NH Construction Industry Ethics Award to Rob Prunier, Vice President of Harvey Construction, who has demonstrated a commitment to upholding the highest ethical standards in construction over the life of his career.
Thank you to our members, sponsors, and volunteers for helping to make 2023 another great year for Plan NH. It was energizing to experience the ongoing support from the Plan NH community for our vision of vibrant communities across the state. Stay tuned for details about our Annual Town Hall to hear more about our plans for 2024, and, if you haven’t already, please consider becoming a Plan NH Member.
Looking forward to another great year,
Tiffany Tononi McNamara, Plan NH Executive Director
PS – I’d be remiss if I didn’t also extend a special thank you to Jodie Nazaka, City of Manchester, and Heather Rowan, Patcraft, who completed their service on the Plan NH Board of Directors at the end of 2023, and a big welcome to Karl Franck, Archlab Design Studio and the City of Manchester, for becoming our newest Board Member!
