NH Tech Economy Recovering Faster, Leading New England

Good interview here by Fred Kocher, New Hampshire's Business on WMUR-TV.  (Click the link to play; can't find any embedding code.) 

Quotable quote:  Jason Alexander of Alexander Technology Group.  No, a different Jason Alexander, not this Jason Alexander!  Anyway, he's the founder of the eponymously named IT staffing company and he had this to say about the hiring climate in NH these days:

"There's a lot of momentum coming out of this recession.  We're seeing a faster turnaround coming out of this recession as opposed to the previous turnaround from the dot-com bust." 

This quote seemed to flummox Mr. Kocher, who apparently isn't used to hearing such upbeat prognosi.

This was an interview I almost got roped into giving myself, but these guys did a great job in my stead -- and it was a lot shorter drive for them, so... good on them.    

Nice shout-outs for eCoast and TechWorld here, including on-screen graphics.  (Oooooh, fancy!)

Speaking of TechWorld, you get your tickets yet?  Go here and get 'em while the gettin's good.  

SwANH Swallowed by NHHTC

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Got a Mass High Tech news alert in my inbox the other day: N.H. High Tech Council merges with Software Association of NH.  (Thanks for the scoop Rodney!)  According to NHHTC president Fred Kocher, the group had 220 members and is now folding in 64 from SwANH.  (I note that SwANH also has 306 members on its LinkedIn group.)

The news of the merger came as no surprise to me; I have actually been expecting something like this for years.  Actually, I was more surprised by the fact that SwANH had been around for 16 years!  And despite what my pal David Brooks thinks, I always thought the SwANH acronym seemed forced at best, so I won't miss the moniker. 

Interestingly, SwANH lives on, albeit as a sub-group of the High Tech Council.  In the MHT article, Kocher says that "creating SwANH as a special interest group would make it the first such sub-category within the council, but it may not be the last."  Frankly, I've always thought that having an eCoast arm (or "SIG") in the NHHTC would make sense.  Whereas SwANH has co-hosted eBrews and such in the past, NHHTC has been and continues to be a very Manchester-Nashua-centric entity and could certainly benefit from some fresh perspectives from the Portsmouth area.  (Just sayin'...)

In any event, I think this merger makes sense and hope it spurs cooperation and growth across the state.