Manchester, N.H., airport lands the new economy

When property-casualty management firm RiverStone Group LLC was looking for a new home in 1999, it quickly zeroed in on what's known as "the New Hampshire advantage" -- no state income or sales taxes.

But once the former Chicago firm found a likely space in a historic mill complex on the Merrimack River in Manchester, other factors came into play, said Robert Warren, a RiverStone senior vice president.

"Then we looked at other things that added to the attraction of the place, and one of those definitely was Manchester airport," Warren said recently in RiverStone's 100,000-square-foot office space in a former spinning mill.

RiverStone Group, which today employs 220 people in Manchester, is not the only company to have found the busiest airport in northern New England a big attraction.

In recent years, a host of research, high-tech and specialty financial firms have moved to Manchester or expanded operations there. They all are firms where workers fly a lot, both domestically and internationally.

"This airport is really the locomotive of our economic success story," said Robin Comstock, Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce president and CEO.

In addition to RiverStone, firms locating or expanding in or near Manchester in recent years include Texas Instruments; Autodesk, the originator of AutoCAD drafting software; customer service software providers KANA and Chordiant; and DEKA Research & Development, founded by Segway scooter inventor Dean Kaman in 1982.

During that time, inflation-adjusted median family income has increased 21.1 percent to $60,602 in Manchester, according to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau estimates.

Most local companies now use Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, rather than Boston's Logan International just 55 miles away, for most of their travel.

The Manchester airport has set new passenger records for each of the past 10 years, with 4.1 million passengers passing through the 14 jet gates of its 300,000-square-foot terminal in 2005.

Hootin' and hollerin'

It wasn't that way in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when the national recession hit Manchester like a tsunami, wiping out flagship companies, including manufacturers and four of the state's most prominent banks, said Tom Schwieger, former chamber president and CEO.

"Overall, this community lacked a can-do attitude," said Schwieger, a native of Fort Dodge, Iowa, who moved to New Hampshire in the early 1980s.

The chamber decided the flagging airport, which had just two airlines, was a key to the city's future. Prominent business leaders, including the head of a local engineering firm, the head of New England Telephone and a future federal judge, got involved.

Then the chamber put ideas for a grand expansion of the airport to a crowd of more than 300 at Manchester Central High School in a New England-style town meeting.

"There was hootin' and hollerin' and a lot of public opposition and a lot of elected officials opposed it," Schwieger said recently seated at a booth at the Merrimack Restaurant, a Manchester political hangout and favorite of Democratic Party presidential candidates.

Slowly the chamber made progress, in particular with some of its "natural enemies" in the Democratic-controlled city government, Schwieger said.

The head of the state Department of Transportation's aviation department also became a backer.

It was the state that would do the $42 billion in bonding for a new 150,000-square-foot terminal that opened in 1993. The airport has grown since that time to become an economic engine for the entire state, Schwieger said.

Get 'em in and out

There is little doubt a strong airport is a key criteria for many companies when making site selections for relocation or expansion, said Adam Bruns, managing editor at Site Selection magazine.

"Whether it's high-tech, financial services or any corporate multinational or strong national company, airport access is pretty important," Bruns said. "Maybe with manufacturing it's a little less so, but they still have engineers and executives they have to get in and out."

Companies also like to have options when it comes to flying, Bruns said. It probably doesn't hurt that Manchester is able to offer the advantages of both its own airport and Logan International just one hour away in Boston.

Companies do a highly sophisticated, in-depth analysis when making site selections, Bruns said. The more options a community can offer the better.

Can't get out of the mills

The Manchester business community has continued to play a key role since the big push for a new terminal, Schwieger said.

In 1998, Northwest Airlines and Southwest Airlines began service. The coming of Southwest, which immediately added 12 departures to the 19 the airport had at the time, was a watershed event, said Kevin Dillon, airport director.

"There's no doubt Southwest and having a flagship carrier like Southwest, that's the name of the game," Dillon said.

Southwest has since expanded to 30 daily departures, and the "Southwest effect" has forced other airlines to add flights at Manchester as well.

Warren estimates the RiverStone Group uses Manchester-Boston for about 65 percent of its air travel. It only uses Logan for international flights.

RiverStone Group, a pioneering company in the city's Amoskeag Millyard development, has stepped up as a live example of what the city has to offer businesses.

Almost as soon as the insurance casualty company moved into its revamped mill space with 25-foot ceilings and exposed wooden beams, it began giving tours of the premises to other businesses considering Manchester.

Warren points out Manchester is often competing against other New Hampshire cities such as Concord and Nashua, once called "The Best Place to Live in America" by Money magazine.

"With people I talk to, the No. 1 draw is the tax structure of the state," Warren said. "But pretty quickly, if not No. 2 -- it's at least No. 3 -- is the convenience of air travel out of Manchester."

Flying
4.3 million: passengers (2005)
12: airlines
174: daily arrivals and departures
20: direct destinations
104,000: landings and takeoffs (2005)
Runways: 9,250 feet; 7,000 feet

Freight
165 million: pounds of cargo (2005)

Waiting
308,000: square-foot terminal
14: jet gates
8: car rental companies
3: sit-down restaurants
3: fast-food restaurants
2: coffee shops
$3 million: concession fees (2004)
 
Parking:
11,000: total spaces
$2: short-term parking per hour
$8: long-term per day
$20.6 million: 2004 airport parking revenue

Jobs
2,500: jobs at airport

Bucks
$43.4 million: airport operating revenue (2005)
$0: local tax support (2005)
$715 million: total economic impact
Source: Manchester-Boston Regional Airport; Federal Aviation Administration