It may seem like George Bald has one foot permanently planted in the Seacoast and the other in Concord. That’s because the former executive director of the Pease International Tradeport is returning to his previous post as director of the state’s Division of Resources and Economic Development (DRED). Bald worked as the first economic development director at Pease from 1994 to 1998. Following that, he served as director of DRED from 1998 to 2004 and returned to Pease as executive director in 2005.
Though it seems like a game of musical chairs, Bald has been happy with, and met great success at, both positions. Under his direction, Pease has blossomed from a shuttered military base to a leading economic engine for the Seacoast. And at DRED, Bald helped attract new businesses to the state and helped re-open a paper mill in the North Country.

While some things have changed since then—the very mill he helped keep open recently announced plans to close—Bald said he’s excited to return to DRED. The Wire caught up with him by phone recently to find out his plans for the future of DRED, the future of Pease and the state’s most under-promoted resources.

Did you have any plans to return to DRED?
I certainly had no thoughts that I would go back. I enjoy this job and things are going very well. I love working with the people who are here, but when the governor called me and said he really wanted me to go back and work with him, I thought about it and certainly, the opportunity to work with him and the agency, (which) covers so much territory in the state and affects a lot of people, I enjoyed before, and while I enjoyed the job here…, I (will) enjoy the challenge. I think also this governor … our philosophies are very similar. I’ve known him for a little while and I think we have a good strong relationship and that helps to put me in a position to do my job better.

Were there any unfinished projects at DRED you still wanted to tackle?
Because (DRED) covers so much territory, there’s always a lot going on. (The different agencies) affect each other, so I can’t say I was ever done doing things. When I go back in April, I want to get caught up on how things have changed in past two years and see where I can make a difference and see where I can improve operations.

During your first tenure at DRED, among other things, you made the office of Travel and Tourism a separate division in the state and helped re-open a paper mill in Berlin. What initiatives do you have your eye on this time around?
Something that I hadn’t planned on but has come up is the pulp mill closing in Berlin. That is something that I certainly will pay very close attention to and see if we can come up with some strategies to deal with the closing of that facility. Otherwise, there’s a broad range of activities for the agency. Parks and Recreation are part of it, Travel and Tourism, Forest and Lands. The state maintains about 200,000 acres of land, and we’re responsible for the health of the forests. We’ve got 44 state parks, and the Travel and Tourism (division) is responsible for keeping in people’s minds that New Hampshire is a great place to vacation. The fourth division is Economic Development. It’s important that we’re always doing our best keeping an eye on where economy is going and how companies are doing, and trying to attract new companies to take over for the businesses that are phased out.

Are there any industries on the way out in NH? What could replace them?
If you look 15 years ago, there wasn’t a lot of biotech activity (in the state) and there are certainly more biotech (companies) now, and also more financial services which have continued to grow quite strongly. Some manufacturing has left—I’m thinking of in the 1960s and ’70s with the shoe industry leaving. (The Economic Development Division) is constantly trying to monitor where some of the pinch points are and where there are areas of growth. I’m not specifically familiar with any other industries (that are leaving). But the telecommunications manufacturing industry took a real hit here in 2001 and 2002 and I don’t anticipate that coming back.

How has Pease changed between the time you first started working there in 1994 and now?
We were still trying to turn the battleship around, if you will. Changing a military facility to be a facility that is a world-class business park takes a lot of work and effort and patience. We were starting to attract companies here, but it was still tough to show people this place could be a world class business park; I think the difference is, this time coming back, the employees here have done a tremendous job of creating a world-class business park, and things were certainly easier than in the ’94-’98 time frame.

Where do you see things going in Pease’s future?
I think Pease will continue to be a job generator for the Seacoast. It’s been developed with care, and this is a very, very special place. When you drive around and see the kind of wooded areas and see wonderful new buildings that are really landscaped or well thought-out, I know there’s a lot of intriguing companies located here. That will continue. Pease will be for a long time to come a center for brainpower and something that’s a great help to the Seacoast and the state.

What is the future of the airport at Pease?
I think there will be a continued effort to try and attract another passenger airline, as well as bring in cargo (planes) and aircraft maintenance. We will continue to work to make this a good place for general aviation. I think the expectation is that it will be a long time before just passenger service carries the day, which is why I think we’ll continue to look at broad opportunities for use.

Why is passenger service so difficult to get off the ground?
We’re 50 miles from Boston, 50 miles from Portland and 50 miles from Manchester. It’s very difficult to compete against all three airports, which is in effect what we’re doing. Allegiant Air has done quite well, and our hope is that will translate into other airlines realizing that there’s a good market here.

What do you think are some of the state’s most under-promoted resources?
I think sometimes we take for granted that the state is 85 percent forested and ... I think there’s an awful lot of work to be done to make sure it’s preserved that way. There are good management techniques so that we have a healthy forest. When people come to visit New Hampshire, certainly they like to see the mountains and higher vantage points, but having a healthy forest is important. If only 15 percent of the state were forested, I don’t know if as many people would come to visit as they do. Resource protection is important to economic development because having a state that’s heavily forested is as important to attracting people as having water and sewer in the city if we’re attracting businesses. If company locates here, they want to know they’ll get good employees … having a good quality of life and lot of ways for recreation helps to attract that kind of employee.