Strafford Regional Planning Commission

06/18/2026

Earlier this month, Regional Planner Lisa Wise joined the final session of the Outdoor Economy Academy, hosted by UNH Extension's Community and Economic Development team!

Designed for municipal leaders and staff, local businesses, and volunteers, the Outdoor Economy Academy offers a place-based learning experience for a statewide cohort working in planning and economic development who want to deepen their understanding of New Hampshire’s outdoor economy. This third session took place in Plymouth and focused on the topics of hazard mitigation and resilience. Lisa served on a panel alongside Maddie Smith (UNH Carsey Institute), Joseph Perez (City of Plymouth Planning and Development Department), and Jason Randall (Plymouth Village Water & Sewer District).

Learn more: https://extension.unh.edu/resource/outdoor-economy-academy

(photo credit to Alex Miller)

06/16/2026

Our friends at the Strafford Economic Development Corporation of New Hampshire (SEDC) are working to provide financing and assistance to businesses and entrepreneurs around the Strafford region and state.

SEDC is pleased to announce that they were recertified as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) through the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund). This certification gives SEDC access to loans and grants to be used to help businesses in underserved and distressed communities in federally designated areas across the state. The certification is given to non-profit lending organizations who have a history of lending money to businesses for projects that primarily benefit low- and moderate-income people through job retention and creation.

SRPC partners closely with SEDC on a variety of projects throughout the region, ranging for our work on childcare to development of the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy.

Contact and learn more about SEDC here: https://www.sedcnh.org/

Pictured is Raymond Pillsbury, owner of Potter’s Green and Gift in Dover. SEDC provided Pillsbury with CDFI funds to purchase a new sign.

06/05/2026

The Strafford Regional Planning Data Collection Team has started work on a traffic study to measure volumes, speed, and classifications of vehicles across the Town of New Durham.

New Durham requested 30 traffic count locations to be counted both before the school year ended and in the middle of the Summer. The data collected will be used for a variety of planning purposes for the town to make data-driven decisions that account for seasonal traffic volumes, safety, and more.

Julia, SRPC's Data Collection Intern, will be assisting with this work and several other projects around the region!

06/04/2026

The SRPC Data Team is excited to announce the release of the 2026 Regional Data Snapshot Community Profiles! 📊

The Community Profiles are a series of documents that accompany the region-wide Data Snapshot with a focus on each of the municipalities in the region. Each Community Profile consists of 6 pages of data (7 for coastal communities) covering demographics, economic vitality, livability and quality of life, housing, mobility and accessibility, and resiliency. The Community Profiles can be found at: https://straffordrpcnh.gov/measure/data-snapshot/

Contact Rachel Dewey at [email protected] to learn more.

06/03/2026

NH Coastal Program Making Waves Webinar Series 🖥️ 🌊

The NHDES Coastal Program’s next webinar, Preparing for Flooding and Reducing Flood Risk, is part of its new webinar series, Making Waves. Attendees will learn about the PREPARE project, which assisted coastal communities with preparing for flood events. In addition, attendees will learn how to reduce flood risk by using data and mapping sources, flood insurance and flood mitigation resources and funding.

This webinar will be held on Thursday, June 25, 2026 from 10-11am

Register for this webinar here: f385f6b2-c8f0-459f-801c-e73137c7378c@992deae9-1c4c-42c8-a310-5088af55ba74" rel="ugc" target="_blank">https://events.gcc.teams.microsoft.com/event/f385f6b2-c8f0-459f-801c-e73137c7378c@992deae9-1c4c-42c8-a310-5088af55ba74

06/01/2026

Join Us for Our Annual Meeting!

We hope you will join us as we celebrate 55 years of planning at SRPC - Rooted in History, Focused on the Future.

Steve Pesci, former SRPC deputy director and current Policy Committee member will facilitate a conversation with:

Lucy Lange, Commissioner, NH Dept. of Business and Economic Affairs
Robert Scott, Commissioner, NH Dept. of Environmental Services
David Rodrigue, Commissioner, NH Dept. of Transportation

Together, we’ll explore a future vision for the state and region, and how we can advance that vision working with our state agency partners. The conversation will focus on the role we play as technical assistance providers to help balance growth with environmental protection, plan for transportation needs, and promote economic development opportunities in the region

Registration closes on June 10, so please don’t miss this opportunity to join us and help make the evening memorable.

WHEN: Thursday, June 25, 2026

TIME: 4:30 – 7:30 PM

WHERE: The Oaks Grandview, 100 Hideaway Place, Somersworth, NH 03878

You can register here: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/reg/79ygxaa

Please reach out of you have any questions to [email protected]

05/29/2026

Outdoor Industry Day is Wednesday, June 10, in Plymouth, NH!

Join The NH Office of Outdoor Recreation Industry Development and the Granite Outdoor Alliance for an event designed to bring together the people, businesses, nonprofits, public partners, and leaders helping shape New Hampshire’s outdoor economy.

Learn more about the event here:

NH Outdoor Industry Day

05/26/2026

Support for Community Wildlife Projects – Apply Now!

The Taking Action for Wildlife team – a partnership between UNH Cooperative Extension, NH Fish & Game, and the NH Association of Conservation Commissions – offers direct technical assistance to communities interested in incorporating wildlife and habitat information into their land conservation, land-use planning, land stewardship, and education/outreach. This year we are accepting applications on a rolling basis, so communities can apply whenever they are interested. There is no fee for this assistance. To learn more, read examples of ways we can help, and find details on how to apply, visit:

The Taking Action for Wildlife team offers direct technical assistance to communities interested in incorporating wildlife considerations into local conservation and land use planning and actions.

05/22/2026

The SRPC office will be closed Monday, May 25, in observance of Memorial Day.

05/21/2026

Call for Photo Submissions for the 2026–2030 CEDS! 📸

SRPC is finalizing the 2026–2030 Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) and we are inviting community members to contribute high‑quality photos for consideration in the final document.

We welcome images that reflect the region’s economic assets, community character, natural environment, infrastructure, and ongoing or completed projects. Submitted photos may be used in the CEDS report, on SRPC communication platforms, or in future outreach materials.

Please submit photos to Natalie Gemma and [email protected] or Mike Polizzotti at [email protected]