Start a New Business in New Hampshire

Ensuring the growth and vitality of the New Hampshire economy is the priority of the Department of Business and Economic Affairs (BEA). BEA is a resource for businesses of all sizes and sectors, from family-owned companies to multi-national corporations, that can meet their goals in a variety of ways, from government contracting and international trade, to workforce development, financing and more.

BEA resources include:

• The Office of International Commerce works with businesses to help them discover and expand into global markets.

• The New Hampshire APEX Accelerator helps companies find, bid on, and win, government contracts, and navigate the process to completion.

• The Office of Workforce Opportunity connects businesses with a workforce ready to meet the demand and conquer the competition for their goods and services.

• The Division of Economic Development’s business resource specialists and business development team works with companies on their plans to retain employees, expand, or relocate their businesses to New Hampshire.

• The Division of Travel and Tourism Development offers resources and expertise to businesses within the hospitality industry.

100 North Main Street
Suite 100
Concord, New Hampshire 03301

New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs website

The New Hampshire SBA is supported by a main district office in Concord. They provide services including funding programs, counseling, federal contracting, certifications, and disaster recovery. They can also connect you to partner organizations, lenders, and other community groups that help small businesses succeed.

The Concord office serves the entire state of New Hampshire.

Examples of educational programs and events include How Small Businesses Thrive in Rochester; and Refresh Your Image, Your Circle, and Your Messaging.

Main district office:
55 Pleasant Street
Suite 3101
Concord, New Hampshire 03301
Phone: 603-225-1400

New Hampshire Small Business Administration website

The Center for Women & Enterprise (CWE) is a non-profit economic empowerment organization whose mission is to strengthen communities and the economy by supporting women to launch and successfully sustain businesses. The New Hampshire Women's Business Center operates in partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration offering consultations, workshops and networking opportunities to help you reach your entrepreneurial goals.

The Center for Women & Enterprise is the destination for aspiring, up-and-coming, and established entrepreneurs who want to increase their professional success and personal growth. They provide education, training, online learning, consulting, networking and financial support in the Manchester center and through community classrooms throughout the state, as well as .Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) Certification and Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Certification.

500 Commercial Street
Suite 502
Manchester, New Hampshire 03101
Phone: 603-318-7580

Center for Women & Enterprise CWE New Hampshire website

WREN was founded 30 years ago, powered by rural women committed to the mission of supporting better lives and livelihoods, enhancing the vitality of Bethlehem’s Main Street and practicing and promoting innovation in rural economic development.

Since its inception, WREN has been a source of economic support and business mentorship for women in the North Country. From grant programs to Local Works Marketplace, WREN provides both community and guidance.

In September 2022, WREN launched Women’s Work with a goal to develop and pilot solutions that eliminate systemic barriers and build new pathways for higher earning and long-term success for North Country families.

2011 Main Street
Bethlehem, New Hampshire 03574
Phone: 603-869-9736

Women’s Rural Entrepreneurial Network WREN website

NH SBDC is a leading resource for business advising and education for small businesses in the Granite State.

NH SBDC’s dedicated team of professional business advisors delivers highly individualized, confidential advising at no charge to enterprises across New Hampshire on topics including marketing, finance, business planning, growing a business, and customer service. The team has more than 235 years of experience working with small businesses to help them grow and be successful, resilient, and always prepared to respond to the unexpected. Resources include:

Micro Business Collaborative: An educational, networking program designed for new to new-ish business owners who are unemployed or under-employed and who have up to five employees.

eCourses: No-cost discussions of useful and relevant topics for small businesses.

No matter where your business life is in its life cycle, NH SBDC has tools and resources to help you take the next step.

University of New Hampshire Peter T. Paul College of
Business & Economics
NH SBDC Lead Center
Suite 270L
10 Garrison Avenue
Durham, New Hampshire 03824
Phone: 603-862-2200

New Hampshire Small Business Development Center website

The Hannah Grimes Center for Entrepreneurship provides the space, tools, and connections that innovative entrepreneurs need to build strong businesses, thriving local economies, and vibrant communities in the Monadnock Region.

The Center for Entrepreneurship educates, supports, and assists in the successful development of entrepreneurs through an incubator, workshops, annual CONNECT event, and many other programs.

Hannah Grimes Center
25 Roxbury Street
Keene, New Hampshire 03431
Phone: 603-352-5063

Hannah Grimes Center for Entrepreneurship website

With the goal of empowering and elevating women in business, SCORE provides women entrepreneurs with a wealth of resources, templates, tools, and free expert mentoring to foster their business growth and development. The Women's Entrepreneur resource hub offers a comprehensive array of tailored materials and guidance to adeptly navigate through entrepreneurial challenges and opportunities.

Mentors are experienced entrepreneurs, corporate managers, and executives with a diverse set of industries and specialties who volunteer their experience and knowledge to help small business professionals start, develop, and grow businesses. They offer free and confidential mentoring along with low-cost or no-cost business training, and numerous templates and tools.

The SCORE Granite region serves Northern, Central, and Southern New Hampshire as well as Eastern Vermont. The SCORE Seacoast region serves the New Hampshire, Southern Maine, and Northern Massachusetts seacoasts.

SCORE Granite Region
35 Manchester Road
Suite 11A, PMB 279
Derry, New Hampshire 03038
Phone: 603-666-7561

SCORE Seacoast
230 Commerce Way
Suite 102
Portsmouth, New Hampshire 03801
Phone: 603-433-0575

SCORE New Hampshire website

The NH Tech Alliance is committed to nurturing a vibrant tech ecosystem by building partnerships, enhancing knowledge and shaping public policy.

The NH high tech industry is a diverse sector with a focus on many subject areas spanning industries such as information technology support/services, enterprise software, consulting, hardware, medtech, manufacturing, and education.

The Alliance focuses on Four Value Pillars.

Talent and Workforce: The Alliance engages throughout the State to assure New Hampshire has sufficient human capital to address technology-related workforce needs well into the future.

Education and Programs: The Alliance offers educational and programming opportunities throughout the year that provide unique insights or interactive engagement that can positively impact members’ businesses.

Advocacy and Policy: The Alliance actively and consistently advocates on behalf of member-affirmed priorities before all appropriate government bodies.

Ecosystem Engagement: The Alliance strives to be the primary convener and respected ‘go-to resource’ for tech sector activities across New Hampshire.

PO Box 3730
Manchester, New Hampshire 03105
Phone: 603-935-8951

New Hampshire Tech Alliance website

The U.S. Small Business Administration helps small businesses get the funding they need. Funding resources include:

Loans: Start or expand your business with loans guaranteed by the SBA.

Investment capital: Find an investor for your business. Investors make both debt and equity investments.

Disaster assistance: Get help after a disaster with low-interest disaster loans.

Surety bonds: Protect your work and your client with an SBA-guaranteed surety bond.

Grants: Look for government grants that help businesses do scientific research and development.

US Small Business Administration website

The University of New Hampshire works one-on-one with more than 5,000 New Hampshire businesses each year, helping them to innovate, grow, and create great opportunities. From high tech solutions to research expertise, small business support, and customized employee training programs, UNH can help your business thrive in the most competitive markets.

Hire Interns, Students and Alumni: Connect your business with talented undergraduate and graduate students for internships and employment. Find seasoned professionals who are UNH alums.

Access Research and Technology: As New Hampshire's flagship public university and top-tier research university, UNH has the cutting edge research you need to advance your business and innovation goals.

Grow Your Business: Discover how UNH research expertise and resources can help businesses and organizations in nearly every field to grow and thrive.

Train and Develop Your Workforce: UNH serves individuals, businesses and organizations in New Hampshire and the region by offering a wide range of professional development opportunities throughout the year.

Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics
10 Garrison Avenue
Durham, New Hampshire 03824
Phone: 603-862-4125

University of New Hampshire Paul College of Business and Economics website

The Center for Entrepreneurship fosters and facilitates a thriving entrepreneurial community of starters, builders, advisors, and early-stage investors committed to transforming the world through innovation and collaboration. In addition to running an incubator every term, it offers events, programming and financial support for students starting their own ventures or pursuing employment at early- or growth-stage companies. It partners with other entrepreneurial hubs at Dartmouth and beyond, ensuring students gain access to the knowledge, networks and capital needed to further their entrepreneurial endeavors.

For founders who actually want to start a business, the center has created the Tuck-Magnuson Startup Incubator. In weekly sessions, teams of entrepreneurs work with each other to transform their business ideas into actual businesses. Along the way, they receive expert guidance from guest speakers who offer advice on topics such as corporate law, intellectual property, and go-to-market strategies.

Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth
Center for Entrepreneurship
100 Tuck Hall
Hanover, New Hampshire 03755
Phone: 603-646-0391

Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth Center for Entrepreneurship website

The Department of Economics and Business offers five majors: Accounting, Business Administration, Economics, Finance, and Marketing. The majors are designed to prepare students for work in the business world or for graduate study. Students who wish to graduate with a Business Administration major are required to complete an internship. The internship may be either for-credit or non-credit bearing. The department also offers four interdisciplinary majors and three minors.

• Majors in Accounting (BA or BS), Business Administration, Economics, Finance, and Marketing

• Interdisciplinary Majors include Business Analytics, Information Systems, Computer Science with Business, and Math with Economics

• Minors in Accounting, Design Thinking for Social Innovation, and Economics

100 Saint Anselm Drive
Manchester, New Hampshire 03102
Phone: 603-641-7000

Saint Anselm College Department of Economics and Business website

Business NH Magazine, a monthly B2B business publication aimed at business owners and managers located in New Hampshire. Six to eight events are held each year including the Made in NH Expo, the Made in New England Expo, Business of the Year luncheon, Breakfast With The Best, the Ultimate Biz(NH) Bash, NH Futurecast, and more!

Regular and special features include leading business stories, recent news, top women-led businesses, fascinating factoids about NH, who's doing what, and more.

80 Canal Street
Suite 203
Manchester, New Hampshire 03101
Phone: 603-626-6354

Business NH Magazine website

Decision-makers turn to NH Business Review for authoritative and in-depth news coverage of the sectors that comprise New Hampshire's vibrant business community, ranging from real estate and construction to technology and financial services to hospitality. New Hampshire Business Review also publishes special themed sections nearly every issue, in addition to features on hot new trends and profiles of the people who make up the Granite State's business community.

NH Business Review also produces several special publications, including the Book of Lists, Business Services Guide, and the Meetings and Events Guide. The newspaper conducts three major awards events yearly -- the Business Excellence Awards, the Outstanding Women in Business Awards, and the Best of Business Awards.

250 Commercial Street
Suite 4014
Manchester, New Hampshire 03101
Phone: 603-624-1442

NH Business Review website