On October 29, nearly 250 business leaders, legislators, state government and human service professionals attended UNH Cooperative Extension’s first New Hampshire Summit on Work and Family at the Concord Holiday Inn. "This was an important first step in beginning a statewide dialogue about how we can make New Hampshire a better place to work and live," said conference organizer and Extension family specialist Dr. Malcolm Smith.

The conference was held in conjunction with the NH Legislative Task Force on Work and Family, chaired by State Rep. Mary Stuart Gile of Concord. Gile, who also heads the legislature’s Child and Family Law Committee, and representatives from 12 other partnering organizations, assisted Extension in developing and hosting the conference.

Included in the day’s highlights were presentations from Dr. Bruce Mallory, UNH Provost, shown in the photo to the left, Commissioner Richard Brothers of the NH Department of Employment Security, Michael Vlacich, director of the NH Division of Economic Development, and Terrie Norelli, Speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives.

Among the summit’s keynote presentations was a dramatic call to legislative action from New York Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, who was recently awarded Working Mother magazines "Best of Congress Award." Other presentations included a panel of family-friendly New Hampshire businesses with representatives from Badger Balm, Citizen’s Bank, Hypertherm, Timberland and North East Dental, and presentations from national leaders, researchers and authors dealing with work and family policy and practice.

A portion of the day was devoted to soliciting information from those attending the summit for an ongoing research study of work and family issues in the Granite State being conducted by Dr. Smith and partners from the Carsey Institute at UNH and the NH Labor and Market Information Bureau. The Summit was well received by attendees who overwhelming evaluated it as a useful and meaningful day.