THE MISSION
The Circle We Need to Build
New Hampshire's support systems are broken in ways most people never see until they need them. Assistance is nearly inaccessible. When it does arrive, it's a handout — not a hand up. Get behind on your bills and you might qualify. Stay current by drowning in credit card debt and you don't. Accept in-home support for your children and you lose eligibility for help feeding them. The system doesn't solve problems. It creates impossible choices.
Every family that falls through these gaps is a family removed from the local economy. Every local business that closes unseen is money leaving New Hampshire. And every dollar that leaves is a dollar unavailable for the programs that could have prevented the loss in the first place.
The circle we need is simple: Local businesses grow. More money stays in New Hampshire. Stronger local economies fund better programs. Better programs give people a hand up — not a handout. People stabilize. They re-enter the economy as customers. Local businesses grow.
The circle we have is broken: legislation that doesn't see the connection, services designed around handouts instead of outcomes, and funding structures that punish the people trying to hold it together on their own.
603 Circle exists to build the one that works.
WHERE WE'RE HEADING
What the Rankings Miss
New Hampshire ranks #1 in lowest poverty, #1 for child well-being, and 2nd lowest in food insecurity.
On paper, everything looks fine.
That's the problem.
Food insecurity just hit a 10-year high — a 69% increase since 2019. Homelessness surged 52% in a single year, the highest spike of any state. A family of three needs $104,000 a year just to cover basics. And when you adjust poverty for New Hampshire's actual cost of living, we're not even the lowest anymore.
The numbers look good enough that nobody asks questions — while every trend line gets worse.
THE NUMBERS
New Hampshire: A State of Contradictions
#7
HOUSEHOLD INCOME
Southern NH is one of the wealthiest regions in the country. The money is here. The question is where it goes.
36th
mental health access
Families in crisis wait months for services other states provide in weeks. Eligibility rules often disqualify the people who need help most.
50th
STATE EDUCATION AID
No sales or income tax means the state contributes roughly 7% of education funding — dead last in the nation. Towns fund schools through property taxes. Your child's future depends on your zip code.
36th
Top State for Business (CNBC 2025)
Despite no sales or income tax, NH ranks in the bottom third for business competitiveness. Infrastructure, economy, and workforce drag the score down.
37th
Business Tax Competitiveness
NH's business tax system ranks behind New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. The BPT and BET are cited as barriers to growth.
5th Lowest
New Business Creation Per Capita
The 7th richest state is nearly last in entrepreneurship. Fewer people are starting businesses here than almost anywhere else.
<1%
Rental Vacancy
There is almost nowhere to live. You can't grow a local customer base when there's no housing for the people who would be those customers.
99%
Small Businesses (~137,000)
Half the state's workforce is employed by small businesses. When they're invisible online, the entire local economy suffers.
SAFETY NET FICTION
The "Safety Net" That Isn't There
NH is one of the only states in the Northeast without a broad-based state income or sales tax. This "bottom-up" funding model shifts the burden of social services to nonprofits and local municipalities — creating a fragmented system where "falling through the cracks" is a structural feature, not a fluke.
| Metric | NH Ranking | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Median Household Income | #7 in USA | U.S. Census Bureau |
| State Aid to Public Education (per student) | 50th (Dead Last) | NEA Rankings & Estimates |
| Mental Health Access | 36th | Mental Health America (2024) |
| Adults with Mental Illness — Uninsured | 42nd | Mental Health America (2024) |
| Public Welfare Spending (per capita) | Bottom 5 | Urban Institute / Census Bureau |
| Long-Term Care Support & Services | 31st | AARP State Scorecard |
| Rental Vacancy Rate (Southern NH) | <1% | NH Housing 2024 Rental Survey |
| Children Food Insecure | 1 in 9 | NH Hunger Solutions |
| Full-Service VA Hospital | None | Veterans forced to Boston or Vermont |
"If we continue to rank 50th in education aid and 36th in mental health access, our local businesses will continue to struggle. You cannot have a 'Business-Friendly' state if the residents are too unsupported to work or spend."
THE HUMAN COST
1 in 9 New Hampshire Children Are Food Insecure
In a state ranked 7th in household income, children are going hungry. The disconnect between wealth and access isn't theoretical — it's measurable, and it's happening in your town.
When a family can't feed their children, they aren't spending at local businesses. They aren't participating in the local economy. They're in survival mode — and every dollar they receive from emergency assistance is a dollar that came from somewhere else instead of circulating locally.
THE EDUCATION GAP
Your Child's Future Depends on Your Address
New Hampshire has no sales or income tax. The state contributes approximately 7% of education funding — the lowest in the nation. Local property taxes cover roughly 88% — the highest. The result: where you live determines what your child gets.
If you're born in a wealthy town, your child may get ABA therapy, speech pathology, a para, and in-district support. If you lose the lottery and are born in a property-poor town, your child gets no paraprofessional or shares one with other children, no access to needed accommodations or learning assistance.
But even winning the lottery doesn't protect every family. I live in Windham — one of the wealthiest towns in Southern New Hampshire. I pay $12,000 a year in property taxes. My son, who attempted self-harm at age eleven, gets bussed 90 minutes to a school where students carry clear backpacks and pass through metal detectors. Not because he's dangerous. Because his own town has nowhere for him.
The funding model doesn't just fail poor communities. It fails every family whose child doesn't fit the standard mold — and the wealthier the town, the easier it is to hide by shipping those children somewhere else.
The Mental Health Black Hole: 36th In The Nation
New Hampshire ranks 36th in the nation for mental health access. A high number of individuals with mental illness are unable to access treatment due to costs, lack of insurance, or a shortage of providers.
Additionally, NH ranks 42nd for uninsured adults with mental illness. The help exists, but it is invisible to those who need it most.
The economic result: When a crisis hits — like children facing suicide risks — the lack of accessible, visible care leads to family collapse. Families in crisis don't "shop local." They spend every dollar navigating a broken system. The local economy loses that family's participation entirely.
Source: Mental Health America — 2024 State of Mental Health Report
THE MISSING CUSTOMERS
Where Do More Local Customers Come From If There's No Place to Live?
Southern New Hampshire has a less than 1% rental vacancy rate. Rents have risen 25% in five years. The state is pricing out the very people who work in and shop at local businesses. The mortgage for my Windham home is less than the rent for a Manchester apartment in the worst part of town.
Every worker who can't afford to live here is a lost employee for a local business. Every family priced out is a customer who now spends their money in Massachusetts, Maine, or somewhere else entirely.
Housing isn't just a social issue — it's a local economic issue. And without local customers, local businesses can't survive.
The Economic Domino Effect
When Families Fail, Local Businesses Fall
THE BUSINESS IMPACT
Why This Matters to Your Business
Less than 1% rental vacancy means your workforce can't afford to live here. The talented employees your company needs are choosing states where they can find housing, childcare, and schools that work — not a zip code lottery.
When families are pushed into survival mode or priced out entirely, they stop spending locally. Every family the system fails is a customer your business lost — not to a competitor, but to a broken infrastructure.
New Hampshire has the 5th lowest rate of new business creation per capita in the country. Your future partners, vendors, and customers aren't starting businesses here. Your chamber loses members when businesses can't survive.
Corporate members spend millions on recruitment, retention, and relocation because community systems drive talent away. Chambers lobby for individual policy fixes. Everyone is paying to manage the symptoms. Nobody is addressing the root cause.
The root cause: business health and community health are the same thing — and New Hampshire has no framework connecting them.
Until now.
Everyone Is Fighting. No One Is Connected
Service Organizations
Fight for housing policy. Rally for childcare funding. Advocate for mental health access.
Alone.
Advocacy Groups
Attend budget hearings. Push for legislation. Build coalitions around single issues.
Alone.
Local Businesses
Lose customers to national chains. Compete with invisible online presence. Watch the local economy erode.
Unaware.
Same economy. Same problem. No shared framework — until now.
Building the Framework That Connects Them
603 Circle is building the digital infrastructure and the unifying framework to close the gap — connecting local businesses to the communities they serve, giving fragmented advocacy efforts a shared economic argument, and making the local economic circle work the way it should.
Business Visibility
A free, curated directory of 2,000+ Southern NH businesses. Making local businesses visible to the communities they serve — for free.
Live and growing.
Business Growth
Community Accountability
NFC-powered review collection. One tap generates a Google review — strengthening local businesses' online presence against national competitors.
Coming soon.
Three tools. One circle. One mission: keep money local, keep families supported, keep the economy whole.
This Work Can't Wait. But It Can't Happen Alone.
Donations keep it alive. Partnership makes it happen.