Who Makes What

“The Fine Print,” or How We Compiled a List Like This

Nobody likes to tell you how much money they make. Neighbors drop hints to neighbors — the new in-ground pool, the cherry red BMW — but that actual paycheck is a deep secret. Let them guess what the IRS takes April 15.

This is not a list of up-to-the-minute salaries. In fact, nearly every salary we list here is probably lower than what a person earns today. Some of the earners have moved on to other jobs, some may even have passed away, but this is a snapshot of the most current figures for each position we were able to uncover.

The numbers came mostly from four sources. We asked a few people point blank, but it would have taken a year to get a decent list that way. The numbers for town and state employees are public record. That’s the most accurate list we have, but it’s two months old. It shows Mike Nolin as a special assistant to the head of Environmental Services, a role that has since ended. The salaries for employees of nonprofit agencies, such as private schools and hospitals, came from the 990 forms they file to justify their tax-free status. Most of those were for 2005, but the latest year for a few organizations was 2004. We show Ann Hart making $207,000 as president of UNH, but she has moved to Temple University where she replaced David Adamany, who was earning $478,000. Salaries and perks for the highest paid CEOs came from proxy statements to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Those are recent and accurate — a firm must tell the feds about changes in salary to its top managers, as the news might affect the price of company stock. The wild card in the equation is the value of stock and options awards as bonuses.

The salary of Nick Clemons, N.H. Democratic Party executive director, came from the party’s actual budget approved last December, but the other political salaries are from the Congressional Web site. It’s dated. Yes, we know the staff members of former Congressmen Jeb Bradley and Charlie Bass are former employees, too. But their numbers are a pretty good guess for what Paul Hodes might be paying. The Web site, by the way, shows earnings for half a year. We assumed the annual pay was double that amount. Maybe it wasn’t.

We also used public and private wage surveys. Several Web sites have pay calculators that glean confidential salaries from people at specific jobs who want to find out salaries at other companies. That’s a pretty good data trade, and the information might be accurate in the aggregate, which is how we use it here. So, read this article with a little skepticism, knowing where the facts came from. They’re still fun and may be useful, with no malice intended to anyone.

Kernels of Wisdom from the Employment Commissioner

Richard Brothers, who makes $94,584 a year, by the way, watches a high-stakes game of Chutes and Ladders: the winners-fast-become-losers job market. As head of Employment Security, he knows the obvious. The baby boomers are aging, too many young folks are leaving the state and the rich are retiring here for the low taxes on their nest eggs.

So follow the money. Look for the health, dental and financial fields to hire a lot of people, according to Brothers. Those industries already draw talent here from other states, the demand is so great. That trend will deepen.

“Our schools can’t turn out a fourth of the nurses we need,” Brothers says. “It used to be you could walk into a hospital and be an aide. Now it takes too much skill. Our community technical colleges have to play a major role in training all these people.”

The paper industry has moved to Brazil and textiles to China. Wages are lower in those countries, Brothers explains, health care is cheaper and environmental protection is lax. The state’s manufacturing base has to focus on software and biotech, where whole industries can be pioneered. Research and university settings like Pease Development Center in Portsmouth will fuel the economy, he predicts.

“That’s the kind of partnerships we need. Everybody wins,” Brothers says. “And graduates of our technical colleges stay home. The brain drain is the kids who go to school in the big cities and acclimate to the high wages. The farther north you go the harder it is to keep them. NH

Public Safety

Bill Flynn: $105,396
safety commissioner

Bill Wrenn: $104,396
corrections commissioner

Barry Hunter: $99,800
State Police major, Concord

Earl Sweeney: $99,778
assistant safety commissioner

Bruce Cattell: $94,584
Prison warden, Concord

Ken Clark: $94,584
adjutant general

Chris Pope: $94,584
homeland security director

Steve Barrett: $83,021
state police captain

Robert Quinn: $78,744
state police lieutenant, Epping

Kathy Perozzi: $24,200
fingerprint clerk, Concord

Jay Bernier: $23,941
dorm supervisor, Laconia Prison

Ken McKay: $22,173
prison guard, Concord

Jane Audet: $21,567
radio dispatcher, West Swanzey

Jon Alexander: $20,706
youth development councilor trainee

Jason Gray: $16,640
corrections officer, Berlin

Medical

Tom Andrew: $131,148
state’s chief medical examiner

Craig Coldwell: $127,047
chief MD at N.H. Hospital

Jose Montero: $124,047
state’s chief epidemiologist

John Stephen: $108,990
commissioner, Health & Human Services

Steve Mosher: $81,983
Medicaid director

Chester Batchelde:r $89,388
superintendent NH Hospital

Nursing Coordinator: $84,223

Mental Health Worker II: $25,761

Pharmacy Technician, Concord: $25,500

Dental Assiatant, Concord: $24,459

Recreation Therapist, Tilton: $24,218

Lab Assistant II, Concord: $23,303

Nursing Aide Trainee: $22,266

Mental Health Trainee, Concord: $21,954

Arts & Culture

Michael York: $81,983
state librarian

Library Assistant: $19,980

Director: $500-$1000
community theatre, per play

Director: $3500-$5000
professional theatre, per play

Environmental

Tom Burack: $102,365
environmental services commissioner

George Bald: $102,365
DRED commissioner

Park Manager II, Washington: $24,200

Lee Perry: $89,388
director, Fish and Game

Mike Nolin: $85,235
special policy advisor

Fish Culturist, New Hampton: $23,941
Environmental Technician $23,304

Law

John Broderick: $137,730
chief justice of Supreme Court

Jim Duggan: $133,554
Supreme Court justice

Robert Lynn: $133,554
chief justice of superior courts

David Kent: $126,750
special justice, Plymouth

Kelly Ayotte: $105,396
attorney general

Howard Zibel: $104,300
general counsel, state judiciary

Harriet Fishman: $101,418
marital master, Portsmouth

Ray Taylor: $99,274
clerk, Rockingham County Court

Ann Rice: $95,089
associate attorney general

Courtroom Clerk, Nashua: $24,400

Court Assistant, Ossipee: $21,553

Peter Bronstein: $15,777
special judge, Plaistow

Transportation

Carol Murray: $105,396
transportation commissioner

Jeff Brillhart: $97,249
deputy transportation commissioner

Virginia Beecher: $94,584
director of motor vehicles

Bill Cass: $81,939
I-93 widening project director

Auto Technician, Concord: $24,856

Truck Driver, Concord: $23,941

Toll Attendant, Nashua: $23,005

Chauffeur, Concord: $23,303

Information Center Worker: $21,445

Highway Maintainer, Dover: $21,216

Gate Operator, Portsmouth: $21,486

Education

Ann Hart: $207,000
UNH president

Doug McDonald: $131,250
superintendent at Timberlane

Howard Colter: $122,000
superintendent at Oyster River

Lyonel Tracy: $102,365
education commissioner

Bill Simonton: $102,365
Voc Tech college commissioner

Mark Conrad: $93,000
business administrator, Bedford Schools

Stephen Bartlett: $88,314
business administrator, Portsmouth

Paul Leather: $82,311
director, career & adult learning, Concord

Jo Ellen Divoll: $80,000
superintendent at Franklin

John Handfield: $30,160
part-time superintendent, Lempster

Shirley Beamis: $27,951
business administrator, Monroe

Megan Wilson: $24,200
teacher assistant I, Stratham

State & Federal Politicians

Elected Official: $165,200
U.S. senator or congressman

Paul Collins: $158,500
chief of staff for John Sununu

Joel Maiola: $158,060
chief of staff for Judd Gregg

John Lynch: $108,990
governor
John Mashburn: $154,612
policy director for Judd Gregg

James Barnett: $99,686
legislative director for John Sununu

Bill Gardner: $94,584
secretary of state

Sheila Boyd: $90,676
scheduler for Judd Gregg

Linda Hodgdon: $81,947
governor’s policy advisor

Debra Vanderbee:k $76,682
former chief of staff for Jeb Bradley

Nick Clemons: $75,000
NH Democratic Party executive director

Darwin Cusack: $70,889
former chief of staff for Charlie Bass

Matt Leahy: $52,334
projects assistant for Judd Gregg

Francis Furtado: $51,034
former policy director for Charlie Bass

Kathleen Strand: $48,600
Democratic Party press secretary

Anne Mitchell: $43,334
caseworker for Judd Gregg

Pam Montez: $11,022
mailroom aide for Judd Gregg

A Support Group in Cyberspace

Three alumni of a virtual job seekers group in Londonderry say it helped them weather bouts of unemployment that tested who they were and who they really wanted to be. At the bottom of the dot.com crash, five years ago, sometimes 40 and 50 scared people would show up twice a month for face-to-face meetings of the Nutfield Networking group. The volunteer agency slowly worked itself out of business as the economy got better, but hundreds of members still check out its chat-room postings of openings, questions and tips. You can find it at www.nutfieldnetworking.com, a good place for folks who need helpers in the job search for something better, or maybe something at all. The group’s philosophy? Meet the people who will help you meet the people you need to meet. Stay upbeat. Set small, doable daily goals to keep you moving in the right direction.

The co-founders of the group, Marty Bourque and Vince Pelliccia of Londonderry, stay active in it just to give back what they gladly took — advice, cheer, feedback, training in guerilla job searching and links to jobs, to experts and to possible bosses.

Bourque was earning six figures at his career height as corporate logistics manager for the Malden Mills a few years ago. Out of work in 2001, he did a string of freelance gigs for a couple of years, threw himself into Nutfield, then got another regular job as a transportation broker.

“I’m making about half what I did back then,” he says. “You can do the math. It’s base plus a chance to make commission.”

Pelliccia rode the same roller coaster from business manager to jobless grunt to vice president of sales for a high-tech start-up based in Houston. He’d been a boss in a failing market.

“That’s a formula for heartache,” he says.

This time he works from his home and won’t say what he earns.

“I can just tell you I’m very well taken care of,” he says. “For a period there, Nutfield was maybe the only source of ideas and hope for a lot of people in it.”

Mark Hargreaves of Derry was out of work 18 months, a precious chance to help his dad die. The ordeal deepened his religious faith and so did the Nutfield group. He’d been an exports and imports manager making $87,000, plus commissions. His new job as a purchasing agent with Royal KPN in Burlington, Mass., pays in the mid 60s.

“I still subscribe to Nutfield,” Hargreaves says. “I post all the vacancies at my company. I’m eager to help anyone in the same position I was in.”

If it ever needs to, Nutfield is poised to go real-time, face-to-face again. NH

Hospitality Industry Restaurant jobs (median pay)

Salaried staff

manager: $50,000
executive chef: $50,000
assistant manager: $42,900
cook: $22,900

Hourly staff

bartender: $20/hr counting tips
waiter/waitress: $15.88/hr counting tips
bus person: $10/hr counting tips
food preparer: $9.50/hr
cashier: $8/hr

Hospitality Industry Lodging jobs (median pay)

Salaried staff

sales director: $54,000
general manager: $52,000
engineer: $36,900
front office manager: $35,900
assistant manager: $30,900
head housekeeper: $28,000

Hourly staff

accounting clerk: $12.50/hr
night auditor: $10/hr
security guard: $9.70/hr
office clerk: $9.50/hr
room service: $8/hr
laundry aide: $7.63/hr

Source: New Hampshire Lodging and Restaurant Association

Salaries of Top Managers at Large N.H. Companies

PC Connection
Co-founders Patricia Gallup and David Hall together own 68 percent of the stock in a company that earned profits of $163 million in 2005, $152 million in 2004 and $138 million in 2003.

Fisher Scientific
CEO Paul Montrone had a salary of $1.1 million in 2005, earned a bonus of $1.1 million and received 365,000 stock options. The previous year he earned $1.1 million with a bonus of $1.9 million, but got no stock options.
Brookstone

CEO Michael Anthony earned $650,000 in salary in 2004, a $1.3 million bonus, and 888,000 stock awards. Phil Roizin, the vice president for finance, earned $312,000, plus a $244,000 bonus and 400,000 stock awards.
Nashua Corporation

CEO Thomas Brooker makes $400,000 this year, his first full year on the job, and can earn as much as $800,000 in bonuses.

Standex International
CEO Roger Fix earned $642,000 in salary, plus a $385,000 bonus and stock awards worth $1.2 million.

Pennichuck Corporation
Former CEO Don Correll earned $261,000 in 2005, plus 15,667 stock options and $83,000 in other compensation. Executive vice president Steve Densberger earned $139,000, plus 9,330 stock options.

Environmental Power Corporation
President Kamlesh Tejwani earned $225,000 in salary in 2005 and 2004. His salary was $379,000 in 2003, when he also received 571,429 stock options. Company co-founders Joe Cresci and Don Livingston each earned $225,000 in 2005 and 200,000 stock options.

Presstek
CEO Edward Marino earned $437,000, a $68,000 bonus, 150,000 stock options and an additional $95,000. Exec. V.P. Moosa E. Moosa earned $247,000, a $50,000 bonus and 80,000 stock options.

Tyco
CEO Edward Breen earned $1.6 million in 2005, a bonus of $1.5 million, 5.7 million shares of stock and $1.2 million in other compensation. Former CEO Dennis Kozlowksi is appealing a sentence of 8-and-1/3 to 25 years in prison for defrauding the same company. He was also fined $70 million and ordered to pay a $134 million restitution in concert with former Chief Financial Officer Mark Schwartz. The case is under appeal.

Timberland Company
CEO Jeffrey Swartz earned $788,000 in 2005, a bonus of $958,000 and $923,000 in other compensation. He last earned stock in 2003, worth $3.6 million. Executive vice president Kenneth Pucker earned $519,000 in salary in 2005 and a $1.9 million bonus. His last stock award, also in 2003, was worth $2.2 million.

Teradyne
CEO Michael Bradley earned $530,000 in 2005 and a $386,000 bonus. He received $477,000 in salary in 2004, a $595,000 bonus and 450,000 stock options. Gregory Beecher, the chief financial officer, earned $331,000 in 2005, plus a $202,000 bonus.
Source: Securities Exchange Commission filings

Teaching (average pay by school district)

Stewartstown: $28,695
Jackson: $35,502
Madison: $40,826
Bartlett: $43,975
Allenstown: $44,344
Waterville Valley: $45,853
Rye: $51,964
Salem: $52,880
Seabrook: $53,717
Lyme: $54,829
Stratham: $58,673
Hanover: $62,029

Livable Pay is Two to Four Times the Minimum Wage

The state’s minimum wage has been stuck at $5.15 an hour for a decade, while the costs of oil, gasoline, rent, mortgages, pills, food and cars have skyrocketed. The average minimum for other states is $6.50. Every year the Legislature shoots down a bill from the Democrats to raise our rock bottom pay by 50 cents or a buck. This time they have some new political majorities and policy ammunition.

A recent report by UNH said the barebones, a livable wage here is typically twice the federal poverty level or more. A single adult must make $10.50 an hour or $22,000 a year. A single mom with two kids needs to earn $19.50 an hour to hold things together and cover her child care costs. Those will soak up a fourth of her income. They’ve risen 88 percent in the last five years.

Mike Hill, president of the N.H. Hospital Association, says the state has the next-to-lowest poverty rate and ranks fifth in median income, but it’s still a tough place to survive. Health insurance premiums have climbed 103 percent in the past seven years.

“You and I know we’re not all rich,” he says. “We see a lot of patients paying for hospital care with credit cards. You’re in big trouble if you have to do that.”
Gordon Allen, head of the state’s Association for Nonprofits, says the poor find themselves paying interest at 500-700 percent a year on their borrowing. And they have to do a lot of it.

“We have good people who pay $22 every week to get $100 for paycheck advances,” he explains.

Here’s the hard news for working stiffs, documented for UNH by Windham economist Daphne Kenyon, author of “Basic Needs & Livable Wage.” She cautiously defined the subsistence budget as food, rent, utilities, basic phone, clothes, household expenses, car costs, child care, health care and a piddling $100 monthly allowance for trips to Burger King or Aspen. No investments, no high-speed cable, no cell phone, no college tuition payments, no savings. Hand to mouth. Here are the statewide average numbers.

The paycheck has to increase as much as $5.50 an hour if the employer offers no health insurance, and many firms do not. The state’s median wage is $14.66 an hour, which explains all the two- and three-job workers. Kenyon said the cost of living in the North Country is 10-16 percent less than in the southern tier, but wages are correspondingly lower.

“The average person thinks if you earn a dollar more than poverty, you can make it. That’s not what we found,” Kenyon says.

Here’s what she found workers must earn per hour in the two New Hampshires. Coos County is cheapest and Rockingham County the most costly. NH