April 27, 2021 โ Seacoast tourism and business leaders want federal officials to approve more foreign visa workers and economic aid to support what they hope will be a busy summer on the tail end of the pandemic.
They spoke at a roundtable Monday in Hampton Beach with U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.
Raimondo, the former governor of Rhode Island, was on her first official trip as U.S. Commerce Secretary. She asked what the Seacoast wants out of the latest round of pandemic stimulus money and President Bidenโs proposed jobs and infrastructure plan.
New Hampshire Lodging and Restaurant Association CEO Mike Somers said heโs optimistic for any small tourism businesses that made it this far through the pandemic. But he said continued federal support โ for visa workers and other aid โ will be crucial in the next few months.
To lower emissions and mitigate the warming trend, Raimondo said sheโs confident the nation can scale up offshore wind energy in the Gulf of Maine without hurting the regionโs fisheries.
She was asked about it by David Goethel, a Seabrook-based commercial fisherman and member of the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance, a fisheries advocacy group with concerns about wind growth.
Raimondo said she was proud of how Rhode Island worked with its fishing industry to build whatโs currently the nationโs only utility-scale wind farm, Block Island Wind.
โThey were super anxious, as you are, about what would happen to fish migration patterns when you put the turbines in the middle of the ocean,โ she said. โIt worked out because we listened to them and we really looked hard at all the data.โ