Event Recap: 2025 Greater Seacoast Housing Summit
- Seacoast WHC
- Nov 12
- 6 min read
Updated: Nov 17
The 2025 Greater Seacoast Housing Summit
On November 6, 2025, around 80 housing advocates, business leaders, municipal staff, and elected officials gathered for the 8th annual Greater Seacoast Housing Summit. The event was held in partnership with the Seacoast Chamber Alliance, bringing together the Chambers of Commerce of Dover, Exeter, Hampton, Portsmouth, Rochester, and Somersworth, and sponsored by:
Held at the Governor’s Inn and Restaurant in Rochester, NH, this year’s event focused on the theme of Employer-Sponsored Housing and the Business Community’s Role in Advancing Housing Solutions. With housing as a main driver of business and economic wellbeing, the conversation of the morning focused on connections, efficiencies, and innovations that continue to arise between the business and housing ecosystems.
Keynote: Examining NH's Economy and Housing Trends
After breakfast, coffee, and some catch-up between attendees, WHC’s Executive Director Emmy Ham took the mic to welcome the crowd and introduce the summit’s keynote speaker, Phil Sletten. Sletten is the Research Director at the New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute (NHFPI), a non-partisan, independent nonprofit research organization that studies economic policies and trends that impact Granite Staters.
NHFPI’s research and data visualizations offer insights into the condition of the New Hampshire population on its most pressing issues, such as healthcare, affordability, and housing. Sletten took an interactive approach throughout his keynote presentation, inquiring with the audience about their thoughts of how New Hampshire’s economy was doing overall alongside county-by-county comparisons that tested attendees’ geography skills.
He began with an overview of New Hampshire’s economy, diving deep into metrics of employment and wages to discern the origin of the labor force constraint. Steady labor numbers led to an analysis of demographics in which Sletten shared that over 200,000 Granite Staters are nearing traditional retirement age.
Although people are now working later in life, there are clear population trends that prove troubling for the future of the region’s economy. He points to migration as a key solution and underscores research that finds that New Hampshire is attractive to working-aged people.
In order to move to the state, however, there must be housing options that are available and affordable for young people and families. Sletten’s research shows that housing prices have increased substantially in all of New Hampshire’s counties, rising fastest in rural areas. In absolute terms, Southern New Hampshire and the Seacoast region maintain the highest housing prices.
Though recent data suggest potential cooling in the market, housing costs remain at historic extremes. The narrative is even more stark for renters, nearly half of whom are considered housing cost burdened (spending over 30% of their income on housing). NHFPI’s research in Strafford and Rockingham counties shows that around 75% of low-income renters are burdened by their housing costs.
Sletten’s final takeaways illustrated why economic vitality and housing are intrinsically linked: economies need businesses and businesses need people. Population growth is increasingly reliant on migration, and housing is necessary to support an influx of people, and current residents facing rising costs of essentials and strained incomes.
“Additional housing affordability and availability will be key to population and labor force growth [to] bolster New Hampshire’s economic future.”
To view the full slides from Phil Sletten’s keynote presentation, click here.
Panel: Exploring Employer-Assisted Housing Approaches
The second half of the morning’s program was a panel of three employers engaged in assisting their workers with housing. Moderated by Emmy Ham, speakers included Joseph Linnehan, Chief Operating Officer of Tinios Pro Hospitality Group, Jennifer Sargent, Director of Relocation and Community Services at Dartmouth Health, and Linnea Grim, President and CEO of Strawbery Banke Museum.
These three employers, all of which have played integral roles in the Seacoast region and beyond, are pioneers in employer-assisted housing. Employer-assisted housing is any housing program – either rental or homeownership – that an employer finances or assists in developing in some way, as defined by New Hampshire Housing's Developing Employer-Assisted Housing guide.
The diversity of approaches to employer-assisted housing was on full display from our three panelists, who looked to the needs of their employees to create the best possible option for their businesses.
Transforming Retention with Tinios Hospitality Group
Joseph Linnehan of Tinios Pro Hospitality Group, which operates several Seacoast restaurants and cafes including Galley Hatch Restaurant and Popovers, shared that their journey stemmed from recognizing their employees’ struggles. Linnehan spoke of the confidence in their business model and atmosphere that brought seasonal workers back year after year. The main issue preventing the retention of these employees, that Linnehan has come to view as family, was the lack of housing in the region.
Tinios’ solution was to purchase two properties, one condo and one larger house, located in the Hampton area. Employees that elected to live in these spaces would have the cost of rent deducted from their paycheck before the employee even received it. Controlling the deduction in this manner, Linnehan shared, was the most efficient option for the employer, while also decreasing potential awkwardness around having to hand a check to your manager outside of the work setting.
So far, Tinios Pro Hospitality Group has seen great results. Their retention is excellent, and they find that these housing opportunities not only provide shelter, but a sense of community for seasonal and full-time workers alike.
Driving Innovation with Dartmouth Health
Jennifer Sargent, Director of Relocation and Community Services at Dartmouth Health, shared a similar retention story that led to the development of employer-assisted housing.
Dartmouth Health, the largest private employer in the state, had no problem selling New Hampshire’s way of life or access to attractive services to top talent in healthcare. However, Sargent remembered numerous instances of talent accepting then rescinding job offers, citing that they would love to work for the Dartmouth Health Network but simply couldn’t find an affordable place to live.
As Sargent recalled, the network had no choice but to look into providing their own housing to employees, a model that had not been done anywhere else in the nation. Working with experienced rental agency partners, Dartmouth Health has master leased over 200 units across four locations in the Upper Valley. These units are provided at market rates, though subsidy is available for those who qualify. This ensures that these housing options are attainable for a variety of healthcare workers.
The sub-lease model alongside collaboration with rental agencies has been key to the success of the workforce housing program at Dartmouth Health. Sargent is very pleased with the current framework, though she did emphasize adaptability and individuality in approaching each relocation case.
Spanning History and Home with Strawbery Banke Museum
As for Strawbery Banke Museum, located in the historic Puddle Dock neighborhood of Portsmouth, President and CEO Linnea Grim told of a mutually beneficial employer-assisted housing experience. Through the Heritage House Program, the top floors of the museum buildings have been modestly converted into living space, rented at below-market rates to employees and other Portsmouth residents.
Grim herself is included in these employee-renters and sang the praises of living on site at the museum. Having moved to Portsmouth in 2023, Grim would not have been able to find adequate housing in the city had it not been for the available spaces at Strawbery Banke. To Grim, this has made all the difference in embedding herself into the culture and community of Portsmouth, rather than taking on a transient role of nonprofit leader commuting a far distance.
Other full-time and leadership-level employees live on the museum grounds as well. This allows for a constant eye on the property and aids in the maintenance of the museum’s unique outdoor immersion experience. There are also units occupied by non-museum workers for both residential and office uses, bridging the gap between historical and contemporary living in Portsmouth.
Echoing the other panelists’ feelings of boosted retention, Grim was open about the program’s success for both the occupants and the organization and urged anyone interested in employer-assisted housing to take the leap.
Thank You!
We are so thankful to our speakers – Phil Sletten, Joseph Linnehan, Jennifer Sargent, and Linnea Grim – for taking the time to offer your incredible insights and perspectives.
Thank you to the Seacoast Chamber Alliance and Governor’s Inn and Restaurant for being exceptional partners throughout the event.
A special thank you to our sponsors: Champion Member, Lighthouse Credit Union; Leader Members, TD Bank and Kennebunk Savings Bank; and Partner Member, Bangor Savings Bank for your support of WHC.
And finally, thank you to all our attendees for your engagement and passion for advancing housing options on the Greater Seacoast, and ensuring that everyone who works in our communities can afford to call it home.
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