Down to Business: An Update from the City of Dover's Office of Business Development

Behind the Desk

by James Burdin

Business Development Coordinator

Our newsletter is trying out a new look this week. Don’t worry, Chris Parker will still be around and may contribute pieces from time to time, but we’re planning to run “Behind the Desk” in the top spot most weeks.

Now back to everybody’s favorite topic for light conversation — transportation infrastructure. This is part three of a series about how the city plans and programs major construction projects. If you need to catch up, here are the pieces about the Master Plan and Capital Improvement Program. This week: why a single road project often turns into several projects happening at once.

Once a street is scheduled for reconstruction, it becomes a natural opportunity to tackle other work in the same footprint, rather than digging up the same street twice within a few years. For the Henry Law Avenue reconstruction, that meant a sewer main replacement was added to the CIP by 2007 to coincide with the street reconstruction. Private utilities will be coordinating maintenance on their own systems, and eventually the city added drainage systems to the design as well. Coordinating this way is more efficient, and it means fewer total years of construction disruption for residents and businesses along the corridor.

But wait, if the project has been in the CIP since 2007, why are we just getting to it now? Large projects like this one are also often broken into multiple phases to spread out both the cost to the taxpayers and the disruption to any one block or business at a time. The city determined the Henry Law project made more sense as several smaller phases rather than one massive undertaking. The timing of the final phase in particular needed to be coordinated with improvements to the Cochecho Waterfront, federal funding sources, and even the Dover 400 celebration. All of this required years of planning and coordination between departments and external agencies.



Next week we’re going to wrap this series up with the final steps – bidding and breaking ground. Until then, have a great week.

Artist Becca Lane, owner of One Lane Studios, poses with her paintings.

Painting Her Own Path

By Reid Bickley

Business Development Specialist

Sometimes the setting for an interview could not be more fitting. When I met Becca Lane, owner and artist behind One Lane Studios, at Juniper Kitchen in downtown Dover, some of her artwork was hanging on the walls around us. It felt appropriate because, although this was the first time we had met, I have been seeing her work for years, adorning the walls of businesses and creative spaces throughout Dover. I was there to celebrate an important milestone: One Lane Studios' 5th Anniversary.

Becca has been creating art much longer than that, though. She started selling commissioned artwork when she was just 12 and later attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. But art school gave her more than technical skills. She said it reinforced the importance of community, connecting with other artists, and learning to treat creative work with the same discipline as any other profession. Five years ago, during the uncertainty of COVID, she decided to take a chance on herself. While working retail, with several large commissions lined up, and enough savings to give herself some breathing room, her philosophy became simple: make it a “yes year.”

“I’m just going to dive in,” she remembered. “Do everything I’ve been dying to do.”

One of those yeses brought her to the Cochecho Arts Festival, where she connected with the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire and was invited to create work for an upcoming exhibit.

She produced four paintings in six weeks, no small feat considering one of her pieces can take anywhere from 60 to 200 hours. One of those paintings, a little character named B’Nan, was posted online and went viral overnight. Becca laughed, describing the experience as a “baptism by fire,” but it helped change the direction of her business.

Suddenly, people were purchasing work created entirely from her own imagination rather than commissioning someone else’s idea. “It’s like a dream come true, truly,” she said. That growing audience has led to some pretty memorable moments. Two of Becca’s original paintings are now hanging in the home of Paul Dini, the acclaimed writer and producer behind several Warner Bros. Animation and DC Comics animated series, and co-creator of Harley Quinn. That is certainly a pretty remarkable detail to add to an artist’s portfolio.

Her paintings are whimsical, colorful, and wonderfully detailed, often featuring animals with distinct personalities and names. Becca calls them her “art babies,” and it became clear during our conversation that she genuinely sees each one as its own little being.

There is humor throughout her work, plenty of ’90s nostalgia, and a remarkable level of detail, particularly in the eyes and fur of her subjects. Our conversation eventually wandered, as good conversations do, into social media, artificial intelligence, and what it means to create something authentically human in an increasingly digital world.

She isn’t shy about where she stands on AI-generated art. “We need the humanness,” she said. For her, authenticity matters, imperfections and all.

Becca moved here about six years ago and told me she was surprised by just how strong and closely connected Dover’s arts community was. She quickly found artists, organizations, and creative spaces supporting one another, and fell even more in love with the city.

“I never want to leave,” she said. Her favorite part is the people; she joked that she can barely walk her dogs a block without running into someone she knows. As someone who has watched Dover’s arts community grow for years, that part of our conversation meant a lot to me. Art is woven into this city, in galleries, studios, restaurants, cafés, mill buildings and storefronts, and artists like Becca are part of what gives Dover its personality.

So, happy fifth anniversary, One Lane Studios. Here’s to many more years of colorful characters, viral surprises, “art babies,” and making Dover a little more creative along the way. 

RESOURCE ROUNDUP

Using AI Without Losing Your Business’s Voice

By Reid BIckley

Business Development Specialist

A few weeks ago, I came across a post from a popular local social media page asking whether it should allow AI-generated content. More than 130 people responded, and the overwhelming majority said no. That reaction caught my attention. Once I started looking more closely at business posts, I noticed some of the problems contributing to that skepticism: misspelled words in graphics, strange-looking people or products, generic language, and images that did not really feel connected to the businesses sharing them.

Then, during a recent conversation about AI with a small business owner, they sent me an article that approached the issue from another angle. In “The rise of the AI flyer and why it might be hurting your brand,” marketing consultant Candice Sealey points out that AI-generated promotional graphics are beginning to look remarkably similar. AI makes it possible to create a flyer in seconds, but when businesses use the same tools in the same way, their marketing can start blending together. Instead of helping a business stand out, that quick graphic may actually make its brand less recognizable. That matters because a flyer, social media post, or advertisement is often a customer’s first impression of a business. Colors, photographs, fonts, wording and layout all communicate something about who you are. A restaurant, retail shop, professional service, and nonprofit should not all look the same. When customers repeatedly encounter similar AI imagery, it can become visual background noise rather than something that stops the scroll.

There is also a larger issue of trust. In the PR Daily article, “The AI backlash is getting louder. Brands should pay attention,” Courtney Blackann reports that 61% of Americans want more control over how AI is used in their lives. The article makes an important distinction: people are not necessarily rejecting AI itself. In fact, many use it. What audiences are increasingly questioning is whether businesses are using AI to genuinely improve something or simply to replace effort, creativity, and human judgment. That is an important distinction for small businesses.

AI can be an excellent tool for brainstorming a campaign, organizing ideas, drafting a post, developing a headline, analyzing information or exploring a visual concept. I sometimes use it to get my own creative process moving, then bring an idea into Canva, revise the design, replace the wording, and incorporate real photographs. The technology supports the process; it does not become the process. The same rule should apply to your business. Rewrite AI-generated content in your own voice. Use real photographs of your people, products and location whenever possible. Never upload confidential or personally identifiable customer information. And always proofread. Check names, dates, prices, addresses, links and factual claims, and inspect AI-generated images for distorted features, altered logos or products that do not represent what you actually sell.

The goal should not be to create more content simply because AI makes it possible. It should be to create better content. Let AI save you time and handle some of the repetition, but keep people responsible for the creativity, judgment, and relationships. In a marketplace increasingly filled with AI-generated content, your greatest advantage may be sounding (and looking) like yourself.

Question of the Week



The Office of Business Development seeks public feedback on topics related to our local business community, utilizing the city's polling platform, Polco.

This week's question:

How do you decide where to grab coffee or a quick bite when you're running errands in Dover?

Let us know

Responses are anonymous, but poll respondents must create an account with Polco to submit answers. Only an email and password is required to make an account.

September in Review: Dover's Boards, Committees and Commissions

In the latest episode of the Dover Download podcast, Deputy City Manager Christopher Parker chats with Director of Media Services Mike Gillis about September's board, committee and commission meetings.

Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Business Event Happenings 

Night at the Woodman Museum, Oct. 9, 4:30 to 9:30 p.m.

182 Central Ave. Experience the Woodman Museum after dark during this family-friendly blend of ghost tour, museum tour, and local history. Costumed characters connected to museum artifacts will come to life to share stories from Dover’s past during 45-minute guided tours. Timed tours are also offered Saturday, October 10, and advance tickets are recommended.

Hand-Stitched North Star Workshop, Aplomb Art Café and Gallery, Oct. 10, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

262 Central Ave. Create your own eight-pointed “North Star” textile artwork using hand-stitching and appliqué on canvas. Participants are encouraged to bring a meaningful piece of lightweight fabric to incorporate into their work, although it is not required. No previous sewing experience is necessary.

Yoga & Cider with Bending Bodhi, North Country Hard Cider, Oct. 11, 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.

38 Littleworth Road. Start your Sunday with a 60-minute, all-levels yoga class inside North Country Hard Cider’s new brewery, followed by time to relax and connect with the community. The $25 registration includes the class and a 12-ounce cider of your choice.

Complete Calendar Listings

Looking for something in Dover? The Office of Business Development continues to update the community calendar to cover all the amazing Dover business events. And if you have events, submit them for inclusion.

Launch or Expand Your Business in Dover, NH!

Contact the Office of Business Development for assistance finding the perfect site for your business. Our team can assist you in site selection and provide access to business resources for business growth and expansion. Email us for more information about how to locate or relocate your business with us!

Let us know about your business

Do you have a question, story, or upcoming event related to businesses in Dover? Please get in touch at Dover-BusinessDevelopment@dover.nh.gov to see it featured here!