MANCHESTER, N.H. – Governor Kelly Ayotte joined Greek American leaders at the 47th Glendi Festival to mark the Greece Trade Council, created by Senate Bill 526. Ayotte held a ceremonial signing at St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral. The statute already stands as Chapter 66 of the 2026 New Hampshire Laws. It took effect on July 7, 2026, after Ayotte signed the enrolled bill on May 8, 2026.
Greece Trade Council signed before Glendi crowds.
The ceremony opened with a blessing from Fr. Nicholas Livingston. Dick Anagnost, president of The Anagnost Companies, then welcomed guests. Ayotte followed and introduced Sen. Denise Ricciardi, the bill’s sponsor. Rep. Efstathia Booras, a co-sponsor, also spoke. Rhode Island Sen. Leonidas “Lou” Raptakis, president of the Association of Greek American Legislators, offered further remarks.
“We want to expand the trade and economic relations we have with Greece,” Ayotte said. “It is a great partnership and a reflection of the strength of the Greek community and its contributions in the state of New Hampshire.” Ayotte signed the ceremonial copy just before 11:25 a.m. Raptakis, Livingston, Anagnost, Ricciardi and Booras stood behind her. Event organizer Chrisafides and former Labor Commissioner George Copadis also attended. Chrisafides and Anagnost are slated as the two non-government appointees on the Greece Trade Council.
According to Anagnost, the state has long gained from leaders who plan beyond the next cycle. “This initiative creates an opportunity to strengthen commercial relationships between New Hampshire and Greece while opening the door to new ideas, new partnerships and new markets,” he said. “Economic growth comes from creating opportunities, and this council can help bring businesses and leaders from both countries together in meaningful ways.”
What Senate Bill 526 authorizes
Senate Bill 526 directs the commissioner of the Department of Business and Economic Affairs and the secretary of state to establish the New Hampshire-Greece Trade Council. The council is to meet with counterpart bodies in the Hellenic Republic. Its stated aims are bilateral trade and investment, joint work on shared policy questions, and business and academic exchanges.
The General Court recorded four findings. Greek Americans played a role in the state’s early history. Greece is listed as one of New Hampshire’s significant trade partners. The state should build on historic, cultural, and economic ties with the Hellenic Republic. New Hampshire has the highest per capita concentration of Greek Americans in the United States. Membership will include legislators, state officials, industry representatives, the university system, and two public members appointed by the governor. The council may raise private funds and accept grants. A non-lapsing treasury fund covers administration.
In addition, Ricciardi tied the law to existing product flows. She said New Hampshire already exports aerospace, computer and electronic goods. She said Greece supplies metals and food products. “This Council will create new opportunities for trade, investment, tourism and business development,” she said. “It will also help showcase New Hampshire products on the international stage, while providing direct connections throughout the European Union.”
Greek American community anchors the partnership
Ricciardi placed the Greece Trade Council inside a longer community record. “New Hampshire is home to one of the strongest Greek-American communities in the nation with the highest concentration of Greek Americans per capita in the entire United States,” she said. “Since the very late 1800s, Greek culture has enriched all communities, businesses and traditions.” St. George’s parish dates to 1905. The church became the state’s Greek Orthodox cathedral in 1970. Greek-American officeholders now sit in Congress and in several statehouses, including New Hampshire.
Elsewhere, U.S. goods exports from New Hampshire reached $7.2 billion in 2025. Germany, Canada and Mexico led the state list. The European Union, as a bloc, accounted for $3.0 billion. Separate U.S. data put national goods-and-services trade with Greece at $14.7 billion in 2025. Those figures do not isolate every New Hampshire-to-Greece shipment. Still, they frame why lawmakers sought a formal channel. Greek food exports into the U.S. market, including olive oil, remain a live commercial file.
Given that backdrop, diaspora networks already link New England to Athens. Greece’s ambassador has met newly elected Greek-American members of Congress, including New Hampshire’s Maggie Goodlander. Athens has also courted New England academics and firms on prior U.S. tours. The new council is a state-level counterpart to those national contacts.
Glendi Festival frames the commercial push.
Glendi began in 1980 after parish leaders recast the cathedral bazaar. The word means “good times.” The 2026 festival ran Sept. 18–20 at 650 Hanover Street. Organizers say the three-day event now draws visitors from New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont and Maine and approaches 40,000 guests. Food, music, dance and cathedral tours fill the grounds.
After the speeches, the ceremonial signing took place inside that crowd, not inside the State House. Parish council members and southern New Hampshire families filled the same tents used for lamb, pastry and live music. NHPR covered the prior year’s festival as a regional draw that now depends on large volunteer kitchens. Separately, Ayotte has attended Glendi in past years and has served food there. The 2026 program put the Greece Trade Council on the same calendar.
While the festival is cultural, sponsors and parish leaders treated the bill as a business marker. Anagnost Companies and the Chrisafides family appear among 2026 festival sponsors. Copadis and Chrisafides also sit on the 2026 cathedral board. So the same names now appear on both the parish roster and the new trade body.
How the council is expected to operate
After enactment, the Department of Business and Economic Affairs and the Secretary of State have the authority to establish the council and engage Greek counterparts. The law does not set a first meeting date in the public docket text. It does allow fundraising so the body can work with little or no new general-fund cost, Ricciardi told the Senate Commerce Committee on Feb. 10, 2026. She said the model follows earlier New Hampshire councils for Canada and Ireland.
Meanwhile, U.S.–Greece commercial traffic continues at the national level. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has cited record foreign investment and tourism in diaspora remarks. Athens and Washington describe the bilateral relationship as unusually close on energy, defense and investment. The New Hampshire body is smaller. Yet it gives Granite State firms a named path into that wider channel.
