The NHLC oversees all wholesale liquor and wine sales in the state , as well as all retail spirits sales .

The state set an all-time sales record in fiscal year 2016 with

BY JEREMY NEDELKA

The New Hampshire Liquor Commission excels across the board .

past winner in 2015 for Best Technology Innovation and 2016 for Best Warehouse Innovation , the New Hampshire Liquor Commission is this year ’ s Overall

Winner for the Control State Best Practices Awards .

The NHLC ’ s net revenue last year was $ 156 million , with 100 % of proceeds going to the general fund , helping to continue the state ’ s tradition of having no sales or income tax . The state set an all-time sales record in fiscal year 2016 with $ 678 million in gross sales , a 5.5 % increase over the previous year .

The NHLC acts as the sole distributor of wine and spirits in the state , and operates 79 Liquor & Wine Outlets . In addition , there are three agency stores in the state and more than 1,400 off-premise licensees that sell wine ( mostly grocery stores ).

The agency is being recognized for its work improving warehouse operations , renovating retail stores , implementing technological innovations , educating consumers and partnering with licensees .

WAREHOUSE UPGRADES The NHLC partners with DHL on its warehouse , which features streamlined processing , sophisticated IT , instant auditing and tracking , electronic billing and an intuitive design . Over the past year , the two organizations have implemented a series of initiatives to streamline the customer ordering process and add weekend delivery service to high-volume stores . The warehouse has also seen upgrades to enhance route tracking , which is aimed at maximizing revenue , increasing efficiency and improving customer service .

“ In the last six years we ’ ve increased our retail square footage by over 40 %, and every time we ’ ve opened or relocated a store we ’ ve reviewed our business practices to see what we can do better because there ’ s always room for improvement ,” says Deputy Commissioner Michael Milligan . “ The innovations DHL have brought us are priceless . They ’ ve looked at every one of our stores to see how they can be more efficient , including routing traffic and delivery times . That may not sound significant , but we ’ ve been able to cut our labor costs by $ 7 million thanks to efficient ordering and deliveries .”

The warehouse also recently added a will-call area for licensees to pick up orders themselves . The state has nearly 5,000 licensees , ranging from big box retailers to small single-store owners .

“ It ’ s been very successful ,” says Chairman Joseph Mollica . “ They ’ re averaging 7,500 cases per month and more than

StateWays | www . stateways . com | September / October 2017 9