LONDONDERRY — When it comes to ensuring job stability for the next generation of Granite State graduates, today's priorities lay within stronger initiatives in public education and transportation, U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen,D-N.H., said Wednesday night.

The senator made a stop in Londonderry this week to host a public Town Hall forum on the state's economy and potential growth. Roughly 80 residents gathered inside the gymnasium at Matthew Thornton Elementary School.

There to help illustrate her point on the importance of encouraging children to strengthen their skills in the STEM subjects (an acronym for science, math, technology and engineering) were members of Londonderry High School's award-winning FIRST Robotics team, the PVC Pirates.

“Programs like FIRST illustrate what we can do in this country to contribute an educated workforce,” said Shaheen.

During the past week, the senator has toured three of the state's advanced manufacturing companies.

“ Between these three companies, they're looking to hire some 1,000 workers in the coming three years,” she noted. “These are good jobs with good benefits: now what we need to do is make sure our state has the qualified workers to meet their needs.”

Of equal importance, Shaheen added, is the pending transportation bill, which already passed with 74 votes before the Senate.

The bill has yet to go before the House.

“We need to finish I-93,” she stressed. “Right now, it's over capacity, which is a huge safety concern, especially for businesses in Salem, Derry, Windham and Manchester.”

“I'm hopeful we'll get some agreement from the House,” she added. “We really need to invest in our future when it comes to our schools, our highways and our workers if we want to protect job growth in future years.”

Later, the senator encouraged questions from the audience.

Atkinson resident Harlan Cheney said he was concerned about the recent McCain-Feingold Supreme Court ruling allowing corporations to spend limitless amounts of undisclosed dollars on political campaigns.

“It's one of the biggest threats to our democracy in years,” Shaheen agreed, noting that she's recently introduced the Disclosure Act, which would require such spending to be publicly disclosed.

“Without that, it's hard to know who to believe.”

Londonderry Town Councilor Tom Dolan asked about the future of Pettengill Road: an ambitious Londonderry development project that's been put on hold time and time again.

'Right now, it's a road to nowhere,” Dolan said, imploring the senator's help. “But I think we stand to unlock some of the most developable property in the state and bring in thousands of new jobs.”

“This definitely speaks the importance of getting a transportation bill finalized,” the senator replied.