Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Bernie Isabelle, Vermont Federal Credit Union’s President & CEO since October, 2008, has retired, effective November 1, 2016. Isabelle said that he and his wife appreciate and will miss the friendships that they have developed in their years at the Credit Union with the employees, the Board of Directors, and the Supervisory Committee. VFCU is based in Burlington.

Vermont Business Magazine This fall, through the 2016-2017 Vermont Mentoring Grants, Mobius has awarded 32 grants, totaling more than $307,000, to support adult-to-youth mentoring programs throughout the state. This funding will support 101 new and existing program sites, and more than 1,800 adult-to-youth mentor pairs in communities across Vermont. Additionally, there is $45,000 in remaining grant funding available that Mobius plans to award to agencies planning or launching new mentoring programs during the 2016-2017 grant year. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont departments of Fish & Wildlife, and Forests, Parks, & Recreation are holding a public meeting to discuss future management and use of a group of conserved lands in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. The meeting will discuss the proposed long-range management plan for Victory Basin Wildlife Management Area, Victory State Forest, and Darling State Park. The meeting will take place on Thursday, November 10 from 6 to 8 pm at the St Johnsbury regional office for the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, located at 1229 Portland St. This is a routine update of the management plan for these lands. 

Fish & Wildlife, and Forests, Parks, & Recreation photo.

Vermont Business Magazine Over 250 local and national farm to school leaders gathered last week at the 2016 Vermont Farm to School Conference to learn about the positive impacts of Farm to School programming, sample local cuisine, and help shape the future of farm to school in Vermont.  Held over the course of two days at Lake Morey Resort in Fairlee, the conference featured talks by US Senator Patrick Leahy, USDA Farm to School and Community Food Systems Director Deborah Kane, and Executive Director of Child Nutrition of Detroit Public Schools Betti Wiggins. 

Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets photo.

by Mike Smith Some political candidates may wish Tuesday’s election is about something else; but the most important issue on the minds of a majority of Vermonters is the economy. WCAX-TV reported that 21.6 percent of those Vermonters polled want the next governor to focus on the economy and jobs, followed by 14.8 percent who said health care was a top priority, while 13.8 percent said taxes. If you combine these top three issues (health care concerns are probably driven by the cost of health care coverage) just over 50 percent of Vermonters are concerned about economic issues when they think about the race for governor. Other issues such as marijuana legalization were far behind these major economic concerns. Castleton Polling Institute reported similar results last year. There are probably three primary reasons for this continued economic angst.    

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Teddy Bear Company proudly announces its inclusion in the November 3, 2016 edition of The Washington Post, in an article entitled “Toy Animals Come to Life on a Factory Tour of the Vermont Teddy Bear Company,” written by travel writer Andrea Sachs. “We are so excited to be highlighted with other great Vermont companies in such a highly-regarded newspaper,” says Shouldice. “Ms. Sachs truly encapsulated what a visit to Vermont Teddy Bear is all about.”

Big Picture Farm: A Newfane farm (Snow Farm) parody of Shake it Off by Taylor Swift.

Vermont Business Magazine Last year, Lake Region Union High School in Orleans was named State Winner in the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest for developing a website where the community can post to if they have excess produce to share with those in need. Today, other local schools can enter the 2017 contest for a chance to win part of the $2 million prize.

by Joshua E. Brown, UVM In Africa, tens of thousands of elephants are killed by poachers each year. Now a new study shows that this poaching crisis costs African countries around $25 million annually in lost tourism revenue. The research was published November 1 in the journal Nature Communications. The research, undertaken by scientists at the University of Vermont’s Gund Institute for Ecological Economics, World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and the University of Cambridge, represents the first continent-wide assessment of the economic losses that the current elephant poaching surge is inflicting on nature-based tourism economies in Africa.

Vermont Department of Economic Development The Economic Development Department released its monthly newsletter Friday. It talks about the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Blake Hill Preserves in early October, in Windsor’s Artisans Park. The park represents a combined investment of the private sector, VEDA, the Springfield Regional Development Corporation, and the town of Windsor. It is where you can find — Harpoon, VT Farmstead Cheese, Silo Distillery, and now, Blake Hill.

Vermont Business Magazine Accessing health care and health insurance are significant challenges for farmers in Vermont and nationwide, creating obstacles for farm viability, health and well-being, job creation, business expansion and the ability to farm full-time. A day-long summit at the University of Vermont on Thursday brought together key stakeholders in Vermont’s health, agriculture, tax, government, and Extension sectors to share perspectives and discuss opportunities for collaboration and integration of the spheres of health and agriculture to better serve Vermont’s farmers.

The intended outcome is to develop a statewide coordinated approach to addressing health and health insurance in the Vermont farm sector. This event is part of the ongoing USDA Health Insurance, Rural Economic Development and Agriculture research project (HIREDnAg).

Vermont Business Magazine Five Rutland-area businesses have been awarded a total of $104,141 in Regional Economic Development Grants sought by Rutland Economic Development Corp. (REDC) and provided by the State of Vermont. The awards were announced at REDC’s annual meeting last week. REDC applied for the grants on behalf of Carpenter & Costin, Awesome Graphics, Ann Clark Cookie Cutters, Vermont Maple Sriracha, and BalanceWorks, all businesses located in Rutland County.

“Investment spurred by the grants will create 20 new jobs in the area and increase productivity through the purchase of equipment and facilities improvements,” said Lyle Jepson, executive director of REDC.  “The recipients of the grants are businesses from a variety of sectors, each one in a position to grow due to the success they’ve generated.  The grants will help facilitate that growth.”