Current News

Vermont Business Magazine As part of the Vision 2020 strategic plan that the Bennington Area Chamber of Commerce unveiled last week at their Annual Dinner, the Chamber has launched one of their main promises, a new website. “This new website is a complete overhaul of the former website,” said Matt Harrington, executive director at the Chamber. “We modeled this off of many modern and relevant websites that we’ve been admiring for some time now. The important part of any website these days is the ability to combine beautiful design and strategic function. The visitors have to be wowed by the imagery and energy of the website, while still being able to navigate and find the answers they’re looking for. I think this website is a step in the right direction.”

Vermont Business MagazineThe Vermont Manufacturing Extension Center (VMEC) has announced a new 3-day innovation fundamentals course that teaches you how to Work Smarter RIGHT NOW - no matter your skill, title or experience. This training is designed to ignite innovation within the people, projects, and cultures of businesses and organizations. Anyone who wants to learn how to create, pitch, test and implement new ideas for products, services, customers and markets, processes, business models, and systems - faster and smarter - should attend. The Innovation Engineering Quick Start course will be held February 27 through March 1, 2017 at GlobalFoundries in Essex Junction. The course will be taught by well-known international innovation expert and entrepreneur, Doug Hall, Founder and CEO of Eureka!Ranch in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Vermont Business Magazine About 56 Vermont employers, representing nearly 20,000 employees from across the state, gathered at the Capital Plaza Hotel yesterday for the launch of Vermont’s Early Childhood Business Council. The event, which included remarks by Governor Phil Scott, was emceed by Emerson Lynn, editor and co-publisher of the St. Albans Messenger, and featured presentations by business leaders who believe that high-quality, affordable child care is an economic driver.

Vermont Business Magazine Representatives Matt Trieber (D-Bellows Falls), Sam Young (D-Glover) and Sarah Copeland-Hanzas (D-Bradford) will file a bill today that would create a statewide family and medical leave insurance program for all working Vermonters. The insurance plan would be separate from insurance one has from an employer. The bill has more than 40 cosponsors, including House Majority Leader Jill Krowinski, Assistant Majority Leader Tristan Toleno, and Deputy Assistant Majority Leader Emily Long, as well as five committee chairs. The proposal would give Vermonters up to 12 weeks of paid, job-protected leave to welcome a new child or care for a seriously ill loved one or themselves.

Vermont Business MagazineApplications are now being accepted for the 2017 Governor's Awards for Environmental Excellence. The annual award honors the actions taken by Vermonters to conserve and protect natural resources, prevent pollution and promote sustainability.

Vermont Business MagazineHill Farmstead Brewery has been named Best Brewery in the World for the year 2016, as well as Best Brewery in the United States and Vermont, by RateBeer, the world’s largest, most popular beer review and rating website. This is the third year in a row and the fourth time in the past five years that the brewery has been honored as Best Brewery in the World, United States and Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine FairPoint Communications has announced the completion of broadband expansion projects in 20 Vermont towns that extend and enhance FairPoint’s approximately 17,000 mile fiber optic network, which is the largest, fully-owned and managed fiber-based network in northern New England. As a result of these completed projects, improved broadband speeds are available to more than 5,100 locations in Vermont -- in some areas for the first time.

By Scott Giles Governor Phil Scott’s budget request to invest an additional $1 million in the nondegree grant program will pay off in real opportunities for Vermonters who need education and training for jobs that are waiting to be filled. In fact, over the next decade, seven out of 10 of the high-pay, high-demand jobs created in Vermont will require education or training after high school, according to Vermont’s Department of Labor. Education is the key to a better and more prosperous life and it’s the most powerful tool we have to end generational poverty and reverse social inequities.

But too many Vermonters don’t have the education and training they need now and that will be required in the future for the new workplace. For Vermonters, continuing education or training after high school isn’t a luxury; it’s a necessity.

Preparing Vermonters for the future

Vermont Business Magazine Sterling College has once again been confirmed as the top college in the United States that serves food on campus that is local, sustainable, humane, and fair-trade. This is the third consecutive year Sterling has had this achievement. This classification comes from the Real Food Challenge, which surveyed over 200 colleges and universities throughout the United States. After reviewing all of the food used in the Sterling College kitchen from July 2015 to June 2016, the college found that 65% of its food met the real food qualification for production methods.

This year’s survey also revealed that 53% of Sterling’s food comes from farms within a 150-mile radius of the College; this includes the 35% of food that comes from its own on-campus farm, one of the first collegiate farms in the country. The campus-grown food is up from 20% last year.

Vermont Business Magazine The region’s premier design and construction event kicked off today in South Burlington. More than 1000 building, design, and clean energy professionals gathered for Efficiency Vermont’s 16^th Better Buildings by Design Conference taking place over the next two days. This year’s conference kicked off with keynote speaker Ann Edminster, an award winning author and international sustainable residential construction and zero-net energy expert.

The winners of Efficiency Vermont’s Best of the Best Awards were announced during the opening remarks of the conference. Given annually, the awards recognize high achievement by architects, engineers, builders, and contractors using energy efficiency and sustainability practices to construct or renovate Vermont buildings.

Vermont Business MagazineLast week, the Vermont Department of Taxes and the IRS began accepting tax returns for the 2016 tax year and there are a few changes the department would like taxpayers to know about. The department continues to experience a rise in attempted tax refund fraud, an alarming trend that mirrors what is happening in other states and at the federal level. State revenue departments and the IRS are implementing procedures to help protect the taxpayer’s money. Vermont taxpayers will be asked to provide a Vermont driver’s license or state-issued identification card number when filing. If the information is not provided and the department cannot verify your identity, this may delay the processing of a refund.

Vermont Business MagazineVermont business associations representing small, medium and large, businesses and their employees across Vermont find the recent Executive Order signed by President Trump to be contrary to the economic and humanitarian values that have defined our state and our country since its inception. The statement was issued jointly by the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce (LCRCC), the Vermont Business Roundtable (VBR), the Vermont Chamber of Commerce (VCC) and Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility (VBSR).

As a state whose history is steeped in the legacy of those fleeing religious and political oppression, and as a state whose history is woven throughout the American Revolution's fight for personal liberty and freedom, our Associations reject the underlying assumption that one's race, religion or culture should create an automatic bar to entry into our country.