Current News

Vermont Business Magazine With swimming holes across Vermont getting busier as summer arrives, more than a dozen non-profit organizations and state and federal agencies in the Vermont Swimming Hole Collaborative want to remind the public about important safety and etiquette considerations.

Vermont Business Magazine This weekly report is a list of planned construction activities that will have traffic impacts on state highways throughout Vermont. Most crews will cease activities at noon on Friday, July 02 and be off Monday, July 5 in observance of Independence Day. Please remember to drive safely in all work zones. Lives depend on it.

Vermont State Police On Friday at 1103 hours, the troopers from the Vermont State Police were dispatched to a multi-vehicle crash with injuries involving a motorcycle on Railroad Street in the town of Wells River, Vermont. On arrival, troopers learned that the operator of the motorcycle, Ryan Melton, had already been taken to Cottage Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries a short time later.

Vermont Business Magazine Green Mountain Power (GMP) announced that due to the positive response from customers, it is adding two more tours at the Kingdom Community Wind (KCW) site in Lowell this summer, on June 30 and July 24. The popular summer tours are back this year after being suspended last summer due to the pandemic.

KCW began operations in 2012 and is GMP’s 21-turbine wind farm located in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. It generates 180,000 MWh per year which is enough energy to power 24,000 homes. The tours give Vermonters an opportunity to see first-hand how wind energy is generated right here at home and are a great way to learn about the project, as well as GMP’s ongoing commitment to source 100 percent of its energy supply from renewable sources by the end of this decade. Currently, GMP’s energy mix it is 95 percent carbon free and 64 percent renewable.

Tours are free, take about 90 minutes and are a great opportunity to see up close how wind power works. You visit two of the site’s turbines along with GMP guides to answer your questions.

Vermont Business Magazine The 32nd cohort of the Lake Champlain Chamber’s Leadership Champlain program celebrated their graduation at Hotel Vermont earlier this week.

Since 1989, Leadership Champlain has ensured the community’s most influential and esteemed leaders are knowledgeable about issues, well-networked and passionate about our region’s success.

“This distinguished cohort of 35 community leaders were trailblazers as they completed their entire Leadership Champlain experience virtually,” says Program Director Tori Colarusso. “They spent nine months becoming educated on the different challenges facing our community and serving local organizations while grappling with the many changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Their dedication to our community is inspiring.”

Vermont Business Magazine With swimming holes across Vermont getting busier as summer arrives, more than a dozen non-profit organizations and state and federal agencies in the Vermont Swimming Hole Collaborative want to remind the public about important safety and etiquette considerations.

“Staying safe at swimming holes begins with an awareness of your surroundings whenever going to a new place, or even a favorite spot,” said Holly Knox, Recreation Program Manager for the USDA Forest Service, Green Mountain National Forest. “Knowing the unique features of each swimming hole you visit will help you understand where swift currents and cliffs are located, and whether it is safe for you to plunge in.” Knox also notes that heavy rain can cause dangerous swimming conditions and can impact the water quality. It is best to avoid swimming 24 hours after a heavy rain.

Vermont Business Magazine Burlington City Arts is pleased to announce 13 recipients of the 2021 BCA Community Fund Grants. The City of Burlington launched the grant program in 2016 to foster a vibrant creative community and encourage equity and inclusion through the arts by supporting projects that benefit a broad public. This year, the program also aims to help artists recover from and adapt projects for Covid-19.

“Bringing back successful programs like the BCA Community Fund Grants is more important than ever as our work in the recovery continues. These funded projects will bring joy and healing to the community and new vibrancy to spaces across the city, from senior living facilities to whole neighborhoods. I look forward to the new work our local artists will create with the support of these grants," says Mayor Miro Weinberger.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Thursday condemned a blockade of their bipartisan bill to reform and extend the EB-5 investor visa program, which expires on June 30. The blockade was at the behest of a small group of wealthy real estate developers who reflexively oppose any efforts to improve accountability and transparency in the EB-5 visa program.

Leahy said: “It’s really unfortunate that a bipartisan bill supported by the overwhelming majority of EB-5 stakeholders was blocked at the behest of a small minority that blindly opposes much-needed accountability and transparency in the program. Senator Grassley and I have worked together for years to develop a thoughtful, careful compromise that would both keep the program alive and curtail the worst abuses of it. Now that our bill has been blocked, the EB-5 visa program is unfortunately going to lapse in the days ahead and have untold economic consequences throughout the communities that rely on the program for development projects. I remain committed to reforming the EB-5 program should there be another opportunity to do so.”

Vermont Business Magazine The weekly Food Truck Roundup at Retreat Farm returns this summer to help bring the community back together after a long year apart. This summer, the spectacular setting, local food, craft brews, live music, and lawn games are creating a magnetic event that is attracting a community of support to make the Roundup more accessible and inclusive.

The Food Truck Roundup series debuts on July 1st with Zara Bode’s Little Big Band and continues every Thursday night from 5pm to 8pm through September 2nd. A new partnership with the Stone Church will bring a carefully curated selection of live bands to the Square including the Miles Band, Jatoba, Gaslight Tinkers, Kotoko Brass, Social Medication, Billy Wylder, Saints & Liars, M.O.D., and Pamela Means and the Reparations with the Soul Magnets.

Vermont Business Magazine Washington Electric Cooperative (WEC), a rural electric cooperative serving 10,800 households and businesses in central Vermont, is opening its search for a general manager to start in late 2021. Patty Richards, WEC’s current general manager, announced her planned departure in May, and will serve through the rest of the year.

Board president Steve Knowlton said, “We are looking for candidates who uphold the WEC tradition of putting cooperative principles and our member-owners at the center of our strategy.”

WEC was founded 82 years ago as a member-owned electric distribution utility for people and farms left behind by corporate power providers. For years, WEC has been a leader in Vermont’s efforts to transition to green energy with a focus on equity and affordability. Today, it is a key partner in bringing high speed internet to rural Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources has awarded additional funds to the Central Vermont Solid Waste Management District (CVSWMD) to help construct a year-round household hazardous waste collection facility and to purchase a new box truck for hauling materials.

ANR’s Department of Environmental Conservation has awarded CVSWMD $156,100 from its Solid Waste Management Assistant Fund to manage household hazardous waste in Central Vermont. In February 2020, DEC awarded CVSWMD $500,000 for the construction of a new household hazardous waste collection facility. The 2021 grant award increases CVSWMD’s total grant funding from DEC to $656,100, with $600,000 designated for facility construction and $56,100 for a new box truck.