Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The owner of Killington and Pico ski resorts, POWDR, announced today a new long-term partnership with Mammut, the leading Swiss-born premium outdoors brand, with more than a century of experience in producing mountain safety equipment, technical apparel, and accessories for outdoor activities. The partnership makes Mammut the official uniform and apparel provider for more than 8,000 mountain professionals working at ten of POWDR’s mountain resort locations: Boreal Mountain Resort, CA; Copper Mountain, CO; Eldora, CO; Killington, VT; Lee Canyon, NV; Mt. Bachelor, OR; Pico Mountain, VT; SilverStar, BC; Snowbird, UT; and Soda Springs, CA. The partnership begins with the 2020-2021 season, continues through 2026, and also includes POWDR’s heli-skiing operation, Powderbird, located at Snowbird, UT.

Vermont Business Magazine Bennington College has received accreditation from the New England Commissions of Higher Education (NECHE) to award a Bennington College Associate of Art degree to incarcerated students through its Prison Education Initiative (PEI). Now in its fifth year, PEI brings Bennington College faculty to Great Meadow Correctional Facility, a maximum-security men’s prison in Comstock, NY, to provide a quality liberal arts education to incarcerated students. PEI will graduate its first class of Associate of Arts candidates in a Commencement ceremony that will take place at Great Meadow on June 13, 2020.

Vermont Business Magazine Harbour Industries LLC, a Marmon|Berkshire Hathaway company based in Shelburne, announced Tuesday it is now an approved manufacturer for a number of low-loss coax and high-speed data cables used on Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Lighting II 5th generation fighter aircraft. Harbour's data and coaxial cables were chosen based on the use of a composite fluoropolymer insulation ensuring light-weight and high-speed transmission. Harbour is known as a supplier that has product and process engineering expertise that ensures the highest quality cables will be manufactured in exact accordance with Lockheed's demanding physical and electrical requirements.

Vermont Business Magazine America’s leading companies and law firms, including Vermont company Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc., are stepping up in record numbers to adopt increasingly forward-looking policies and practices to meet the needs of their lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) workers in the U.S. and abroad, according to the 2020 Corporate Equality Index (CEI) released today by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation, the educational arm of the nation’s largest LGBTQ civil rights organization.

by C.B. Hall, Vermont Business Magazine Established in 1991, Bellows Falls-based Chroma Technology Corp is an employee-owned C-corporation that designs and manufactures precision optical filters, optical coatings, light sources, and imaging systems. With its 126 employees, the Bellows Falls plant serves as the hub for a business with global reach. Chroma employs three representatives elsewhere in the country and maintains sales offices with a total of ten employees in China, Japan and Germany.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Ski & Snowboard Museum is seeking nominations for the 2020 Vermont Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame and First Tracks Awards. Each year, the Vermont Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame honors athletes, special contributors, and pioneers of Vermont skiing and snowboarding who have promoted and/or contributed to the sport of skiing or riding in Vermont. The First Tracks Award honors a skier or rider under 35. The Museum is also seeking nominations for the Paul Robbins Award for excellence in skiing and snowboarding journalism.

Inductees are recognized at a Ceremony at the beginning of the 2020/21 skiing and riding season, and their histories are documented in the Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum's collection as part of the permanent Vermont Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame exhibit.

Vermont Business Magazine It's ski season. Before heading up the mountain, make sure you have a good pair of ski gloves. Second-rate ski gloves can turn your next ski run into no fun. To make the choice easier, RAVE Reviews ranked 2020's 10 best ski gloves. Burton's GORE-TEX Glove ranked number 9.

by Representative Robin Scheu, D-Middlebury Democrats have long been the champions of working families, women, and children. We believe in a Vermont where our families and communities can thrive and where the Vermont dream is accessible to everyone - not just a select few. When we rewrite the rules so that families can care for and support themselves, we boost the economy and build stronger, healthier communities.

Today, too many Vermonters struggle to care for and support themselves and their families. That’s why I have been a strong supporter of a universal paid family leave program for Vermonters. Working Vermonters should have the security of being able to welcome a new child or care for a sick family member without fear of losing income or being fired.

PLOWZ & MOWZ, the nation’s first and largest on-demand outdoor home services app, is announcing the expansion of its markets to Burlington, VT. Plowz & Mowz will be hosting a meet and greet event with locally, insured landscapers to introduce technology through the apps platform which aids in streamlining outdoor services from plowing to lawn care. This event will bring together landscaping professionals with the Plowz & Mowz team in an exuberant atmosphere to supply them with the help needed to grow their local business. The meet and greet will be held at Mule Bar kicking off at 5 PM till 8 PM on Wednesday, January 22nd.

Wills Mahoney, Co-Founder, says “Plowz and Mowz, the nationwide leader in on-demand snow plowing, is excited to move into Burlington and take it by storm. Customers will finally have an easy to use on-demand snow plowing solution all at their fingertips.”

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today delivered his fourth budget address. He once again emphasized affordability and demographic challenges. As his predecessors have done for the last 30 years, he presented a $6.3 billion balanced budget, but one that limits spending growth to a total of just 2 percent across all funds. Scott acknowledged that even with such a frugal spending plan, the budget shortfall was still around $70 million. This has been the typical case in recent years as fundamental costs for things such as health care keep increasing, with little ability for the state to control. There were no protests in the Well of the House, as there were by environmental activists two weeks ago for the governor’s State of the State Address. Also, unlike the State of the State, the governor received a standing ovation, when he spoke about welcoming New Americans to Vermont.