Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Premier designer toy and synthetic celebrity brand Superplastic from Burlington has joined forces with the World's Most Successful Virtual Act - British band Gorillaz - to create a new ultra-limited collector's edition toy - available today on superplastic.co and gorillaz.com/store.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced the formation of the Vermont 2020 Complete Count Committee through Executive Order 09-19. The Committee is charged with ensuring a complete and accurate count of Vermont's population in the upcoming 2020 Census. The Committee will comprise private and public stakeholders across Vermont, including state and municipal government officials, state legislators, community organizations and representatives of populations that are historically undercounted in the Census such as the LQBTQ, elderly, minority, immigrant and homeless communities.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Electric Co-op (VEC) today filed a request with the Vermont Public Utility Commission for a rate increase of 3.29 percent to take effect at the beginning of next year.  If approved, this adjustment would be the first VEC rate increase in six years. Over the last ten years, VEC has had an average rate increase of less than one percent a year, well under the cost of inflation.

Vermont Business Magazine MENTOR Vermont recently awarded 25 grants, totaling $348,735, to support youth mentoring programs throughout the state. The 2019-2020 Vermont Mentoring Grants will support more than 100 new and existing program sites, and more than 1,800 adult-to-youth mentor pairs in communities across Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine FUJIFILM Dimatix Inc, has announced that their STEM Internship: High Tech Manufacturing & Engineering has entered into its second year. The program is a partnership between Lebanon High School (NH), Thetford Academy (Vermont), Hypertherm (NH), and FUJIFILM Dimatix, Inc (NH). While the concept of teaching high school students about STEM isn’t a new one, this program is unique because it combines onsite learning at manufacturing facilities and curriculums that earn course credits.

Vermont Business Magazine The Scott Administration will be in Addison County on Monday, November 18 for its Capitol for a Day initiative, a 14-county tour launched by the Governor in 2018. The Administration visited all 14 counties last year and Monday’s visit to Addison will mark the 5th stop on the second round of visits. Capitol for a Day is intended to give local constituents, municipal government leaders and other partners the opportunity to connect directly with state leadership and staff.

Vermont Business Magazine On Thursday evening, Burliington Mayor Miro Weinberger received the 2019 Circle of Stars award at the Turning Point Center’s 10th annual Circle of Stars benefit dinner. In accepting the award, Mayor Weinberger called for a next chapter in the fight against the opioid epidemic – one focused on retaining people in medication-assisted treatment and supporting “sustained recovery.”

by Brandon Arcari, Vermont Business Magazine With the piercing fire alarm as a backdrop, local fire trucks descended on the University of Vermont campus late this morning in response to an incident in one of the STEM labs. Both STEM buildings were evacuated as a precaution. One graduate student was injured but not severely.

Vermont Business Magazine NBC5-TV Anchor Stewart Ledbetter, WLVB-FM Program Director & Morning Show Host Roland Lajoie and former WSYB/WZRT Program Director and WJJR Owner Dick Noble, will all be inducted in the Vermont Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame during the 25th Anniversary Awards Banquet Saturday, December 7, 2019 at the Hilton Hotel in Burlington.

Vermont Business Magazine Renewable Energy Vermont (REV) announced that it will join Representative Peter Welch and 165 other Members of Congress in calling for an extension of the investment tax credit for renewable energy investments, including energy storage. The Renewable Energy Extension Act will extend the current tax credit for investments in renewable energy and expand it to include energy storage.

The Investment Tax Credit has been a key driver in the growth of Vermont’s solar economy. All over the state, Vermonters have been able to switch to renewable energy because the ITC provides a 30% tax credit for the cost of a solar system. Increased demand for solar has, in turn, created thousands of local jobs for Vermonters.

Vermont Business Magazine Weekly unemployment numbers fell last week but remained over 600 after a long period of very low numbers. They are also breaking a trend by being well above claims from the same time last year. Initial claims for the week of November 9, 2019, were 636, down 27 from last week but 126 more than they were at this time last year.

Vermont Business Magazine VGS announced today an ambitious and comprehensive strategy to transform the company and eliminate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. The company outlined three key strategies to achieve the near-term goal of a 30% greenhouse gas reduction in customers’ homes and businesses by 2030: doubling energy efficiency savings with a $20 million upfront investment; significantly expanding renewable natural gas for customers; and strengthening partnerships to advance projects such as district energy in Burlington and Middlebury, and a net zero home pilot program.