Current News

Vermont Business Magazine U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $1.4 billion in projects in 21 states to build and improve rural electric infrastructure.

“Modern and reliable electric infrastructure has been a cornerstone to rural prosperity since the Rural Electrification Act of 1936,” Secretary Perdue said. “This funding we are providing is critical to rural communities and reflects President Trump’s commitment to increasing prosperity across all of rural America. When rural America thrives, all of America thrives.”

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Air National Guard will conduct night flight operations from Tuesday, Nov. 5 through Friday, Nov. 22, 2019.

Area residents may see and hear F-35A aircraft taking off and landing from Burlington International Airport during this time. All training operations are scheduled to be completed before 8:00 p.m.

“We fly at night to maintain night tactical proficiency,” said Lt. Col. Anthony Marek, 134th Fighter Squadron Commander. “This is especially important during this time of F-35 transition—we must learn how to employ the tactical advantages gained from the F-35 during both day and night operations.”

158th Fighter Wing pilots and maintenance personnel are required to conduct night operations for Air Force and Major Command proficiencies. The 158th Fighter Wing utilizes the fall and winter months for night operations training when hours of darkness are at their earliest.

Vermont Business Magazine Supported by outside line crews, VEC will have less than 150 members without power come Monday morning. The remaining outages were in the hardest hit areas, and crews will get that power back on as soon as safely possible.

Early Sunday morning, VEC was joined by crews from Corn Belt Energy in Bloomington, Indiana and Clay Electric Cooperative in Flora, Illinois. These line workers and crews from neighboring utilities joined VEC in responding to the significant damage from this wind and rain event. VEC has restored more than 17,000 members since outages started coming in on Halloween evening.

Vermont Business Magazine In an unprecedented show of unity this past weekend the Vermont Republican Party held its reorganizational meeting to elect new officers, and every single office was filled without the need to cast a single ballot - and the women are taking over.

"I don't think I've ever been to an organizational meeting that didn't have at least one contested race," said former State Rep. Paul Dame who was re-elected to his position as an At-large delegate to the Executive Committee.  "It just goes to show that after a tight race two years ago everyone has rallied together and we all realize we're all in the same boat trying to accomplish the same things.  I think the majority of our members are happy with the internal structural changes we are making to gear up for 2020."

Photo: Left to right: John Heartson, Brian Warwick and Tyler Valley in the NVU-Lyndon studio live room.

Vermont Business Magazine Northern Vermont University has tapped the expertise of Northeast Kingdom businesses to renovate the recording studio for the music business and industry (MBI) program on its Lyndon campus.   

The studio is a vital part of NVU’s innovative MBI program, which focuses on hands-on skill-building experience to help students excel in their careers. “It’s a well-loved facility, and since the studio has been open 24 hours a day, seven days a week for 10 years, it was time for an overhaul,” MBI assistant professor Brian Warwick says.

Vermont Business Magazine Hula, a state-of-the-art office, coworking, conference, and events campus on the shores of Lake Champlain, is partnering with Pale Morning Media for public relations and strategic communications to support its 2020 launch.

One part business accelerator, one part outdoor destination and one part eclectic cultural hub, Hula is creating a new standard for a unique, next-generation “work and play” environment in a signature location of the Northeast.

“Hula is a reflection and an extension of what’s already happening in the Burlington area – a combination of world-class innovation, quickly growing access to investment capital, and a healthy outdoor lifestyle that most cities can only dream of,” said Russ Scully, president and founder of Hula.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont’s Killington Resort, the largest ski and snowboard destination in Eastern North America, and part of POWDR, will kick off the 2019-20 winter season at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, November 3, 2019, becoming the first Eastern resort to open for skiing and snowboarding.

The first turns of the season, on Sunday, November 3, will be reserved exclusively for Season Pass, Express Card, Beast 365 and Ikon pass holders. The resort will open to the general public on Monday, November 4, 2019 at 9:00 a.m. Sunday, November 3, will also be the last day of operations for Downhill Mountain Biking serviced by the Snowshed Express Quad. Killington’s operating schedule for the remainder of the week will be updated in real time at www.killington.com/conditions.

Vermont Business Magazine Green Mountain Power (GMP) joined Vermont Electric Co-op, Washington Electric Co-op and Governor Phil Scott in alerting customers about hazardous conditions left by the damaging storm that hit Vermont Thursday night and continues today. Communities across the state are dealing with flooding, washed out roads and downed powerlines as a result of heavy rain and strong winds. GMP crews have been working around the clock and restored power to more than 51,000 customers so far, but new outages are being reported as the strong winds continue to rip down trees and lines. With so much damage it will take days to restore power to everyone.

Vermont Business Magazine Lippa’s Estate and Fine Jewelry has announced that Jeffrey Berger, President and CEO will be retiring after 50 years, effective 2020. Lippa’s will be celebrating his long-run management with a store-wide retirement sale online and in their Burlington, Vermont located jewelry store effective November 1st. The sale will feature store-wide savings up to 75% off and is also accessible online at www.lippas.com.

Vermont Business Magazine The Mayors Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness is a call to action for all mayors and other state and local leaders to publicly commit to making sure that every Veteran who served America has a home in America. Federal partners for the challenge are led by the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness with support from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets (VAAFM) is now accepting applications for the Vermont Produce Improvement Grant program. Produce Safety Improvement Grants (PSIG) can partially defray the costs of implementing on-farm food safety practices to help vegetable and fruit growers transition to compliance with the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule and/or meet market demands for on-farm food safety.

Vermont Business Magazine Construction employment increased by 10,000 jobs in October and by 148,000, or 2.0 percent, over the past 12 months, while construction spending decreased by 2.0 percent from September 2018 to September 2019, according to an analysis of new government data by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials said demand for construction is being undermined by uncertainty and tariffs that are part of a series of trade disputes with China, the European Union and other countries.