Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott and Vermont-NEA President Don Tinney today announced the winners of a statewide public service announcement (PSA) contest focused on promoting school safety and informing kids that when they see something, they should say something. The winning PSA comes from Hazen Union High School, with team leader Tivy Parchment and team members Xavier Hart Marion, Brianna Hislop, Robert Lowenthal, Raymonda Lowenthal, Jay LeCours and Elliot Kimball.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Coffee Company was recently awarded $20,000 in training funds from the Vermont Department of Economic Development’s Vermont Training Program.  Vermont Coffee Company collaborated with Addison County Economic Development Corporation (ACEDC), to navigate the process and complete the application.  The funding will primarily support vendor-led offsite/onsite employee training.  

As a small business, Vermont Coffee Company’s management team indicates that access to training funds is crucial to their growth and development.  Elaborating that this grant will allow their small company to both broaden existing employee’s skills through professional development, certification & cross-training as well as onboard new hires.

Vermont Business Magazine Stowe Theatre Guild is working to assess losses and rebuild and recover after thousands of dollars of costumes and sets were destroyed after a fire in Stowe on March 30. The community theater group has recently announced the donation matching grant from the Springer-Miller Family Foundation. The basement of the building at 638 South Main Street was the sole location for the theater group's sets, building materials and costumes. Although the fire itself did not burn in the area rented by Stowe Theatre Guild, there was extensive damage to the property stored there — due to water damage, fire-suppressant foam, smoke and debris. The building was declared a total loss.

Vermont Business Magazine A globally recognized cybersecurity expert who was educated in a one-room schoolhouse in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom was the keynote speaker at a recent event for students in Franklin County that are passionate about STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). Matt Devost, a graduate of Canaan High School, addressed about 80 northwestern Vermont students, educators and business leaders during the STEM Challenge Initiative’s (SCI) Fourth Annual Recognition Night, held on Thursday, April 4, at the St. Albans Historical Museum’s Bliss Auditorium.

The SCI encourages students to enter STEM-related fields and provides grants to schools so that students can bring their STEM-related project to life — and benefit their community in the process. The two-hour STEM Recognition Night has become a fast-growing educational showcase of STEM education in Franklin and Grand Isle counties, and this year was no exception.

Vermont Business Magazine Castleton University is now accepting applications for three new undergraduate programs, including Early Childhood and Special Education; Wildlife and Forest Conservation; and Archaeology, Geography, and Applied Anthropology. The Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood and Special Education will prepare students to facilitate high-quality learning experiences for children from infancy to grade three. Students will gain experience through a collaborative, experiential learning model, working directly with children in the University's Early Childhood Lab, which will serve as both a childcare center and teacher preparation and professional development lab. Graduates of the program will be licensed Early Childhood Educators and endorsed as Early Childhood Special Educators.

Vermont Business Magazine The seventh annual Vermont’s Greenest Building Awards, hosted by the Vermont Green Building Network (VGBN), recognized three projects and design/build teams, as announced on Monday. The projects received awards for achieving the highest standard of demonstrated building energy performance for commercial buildings and documentation of green building strategies including health, transportation, water and affordability. 

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General TJ Donovan announced Sunday that his office has reviewed the officer-involved-shooting incident that occurred on March 9, 2019, in Rockingham, Vermont. The Attorney General’s Office is declining to prosecute Vermont State Police Sergeant Eugene Duplissis for charges related to the shooting of John-Victor Wetherby. In reaching this decision, the office reviewed all the materials provided by the Vermont State Police, who conducted the investigation.

The Office of the State’s Attorney for Windham County also conducted an independent review and has declined to file criminal charges against Sgt. Duplissis.

Leonine Public Affairs A number of highly anticipated issues were in the spotlight last week. H107, the bill that would expand paid family and medical leave benefits reached the House floor. This bill along with S23, which would raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2024 are serious points of contention between the Democratically-controlled Legislature and Republican Governor Phil Scott. Governor Scott vetoed similar bills last year. In the Senate, an amendment that would protect abortion rights passed with overwhelming support. Proposal 5 was brought forward with the spectre of a conservative Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. While there was no controversy over Proposal 5, there were fireworks on the Senate floor when a bill that would regulate small-scale contractors almost met with procedural death. S.163, would require small contractors to register with the secretary of state’s office. After lengthy debate there was a motion to refer the bill to the Government Operations Committee, which could have the effect of delaying further action this year. The vote on the motion resulted in a tie, which is about as common as a sasquatch walking across the statehouse lawn, and the Lieutenant Governor had to break the tie and prevent the bill from being referred. In the committees the process of reviewing bills that met the crossover deadline began in earnest. These bills include the budget, transportation bill and capital bill as well as numerous policy bills. With six weeks left in the session, the sense of urgency to finalize bills and get them out of committee is starting to seep into the statehouse ether. The House debated for hours on Wednesday and Thursday before advancing legislation that would create a mandatory, statewide paid family and medical leave program.

by Rob Roper Let’s say you run a small, struggling business in Vermont and, like many if not most, are operating on thin profit margins. If our Legislature has its way, after this year you will have to pay your employees a higher minimum wage on the way to $15 an hour, devote time to the new paperwork required by a new 0.57% payroll tax, and deal with the labor complications associated with a mandatory Paid Family Leave program. There will be a doubling of your fuel tax, making it more expensive to heat your shop, prepare food, etc. You will also have to eliminate the use of convenient “single use” plastic bags and start charging your customers at least ten cents for each leaky paper bag instead. No Styrofoam coffee cups or food containers can go into those leaky paper bags, or you’ll face state imposed fines, and heaven forbid you offer a customer a plastic straw.

Vermont Business Magazine Alzheimer’s Association Vermont Chapter recently joined more than 1,200 advocates from around the country in Washington, D.C. for the Alzheimer's Association AIM Advocacy Forum, the nation's premier advocacy event to raise awareness and increase legislative support for policies that will improve the lives of 5.8 million Americans currently living with Alzheimer’s disease, including over 13,000 individuals and their 30,000 caregivers in Vermont. 
 

Vermont Business Magazine Burlington Songwriters is pleased to announce we have a new meeting and open mic space, thanks to a partnership with Burlington Parks, Recreation & Waterfront.  The new location is in the Old North End Community Center (the former St. Joseph's School) at 20 Allen Street. Burlington Songwriters will be holding meetups for songwriters, lyricists, composers, and musicians to share music and get kind, constructive feedback and suggestions in a safe and supportive space, as well as open mics to share original music.

Open mics will be the second Tuesday of each month. The first Burlington Songwriters Open Mic at 20 Allen Street will be Tuesday April 9th, 2019 at 7 PM.

Vermont Business Magazine ExporTech is a hands-on export development program that helps small to midsize Vermont companies tap into new markets with a customized export expansion strategy that has the greatest revenue potential and the least risk. 
Up to eight non-competitive companies (with up to four leaders per company) share three full-day events scheduled approximately 4-6 weeks apart; in addition, one-on-one company coaching sessions round out the course. Participants learn how exports can dramatically drive growth, identify hurdles to expansion and develop a customized international growth plan.