Current News

Vermont Business Magazine In 2018, the Vermont General Assembly passed Act 183, directing the Vermont Commission on Women, in consultation with the Vermont Attorney General and the Vermont Human Rights Commission, to develop a public education and outreach program designed to make Vermont employees, employers, and members of the public aware of, methods for reporting employment and work-related discrimination and sexual harassment, laws, best practices, and prevention.

Vermont Business Magazine Aqua ViTea has launched two new CBD-infused Kombucha flavors, Chaga Chai and Green Tea, creating some of the most functional – and delicious – beverages out there. The new CBD Kombucha currently is available only in Vermont through Farrell Distributing but following the passage of CBD (Cannabidiol) federal legalization in the Farm Bill, Aqua ViTea will begin spreading the benefits of its new CBD Kombucha throughout the eastern United States.

“We want the funktional here at Aqua ViTea, and these two tasty CBD flavors really go to work for you,” said Aqua ViTea founder Jeff Weaber. “We’ve been looking to make CBD Kombucha for some time but wanted to take our time to create a premium, functional beverage from scratch.”

Vermont Business Magazine Accel-VT, a business accelerator providing support, mentorship, and access to capital for early stage companies committed to climate economy innovation, announced the winners of the latest Accel-VT Ag & Food Tech business cohort last week at Ben & Jerry’s headquarters in South Burlington, VT. AgHelp of Michigan and Ceres Greens of Barre, VT, each took $25,000 in prize money back to their businesses after three months of intense work and competition.

Vermont Business Magazine On December 19, the Vermont Center for Independent Living honored Burger King on the Barre-Montpelier Road in Berlin with a Rosemary J Miller Dining for All Award. The award is named for VCIL’s longtime receptionist, who retired in 2011. Miller, who was born with cerebral palsy, has never let her disability slow her down. She can often be seen out and about in central Vermont, whether she is eating out, shopping or advocating for disability rights.

One of the restaurants Miller most likes to frequent is the Burger King in Berlin. Last summer, the restaurant built a new store in approximately the same location. The new state-of-the-art building is about the same size and is slightly closer to the road. Miller is impressed with the increased accessibility, including wider entrance doors, a spacious bathroom and a level entrance.

Vermont Business Magazine The TD Charitable Foundation, the charitable giving arm of TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank®, announced today that it will provide $600,000 in grants to 24 food banks across the bank's Maine to Florida footprint to help provide meals locally to families and individuals in need. The grants focus on food stability; healthy growth and development; and access to fresh food for underserved communities.

The grants will help food banks stock shelves to support thousands of people who are experiencing a lack of or limited access to food during this holiday season.

Vermont Business Magazine Green Mountain Power is reminding customers about safety with minor to moderate flooding in the forecast. The National Weather Service has all parts of Vermont under Flood Watches and Warnings through Saturday afternoon, with up to 2.5 inches of rain expected in some locations. The storm blew into Vermont late Thursday night bringing strong winds and scattered power outages. Warmer temperatures combined with snow melt add to forecasters concerns.

“Safety is our priority and we are prepared. The amount of rain and snow melt forecasted is unusual and more like what we see during a typical January thaw,” said Jason Lisai, GMP’s Director of Generation Operations. “We watch the forecasts closely and have been making preparations for days. We are ready to respond to changing conditions.”

The National Weather Service says flooding is likely on multiple rivers with localized flooding and minor ice jams possible.

Public Assets Institute Vermont’s unemployment rate hit an 18-year low of 2.7 percent last month—matching the rate recorded in May of 2000 and just a tick above the all-time low of 2.6 percent, reached in March of that year. Despite the decline in joblessness, however, Vermont has not seen a corresponding increase in the number of Vermonters employed, which fell for the fifth month in a row in November.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott and the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing on Thursday released Vermont’s 2017 Tourism Benchmark Study. The biennial publication illustrates the positive impact tourism has on the Vermont economy through spending, jobs and revenue to local and state governments. In 2017, 13 million people visited Vermont, bringing $2.8 billion into the state. After manufacturing, tourism represents the largest contribution of out-of-state money to Vermont’s economy. The industry supports 32,000 jobs, or nearly 10 percent of the state’s workforce. The tourism sector contributed $391 million in tax revenue in 2017, which provides a tax reduction of $1,450 for every Vermont household.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General TJ Donovan has joined a coalition of attorneys general seeking to block federal rules that would deny millions of women access to cost-free birth control. The final rules, which are set to go into effect on January 14, 2019, would jeopardize the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that employers provide coverage of all 18 FDA-approved birth control methods and counseling for employees and their covered dependents with no out-of-pocket costs. To date, 62 million women across the country and almost 26,000 women in Vermont have benefited from these reproductive health services.

“Women have the right to make their own healthcare decisions,” said Attorney General Donovan. “No employer or bureaucrat should be able to decide for them. This would jeopardize thousands of Vermont family’s ability to access contraceptive healthcare.”

Vermont Business Magazine Weekly unemployment claims fell modestly last week. For the week of December 15, 2018, there were 597 claims, 36 fewer than they were the previous week, and 91 fewer than they were a year ago. The holiday season usually sees wild swings in claims, as retailers in particular hire and layoff workers in spikes in November and December, but last week was relatively quiet.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Labor announced today that the seasonally-adjusted statewide unemployment rate for November was 2.7 percent. This reflects a decrease of one-tenth of one percentage point from the revised October rate. However, the rate drop from October was predicated on a steep decline in the labor force, which is the denominator in these calculations. The number of unemployed fell, but so too did the total employed. Given the tight labor market, the ideal situation would show an increase in the labor force and an increase in the total number of workers. On a year-to-year basis, this has been the case, but the state has been losing ground on total labor the last few months.

Vermont Business Magazine Excelsior Energy Capital, a leading independent North American renewable energy investor based in Minnesota, announced Thursday that its North American Renewable Energy Fund has acquired from Syncarpha Capital 100 percent of the sponsor equity interests in a 16.2 MW operating solar portfolio. These include Syncarpha's 2.9 MW Vermont portfolio of four 730 kW solar projects. Two of the projects are in Bennington and the other two are in Orange. These projects became operational in August 2017. All four projects combined are expected to produce over 3,700,000 kWh a year.