Current News

Vermont Business Magazine LIFT Giving Circle, a philanthropic collective with 38 members from the Greater Burlington area, made its first annual award in the amount of $16,000 to The Janet S. Munt Family Room (the Family Room). The Family Room is a parent child center providing programs that are accessible to all and flexible enough to meet the needs of our changing community. In its first year, LIFT Giving Circle has collectively awarded more than $20,000 to local nonprofits, including the Family Room and KidSafe Collaborative.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, Vermont Works Management Co, an independent alternative investment firm focusing on delivering both competitive financial returns and social impact in support of Vermont’s job creation and economic development, announced the Vermont Innovation Commons’ acquisition of Milk Money L3C, a Vermont based third-party equity crowdfunding portal. Milk Money co-founder, Louisa Schibli, will become a partner in Vermont Works Management to shepherd the acquisition and re-launch of Milk Money.

Vermont Business Magazine Leading lower-middle-market private equity firm Huron Capital today announced its socks and apparel accessories platform, IQ Brands, has acquired Morrisville-based Wheel House Designs, a producer of novelty socks to specialty stores and boutiques throughout North America. The deal marks the fourth add-on acquisition for the IQ Brands platform. Financial terms were not disclosed. Wheel House Designs has been designing and distributing more than 450 variations of novelty socks over the past 30 years. Gail Bourne, who founded Wheel House Designs in 1989, will remain active with IQ Brands after the acquisition.

Vermont Business Magazine Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont (BCBSVT) and Bi-State Primary Care Association (Bi-State) announced today they've implemented the first commercial payer program supporting primary care and community providers delivering support services to patients receiving Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) for substance misuse. Vermont is a leader in the Hub and Spoke model of treatment and this effort will improve an already valuable program.

Vermont Business Magazine All of Vermont will be using ultra-low sulfur heating oil this winter. As part of the 2011 Energy Act, the “Clean and Green Oilheat Initiative” mandated Ultra-Low Sulfur Heating Oil, starting in the winter of 2018. The rest of New England, New York and New Jersey have also adopted the same 15 parts-per-million (ppm) standard. Ultra Low Sulfur Heating Oil (ULSHO) will reduce particulate emissions, including sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide. ULSHO cuts 99 percent of sulfur dioxide emissions, 97 percent of airborne emissions, and 30 percent of NOx emissions compared to regular heating oil.

The Vermont Fuel Dealers Association said in a statement that emissions from this cleaner heating oil are the equivalent of natural gas, according to research conducted at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine CoverageCo seemed like a good idea when the state partnered with Vanu Bose in 2012. But it didn’t work out for several reasons. Bose died nearly a year ago. It financially failed last spring. And the Vermont Public Service Department terminated the CoverageCo contract in August. On October 30 the PSD is scheduled to unseal bids on who will take over the rural cell service. That date was pushed back from October 1. RFP responses will now be accepted until October 29.

Vermont Business Magazine The Green Mountain Council Executive Board has chosen Mike Dubie as the 2018 Distinguished Citizen Award recipient. The award will be presented on Wednesday, November 14 at the Trader Duke’s Hotel, 1117 Williston Road, South Burlington. Mike’s brother, Brian Dubie who ran for governor in 2011, will serve as emcee.

Vermont Business Magazine The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued an Order approving the transfer of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant operating license from Entergy to NorthStar. Entergy requested the transfer of the Vernon nuclear facility to NorthStar to decommission the plant, which ceased operations in December 2014. The NRC Order approving the transfer was issued October 11. Entergy's schedule would have fully decommissioned the site around 20175. NorthStar intends to have the job done about 2030. Work could begin as early as next year.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott has announced the second annual Innovation Spaces Conference, focused on creating a community among founders, users and supporters of innovation spaces in Vermont. The free conference, which will be held on Thursday, October 25 at Vermont Technical College in Randolph, Vermont, is designed to support the success of innovation spaces – the collective term for a communal and efficient shared workplace that includes coworking and maker spaces, incubators and accelerators, a new kind of business model that is spreading throughout the country and has a growing presence in Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine Some come for the leaves. Some come for the beer … or maybe the cheese. But countless come to Vermont in the fall to pay their respects to the "dearly de-pinted"—Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavors that have gone on to the great waffle cone in the sky. Ben & Jerry's Flavor Graveyard, just a stone's throw from the company's Waterbury plant, is one of Vermont's biggest tourist attractions. With granite tombstones and a white picket fence, it's an ice cream cemetery worthy of mourners from miles away. Every day, fans stop by Wavy Gravy or Ethan Almond, Cool Brittania or Rainforest Crunch, to read their epitaphs and wonder what went wrong.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Legal Aid (VLA) is celebrating 50 years of working for justice. The non-profit law firm and social organization has been providing legal assistance to Vermonters when they face a civil legal problem that threatens their rights, shelter, job, health or well-being for half a century. On Thursday, October 11 at the ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain in Burlington, VLA celebrated its past, present and future work.

“Vermont Legal Aid strives to advance fairness and justice, address the social and economic interests of our clients, and confront the underlying causes of poverty, discrimination and inequality,” said Eric Avildsen, Executive Director of VLA. “In our current political climate with rights being stripped away from many, the work of VLA is more important than ever before.”

Vermont Business Magazine From Boston, Massachusetts, to South Burlington, Vermont, Stantec’s New England offices were all in for the firm’s sixth annual Stantec in the Community Week. This celebration of worldwide community service occurred from September 24 – 29th with more than 5,600 team members volunteering for 321 charities around the globe.