Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Burlington 2030 District, a private/public partnership that supports ongoing local efforts to mitigate climate change, looks forward to its official launch event on Tuesday, May 1 from 5:00 to 7:00pm at Union Station (1 Main Street) in Burlington. All are welcome to attend this celebration, where attendees will learn how voluntary participation in this initiative helps property owners to increase asset value, reduce operating costs, and create a healthier community.

Vermont Business Magazine This year at the annual sofi Awards, Vermont specialty food producers brought home three gold awards. The sofi Awards, which stands for “specialty outstanding food innovation,” are the most prestigious awards in the specialty food industry and honor excellence across a variety of food categories, from vinegars to vegan snacks. Vermont’s gold winners were Vermont Creamery, Mount Mansfield Maple Products, and Blake Hill Preserves.

Vermont Business Magazine The Institute for Energy and the Environment (IEE) at Vermont Law School today released “Low-Income Solar Ownership in Vermont: Overcoming Barriers to Equitable Access,” a report prepared for the Vermont Low Income Trust for Electricity (VLITE), Inc. The report examines how to give low-income customers equitable access to the benefits of distributed solar as the renewable energy resource becomes an increasingly cost-effective option to meet clean energy goals.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont agriculture, food, beverage, forest, and fiber product associations provide support to the development of Vermont’s economy and the viability of our working landscape businesses. The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets (VAAFM) is committed to assist these organizations by providing funding for marketing projects that enhance the work they are doing.

Morse Farm cotton candy at the Made in Vermont Marketplace show in April. VBM photo.

Vermont Business Magazine Green Mountain College (GMC) has been recognized as the top Baccalaureate performer by the Association for Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). GMC’s 2018 STARS score of 81.82 is the highest score any baccalaureate institution has achieved. STARS, the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System, measures and encourages sustainability in higher education.

Vermont Business Magazine Gardening, long the purview of the older and more wealthy - now has a younger face. A new, national survey shows more American households are gardening than ever before (77%), and increasingly the gardener is a young man. The annual National Gardening Survey finds the proportion of older gardeners is holding steady (35%) but younger households reached an all-time high in gardening participation. “From small beginnings with a succulent here and a houseplant there, the under 35s are now truly engaged in the full range of gardening activities.” says industry analyst Ian Baldwin, who participated in the survey.

Vermont Business Magazine Comcast announced that it is launching a new internet service that will deliver speeds up to 1 Gigabit-per-second (Gbps) to residential and business customers in Vermont, These speeds will be among the fastest and most widely available and include access to the nation’s largest Wi-Fi network of more than 19 million hotspots. Comcast plans to launch 1 Gig service to the majority of its service areas in Vermont throughout 2018.

The service is now available in Berlin, Bethel, Braintree, Brookfield, Calais, Duxbury, East Montpelier, Greensboro, Hardwick, Hyde Park, Johnson, Middlesex, Montpelier, Moretown, Morristown, Morrisville, Plainfield, Randolph, Rochester, Walden, Waterbury, Worcester and Woodbury, Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine The Board of Directors of First Night Burlington, Inc has voted to disband the corporation. Burlington City Arts and other community organizations have begun to work collaboratively to re-imagine what a sustainable community-wide new year’s eve celebration could look like in the future. First Night Burlington started on New Year’s Eve 1983 and has been a signature presentation in downtown Burlington ever since. Thousands of people have enjoyed performances at a variety of venues ranging from local churches and schools to City Hall’s Contois Auditorium and the Flynn Center.

“First Night 2018 was particularly difficult for us,” David Mount, Chair of the Board said. “The arctic temperatures and high winds kept people away in droves, causing us to incur a substantial loss. Our reserves have been fully tapped.”

Vermont Business Magazine On Thursday, April 19th from 4pm to 6pm Vermont Secretary of State Jim Condos will be hosting a forum on election cybersecurity at the Pavilion Auditorium, located at 109 State Street in Montpelier. The presentation will cover background information on recent events impacting election cybersecurity and the safeguards in place protecting Vermont’s voter registration and election systems. There will be dedicated time for questions from attendees. The forum is open to all and no registration is required.

Vermont Business Magazine Union Bankshares, Inc (NASDAQ:UNB) today announced results for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of 30 cents per share. Consolidated net income for the first quarter of 2018 was $2.7 million, or $0.62 per share, compared to $1.9 million, or $0.43 per share, for the same period in 2017.

Vermont Business Magazine The Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) – www.ibpa-online.org – announced over the weekend the winners in the prestigious IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award program, now in its 30th year. This year’s esteemed indie book award program recognized excellence in books published during calendar year 2017. The book "Lila & Theron" (Publisher: Charles Michael Publishing ISBN: 978-1-6826-1356-6) by Vermont author Bill Schubart was named a Silver Winner. It is a love story set in 19th century rural Vermont "in which the exigencies of survival define the character and lives of the principal characters."

Vermont Business Magazine Americans waste nearly a pound of food per person each day, but the exact amount of food we trash differs by how healthy your diet is, a new University of Vermont co-authored national study finds. While most people want to eat better by putting more fruit and vegetables on their plates, the study found that higher quality diets were associated with higher levels of food waste. Between 2007-2014, US consumers wasted nearly 150,000 tons of food per day – nearly a pound (422 grams) of food per person each day. Researchers estimate that food waste corresponded with the use of 30 million acres of land annually (7 percent of total US cropland) and 4.2 trillion gallons of irrigation water each year.