Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Co-owners and developers, Addison County Community Trust (ACCT) and Evernorth, have announced that construction is underway at the $8.6 million Firehouse Apartments which will serve 20 low- and moderate-income households in downtown Bristol. The Firehouse Apartments represents a critical component of a public/private partnership bringing municipal services, business incubation, and mixed-income housing to the growing community of Bristol on the Stoney Hill property. This partnership between the Town of Bristol, private developers, and housing nonprofits ACCT and Evernorth leverages the investments in municipal infrastructure and job creation to serve 20 households in a community where there were previously only nine non-age-restricted affordable housing apartments.

by Dan Yates Not too long ago, we lost a wonderful employee to New Hampshire because she had extended family there and could not find or afford child care in the Brattleboro area. As a long-time employer in Windham County, I’ve seen many employees come and go. A frequently cited reason for leaving? Lack of affordable child care. In Windham County alone, it’s estimated we need to add over 645 child care slots just to meet current demand. That means, across the state there are thousands of families being forced to make difficult choices, like leaving a beloved career or essential paycheck because they don't have a safe, nurturing, affordable place to care for their children. And, in some instances, we’re losing these families – and productive members of our workforce – to our neighboring states.

Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont is part of a new regional collaboration to study the climate-related vulnerabilities of mobile home park communities. With funding announced today from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA)’s Climate Adaptation Partnership’s program, the project brings together researchers from the Universities of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, as well as all three northern New England State Climatologists. Mobile home communities are an important part of the region’s affordable housing landscape but are more likely to be impacted by risks posed by climate change such as high winds, flooding, and extreme temperatures. Previous research from the University of Vermont found more than 20% of mobile home communities in the state are at least partially located in FEMA-mapped floodplains.

Vermont Business Magazine Casella Waste Systems, Inc (Nasdaq: CWST) published its 2022 Sustainability Report today, outlining the company’s progress toward its sustainability vision, while elevating five key sustainability metrics to the forefront of its strategic goals. Casella’s five key elements to its sustainability strategy include metrics focused on the people who work for the company, the materials the company manages, the operations that manage those materials, the emissions those operations produce, and the communities in which the company operates. For each element, Casella has established a primary metric and a 2030 goal as well as additional factors that will help the company advance its sustainability vision.

Vermont Business Magazine iSun, Inc (NASDAQ: ISUN), a leading solar energy and clean mobility infrastructure company based in Williston has sold 6.1 MWs of solar assets for $1.7 million to Fusion Renewables of South Carolina and executes EPC contracts for $8.3 million to complete the development and installation of those assets.

by Todd Heyman With the conclusion of Vermont’s first ever agritourism month and the second International Workshop on Agritourism held in Burlington, it’s time to chart a path to grow Vermont agritourism. Unfortunately, the Legislature is already off-course. Rather than pass Rep. Charlie Kimbell’s bill that would have limited Act 250 jurisdiction over small agritourism projects this past session, it assigned the Natural Resources Board authority to develop a report to “support” the industry by recommending appropriate Act 250 regulation. The NRB seems an odd choice. Neither the agency nor its staff seem to have any experience running businesses, let alone agriculturally based businesses. And in the past, the Legislature has repeatedly passed laws to keep the NRB off of farms as much as possible.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Woodlands Association recently welcomed Kate Forrer as the group’s new executive director. Kate joins the VWA after working in forestry outreach & education at the University of Vermont Extension. Through her work at UVM Extension, Kate partnered with VWA in the past on many projects that served Vermont’s forests.

Kate’s passion for forestry comes from a personal as well as a professional place as she and her husband recently became owners of 130 acres of forest in Tunbridge, VT. Stewarding and exploring their property is something she enjoys along with her husband and three children. As a woodland owner herself she understands the rewards and challenges of caring for forest land.

Vermont Business Magazine Your employees may present the biggest risk in network security, according to Consolidated Communications (NASDAQ: CNSL) a leading broadband and business communications provider in Vermont. October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and in addition to serving business customers with best-in-class broadband and security services, Consolidated is aiming to educate businesses and individuals on safe online practices. Passwords continue to be the top cause of cyber breaches, and for good reason. Faulty memories lead the majority of people to reuse passwords across platforms, and three in four people say they aren’t sure how to create a secure password at all. This creates an ideal scenario for hackers, and once they are in, new forms of attack are making them harder to detect than ever before.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Public has announced a new local radio host lineup for All Things Considered, the afternoon news magazine program from NPR, and weekend mornings. Co-hosts Jenn Jarecki, a Vermont Public producer, and Mary Williams Engsich, weekend host since 2019, will shape the local news and sound of All Things Considered, which airs weekdays from 4-6:30 p.m. Jarecki will host Mondays and Fridays with Engisch hosting Tuesday-Thursday. Engisch also will continue hosting on Saturdays from 6 a.m. - 2 p.m. Vermont Public News Fellow Marlon Hyde joins the lineup on Sundays from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mitch Wertlieb will continue to host Morning Edition.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, the Biden-Harris Administration announced the Fiscal Year 2022 recipients of the EPA's Clean School Bus Program rebate competition, awarding $4,345,000 from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to four school districts in Vermont. The grants will help school districts purchase 11 clean school buses that will accelerate the transition to zero emissions vehicles and produce cleaner air in and around schools and communities. The investment will also drive demand for American-made batteries and vehicles, boost domestic manufacturing, and create good-paying jobs.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott and the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) today announced that nearly $30 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, appropriated for the village water and wastewater (VWWW) initiative, has now been committed to towns across the state. The VWWW Initiative will help municipalities develop new public drinking water systems and community wastewater disposal systems where this critical infrastructure is lacking. This grant funding will bridge the affordability gap, protect public health, increase affordable housing, support economic development, and incentivize compact growth in Vermont’s designated villages and neighborhoods.