Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Transportation today announced more than $2.1 million in awards for the 2023 Vermont Better Roads Program to support municipal road projects that improve water quality and result in maintenance cost savings. The grant funds totaling $2,190,100 are provided by AOT in partnership with the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources and are sourced from federal and state transportation funds and the State’s Clean Water Fund. The Vermont Better Roads Program promotes the use of erosion control and maintenance techniques that save money while protecting and enhancing water quality around the State.

Vermont Business Magazine Burlington Electric Department (BED), a not-for-profit public power utility serving the City of Burlington, today announced to the community that it is proposing a 3.95 percent electricity rate increase during fiscal year 2023 (FY23) that will appear first as a surcharge on customer bills in August 2022. The rate change will be reviewed by the Public Utility Commission (PUC). The increase is well below current inflation rates, and BED’s total rates will remain low compared to the Vermont average. BED’s financials have been bolstered by passage last fall of the $20 million Net Zero Energy Revenue Bond that has become a key source of capital funding, by strong production from BED’s McNeil Generating Station during the high energy price winter of 2021-22, and by the fact that BED’s resources are all renewable.

​Vermont Business Magazine Wild Apple Graphics in Woodstock was purchased by local Vermonter Shawn Harned from company founders John & Laurie Chester. Financial terms were not disclosed. Shawn has been an employee at the company since 2018, initially as Director of Sales and then as Chief Operating Officer. Shawn’s professional background in sales and management is exactly what the company needs for continued success. An experienced leader and strategist, his focus on customer growth, new markets, deeper relationships, and empowering the Wild Apple team, will continue to drive Wild Apple to further success.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Philip B Scott declared May 2022 Physical Fitness and Sports Month in Vermont, encouraging Vermonters to be active this spring. The proclamation was requested by the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, a physical activity promotion and advocacy group comprised of volunteers appointed by the Governor and representing a broad spectrum of Vermonters. The proclamation aligns with the national designation of May as Physical Fitness and Sports Month, an effort by the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition to raise awareness about the benefits of physical activity.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Corrections is conducting internal administrative and medical reviews following the death of an incarcerated individual on Monday. David Goldstein, 56, of Barre City, was found in medical distress in his cell at Southern State Correctional Facility (SSCF) in Springfield early Monday morning. Vermont DOC staff provided first response medical care and called for medical transport to the hospital. Mr. Goldstein was treated throughout the day. Shortly after 4 pm, Mr. Goldstein’s condition deteriorated and he was pronounced dead by medical staff.

Vermont Business Magazine Lund announced today that Mary Burns will be the agency’s next President and CEO. Burns, an experienced non-profit executive, will join Lund on June 1st. Burns was President and CEO of the Greater Burlington YMCA from 2007 – 2015, a role she worked her way up to over 20 years with the organization, beginning as Office Manager. More recently, Mary held leadership positions in other YMCAs in the Northeast. In one of those roles her focus was philanthropy, in another she led childcare services.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health today is reporting 211 cases of COVID-19 for Monday (Sunday 197; Saturday; 414 Friday). VDH also today reported two additional deaths from the virus. The total death toll is 654 lives lost. Both people were at least 80 years old. There are 15 reported deaths in May so far. There were 18 deaths in April, which surpassed March's total (17). March saw the fewest COVID deaths since last July. Fatalities and hospitalizations increased the last part of April. According to health officials, nearly all recent deaths have been of the very elderly and/or people with underlying health conditions and "not up to date" on their vaccines, meaning that if eligible to have received a booster.

Rosmarie von Trapp Obituary Stowe, Vermont, lost one of its kindest, most gentle souls on Friday, May 13, 2022. Rosmarie Trapp passed away peacefully at the age of 93 at The Manor in Morrisville; she was in the presence of loved ones all day long. Her kindness, generosity, and colorful spirit were legendary, and she had a positive impact on countless lives. Rosmarie was born on February 8, 1929, in the village of Aigen on the outskirts of Salzburg, Austria. The first child of naval war hero Captain Georg Johannes von Trapp and his wife Maria Augusta (Kutschera) von Trapp, Rosmarie grew up in a large family with seven older half-siblings and two younger siblings.

Vermont Business Magazine The Attorney General’s Office announced that Mark Lacomb, 39, of Rutland, Vermont, was arraigned on May 16, 2022, on six felony charges of Financial Exploitation of a Vulnerable Adult and one felony charge of Uttering a Forged or Counterfeit Instrument. The charges brought against Lacomb are the result of an investigation conducted by the office’s Medicaid Fraud and Residential Abuse Unit.

Senator Patrick Leahy The White House’s announcement -- devoid of details and after 17 months of an unnecessary review -- that it will begin to shift its Cuba policy back toward what it was under President Obama, is a timid but very welcome step. It is indisputable that the policy of pressuring Cuba’s authorities to abandon their one-party authoritarian rule has completely failed, despite six decades of punishing, unilateral sanctions. Yet just as the Cubans remain wedded to a failed political and economic system which has caused record numbers of Cubans to flee the island, the Administration still clings to a discredited approach that it rightly rejects in its relations with other repressive governments, knowing that effective diplomacy requires inspired and principled engagement.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Maple Sugar Makers’ Association has secured $637,000 in federal funding to support their Sugarhouse Certification Program. The Vermont maple industry is a vital economic engine that circulates hundreds of millions of dollars locally and promotes tourism on a broad scale. Last summer, the Vermont Maple Sugar Makers’ Association launched its Sugarhouse Certification Program to invest in technical education and expertise for Vermont’s maple producers. Creation of the Program was also supported by a Specialty Crop Block Grant through Vermont’s Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets.

Vermont Business Magazine Williston-based iSun, Inc (NASDAQ: ISUN) today announced results for the first quarter of 2022. Revenue of $15.1 million in the first quarter, up 107.8% over the first quarter in 2021; Gross profit of $3.2 million in the first quarter compared to $0.1 million for the same period in 2021; Gross margins of 21.0% in the first quarter, marks third consecutive quarter of margin improvement; Approaching break-even EBITDA despite seasonal impact to installations; Backlog grew to $128.3 million adding approximately $41.2 million in new customer demand and contracts during the quarter; Net loss down to $2.9 million.