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​Vermont Business Magazine Howard Center sends our good wishes to all for your seasonal celebrations through these challenging times. Our hope is for everyone who is in recovery to celebrate their hard work while encouraging those still struggling with sobriety to reach out for the help they need. Howard Center offers resources and services to help you, your friends, and loved ones celebrate sober this year.

Vermont Business Magazine Encore Renewable Energy and Bromley Mountain Ski Resort announced the completion of a 615kWdc solar project on land owned by Bromley Mountain in Peru, Vermont. The new project, jointly developed by Encore and Tangent Energy Solutions, will generate clean, locally generated solar power and help Bromley reach their sustainability goals. The energized solar array will generate enough electricity to power 70 average households per year and offset the emissions of 120 passenger vehicles annually.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets’ (VAAFM) Hemp Program received approval from the Agricultural Marketing Service of the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) of the Vermont Domestic Hemp Production plan. The approved plan supports the Vermont Hemp Rules and governs registration, production, and compliance for hemp cultivation beginning in 2022.

by Jeff Tieman, VAHHS Through the pandemic, there has been some great and crucial journalism. A worldwide public health threat naturally inspires curious journalists to explain the unexplainable and shine a light on what’s really happening. This kind of careful and thorough reporting is important, especially when misinformation is rampant like it is now.

This month, Vermont Public Radio provided an example of stellar journalism in its series featuring caregivers at Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital in St. Johnsbury. Speaking about the difficulty of seeing COVID patients give up hope, one nurse says, “We cry. We cry together as a group, especially night staff, you know. We have a lot of moments where we feel overwhelmed.”

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health on Sunday reported 242 cases of COVID-19, 463 on Sunday and 454 cases Saturday. The VDH reported on Saturday Vermont's first case of the Omicron variant. The VDH also reported today three additional deaths, including one in the 30-39 age band for the first time in several months. COVID deaths now stand at 455 statewide. There have been 23 deaths in the last seven days.

Vermont Business Magazine Mike Vlacich was sworn in as New England Regional Administrator for the US Small Business Administration. In this position he has oversight of the six district offices located in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine The Agency of Natural Resources Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced today that Ronnie M. Wells of Milton, was fined $27,819.50 for placing unauthorized fill into a wetland in violation of the Vermont Wetland Rules. Wetlands are places where land and water meet and are commonly known as bogs, marshes, and swamps. Wetlands often occur in association with open bodies of water like ponds and streams, but they can also be isolated from any obvious connection to open surface water. Vermont's wetlands support plants and wildlife that depend on wetland habitat and provide important water storage and filtration functions that protect water quality.

Vermont Business Magazine The Attorney General’s Consumer Assistance Program (CAP) today released a video and toolkit warning Vermont businesses of the business imposter email scam. Imposter scams continue to be among the top scams reported by Vermonters to CAP. In 2020, the business imposter email scam resulted in a total reported loss of $116,648. Today’s video and toolkit are the third and final installment in a three-part series on imposter scams.

Vermont Business Magazine Green Mountain Power (GMP) is extending its popular rebate programs through all of 2022 to help more customers save money while reducing carbon emissions. The rebates were set to expire at the end of this year. In 2021, GMP customers saved with more than 7,000 rebates when they made the choice to switch away from fossil fuel at home and on the road – for heating, driving, mowing their lawn, and electric motorcycles. GMP rebates include a $1,500 rebate on all electric vehicles, plus an extra $1,000 for low- and moderate-income customers, and a $400 base rebate on cold climate heat pumps with an extra $800 in incentives for income-eligible customers in partnership with Efficiency Vermont.

Vermont Rail Action Network Updates on Ethan Allen to Burlington preparations and getting back to Montreal were presented by VTrans at Thursday’s Vermont Governor’ Rail Advisory Council. Work is almost finished on the platform at Burlington Union Station [Main Street Landing], the storage siding in Burlington yard, some crossings in Burlington and on an additional sidetrack at Florence in Pittsford. Vermonter ridership in October 2021 was down only 13.4% compared to 2019. The Ethan Allen was up 4% from 2019.

Vermont Business Magazine A reminder that the Agency of Commerce and Community Development is hosting a webinar to discuss COVID-19 mitigation recommendations in the workplace. Officials from the Agency of Human Services, Department of Health, Department of Labor, and Agency of the Administration will be on hand to discuss and answer questions about implementing ways to reduce COVID-19 disruption, slow the spread, and how you can extend your reach beyond employees to help customers, clients and your communities as we move forward. The webinar will be held TODAY, Monday, December 20th at 3pm to 4pm.

Public Assets Institute No surprise, Vermonters cut back their consumer spending in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The US Bureau of Economic Analysis released data recently showing that Vermonters spent $1.2 billion less in 2020 than the year before. That was about a 4 percent drop. But while people stopped shelling out for hotels, restaurant meals, and trips to the dentist, some appear to have made the most of being stuck at home. Spending on garden tools and equipment rose almost 14 percent, or $10 million, and on books and periodicals more than $35 million.