Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility (VBSR) is honoring three outstanding individuals and businesses who have demonstrated extraordinary leadership in socially responsible business: Cindy Turcot of Gardener’s Supply Company with the 2021 Terry Ehrich Award for Lifetime Achievement, HELM Construction Solutions with the VBSR Innovation and Inspiration Award, and Ashley Reynolds of Elmore Mountain Therapeutics with the VBSR Young Changemaker Award.

Vermont Business Magazine Today Vermont Electric Co-operative announced the public launch of a home battery storage incentive program designed to save the co-op on power supply costs and support member resiliency. With several flexible load initiatives underway, including a water heater partnership with Burlington-based Packetized Energy, and incentives for off-peak electric vehicle charging, VEC continues to deploy innovative solutions in an effort to save the co-op money, add resilience, and manage the integration of cleaner power supplies that are coming onto the grid.

Vermont Business Magazine Woodchuck Hard Cider, the brand that started the American cider revolution in 1991, celebrates its 30th anniversary this Fall. To mark the momentous occasion, the brand has unveiled a variety of initiatives. Woodchuck is pleased to announce that it has brought back several ‘Fan Favorite’ ciders from the last 30 years, all now available for sale via Woodchuck.com and across the United States. Woodchuck’s limited-edition ‘Fan Favorite’ releases include Blueberry, Dark & Dry 802 and Barrel Select.

Vermont Agency of Agriculture Food & Markets Are you producer association, agriculture business or forestry business that's looking for financial assistance to take your operation to the next level? Well lucky for you the Working Lands Enterprise Board is currently accepting applications for numerous grant opportunities. These opportunities can help your organization with everything from infrastructure, marketing, meat processing, professional development projects and more.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health today reported 124 cases of COVID-19, and three deaths since Friday for 321 statewide. There are 43 people hospitalized (up five from Friday) and 11 in the ICU (up one from Friday). Phil Scott announced Friday that starting October 1, many more Vermonters can now schedule and receive their Pfizer vaccine booster shots.

by Kelly Notterman “The built environment is responsible for nearly 40 percent of greenhouse gas emissions,” said Rob Conboy, founder and CEO of Glavel. “There is the energy we use to heat and cool buildings, which most people understand, but the materials used in construction also have a big impact.” Specifically, building industry professionals are now taking into consideration embodied carbon—a term that refers to the carbon dioxide emissions of materials throughout the entire manufacturing and construction process—to understand a building's true carbon footprint.

Vermont Department of Economic Development Funding under this program is intended for transformational projects that create opportunity to retain existing businesses, attract more businesses, create jobs and strengthen communities by encouraging capital investments and economic growth. The applicants can be non-profit or for-profit businesses, however, not publicly traded companies.

Vermont Business Magazine WhistlePig Whiskey, the leading distiller of independent craft whiskey based in Shoreham, has introduced the first-ever, super-premium, ready-to-drink craft Rye beverage – PiggyBack Rye Smash. The small-batch canned cocktails are specially crafted with barrel-aged ingredients and 100% Estate Rye grown directly on the WhistlePig Whiskey Farm.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Labor Commissioner, Michael Harrington, has been elected to the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA) 2021-2022 Board of Directors Executive Committee and will serve as Secretary for Board. Harrington joined the Vermont Department of Labor in January of 2017 as deputy commissioner and was appointed commissioner in June 2020. He also currently serves as the chair of NASWA’s Equal Opportunity Committee.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, the Joint Committee on Public Safety Transformation released the final Functional and Operational Assessment. The Assessment was conducted by the consultancy firm CNA, who began working with the City in March 2021. The Assessment includes 149 evidence-based findings and recommendations, with a focus on five areas: BPD training and operations, racial and socioeconomic bias analysis, staffing and workload analysis, specialized and alternative responses to policing, and an implementation roadmap.

Vermont Business Magazine The State of Vermont today distributed resources and information to all Vermont public and independent schools to enable them to establish COVID-19 response testing in every school across Vermont. The state is bolstering existing testing tools with rapid testing to help keep more kids in school. Using a combination of PCR and rapid antigen tests, response testing allows schools to greatly reduce the time students might otherwise have to spend out of the classroom due to cases at their school. Students who are close contacts of a classmate or teacher who tests positive for COVID-19 will be able to test out of quarantine more easily and continue attending school while in quarantine as long as they have no symptoms.

Vermont Business Magazine People eligible to receive a booster shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine can receive it conveniently at the Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) COVID-19 Resource Center located on the former campus of Southern Vermont College at 982 Mansion Drive in Bennington.