Current News

Winner will receive a $20,000 Cash Award and other benefits

Vermont Business Magazine Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation (BDCC), has opened Applications to Compete for the 2021 Windham County Business Plan Competition. The multi-year competition is funded by the Windham County Economic Development Program and will create an opportunity for scalable, and growth-focused businesses in the region to refine their business plans, hone their pitch, and receive an award that will assist their startup operations or growth plans.

The Award
• $20,000 Cash Award
• $5,000 in Amazon Web Services Credits
• $3,000 (value) in Technical Assistance / Consulting from BDCC
• Streamlined application for BDCC’s loan programs

​Vermont Business Magazine Officer Christopher A Rose of the Rutland City Police Department provided a voluntary interview with Vermont State Police detectives on Wednesday, September 8, 2021. Following that interview, VSP is able to provide additional information about the fatal shooting of Jonathan Mansilla that occurred on August 25 in Rutland.

Vermont Business Magazine Encore Renewable Energy and VPPSA announced today the commissioning of a new 2.1 MW community solar array located at a former auto salvage yard. The project was developed as part of a partnership between Encore Renewable Energy and VPPSA to develop, finance, and construct approximately 10 MW of solar capacity on behalf of VPPSA’s municipal utility members.

Vermont Business Magazine FoodScience, LLC, based in Williston, today announced the acquisition of Pet Tech Labs, a contract manufacturer of animal nutritional supplements based in Syracuse, Nebraska. As of March, FoodScience is a portfolio company of Chicago-based Wind Point Partners. Since 1973, FoodScience has provided high quality nutritional supplements through trusted animal and human health brands. With an extensive portfolio of efficacious products, FoodScience serves the animal supplements market through both turnkey private label and custom formulation services and the company’s two brands, VetriScience and Pet Naturals.

Vermont Business Magazine Green Mountain Power (GMP), the Danville Energy Committee, and the Northeastern Vermont Development Association are inviting Vermonters to join the EV parade and EVenture in Danville on Saturday, September 18. It’s an opportunity to try out EV driving in a no pressure environment designed to help educate Vermonters about the benefits of electric vehicles – from cost and carbon savings to the fun you have driving an EV. GMP is partnering with customers and the community to offer rides and a variety of EVs to check out during the event.

Vermont Business Magazine At a press conference Wednesday, Governor Phil Scott and Health Commissioner Mark Levine, MD, both addressed the growing divisiveness and heated rhetoric during the current Delta wave, reiterated the effectiveness of vaccines, and encouraged Vermonters to make informed choices and come together to continue moving the state forward. The Administration also announced an update to the Agency of Education advisory memo for schools, which extends the length of the universal masking guidance in schools to October 4. Schools have been an asked – and all but one has implemented – a policy to require masking for all those in schools.

Vermont Business Magazine With wood stove season rapidly approaching, it is time to make sure you have enough dry firewood ready to go for this winter. Evaluating the moisture content of firewood can be tricky. Wood can be purchased when it is “green,” “seasoned,” “dried,” or “kiln dried,” but these are relative terms and wood is only ready to be burned when its moisture content is 20 percent or less. Wet wood is a waste.

Vermont Business Magazine In support of Vermont’s Universal Recycling Law, the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) Department of Environmental Conservation offers training and technical assistance to food scrap composters. The 2018 Vermont Compost Operator Certification Training will be held this fall. Participants in this day-long workshop will receive a Compost Operator Certificate, which meets the requirements of ANR for small, medium, and large compost facility site operators.

​by C.B. Hall, Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont attorney general's office (AGO) has issued a "notice of no objection" to the planned sale of the former Marlboro College campus to an entity owned by the Marlboro Music Festival. That entity, Potash Hill, Inc, will acquire the property's 533 acres and 52 buildings from Democracy Builders Fund.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott at his regular press briefing today extended the school masking guidance until October 4. The initial guidance was for just the first 10 days of school. Also, unvaccinated state employees will now have to wear a mask at work. Meanwhile, COVID-19 cases remain just over 100, while hospitalizations are holding steady and ICU stays have fallen.

Vermont Business Magazine William Shakespeare coined the phrase "To thine own self be true." Todd Graves has applied that philosophy to his business life with great success in building Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers into the fastest-growing restaurant chain in the country, and he recommends others do the same.

"Our No. 1 strategy for growth is staying true to who we are," said Graves, who proudly displays the title of "Founder & CEO, Fry Cook & Cashier" on his Raising Cane's business card. "That means staying true to our one love, and that's quality chicken finger meals, never losing that focus.

"That's our concept, which is doing one thing and doing it better than anybody else," he said.

Vermont Business Magazine iSun, Inc (NASDAQ: ISUN) and SunCommon announced today that they have entered into a definitive agreement pursuant to which a subsidiary of iSun will acquire SunCommon for $40 million in cash and securities. iSun, based in South Burlington, is a leading solar energy and clean mobility infrastructure company with 50-years of construction experience in solar, electrical and data services. SunCommon, based in Waterbury, was an early provider of home-based solar-electric generation, while since expanding into commercial and community-based projects.