Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Middlebury College has instituted an official land acknowledgment which recognizes that the Western Abenaki are the traditional caretakers of Vermont lands and waters. A Middlebury College steering committee worked with local Abenaki leaders to develop the acknowledgment and accompanying initiatives. The acknowledgement follows Middlebury's establishment of the pilot summer Abenaki Language School in 2020.

Vermont Business Magazine Encore Renewable Energy, Bromley Mountain Ski Resort and Tangent Energy Solutions announced their plans to develop and build a 615kWdc solar project on land owned by Bromley Mountain in Peru, Vermont. The resort has implemented several sustainability initiatives over the last two decades, including energy efficiency upgrades to their buildings and snowmaking activities. 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.

Vermont Business Magazine Packetized Energy, a developer of software systems and smart devices based in Burlington, will receive $2 million in prime contractor funding from the California Energy Commission under their BRIDGE (Bringing Rapid Innovation Development to Green Energy) program. The award will fund deployment and connection of 7,000 new and existing smart energy devices to Packetized Energy’s Nimble platform, enabling a combined 4 megawatts (MW) of grid flexibility. The project will create one of the largest distributed energy resource (DER) aggregation networks from residential devices in California.

Vermont Business Magazine Americans have always cared about gas prices given the nature of its volatility; it suddenly goes up, it suddenly goes down, all without an obvious explanation. Today, GasBuddy released its annual Pump Habits Study that found that nearly a third of Americans care more now about saving money on gas than before the start of the pandemic. Gasoline prices in Vermont are averaging $2.47 (US average $2.49), but the range across the state is from a high of $2.60 to a low of $2.24.

Vermont Business Magazine Énergir, LP today released its first-ever Climate Resiliency Report, which follows the recommendations set by the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures. This report is the result of a rigorous initiative that gives Énergir confidence in the resilience of its business model over the 2030 horizon according to a scenario that limits global warming to 2 degrees or less by 2100 compared to preindustrial levels. Énergir is the parent company of Green Mountain Power and Vermont Gas Systems. The central objective is to reduce by 30% the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions related to the use of natural gas of its customers in the building sector by 2030, and over the 2050 horizon, Énergir wants to steer its activities to become completely carbon neutral.

by Brian Shupe There has been much debate over the last five years over how to strengthen Act 250, Vermont’s 51-year-old venerable land use law. There is broad agreement that Act 250 should be updated to meet contemporary environmental challenges ­– many of which were not widely recognized fifty years ago when the law was enacted. To this end, a two a year legislative commission was formed in 2017 to evaluate options for improving Act 250, which was followed by two years of legislative review of specific proposals to amend the law. A comprehensive update was passed out of the Vermont House of Representatives last year, but the ensuing virtual legislative session and the need to focus on the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic crisis prevented the Senate from undertaking the necessary review.

Vermont Business Magazine BAE Systems, a leader in electric propulsion solutions, has been selected by Chartwell Marine to supply the electric hybrid power and propulsion system for a new maritime research vessel for the University of Vermont. As part of the contract, BAE Systems will supply and integrate the hybrid system, working with the vessel’s builder, Derecktor Shipyard. The fully integrated HybriGen Power and Propulsion system includes electric motors, variable speed generators, battery-based energy storage system, and vessel auxiliary power with shore power charging.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health reported a second consecutive day of relative few COVID-19 cases, with 62 (59 on Tuesday), but there was an additional death for 187 total statewide. The total number of cases is 13,122 since the pandemic began in March 2020. VDH is urging anyone who may have been part of a gathering, or traveled out of state, or is concerned that they may have been exposed, to get a test. Along with health protocols like wearing a mask, testing is part of the state's strategy to suppress the coronavirus. Also, as of Tuesday, over 66,000 Vermonters have been vaccinated.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott recently appointed Aryka Radke to be the next Deputy Commissioner of the Family Services Division of the Department for Children and Families (DCF) within the Agency of Human Services. Radke will lead the Department’s child welfare and youth justice work. Radke began her role in Family Services on February 8. Christine Johnson, current Deputy Commissioner, will be working with Radke over the next four weeks to ensure a smooth transition. Following this, Johnson will be transferring to a position within DCF.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont state "Bank of Mom & Dad" is beginning to turn on the lending taps to children, signaling a shift in the way young Vermonters are accessing credit since the start of the pandemic. Vermont was tied for the second lowest rate among states with 18 percent. Hawaii was the lowest at 17 percent. Of the Lower 48 states, the three lowest were all in New England. North Carolina was highest at 31 percent.

• 78% say there is no interest on loans from parents.
• 1 in 5 parents admit they are not confident they will be paid back.

See state results BELOW.

The USAWillGuru.com survey of 4,500 20-29 year olds provides a snapshot of young people’s living circumstances since the biggest economic shock in modern times.

Crisis brings out the best and worst in people, says leadership expert John Maxwell, and the world-changing effects of Covid-19 have presented a proving ground to reveal who the true leaders are in workplaces across the country.

"A crisis separates the players from the pretenders," said Maxwell, who is the author of dozens of books on leadership, the most recent of which is Change Your World.

Photo: John Maxwell. Courtesy photo.

Maxwell characterized the Covid-19 crisis as "a great time to find out who your leaders are, because you'll never know who they are by what they say." Rather, real leaders are revealed "by what they do in a very difficult time."

Vermont Business Magazine ACCD and the Agency of Education (AOE) have posted guidance for the resumption of organized indoor youth and scholastic sports. This guidance is effective February 12th with strict restrictions in place, including the number of games that can be played in a week and that no spectators will be permitted.