Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Northeast Kingdom Fund at the Vermont Community Foundation made $115,800 in grants to 27 organizations in Orleans, Essex, and Caledonia counties in fall 2020. This year’s awards represent a combination of grants to organizations supporting education, food access, the arts, and outdoor engagement. The Northeast Kingdom Fund was established in 2011 by the Community Foundation and local partners as a permanent philanthropic resource to support the people and communities in the region.

Vermont Business Magazine Northern Vermont University has been awarded a $465,000 USDA Rural Utilities (RUS) grant to expand videoconferencing services in rural communities throughout the state. The funding will support the development of 30 additional community sites to expand access to workforce training and education, distance learning opportunities, and telemedicine in underserved areas throughout the state — bringing the total number of community sites to 60. The first sites were developed through the first round of RUS funding and are located in high schools around Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine For its 85th season, the Woodstock Inn & Resort’s Suicide Six Ski Area will modify operations to prioritize the safety of guests and employees while also ensuring a quality snow experience that are hallmarks of the mountain. The operating schedule will be modified to five days per week, opening the lodge and lifts from Wednesday through Sunday. Every guest must complete a ski attestation form upon arrival to certify compliance with all state guidelines. Face coverings are required for guests and employees at all times in public spaces such as outdoor seating areas, the parking lot, in the lodge, loading and riding the lifts, and during all ski and snowboard lessons. Masks can be taken down while on the trails or eating.

by Christine McGowan, Vermont Forest Industry Network Mike Rainville, founder and owner of Maple Landmark, landed his first wholesale account at age 15, when a traveling salesman noticed the wooden tic tac toe boards Mike had for sale at the Lincoln General Store. That was 1979. Today, Maple Landmark supplies wooden toys—including the tic tac toe and cribbage boards that gave Mike his start—to thousands of gift shops around the world, employing 37 people at its 28,000 square-foot facility in Middlebury.

Vermont Business Magazine Norwich University’s School of Nursing will host its third White Coat Ceremony, a rite of passage to emphasize the importance of compassionate patient care at the very start of training, at 3 pm on Thursday, December 10. The White Coat Ceremony impresses upon the students of the great privilege they will have as nurses to be with patients during some of the most important times in life — from birth through end of life.

Vermont Business Magazine The Department of Public Service (PSD) on Tuesday announced the kickoff of the next update of the Vermont Comprehensive Energy Plan (CEP). The CEP is required by 30 V.S.A. § 202b and incorporates the Vermont Electric Energy Plan, required by 30 V.S.A. § 202. The last CEP was adopted January 1, 2016, and updates are required every six years. The CEP is a distinct requirement from the Climate Action Plan being developed by the Vermont Climate Council appointed as part of the Global Warmings Solutions Act (GWSA), although the two efforts do overlap in several areas. Most directly, the CEP is expected to meet the greenhouse gas reduction requirements of 10 V.S.A. 578 and be consistent with the Vermont Climate Action Plan adopted pursuant to 10 V.S.A. § 592.

Vermont Business Magazine The inaugural Eric Zencey Prize in Ecological Economics, celebrating outstanding writing on the environmental limits of a finite planet, has been awarded to Bathsheba Demuth for her book 'Floating Coast: An Environmental History of the Bering Strait.' The Gund Institute for Environment at the University of Vermont (UVM), in partnership with the US Society of Ecological Economics, has announced the inaugural winner of the Eric Zencey Prize in Ecological Economics.

Vermont Business Magazine Between July and September of 2020, the rate of consumer redemption of empty beverage containers fell another two percentage points to 58%, according to beverage sales data from CalRecycle, the state's overseer of the bottle deposit program. That means 42% of annual consumer bottle deposits—or about $546 million paid through September this year—is not being returned to consumers who could really use that money, according to Consumer Watchdog.

Vermont Business Magazine CSWD has introduced its 2020 Solid Waste Implementation Plan, approved by the CSWD Board of Commissioners October 28, 2020, and the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources November 10, 2020. The SWIP, required by State statute, states how CSWD will meet specific Performance Standards outlined in the November, 2019, Vermont Materials Management Plan (MMP).

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife has launched the Vermont Outdoors mobile application, a new tool to help citizens and visitors explore outdoor recreational opportunities in ways that meet COVID-19 pandemic safety practices. Built in partnership with the state’s digital government services partner, NIC Vermont, the mobile app provides a wide offering of features, including interactive maps, and enables users to easily access policy information and guidelines for activities, such as hunting, trapping, fishing, boating and hiking in Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine The 6th annual Dunkin’ Hot Chocolate Day fundraiser for Camp Ta-Kum-Ta is set for Friday, December 11 at several Dunkin’ stores in the greater Burlington region. Participating Dunkin locations owned by local Franchisee Ari Souliotis will donate $1 to Camp Ta-Kum-Ta from the sale of any size and any flavor hot chocolate.

Vermont Business Magazine Several Vermont businesses have partnered with the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity (CVOEO) to outfit homeless Vermonters currently residing at the Holiday Inn with winter clothing and accessories. Vermont Gas (VGS), Mutual of America, Lenny’s Shoe and Apparel and the South Burlington Rotary donated much needed coats, boots, hats and gloves to CVOEO to help these Vermonters stay warm this winter.