Current News

Vermont Business Magazine For the third year in a row, Smugglers’ Notch Distillery has been chosen by fans across the country in the USA Today 10BEST Readers’ Choice Awards as one of the top ten vodka distilleries in the USA.

Vermont Business Magazine is proud to announce the winners of its Rising Stars recognition award. The list is composed of 40 winners under the age of 40. Award recipients were selected by a panel of judges for their commitment to business growth, professional excellence and involvement in their communities.

Vermont Business Magazine The Building Homes Together Campaign, formed in 2016 to encourage production of housing in Chittenden County, released its annual progress report that showed continued overall success in new housing being created, but a persistent lack of affordable homes. The campaign, supported by over a hundred local and state officials, nonprofits, businesses, and individuals, set a five year goal of 3,500 new homes in Chittenden County with 20% of them permanently affordable. This amounts to an annual target of 700 overall homes with 140 affordable; the average over the first four years is 787 homes, and only 112 of them affordable.

Vermont Business Magazine Penske Truck Leasing moves to a new facility and will now offer its consumer and commercial truck rental customers full-service truck leasing and contract truck fleet maintenance services. Penske's new facility located at 40 Kellogg Road in Essex Junction is also outfitted with the company's proprietary fully digital and voice-directed truck fleet preventive maintenance process and connected fleet solutions, a value-added resource to help customers address issues and options related to onboard technology systems (ELDs, telematics, onboard cameras, etc).

Vermont Business Magazine Casella Waste Systems, Inc (NASDAQ: CWST), a regional vertically integrated solid waste, recycling and resource management services company, announced today that it acquired the assets of Pinto Trucking Services, Inc on October 1, 2020.

Vermont Business Magazine Green River, a software design and development company based in Brattleboro, has launched a suite of customizable contact-tracing tools on its open-source software platform, Open Path. The tools offer advanced features that allow health care providers, governments, hospitals and insurance companies to track patients' movements, close contacts and medical records in real-time to aid in the fight against coronavirus.

The Mentor Connector WE NEED YOU! The Mentor Connector strives to make Rutland County the BEST community for youth, but we can't do it alone! Over 65 youth are waiting for a mentor so throughout the next 3 months, The Mentor Connector is conducting a dynamic mentor recruitment campaign, 100 Mentors in 100 Days, to raise awareness for the need of community mentors in Rutland Vermont.

by James Dwinell In his first reelection bid, Republican Governor Phil Scott is facing off against former Vermont Electric Cooperative CEO Christine Hallquist, the Democratic nominee. Scott received a spirited challenge in the primary, unusual for an incumbent in Vermont, largely because of his signing of legislation that tightened gun laws. The limit on magazine size, for instance, goes into effect October 1. He now faces reelection in a heavily Democratic state. This story was first published in the September print issue of Vermont Business Magazine. Hallquist will be featured in the October issue.

Vermont Business Magazine Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman, 49, of Hinesburg is the Democratic nominee for governor. Zuckerman was elected Vermont’s 81st Lieutenant Governor of Vermont in 2016. He previously served in the Vermont House of Representatives for seven terms (1997–2011), and the Vermont Senate for two (2013–2017). Zuckerman is a farmer who was born in Boston and graduated from the University of Vermont in 1995.

by Joy Choquette, Vermont Business Magazine Famous Vermonter Norman Rockwell once said, “The view of life I communicate in my pictures excludes the sordid and the ugly. I paint life as I would like it to be.” As towns and counties throughout the state reel in the wake of COVID-19 and residents adjust to a “new normal,” this quote is apt.

by Joy Choquette, Vermont Business Magazine The benefits of running a small business in Franklin County are great. Here are some of the strongest reasons to begin or continue business in the county.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Voice and Vote, this year’s theme for Vermont Archives Month, was announced Thursday by Vermont Secretary of State Jim Condos and State Archivist Tanya Marshall. Vermont Archives Month is an “excellent opportunity for citizens of all of ages to actively get involved in researching and preserving Vermont’s historical records to understand how our past can shape our future.”