Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Dartmouth is partnering with four leading electrical tech companies--GE Research, Analog Devices, Empower Semiconductor, and Ampt--to form the first NSF-funded Industry-University Collaborative Research Center (IUCRC) focusing on integrated power management and delivery for a wide range of electrified systems. Providing companies with unprecedented access to Dartmouth's R&D expertise, facilities, and intellectual property, the new Power Management Integration Center (PMIC) will address a range of challenges facing next-generation power electronics.

Vermont Business Magazine Mother Nature is sending over a foot of snow our way and VGS wants to ensure safety is top of mind during the snowstorm.

Vermont Fish & Wildlife Ali Thomas, education manager for the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department, will be leading an educational wildlife tracking walk in West Fairlee on February 8.

Vermont Business Magazine AARP has opened applications for the 2020 AARP Community Challenge grant program to fund “quick-action” projects that spark change across the country. Now in its fourth year, the program is part of AARP’s nationwide work on Livable Communities. Grants can range from several hundred dollars for small, short-term activities to several thousand, or tens of thousands for larger projects. In Vermont, grants totaling more than $42,000 were awarded to the cities of Newport and Bennington for specific community development projects in those communities.

Vermont Business Magazine GMS Inc (NYSE: GMS), a leading North American specialty distributor of interior building products based in Tucker, Georgia, has announced that it has acquired Trowel Trades Supply, Inc, a single-location distributor based in Colchester, Vermont. Founded in 1968, Trowel Trades serves residential and commercial customers in the greater Burlington area and related surrounding markets. Trowel Trades offers a full complement of interior building materials as well as masonry and hardscape products.

Vermont Business Magazine After facilitating 14 focus groups with statewide Young Professional (YP) groups, the Vermont Futures Project released a report to pursue their three major recommendations and incorporate their concerns into the sustainable economic growth plan slated for release in the fall of 2020. The Vermont Futures Project wanted to ensure the voice of the YPs currently living here will be included and help determine how best to secure a robust economic future for Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine State director Linda Rossi has announced that the Vermont Small Business Development Center (VtSBDC) has been awarded a $100,000 federal SBA grant to launch and develop a multi-faceted program benefiting Vermont’s small businesses, especially those most impacted by three campus closures: Green Mountain College, Southern Vermont College, and College of St. Joseph. The grant also supports entrepreneur education designed for college and high school faculty and students. Titled “FORWARD VT,” the program will launch in the southwest region of the state, and set the stage for taking the “Portable Assistance Program” to other communities.

FORWARD VT

FORWARD VT equips business owners and new entrepreneurs with strategies and tools to renew and restore their vibrancy and productivity, moving them forward from challenging circumstances. The official kick off events will take place in April 2020.

Vermont Business Magazine Today Attorney General Donovan called upon the Legislature and the Governor to pass a bill that would provide free hunting and fishing licenses to citizens of Vermont’s State-recognized Native American Indian Tribes. The bill, H.716, will add citizens of Vermont’s State-recognized Native American Indian Tribes to the list of people eligible for a free permanent license from Vermont’s Fish and Wildlife Department.

Vermont Business Magazine On February 3^rd, the Working Communities Team of Southern Vermont was invited to the planning phase of the Working Communities Challenge, an initiative of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston “to support diverse, local collaborative leadership teams to tackle complex challenges facing their communities.” The six-month planning phase consists of a $15,000 planning award, and the opportunity to apply for the full 3-year, $300,000 grant to implement the project.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) released several per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS) reports today. The reports will help DEC continue to investigate PFAS in landfill leachate, to evaluate the impact of landfill leachate on PFAS concentrations at wastewater treatment facilities, and to evaluate treatment alternatives for PFAS leachate. The study concluded that while substantial PFAS entered the Coventry landfill and 95 percent of the samples found it, "the data indicate that a small fraction of the PFAS entering the landfill in wastes leave it in leachate."

Vermont Business Magazine Robert E "Bobby" Miller, community leader; philanthropist; businessman; devoted husband and family man died Tuesday, February 4, 2020 at the UVM Medical Center surrounded by his family. He was 84 years old. Born in Rutland, VT on August 9, 1935, he was the third of six children born to Ruth and Charles Miller.

Vermont Business Magazine Easing trade tensions with China, increased consumer spending and a more stable interest rate environment helped improve US business sentiment in the fourth quarter, according to the Citizens Business Conditions Index from Citizens Bank. Citizens has branches across Vermont. In the latest report released by Citizens Commercial Banking, the index increased from 60.2 to 61 and remained well above 50, showing growing confidence in the US economy.

“Progress toward the first phase of a China trade deal, more clarity around Brexit, improved consumer spending and a stable rate environment took some of the uncertainty off the table for business leaders in the fourth quarter,” said Tony Bedikian, head of Global Markets for Citizens Commercial Banking. “Of course, this quarter the coronavirus is having an impact on certain sectors and markets, but the overall economic trend so far is still positive.”