Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Army Mountain Warfare School in Jericho will receive $30 million for a new facility as part of the defense budget signed by President Trump on Friday, December 20. Groundbreaking will most likely take place in late 2020.

Vermont Business Magazine President Trump has signed into law a fiscal year 2020 spending bill that includes bipartisan legislation introduced by Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vermont) to promote Vermont and other states as a destination for international tourists. Welch’s bill reauthorizes Brand USA, a successful public-private partnership funded at no cost to taxpayers through a user fee on international visitors. Welch’s bill renews the program through 2027 and resolves a funding glitch that threatened its existence.

Vermont Business Magazine South Burlington-based PC Construction was recognized by building industry leaders in three states for its work on major projects in 2019. The company earned awards from Associated General Contractors chapters in Vermont, New York, and Maine for its work on three large, innovative projects that helped to modernize and expand educational opportunities on academic campuses.

“These awards mean a lot to us,” said Jay Fayette, PC Construction President & CEO. “PC is doing tremendous work throughout the Northeast, and our Burlington, Poughkeepsie and Portland offices are thriving. We have great people building great projects, and it is an honor to be recognized for those efforts by the Vermont, New York and Maine AGC Chapters. These awards belong to our employee-owners, who continue to build facilities safely, with the highest level of quality, and to the complete satisfaction of our customers.”

by Paul Costello The temptation with bad news, like that of the closing of Green Mountain College, is to sit on one’s hands, paralyzed by structural change beyond immediate local control. The alternative is to come together, line up strategies and do what is in your power to move your community forward. That is just what the community of Poultney has done and is doing. They deserve a great deal of credit and a lot of praise for their dedication, collaboration, leadership, and hard work.

Vermont Business Magazine Health policy expert and entrepreneur Meg Hansen of Manchester has formally announced her campaign for lieutenant governor. Progressive Lieutenant Governor David Zuckerman is expected to seek reelection. Hansen is trained in medicine (MBBS – British equivalent of a US MD) and graduated with an MA from Dartmouth College. She owns a small communications firm. The Hansen campaign also announced that Stephen F Kenney, Chief Financial Officer of Central Vermont Medical Center, will serve as campaign treasurer. Early supporters have helped raise $35,000 so far, according to a statement released by the campaign Friday.

Vermont Business Magazine On Friday, Mayor Miro Weinberger announced a series of next steps for the Burlington Police Department, designed to address multiple facets of the department’s leadership and social media practices and lead the department forward. The most prominent of these is appointing Jennifer Morrison as interim chief beginning January 7, 2020. Morrison will become the fourth chief in less than a month. Chief Brandon del Pozo resigned following revelations that he had taunted a critic with a fake Twitter account and then lied about it. The acting chief replacing him then also admitted to a fake Facebook account. The new acting chief will serve until Morrison, the former Colchester chief of police, takes over.

Vermont Business Magazine Casella Waste Systems, Inc (Nasdaq: CWST), a regional solid waste, recycling and resource management services company, announced today the appointment of Michael L. Battles to Casella’s Board of Directors effective December 17, 2019.

Battles is currently the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Clean Harbors, Inc, a leading provider of environmental, energy and industrial services throughout North America. Battles joined Clean Harbors in September 2013 as Senior Vice President, Corporate Controller and Chief Accounting Officer, and was appointed as Clean Harbors' Chief Financial Officer in January 2016.  Battles previously served in a variety of senior financial positions at PerkinElmer Inc., a global leader in human and environmental health.  

Battles holds a BS in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting from the University of Vermont and is a certified public accountant.

by Robert Zulkoski & Team As we wrap another decade, the feeling of pending change is tangible. We’re living through a unique moment in time where our loudest voices for disruption are not sitting in the White House but rather in high school math classes and on soccer fields; where the men of Wall Street are being challenged by a diverse group of women creating space to make their voices heard; where today’s business means people AND planet AND profit. While these moments are playing out internationally, we can feel the wave of change washing over us (maybe even more so) here, in Vermont. In this month’s installment, we celebrate the amazing things initiated in 2019 and propose a challenge as we enter 2020.

Vermont Business Magazine Jim Brown, President of The Bank of Bennington, announced this week that the Bank has completed its annual giving to community food cupboards and fuel funds. This year, The Bank of Bennington is donating $25,000 to more than 20 area organizations in 11 towns. Primarily supporting the good work of food cupboards and heating assistance programs, these November and December donations help low income Vermonters during the holidays and beyond into winter.

Vermont Business Magazine The EDGE in South Burlington has announced its plan to provide the first dedicated indoor Pickleball facility in Vermont. Pickleball Courts set to open officially Wednesday. The facility will feature four state-of-the-art pickleball courts with a three-color court combination matching colors used at the US Open Tennis Championships in Flushing Meadows, New York, and the Indian Wells Tennis Facility in Palm Springs, California. The EDGE Pickleball courts will not be located on tennis courts but in a newly converted space.

Vermont Business Magazine EPA has completed comprehensive reviews of site cleanups at six National Priorities List Sites (Superfund Sites) in Vermont by performing a required Five-Year Reviews of each site. The Superfund program, a federal program established by Congress in 1980, investigates and cleans up the most complex, uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites in the country and endeavors to facilitate activities to return them to productive use.

"EPA performs Five-Year Review evaluations at Superfund Sites to ensure that our implemented site remedies continue to protect public health and the environment,” said EPA New England Regional Administrator Dennis Deziel.

Vermont Business Magazine United States Attorney Christina E Nolan announced today that the District of Vermont collected $1,228,588.74 in criminal and civil actions in Fiscal Year 2019. Of this amount, $574,416.22 was collected in criminal actions and $654,172.52 was collected in civil actions. The District of Vermont worked with other U.S. Attorney’s Offices and components of the Department of Justice to collect an additional $39,001,889.33 in cases pursued jointly by these offices. Of this amount, $18,037.74 was collected in criminal actions and $38,983,851.59 was collected in civil actions.