Current News

by C.B. Hall, Vermont Business Magazine The controversy over the overnight storage of an Amtrak train due to begin serving Burlington in 2021 heated up at a November 19 public meeting of the City Council's Transportation, Energy and Utilities Committee (TEUC). Speakers directed their ire over the plans primarily at the Vermont Rail System (VRS), for its insistence on construction of a second track, or siding, to accommodate the train at Burlington Union Station, its destination in the Queen City.

Vermont Business Magazine For over 20 years the Bowse Health Trust (BHT) has awarded grant funds to collaborative community programs which measurably improve the health of Rutland County residents. This year the committee has approved funding for three innovative projects over the next three years. To date, the BHT has funded a total of 66 programs many of which are still operating. Rutland County Early Head Start, the Castleton Early Childhood and Special Education Initiative, and the Caregiver Support Program will receive BHT funding starting in 2020. The projects were selected because of a critical need for these services within the community. 

Vermont Business Magazine ARC Mechanical, an HVAC contractor, recently received over $14,000 in grant funding from the Vermont Training Program (VTP). With this grant funding, ARC Mechanical will focus on employee training in areas of plumbing, HVAC, gas training and sheet metal fabrication. Training will be done through professional development and apprenticeship programs at Vermont Technical College, New Hampshire School of Mechanical Trades, Mitsubishi Electric, and Granite State Trade School. 

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced the appointment of Heather Pelham as the commissioner of the Department of Tourism and Marketing. Pelham has served as the deputy commissioner of the Department since March 2019 and prior to that served as the state’s chief marketing officer for four years.

Pelham will now lead the team responsible for promoting Vermont as a top tourism destination and attracting 13 million visitors each year who contribute $2.8 billion in spending to the state.

Heather Pelham, Commissioner of the Department of Tourism and Marketing

Vermont Business Magazine Several news sources are reporting that Jake Burton Carpenter died Wednesday evening. Carpenter is the founder of Burton Snowboards based in Burlington. Carpenter formed the company in the 1970s, which created the sport and became its most visible brand. Carpenter was hospitalized last week at the UVM Medical Center in Burlington for an upper respiratory ailment. He had informed Burton staff earlier in November that his cancer from 2011 had returned. Co-CEO John Lacy, who runs the company with Carpenter's wife Donna Carpenter, sent an email to employees Thursday morning announcing his death. Jake Burton Carpenter was 65.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont’s Killington Resort, the largest ski and snowboard resort in Eastern North America, reported today that it has received a positive snow control announcement from FIS (Fédération Internationale de Ski), the governing body of the Audi FIS Ski World Cup. This comes as no surprise to those of us in Vermont experiencing an early start to winter. But the FIS decision is not a mere formality. In 2016 FIS canceled the parallel men's races in Colorado set for the same Thanksgiving weekend. And just last year the opening races in Austria were rescheduled by FIS because of wind that blew in as part of a snow storm in October.

Vermont Business Magazine GasBuddy, the smartphone app helping consumers avoid paying full price for fuel, today projects the national average gasoline price for Thanksgiving will be at its highest since 2014. While it may lead to some complaints — 30% of Americans saying high prices are impacting their plans — it won’t slow them down much, with a 7% rise in motorists on the road for Thanksgiving versus last year. Vermont prices are averaging $2.62 per gallon, the same as a week ago but 15 cents lower than last year.

Vermont Business Magazine Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), and Representatives John Yarmuth (D-Ky.), Don Bacon (R-Neb.), Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.),and Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) Wednesday reintroduced the bipartisan Runaway and Homeless Youth and Trafficking Prevention Act. The legislation will reauthorize key federal grant programs to provide states with grants to help thousands of homeless young people nationwide.

Vermont Business Magazine Many Vermont residents will have heating oil tanks inspected before the first fill of the winter season. The inspections, required by a 2017 Rule, reduce the number of spills or leaks from these tanks. Under the 2017 rule, inspectors must attach a “do not fill” or “red-tag” if the tank is at risk of spilling or leaking fuel.  

“To protect the environment and keep people safe from hazardous fuel leaks, we’re working with fuel suppliers to inspect tanks so that we’re able to prevent spills before they happen,” said Emily Boedecker, Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation. "The inspections and the red-tag rule identify problems in advance, avoiding dangerous and costly oil spills.” 

Vermont Business Magazine Tech Vault, the premier multi-tenant data center and cloud provider in the region, announced today that Mach7 Technologies has selected Tech Vault as its Data Center and Network Service provider. Tech Vault’s secure, LEED certified Data Center will provide Mach7 with a HIPAA certified, fully redundant, collocation environment.

Mach7, also based in South Burlington, VT, delivers a software platform that enables healthcare organizations to store, manipulate and distribute medical image information throughout an enterprise. Mach7 is a global technology provider that is publicly traded on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX: M7T). With an install base in the USA, UK, Saudi Arabia, Qatar & throughout the Asia Pacific region they have delivered their software in both an on premise solution as well as a cloud-based solution in partnership with Microsoft Azure.

Vermont Business Magazine Southwestern Vermont Health Care’s (SVHC) Centers for Living and Rehabilitation (CLR), a skilled nursing and rehabilitation facility in Bennington, recently earned Vermont regulators’ highest commendation, deficiency free. It is the third time in 6 years they have received a deficiency-free rating.

Vermont Business Magazine Five Vermont schools are among the nation’s 300 State Finalists in the 10th annual Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest, a program that encourages 6th-12th  grade students to solve real-world issues in their community using classroom skills in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). They are from Burliington, Essex, Moretown, St Albans and Hartford. The Vermont State Finalist classrooms were chosen based on their creative and strategic proposals to solve complicated issues that affect their communities by using STEM learning. All 300 teachers that submitted these finalist proposals will receive one Samsung tablet for their classrooms and have the opportunity to advance in the competition with their students for additional prizes.