Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Omega Optical, a southern Vermont-based manufacturer in Brattleboro, has received a $9,000 Vermont Training Program (VTP) grant from the Vermont Department of Economic Development. For decades, Omega Optical has made a variety of optical filters products used by both government and private organizations. Omega Optical continues to create innovate products and serves as a key supplier to companies involved in aerospace, defense, and life science operations. Omega Optical will use the grant to train employees a valuable curriculum of basic inferometry training, machine math training, advanced machine tool technology training, and CNC machine training.

Vermont Business Magazine Strolling of the Heifers will host three Holiday Pop-Up Gift Shop events in the River Garden (157 Main Street) this November and December. Products from over 40 local artisans will be available for purchase at each pop-up. All events are free and open to the public. The first pop-up begins on “Black Friday”, the Friday following Thanksgiving. 

by John R Brumsted November 21, 2019 is Rural Health Care Day across the United States. In honor of this day, I want to illustrate the work we are doing locally in Northern New York and Vermont, as we adapt to meet the needs of aging populations, changes in how care is paid and reimbursed, and ever-increasing costs of serving every patient who walks into our clinics or emergency rooms. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Grants and Loans Committee of The Episcopal Church in Vermont has approved more than $32,000 in grants during the second half of 2019. Combined with almost $18,000 in grants announced in the first half of the year, the Committee has awarded a total of about $50,000 in grants for the calendar year.

Vermont Business Magazine In 1998, to provide area community organizations with blankets to help Vermonters in need, New England Federal Credit Union (NEFCU) conducted its first Blankets of Hopeä  Drive. Now in its 21st year, the NEFCU Blankets of Hopeä  drive has collected and distributed thousands of blankets to organizations including the Committee on Temporary Shelter (COTS), Spectrum Youth & Family Services, Samaritan House, and others.

This year, as in years past, the drive begins on December 1 and ends on December 31. New and gently used blankets may be dropped off at any NEFCU branch, the addresses of which are available at nefcu.com. Blankets will be cleaned and packaged by Greer’s Professional Fabricare Services.

Source: Williston VT—For more information, please visit nefcu.com

Vermont Business Magazine Last week, news broke that Summit Ventures NE LLC has agreed to sell the majority of its Sugarbush assets to Alterra Mountain Company. While this was no easy decision, President and COO Win Smith and the Sugarbush staff are excited to see where this opportunity takes the Resort and the community. For those who are interested in learning more, Sugarbush will be hosting an open forum where Win and our executive team will be joined by members of the Alterra Mountain Company leadership team. The forum is scheduled for tonight, November 20th, at 5pm in the Gate House Lodge.

Vermont Business Magazine Stowe and Okemo, in Vermont, and Mount Sunapee, in New Hampshire, will each celebrate their opening day of the 2019/2020 ski and snowboard season with First Chair festivities. At each resort, skiers and riders ascending to the summit on the first chairlift of the winter season will have the honor of crashing through a commemorative banner before making first tracks on the slopes. All three resorts, along with Mount Snow, are now owned by Vail Resorts, based in Colorado.

Opening day at Stowe is slated for November 22. A live DJ will help raise the stoke with music at the Four Runner Quad starting at 7:30 a.m. The first chair will load at 8 a.m. Stowe will have a total of 17 trails, 101 acres and 6 miles of terrain open including prominent runs like

Vermont Business Magazine A new study finds Vermont is the Number 11 smartest state in the US. The national firm doing the analysis relied largely on educational attainment and college entrance test scores. Vermont was particularly strong in bachelor degrees awarded, high school graduation rate and ACT scoring. Currently, 65 percent of Americans think they have above average intelligence and 2 in 3 people say they are smarter than other people. Everyone can’t be right.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Labor has announced it is now accepting applications for the 2020 Vermont Internship Program. Funded by the Department of Labor, the program will award $300,000 to eligible applicants. Organizations can receive up to $50,000 in matched grant funds, or up to $25,000 in unmatched funds. Awards may be used to build or administer an internship program or provide participants with need-based stipends during the internship. The Program promotes internships by providing grants to organizations who support or connect Vermont employers with student-interns from regional technical centers or post-secondary educational institutions.

Vermont Business Magazine Steinway & Sons, makers of the finest pianos in the world, have announced the opening of The Piano Gallery, a new piano showroom in North Ferrisburgh, which will carry and service Steinway-designed Boston and Essex grand and upright pianos. The opening of the showroom will be marked with special events during the weekend of December 7-8.

Vermont Research News Vermont Public Radio and Vermont PBS, working with Castleton’s Rich Clark recently conducted a comprehensive survey as part of "This Land" series. About two-thirds of Vermonters were optimistic about the future of their community but half said they would tell an 18-year-old to build their life and career elsewhere. Those in the most rural areas felt some of the biggest challenges.

Vermont Business Magazine Patty Prelock has been appointed Provost and Senior Vice President at the University of Vermont. The Board of Trustees confirmed and President Suresh Garimella announced the expected appointment Monday. She was named the interim provost last April after David Rosowsky stepped down. Prelock was Garimella's choice as interim provost while he was still the president-designate under Tom Sullivan. Garimella took over as president July 1.