Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced that Craig Cowles, 51, of Richmond, pleaded not guilty today in United States District Court in Burlington to tax-related fraud charges. US Magistrate Judge John M Conroy released Cowles on conditions pending trial, which has not been scheduled.

On September 25, a federal grand jury in Rutland returned an indictment charging Cowles with five counts of tax evasion and 14 counts of structuring bank transactions to avoid currency reporting requirements. According to the indictment, Cowles is the owner of Cowles Excavating, an earth-moving business located in Richmond.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Gas (VGS) and NG Advantage (NGA) announced today a first-of-its-kind initiative to deliver renewable natural gas (RNG) to business and institutional customers – including hospitals – through VGS’ pipeline and NGA’s virtual pipeline infrastructure. This unique partnership allows NGA’s twenty-six current customers and new customers across New England and New York to take advantage of RNG, a benefit that until now has only been available to pipeline-connected users. Before NGA began service in 2013, these customers used No. 2 and No. 6 oil and some even used “bunker fuel” for their process and/or space-heating energy needs.

Vermont Business Magazine Is your local school looking for a great guest speaker? Would students in your town be interested in a field trip to learn how electricity gets delivered across northern Vermont?

Vermont Business Magazine A new study shows the nation is nearing Great Recession levels of mortgage refinancing and Vermont ranks No. 3 among states with the lowest level of recent refinancing. Meanwhile, many of the same culprits from back then (Arizona, Florida, Nevada) are leading the refi boom. It has taken nearly a decade for home values to rebound after the housing bubble burst and homeowners are once again taking advantage of their equity.

Vermont Business Magazine Superior Technical Ceramics (STC), a global leader in delivering technical ceramics manufacturing solutions, has been recognized by Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems with their Three-Star Supplier Excellence Award.  Raytheon instituted the Three-Star Award as part of its Supplier Excellence Awards program to recognize suppliers who have provided outstanding service and partnership in exceeding customer requirements.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Futures Project announces recommendations to grow and sustain Vermont businesses with further development and additional support to enhance Vermont’s current innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem. To secure our economic future, the Vermont Futures Project has identified the need to scale and grow Vermont’s mid-sized businesses, defined as having 20 to 499 employees. These companies are the mainstay of Vermont’s employment base which provide stable jobs, good pay and career opportunities at a scale that fits Vermont’s culture, region to region.

Vermont Business Magazine Gravel & Shea, the Distributed Ledger Governance Association (DLGA), Champlain College, and the Vermont Attorney General’s Office came together to host Vermont’s first digital identity summit on October 16 at Champlain College. Capitalizing on Vermont’s position as a blockchain legislative leader in the United States, the summit drew approximately 40 executives and government leaders from the US, Canada, and England to discuss issues around the implementation and use of digital identification in Vermont.

CEOs and technology officers from companies that both develop and utilize blockchain tools — such as London-based software developer Veridium, New York City-based cybersecurity company SecReliant, Florida-based Haven Health Solutions, and Hu.manity, a company designed to create decentralized human rights and located in New Jersey — connected with regulators, academics, and municipalities from Vermont. 

Vermont Business Magazine Greenbacker Renewable Energy Company LLC has announced that, through wholly-owned subsidiaries, it has acquired the rights to 31.33 megawatts (MW) of solar projects and partnered on an additional 3.5 MWs of solar in three separate transactions. This includes the 5.74 MW ground mount solar project at the former Brattleboro landfill.

Vermont Business Magazine After more than three decades writing about human-driven climate change and wider sustainability issues, former New York Times journalist Andrew Revkin has started building an initiative at Columbia University's Earth Institute testing ways to make information matter on a fast-forward, noisy planet. He’ll speak about his quest for communication impact—"from the melting North Pole to the overheated media climate," he says—at the University of Vermont’s Memorial Lounge, Waterman Building, on Friday, October 25, at noon. The talk is free and open to the public.

Vermont Business Magazine The Energy Co-op of Vermont, a not-for-profit cooperative that serves over 2,700 members and customers in northwest and central Vermont, elected four new board members for three year terms at their annual meeting held at Efficiency Vermont headquarters in Burlington on October 22^nd.

·         Sarah Wolfe is the Communications Specialist at VEIC and formerly served as Energy Action Network as the Network Director. She managed the Annual Progress Report and Network events to expand our collective impact on clean energy action and emissions reduction in Vermont.

·         Deanna Paluba is currently the Director of Human Resources for the City of Burlington and has held HR leadership roles at IBM and Gilead Sciences. Deanna has expertise in employee relations, policy development and developing employee engagement initiatives.

Vermont Business Magazine The Preservation Trust of Vermont on Wednesday named Liz Gamache of St. Albans as its Interim President. Liz takes the reins as the organization’s second leader in its storied 39-year history following the passing of PTV’s beloved founding President, Paul Bruhn. Started in 1980, the Trust works to protect, restore, and revitalize the buildings, businesses, and gathering places that make Vermont so special. From barn grants to general stores, from village greens to State and Main, PTV’s work reaches every corner of Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General TJ Donovan today announced that Vermont has reached a settlement agreement with the pharmaceutical distributor Reckitt Benckiser Group for $10.67 million, of which $4.3 million will go to the state. The settlement resolves allegations that the company improperly marketed and promoted the drug Suboxone, resulting in improper expenditures of Medicaid funds. Of the total settlement, $5.46 million will be distributed to the federal government for the recovery of federal funding provided to Vermont Medicaid. The remaining sum is comprised of restitution for the State Medicaid system, additional recoveries for the State, and payment to the whistleblower(s) under the False Claims Act.