Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Shelburne Museum Director Thomas Denenberg announced the endowment of the director of education position made possible by a gift from the Stiller Family Foundation. The Stiller Family Foundation, the foundation of philanthropists Christine and Robert Stiller, gave a generous gift of $1.5 million to endow the Education Department chair. Christine Stiller is a trustee of Shelburne Museum. Robert Stiller founded Keurig Green Mountain. The two are longtime supporters of education initiatives, early childhood development and programs for Vermont school children.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine A steep but not tall 3,144 feet, Ascutney Mountain has long been an anomaly among Vermont ski mountains. It has great interstate access, just off I-91 in West Windsor (Brownsville), but it doesn’t get much natural snow and doesn’t have much water for making it. It first opened with a rope town in 1946 and went bankrupt – the first time – in 1950. Now it’s owned by the town and an all-volunteer, nonprofit organization called Ascutney Outdoors is putting a ski lift back on the mountain, ready for skiing this season.

by Maura Adams and Rob Riley, Northern Forest Center Climate change is scientifically complex and politically fraught, yet very clear. Long-term data combined with local observation tell us that natural cycles are changing, and with significant effect. At the Northern Forest Center, we pay special attention to news and studies about the role forests and forest products play in mitigating climate change – and to media stories that mischaracterize the carbon impact of using wood in our context. And there are many. For example, we would have expected a more nuanced piece from climate activist Bill McKibben when he attacked every form of biomass energy in a recent New Yorker article.

Vermont Business Magazine SymQuest Group, Inc, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Konica Minolta Business Solutions, USA, Inc, recently hosted their 24th Annual Golf Tournament to benefit Special Olympics Vermont (SOVT), a nonprofit organization part of a global movement that works year-round to foster inclusion and acceptance of people with intellectual disabilities by using the power of sport to showcase their gifts and abilities.

Vermont Business Magazine Dartmouth's Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society and Thayer School of Engineering will collaborate with the US Army Corps of Engineers' Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) to assess ways to improve energy services, delivery, storage, and mobility for military bases in the Arctic.

by C.B. Hall, Vermont Business Magazine The controversy over where to store an Amtrak train overnight in Burlington has intensified in the wake of assertions that a study on the subject served only to provide cover for a predetermined decision that Burlington Union Station, part of the Main Street Landing development, would be the best site for parking the train.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General TJ Donovan today joined a coalition of 18 attorneys general and the City of New York to file a lawsuit challenging the federal government’s rollback of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). For over 45 years, the ESA has been an essential conservation tool that has protected thousands of iconic species, including the peregrine falcon, bald eagle, California condor, grizzly bear, and humpback whale. Today’s lawsuit challenges the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service’s decision to finalize three rules that undermine the key requirements and purpose of the ESA.

Vermont Business Magazine Capstone Community Action is receiving a $200,000 grant from the Small Business Administration's Program for Investment in Micro-Entrepreneurs across Vermont. PRIME assists low-income entrepreneurs who lack sufficient training and education to gain capital to establish and expand their small businesses.

The grant will fund the statewide Micro Business Development program run by Capstone and other organizations, including the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity, Bennington-Rutland Opportunity Council, Northeast Kingdom Community Action and Southeastern Vermont Community Action.

The SBA placed special emphasis in this year's competition on projects that will offer training and technical assistance to strengthen economically disadvantaged businesses, particularly those servicing entrepreneurs in rural areas and historically underutilized business zones.

Vermont Business Magazine The Burlington Republican Committee elected Kolby LaMarche to the position Committee Chair on Tuesday, September 17th. Kolby, 17, is a senior at Burlington High School, and has been involved in Republican causes in Vermont for a number of years. At only 17, LaMarche may be the youngest Town Chair in the state from either major party. Vermont law allows 17 year olds to register to vote if the will be 18 by the time of the next general election.  Under that provision LaMerch was eligible not only to participate in the Burlington meeting, but also become its new leader.

Vermont Business Magazine WCAX announced today that it is moving frequencies in one month, on October 24, 2019. That means viewers who watch TV for free with an over-the-air antenna (rabbit ears) will need to rescan their TVs to continue watching the station. Recently, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) held an auction of broadcast airwaves to provide more channels for wireless internet broadband services. WCAX did not participate in the auction, however, the FCC is requiring this station and nearly 1,000 others nationwide to move to new frequencies to make room for wireless internet services

Vermont Business Magazine On Friday, Sept 27 Vermont Pub and Brewery will be pouring it’s 2,000 brew, a Vermont Smoked Porter. It’s a milestone for the pub to be releasing it’s 2,000 beer since opening it’s doors in 1988, but in addition to hitting a record number of brews, some very special guests returned to create this beer.

Vermont State Police On September 24, 2019 at 9:00 AM the Morristown Fire Department responded to the report of a structure fire at 2017 Cote Hill Road. Upon their arrival they observed a wooden shed on the property to be fully engulfed in flames. The storage shed was located away from any other structure on the property and did not spread from its original location.  The shed, which was approximately 8 feet by 8 feet, and all of its contents were completely consumed in the fire. An examination, which was conducted jointly with the Morristown Police Department, was determined to be an intentionally set fire.