Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Community Foundation and the organizing committee for the Con Hogan Award for Creative, Entrepreneurial Community Leadership announced Monday that Jan Demers will be honored with this year’s award. Demers is the Executive Director of Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity (CVOEO), serving Addison, Chittenden, Franklin, and Grand Isle counties.

The $15,000 award, to be used however the recipient chooses, will be presented at a public reception on Wednesday, October 2 from 4:30 to 6:30 PM at the Vermont College of Fine Arts in Montpelier.

Vermont Business Magazine VetriScience Laboratories recently won the Exclusive Content Strategy category in the international 2019 PR Daily Media Relations Awards. The Williston-based animal nutritional supplement company was selected over three other finalists in the category for a project that resulted in a CBS Evening News story about the pay-it-forward kindness of Maine resident and Army veteran Christy Gardner.

Gardner and her service dog Moxie were featured in the VetriScience Take Good Care video series last fall. When VetriScience learned that Gardner was caring for a puppy that would need surgery on his leg before training to become an in-school therapy dog, they stepped in to help Gardner and her dog.

by John McClaughry As this Global Climate Strike week moves forward, let me share an interesting perspective on the “defeat climate change” movement from somebody who believes in all the climate apocalypse hype – but seems to have suddenly awakened to the interests promoting it.

Vermont Business Magazine MVP Health Care today announced the winners of its inaugural Workplace Well Being Awards. The award recognizes 20 companies and organizations that have demonstrated a strong commitment to improving the health and well-being of their employees through workplace wellness programs. Gold, Platinum, or Diamond level awards were distributed to various companies, non-profit organizations, and government agencies across New York and Vermont.  Additionally, Oneida County was recognized with the Innovation in Workplace Well-Being Award and United Counseling Services (UCS) was recognized with the Excellence in Workplace Well-Being Award.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems (VAHHS) held its 2019 Annual Meeting, entitled Healthy Vermont Together: People, Passion, Promise beginning on September 11. Early arrivals at the conference gathered to do a service project to help local families in need. More than 50 participants, including hospital CEOs and staff, stuffed 750 bags with essentials like shampoo, toothpaste, soap and deodorant for individuals and families in need. Partner Capstone Community Action will provide the bags to homeless and housing-insecure residents in Lamoille and Washington Counties.

Vermont Business Magazine The Community Health Centers of Burlington (CHCB) are pleased to announce the promotion of Elicia Thompson, DDS, to the position of Dental Director. Dr Thompson will replace Diana Greenough, EFDA, who will retire from the organization on October 1, 2019, after 45 years in non-profit dental care.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy (D), Vice Chairman of the US Senate Appropriations Committee, announced Monday that Burlington International Airport will receive $15.9 million in grant funding from the Federal Aviation Administration to continue its work on a parallel taxiway. The grant is the largest single award ever received by the airport. The funding will allow for the reconstruction of Taxiway G to the existing taxiway B/K intersection generating a full parallel taxiway with the main Runway 15/33; creating a more efficient operation and reducing noise levels for residents along Airport Drive.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General TJ Donovan today joined a bipartisan coalition of 21 attorneys general urging Congress to pass the “Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States (STATES) Act” (HR 2093; S 1028), or similar measures that would allow legal cannabis-related businesses to access the banking system. Current federal banking laws, which reflect the federal status of marijuana as an illegal drug, force legitimate cannabis companies nationwide to operate mainly in cash.

Vermont Business Magazine Peak Resorts, Inc (Nasdaq:SKIS), which runs Mount Snow in West Dover, Vermont, announced Friday that its shareholders, at a special meeting held September 20, have approved Peak's acquisition by Vail Resorts, Inc (NYSE: MTN). Under the terms of the merger agreement, Peak Resorts’ common shareholders will be entitled to receive $11.00 per share in cash at the closing of the acquisition. The transaction is expected to close Tuesday. The deal was first announced in July.

Vermont Business Magazine Burlington Housing, Vermont’s oldest and largest municipally chartered housing authority, has announced that Laura Zeliger will serve as its new executive director. Zeliger will replace Allyson Laackman, who currently leads the organization that helps very low-income Burlington-area residents find and retain housing through rental assistance and support services.

by Joyce Marcel, Vermont Business Magazine In a little building by the train tracks in Middlebury, the war against plastics is being profitably waged, one hunk of beeswax at a time. Plastics, as we now recognize, are devastating to the environment. “Studies have detected plastic fibers everywhere—in the stomachs of sperm whales, in tap water and in table salt,” said a recent story in the Irish Times, although it could have appeared anywhere. (Google “plastics” and get about 4,290,000,000 results in 0.71 seconds) “A researcher in Britain says plastic may help define the most recent layer of the earth’s crust because it takes so long to break down and there is so much of it.”

Lake Champlain Committee The Lake Champlain Committee (LCC) has been checking Lake Champlain beaches for Asian clam during the summer and have a fun volunteer opportunity coming up on Tuesday September 24. Join us if you can! We are teaming up with our friends at Arrowwood Environmental and Magic Hat Brewing Company to comb Burlington area beaches for the invasive mollusk. The program includes training, field time, and lunch! It’s a great way to learn more about Asian clams, how to identify them and what we can do to keep them out of Lake Champlain.