Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Toppan Photomasks, Inc, a subsidiary of Tokyo-listed Toppan Printing Co, Ltd, and GlobalFoundries (GF), the world's leading specialty foundry, has announced that they have entered into a multi-year supply agreement in which Toppan will provide GF with photomasks and related services currently supported by GF's Burlington, Vermont US photomask manufacturing operation. As a part of the agreement, Toppan will acquire certain assets of GF's Burlington photomask facility. There will be no impact to jobs at the GF Burlington facility, according to Toppan.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont unemployment rate remained unchanged at its historic low of 2.1 percent. As of last month’s data (June 2019), the unemployment rates for Vermont and the Burlington-South Burlington NECTA were the lowest in the country relative to other states and metropolitan areas, respectively. The comparable United States rate in July was 3.7 percent, which was unchanged from the revised June estimate. The major metrics also showed very little movement, with the Labor Force and number of employed up very slightly and number of jobless down, but also by a very small amount.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Drug Task Force announces a multi-week arrest sweep that has concluded with the arrests of numerous people accused of dealing drugs throughout Vermont. During the past several weeks, the Vermont Drug Task Force arrested 59 suspects on charges of selling and distributing heroin, fentanyl, cocaine and crack cocaine. The investigations resulted in 53 individual charges of selling heroin, and 43 individual charges of selling crack cocaine, among other charges. 

Vermont Business Magazine Community College of Vermont (CCV)-Bennington will once again offer its entrepreneurship program in fall 2019. Start-Up 802 is a two-course curriculum designed to help students develop entrepreneurial skills and launch business ideas. The program was launched last year as the result of a collaborative effort to stimulate economic development and cultivate local talent. CCV developed the program in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce, Bennington County Regional Commission, and the Small Business Development Center, among others.

Nicole Stetson is an associate academic dean at CCV. She says the collaborative nature of the program gives students immediate access to a local network of entrepreneurs.

“Our hope is that they are connecting with the resources in our community to move their ideas forward, and that they are launching, or close to launching a business by the end of the semester.”

Vermont Business Magazine Today, Lisa Ventriss, President of Vermont Business Roundtable (Roundtable), and Mary Anne Sheahan, Executive Director of Vermont Talent Pipeline Management (VTPM), announced the receipt of a three-year, $250,000 matching grant to implement employer demand-driven workforce strategies across all counties in Vermont. The award is one of 13 presented by the Northern Borders Regional Commission, a Federal - State partnership, in support of employment-generating projects to reduce poverty, unemployment, and out-migration, through economic and infrastructure programs. 

Vermont Business Magazine The first results of a statewide effort to test drinking water for lead at schools and child care facilities are detailed on a new website created by the Department of Environmental Conservation. Approximately 440 public and independent schools, and more than 1,200 licensed or registered child care facilities are due to test every tap used for drinking or cooking before December 2020.

by Geoff Robertson, Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund Anyone who composts knows that if you mound up leaves, animal bedding, and food scraps, you end up with a big, hot pile of compost. While most people, however, see the nutrient-dense material as the finished product for fields and gardens, Brian Jerose also sees renewable energy and a cleaner Lake Champlain.

Vermont Business Magazine Search marketing agency, Eight Oh Two Marketing, has just been named to Inc. magazine’s annual list of America’s fastest-growing private companies — the Inc. 5000. Eight Oh Two ranks in the top half of the list, at number 1969. The agency was also named the fastest-growing private company in Vermont on the Inc. 5000 list. Also on the Inc. 5000 list are Vermont companies Resonance, New Breed Marketing, Jamaica Cottage Shop and iMarket Solutions.

Vermont Business Magazine The Peck Company (NASDAQ:PECK), a leading commercial solar engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) company based in South Burlington, on Wednesday reported results for the second quarter 2019 ended June 30, 2019. Revenue during the second quarter of 2019 increased 36.7% to $6.3 million, compared to $4.6 million in the prior year period. Higher revenue in the quarter was driven by increased project work. Peck took a net income loss of $(995,642) for the quarter and $(774,064) the the year-to-date.

Vermont Agency of Transportation US Route 2 at the temporary drawbridge is open to two lanes of traffic. Please expect intermittent stops and releases of traffic by flaggers to allow for construction vehicles to enter the work zone. The contractor is currently working 7AM to 6PM, Monday through Thursday, and 7AM to 1PM on Fridays. No weekend work is scheduled at this time.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott, US Senator Patrick Leahy, US Representative Peter Welch, and officials from the Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC) announced Friday that 18 Vermont organizations, including the Southern Windsor County Incubator in Springfield, will receive more than $7.9 million in federal grants to spur job creation, build essential infrastructure, train new workers, and develop communities.

Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont and the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) signed an Educational Partnership Agreement today that will lead to a wide range of education and research-oriented exchanges between the two organizations. CRREL, based in Hanover NH, is part of the United States Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC). It is a national resource for cold regions science and engineering. CRREL scientists and engineers seek innovative, interdisciplinary solutions to the challenges faced by the Army, the Department of Defense and the nation in the earth’s cold and complex environments.