Current News

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Last April a rumor fed by an online Bloomberg article suggested that BioTek Instruments Inc, the medical device maker headquartered in Winooski with global offices, might be sold. The rumor surfaced again this week. However, CEO Briar Alpert confirmed to VBM today that nothing has changed at one of the state’s signature technology firms.

“We have not sold the company,” Alpert told VBM Friday afternoon.

Briar Alpert, left, in the lab at BioTek Instruments. Video screen capture.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General TJ Donovan released a video guidance today aimed at assisting Vermont employers in understanding workplace sexual harassment laws.  The video, entitled Preventing Sexual Harassment in the Workplace, provides businesses with an overview of Vermont’s current workplace sexual harassment laws and summarizes employers’ obligations under the law.  A complete copy of the video can be found here: https://youtu.be/smi28L751Es.

A joint project between the Attorney General’s Small Business Initiative and Civil Rights Unit, this video is part of Attorney General Donovan’s ongoing efforts to be responsive to the needs of employers in Vermont. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Black River Innovation Campus (BRIC), the Center on Rural Innovation (CORI) and Flatiron School, a global school that specializes in teaching tech skills such as Software Engineering, Data Science and UX/UI Design, has announced a collaboration aimed at helping residents of Springfield and the surrounding area learn new skills that open up digital economy employment opportunities. Instead of paying tuition up front, eligible students can access Flatiron School Income Share Agreements (ISAs), and make payments only after securing an annual income of at least $40,000 (calculated as monthly gross income of at least $3,333.34) upon leaving Flatiron School.

Vermont Business Magazine Unilever has announced plans to close its manufacturing facility in Henderson, NV. The plant manufactured or Ben & Jerry’s Homemade and Breyers, among others. The closure will affect approximately 300 employees. Production will transfer to ice cream manufacturing factories in Vermont, Sikeston, and Covington. Unilever declined to specify further how this would effect local manufacturing or employment, when asked by VBM. Ben & Jerry's has plants in St Albans and Waterbury. Ben & Jerry's employs 735 in Vermont.

Ice cream production at the facility will cease effective August 30. Closure of the site will be completed in Q4 2019. There will be no impact to customers or consumers, who will continue to receive the same great ice cream products they have come to expect from Unilever.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont College of Fine Arts Board of Trustees has announced the appointment of Leslie Ward as Interim President, effective July 1. Ward will lead the Montpelier-based college and work closely with the Trustees as they undertake a national search for a new president, a process that will begin this summer. Thomas Greene, who founded the Vermont College of Fine Arts in 2006, announced May 31 that after 13 years he will be leaving the presidency on July 1, 2020, following a year sabbatical and will join the faculty of the college’s MFA in Writing & Publishing program. Ward will take over in the interim.

Vermont Business Magazine Mayor Miro Weinberger, along with City staff and community partners, on Thursday announced the grand opening of Water Works Park. The city’s newest public park, Water Works Park is located at the edge of Lake Champlain, and includes walking paths, large garden beds planted with native trees and shrubs, LED lighting, nine benches, stormwater improvements, a boardwalk, and greater access to Lake Champlain.

Vermont Business Magazine Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) Thursday welcomed the House passage of the $4.6 billion emergency supplemental appropriations bill to address the escalating humanitarian crisis on the southern border. The bill is a bipartisan compromise forged between Leahy and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), which passed the Senate earlier this week with an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 84 to 8. The bill now heads to the president’s desk where it is expected to be signed into law. The bill passed the house with a bipartisan vote of 305 to 102.

Vermont Business Magazine Today the Vermont Public Utility Commission issued a report that describes ways to promote the ownership and use of electric vehicles (EVs) in Vermont. The report sets forth extensive recommendations for actions to be taken by State government, electric utilities, and third-party suppliers and installers of EV charging equipment to accelerate the transition to electric transportation. Recommendations include creating state incentives for the purchase of EVs and encouraging electric utilities to develop new rate structures that make Vermont an economically welcoming place for both EV drivers and charging station operators.

​Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott and The Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing (VDTM) announced on Wednesday the expansion of its Stay to Stay Weekends, an economic development tourism program launched as a pilot in 2018 that has successfully relocated over a dozen people from across the country to Vermont. The new communities that will host Stay to Stay Weekends include Newport (July 26-29, December 13-16) and St. Johnsbury (September 13-16, October 4-7), located in what is known as the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Housing and Community Development has announced Zoning for Great Neighborhoods, a project aimed at helping Vermont cities and towns address regulatory barriers to providing housing choices for more Vermonters. The project will provide guidance and model regulations to build a better pipeline for the development of all types of housing, particularly multi-family housing and walkable communities.

Decent, affordable, and reasonably located homes, more than anything, determine the well-being of every Vermonter. Location and transportation connection are especially important: Where we live can ease or complicate our access to work, schools, recreation, and services.  Many Vermont households – including the majority with moderate incomes – must make difficult trade-offs to find a home that is both conveniently located and within their means. 

Vermont Business Magazine Tuesday, around 200 people attended the 4^th Annual Opioid Forum at Green Mountain Technology and Career Center in Hyde Park. This year’s forum was a community call to action and gathering of hope, in honor of Jenna Rae Tatro (1992-2019). Governor Phil Scott began the evening by signing S.146, an act relating to substance misuse prevention and touched on the important work happening to combat substance use disorders. 

“I can’t underscore enough, the importance of connecting with other people and knowing that someone is there to give you a helping hand while in recovery,” said Governor Scott. “Tonight, we must recommit ourselves to the important work ahead and continue to work together, because in order to win this battle, we need to prioritize prevention, intervention, treatment and recovery,” Governor Scott added.

Vermont Business Magazine A range of non-profits that support downtown and community revitalization, energy education, and public safety received grants this spring from Vermont Electric Cooperative’s Community Fund. The Community Fund is a program voluntarily funded by VEC members who round up their electric bills, and from one-time donations, and donation of patronage capital dollars. The fund makes grants to local organizations that support economic security, energy education, emergency and disaster relief, and community development.