Current News

by Representative Carol Ode Clean water funding is a win for Vermont. And like so much of the Legislature’s work, it addresses climate change. Clean water funding restores our natural environment. When the environment is clean, wildlife and plants thrive and Vermonters are healthier. Vermont’s valuable brand is protected and businesses that rely on our brand prosper, whether by drawing tourists to our state or opening markets and garnering a premium for anything labelled 'Made in Vermont.' 

Vermont Business Magazine The United States has relied heavily on Guard and Reserve members since entering continuous operations over 17 years ago. Employer support enhances retention rates in the Armed Forces and, in the end, strengthens our national security. To recognize employers who support their Guard and Reserve employees, ESGR grants a series of Department of Defense awards. At its recent annual banquet held in South Burlington, ESGR recognized 37 patriotic employers who provided outstanding support to their citizen service member employees over the past year.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont, New Hampshire, Delaware, and Maine all rank top 10, along with many other northern US states, with the highest rates of new skin cancer cases in the country. Usiing CDC data, online insurance broker QuoteWizard compiled melanoma cases for these Northeastern states and found Vermont (ranked 2nd most) with 41.1 new cases per 100,000 people, New Hampshire (4th most) with 30.9, Delaware (6th) with 29.4, and Maine (10th) with 27.7. Vermont ranked number one when considering men only.

Vermont Business Magazine Main Street Alliance of Vermont welcomes Randy George of Red Hen Baking Co. and Lindsay DesLauriers, President and COO of Bolton Valley Resort, to the State Board. George succeeds Jen Kimmich, co-owner of the Alchemist, as chair of the board. 

Vermont Business Magazine The High Fives Non-Profit Foundation will host the 7th Annual Charity Golf Tournament in Vermont on Friday, August 9th, 2019. The event, sponsored by GoPro, Vermont North Ski Shop and Kingsbury Companies will return to Sugarbush Resort Golf Club, which has been very supportive to the organization in the past.

New Vermont Businesses Shine at Outdoor Retailer, Organization Plans Statewide Summit

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont State Police has updated its tattoo policy, allowing people who are seeking to become troopers to be hired by the agency even if they have tattoos that are visible when wearing a short-sleeve uniform shirt. This change recognizes a growing acceptance and prevalence of tattoos.

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.