Current News

The Center on Rural Innovation (CORI) is pleased to announce its leadership staff will present at the 2019 Rural LISC Seminar, an annual national conference for rural community development professionals. This year’s Seminar will be held in Monticello, New York from June 4-7 and will provide a unique forum to learn about new rural economic development opportunities; gain valuable insight on critical issues facing rural America such as the 2020 Census; develop asset building tools and organizational development strategies; and offer a networking environment for sharing knowledge with rural development colleagues from across the country. 

This week, Governor Phil Scott signed H.330, An act relating to repealing the statute of limitations for civil actions based on childhood sexual abuse, and H.511, An act relating to criminal statutes of limitations.
H.330 will eliminate the six-year statute of limitations related to childhood sexual abuse. H.511 removes the criminal statute of limitations for manslaughter and sexual exploitation of a minor and extends the limits for several other violent crimes beyond their current standard.

Vermont Business Magazine Michael I Goldberg, the Receiver for Jay Peak, Inc and related entities, announced today that, in light of his recent indictment, Bill Stenger is no longer an independent contractor of the receivership estate or Jay Peak, Inc. In the statement, Goldberg said, "The Receiver stresses that Mr. Stenger’s termination should not be interpreted as an indication that the Receiver believes that William Stenger did anything wrong and, in fact, a forensic accounting performed by the Receiver’s professionals early in the case failed to uncover any funds wrongfully diverted to Mr. Stenger. The Receiver’s decision to terminate Mr. Stenger at this time is simply based on the Receiver’s opinion that it would not be appropriate to continue to retain Mr. Stenger in light of the recent indictment.

Strolling of the Heifers has partnered with six special farms in the Brattleboro area to offer this year’s Stroll Weekend Farm Tour on Sunday, June 9 Each of these farms has something unique to offer, will welcome visitors and show them around.
“Each farm is unique,” said Judy Fink, the Farm Tour organizer, “and visitors can learn something new and interesting at each one.”
Participating farms include producers of pasture-raised beef and poultry, maple syrup, lumber, flowers, berries, apples and dairy products.

Norwich University’s College of Graduate and Continuing Studies is proud to welcome Carey Lohrenz, the first female F-14 Tomcat fighter pilot in the U.S. Navy, as the 2019 Residency Conference keynote and Todd Lecture Series speaker on Wednesday, June 19, at 7 p.m. in Mack Hall auditorium for a talk on “Lessons in Leadership.”
This lecture is free and open to the public. 
Lohrenz knows what it takes to win in one of the highest pressure, most extreme environments imaginable: in the cockpit at Mach 2. Her experience and message supports Norwich University's goal to be a learning community that is "global in perspective, engaged in personal and intellectual transformation and dedicated to knowledge, mutual respect, creativity and service."

The Vermont Public Service Department (PSD) is pleased to announce the release of the 2019 Vermont Clean Energy Industry Report, the sixth annual effort in the state to describe the status and characteristics of Vermont’s clean energy industry.
Commenting on the report Commissioner June Tierney said “With the highest clean energy employment per capita in the nation (5.7%), the Clean Energy Industry is a significant contributor to the Vermont economy”

Many beers claim to have put Milwaukee on the map as the beer capital of the United States. Instead of trying to put Shelburne, Vermont on the beer-making map, The Fiddlehead Brewing Company is more interested in putting maps on its latest Ramblin’ Cans mixed 4-pack. Specifically, maps created by another Vermont company, Discovery Map International.
Based in Waitsfield, Vermont, Discovery Map International is the leading provider of curated guides to top tourist attractions, cities and towns throughout North America. The designs on the four Ramblin’ Cans, feature Fiddlehead characters with the actual Discovery Map of Shelburne, Vermont as a background.

As the growing season gets underway, farmers throughout Vermont are trying their hand at a new crop - hemp. With the crop’s re-emergence in the state, University of Vermont researchers conducted a statewide poll to assess Vermonters’ opinions and knowledge of hemp production and evaluate market opportunities for growers.
Poll results showed over three-quarters of Vermonters support industrial hemp production in the state with fewer than 5 percent opposed. Support is spread across genders and geographies with Vermonters throughout the state expressing strong support for the growing industry. The poll, a subset of the annual Vermonter Poll conducted by the UVM’s Center for Rural Studies, also evaluated consumers’ awareness and use of hemp products, providing a baseline for tracking and evaluating the industry over time.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General T.J. Donovan announced that Vermont has been selected for the Firearms Technical Assistance Project (FTAP), a program to help communities prevent deaths and injuries caused by domestic abusers’ access to firearms. Vermont is one of seven grant sites nationwide to be selected through a competitive grant process. FTAP provides assistance and training to improve implementation of existing domestic violence and firearm laws. Vermont is the only statewide site that was selected. Other recipients include Brooklyn, NY; Birmingham, AL; Columbus, OH; Spokane, WA, and two as-of-yet selected tribal sites.

Energize Vermont, a non-profit energy education and advocacy organization, will collaborate with town energy committees from Glover, Craftsbury, Greensboro, Montpelier, Thetford, and Strafford, as well as Transition Town Charlotte, to outfit Vermont homes with energy-saving window inserts. The good-looking, custom-fit inserts from WindowDressers, a Maine-based nonprofit, consist of plastic film stretched over wooden frames and are assembled by volunteers at community workshops.
The inserts work like storm windows, but they are much less expensive and far easier to install and remove.  They fit on the inside of an existing window, adding two insulating spaces. A foam gasket around the perimeter provides a tight seal against drafts and holds the insert in place without fasteners. A window insert can save as much as one gallon of heating fuel per square foot of window per heating season. The price of a 30” x 60” insert will be about $42, and special pricing will be available to low-income residents.

KeyBank has released its 2018 Corporate Responsibility report, highlighting the company’s ongoing legacy as a responsible bank and citizen. Included in the report are the results from the first two years of the National Community Benefits Plan, under which KeyBank invested over $7.1 billion in communities. KeyBank executives said the investments exceeded the goals for the first two years of the plan by 38%.

Peck Electric Co. (“Peck”, or “the Company”), a leading commercial solar engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) company, today announced the completion of four solar projects in the first quarter of 2019.

Peck Electric holds a rich history as a family owned business in operation in Vermont for 47 years. The Company began operations as a traditional electric contractor and holds a wide range of capabilities to install electric equipment for a variety of end uses. Today, these core capabilities have developed the Company’s business in solar array installation, traditional electric, and data services. These projects range in size from several kilowatts for residential loads to multi-megawatt systems for large commercial and utility projects. The Company can deploy these capabilities to other large, rapidly growing renewable energy geographies and end markets; namely EV charging stations and energy storage.