Current News

by C.B. Hall, Vermont Business Magazine In July 2018 the Rutland Southwest and Rutland Central supervisory unions merged, becoming the Greater Rutland County Supervisory Union under the terms of Act 46, which mandated school district mergers across the state. Since then the GRCSU's teachers have been working under the terms of expired contracts with the defunct supervisory unions – contracts that are far from comparable in their conditions.

Frustrated with that arrangement, some 35 of those teachers held an informational picket outside the GRCSU offices on Rutland's Evelyn Street during the afternoon rush hour Tuesday, April 30, to demand a contract.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott acted on eight more bills between April 23, 2019 and April 30, 2019. They include H.7, An act relating to second degree aggravated domestic assault; H.19, An act relating to sexual exploitation of a person in law enforcement officer custody; and H.394, An act relating to the disposition of the remains of veterans.

Vermont Business Magazine The Magic Hat Brewing Company & Performing Arts Center has announced the release of Magic Hat X, an epic new collaboration with rock stars X Ambassadors. This American Pale Ale is kicking off just as the band begins their summer tour in support of their new album.

Vermont Business Magazine ValleyNet, ECFiber's implementation partner, announced today that it has chosen a new Managing Director, Christopher Recchia, of Randolph, VT. Recchia brings a wealth of non-profit and telecom regulatory experience, most notably as the head of Vermont’s Department of Public Service from 2012-2017. “ValleyNet and ECFiber have created a now-proven model for expanding quality high-speed broadband to rural New England and I look forward to expanding its availability to other areas, as well as bringing ECFiber’s network to its full potential,” Chris stated.

Vermont Research News Vermont is home to 191 historical societies who tell stories of Vermont’s rich past with photos, books, events and exhibits. For a full list see the Vermont Historical Society. In this special edition of the Vermont Research News we highlight 25 stories from around the state – there are many more! As summer comes plan a visit to your neighborhood museum, society or historical place.

Vermont Business Magazine Blake Hill’s “Wild Rose-infused Strawberry jam” from their new Botanical Jam Collection has won the Specialty Food Associations’ 2019 SOFI for Best New Jam/Preserve, as announced Wednesday. With Blake Hill’s new botanical “Wild Bergamot-infused Raspberry jam” also winning the US Good Food Awards earlier this year, this is an exceptional start for any new range.

Blake Hill’s new Botanical Jam Collection captures the essence of everything that is Blake Hill. At the very heart of this most exquisite range of jams are the wild edible flowers foraged from the Vermont meadows surrounding Blake Hill, providing a unique taste of terroir.  

Vermont Business Magazine Peck Electric Co, a leading commercial solar engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) company based in Burlington, has announced the completion of seven solar projects in the fourth quarter of 2018 ranging from a 7-MW utility scale solar array to a 20.6-kW rooftop installation. Peck also recently anounced that it will become a publicly traded company during the second quarter of this year.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Electric Co-operative members will be able to get the very latest on the fast-moving electric vehicle marketplace in Vermont and also enjoy a complimentary breakfast and great door prizes at the co-op’s annual meeting May 11 at Jay Peak Resort. The meeting’s theme is Driving into the Future: Electric Vehicles in Rural Vermont, and the event will feature a panel of experts on electric vehicles - including a VEC member who owns an all-electric Nissan Leaf - who will share their expertise and experience with this emerging technology.

Plug-in hybrid electric car charging. Photo VEC/Kevin Goddard

Vermont Business Magazine The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced the availability of nearly $87 million in grant funding to assist states, tribes, and territories with improving drinking water. The six New England states have been allotted more than $6.5 million under the two programs: $1,251,000 for Connecticut; $826,000 for Maine; $1,953,000 for Massachusetts; $834,000 for New Hampshire; $1,123,000 for Rhode Island; $600,000 for Vermont.

"EPA is committed to ensuring all Americans, regardless of their zip code, have access to safe and clean drinking water,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “With these grants, EPA is fulfilling its core mission of providing states, tribes, and territories with the resources needed to protect children from lead exposure and other contaminants and ensure all American families have safe drinking water.”

Vermont Business Magazine Bill McKibben will give a talk and read from his latest book, "Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out?" With an interview, Q&A, and book signing. Co-Sponsored by Bear Pond Books & The Vermont Chapter of the Sierra Club. Thirty years ago Bill McKibben offered one of the earliest warnings about climate change. Now he broadens the warning: the entire human game, he suggests, has begun to play itself out. Bill McKibben’s groundbreaking book The End of Nature -- issued in dozens of languages and long regarded as a classic -- was the first book to alert us to global warming. But the danger is broader than that: even as climate change shrinks the space where our civilization can exist, new technologies like artificial intelligence and robotics threaten to bleach away the variety of human experience. Falter tells the story of these converging trends and of the ideological fervor that keeps us from bringing them under control.

Vermont Business Magazine Shaw’s revealed today that South Burlington resident Kristen Andersen has won the $1 million prize in the Albertsons Companies 2019 MONOPOLY Collect & Win Game. Kristen won the prize by shopping at her local Shaw’s store and collecting all eight markers needed to fill up the $1 million cash prize space on the MONOPOLY game board. Shaw's also gave her tickets to a Red Sox-Yankees game at Fenway.