Current News
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Vermont Business Magazine United States Senator Tammy Baldwin will deliver the 44th Commencement address at Vermont Law School on Saturday, May 11. In addition to honoring Baldwin, the school will confer honorary degrees upon Collin O’Mara, President and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, and Judge Peter W Hall, Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
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by John Goodrich The legislature is working toward mandating a universal $15/hour minimum wage. I have been in a position to see the real effects of such a step. For many years I led a major St Johnsbury manufacturing firm with as many as 300+ employees and as interim CEO at a St Albans plant of 160 employees. Proudly, we paid attractive wages, plus benefits, to promote strong work forces at both sites. From my experience I can testify that the desired outcomes of a mandated minimum wage would be perversely harmful to those needing a job and a wage.
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Vermont Business Magazine Strolling of the Heifers’ annual culinary competition aims to find the tastiest and best-looking Coffee Cake or Sweet Bread in New England! It’s time for amateur and professional bakers to fire up their ovens and bring us their best, most original Coffee Cake or Sweet Bread recipe! The deadline is now midnight on May 24. Finalists will be notified by May 31.
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2018 Emerging Woodworker of the Year
by Christine McGowan, Forest Program Director, Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund Neither Jared Williams nor Catherine Emil planned to stay in Vermont after graduation, but “felt it was impossible to leave...in a good way.” After completing a four-semester immersion program at Vermont Woodworking School, the two friends intended to part ways, returning to their respective homes in New York and San Antonio, Texas. As they considered their newly acquired skills and compatibility as business partners, however, the idea of founding their own furniture-making shop began to take hold.
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Vermont Business Magazine Dive deep into the best of documentary filmmaking every month with Sunday Best, a new film screening and discussion series from Vermont PBS and the Vermont International Film Festival (VTIFF). Documentary films inspire valuable community conversation, and Vermont PBS and VTIFF believe it is important to give them a regular home though this series. Every second Sunday of the Month beginning in May, Sunday Best will showcase documentary films from Independent Lens, POV, America ReFramed, and other Vermont PBS series, as well as local and regional films selected by Vermont PBS and VTIFF. Award-winning films selected for the series aim to highlight a prominent social or cultural issue such as immigration, the environment, gender, race, economics, and much more. Screening attendees will see films before their broadcast premieres.
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Vermont Business Magazine H.N. Williams in Dorset has announced that Phase 1 of their expansion plan –preparing the terrain for the addition of gas pumps and the construction of a 3,200 sq. foot addition - is near completion. This first phase of three included demolition of a building, blasting through ledge, installation of underground gas holding tanks, and the laying of concrete. Phase 1 has utilized the efforts and expertise of several local companies and agencies including T.A.M., Mach’s Blasting, CPI Concrete, Star Construction, Leggett Custom Homes, Pete Haggarty Construction, and the Dorset Volunteer Fire Department.
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Spaulding High School’s Aubrey Benoit Takes First Place
Vermont Business Magazine At the Vermont College of Fine Arts in Montpelier today, Representative Peter Welch (D-Vermont) announced the winners of the 38th Annual Congressional Art Competition. Winning first place was Aubrey Benoit of Barre’s Spaulding High School. Her striking photograph, “Brother,” was selected by judges from a field of 157 entries from students representing 36 high schools across Vermont.
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Resort Honored for Excellence in Marketing and Safety Education by National Trade Association
Vermont Business Magazine Vermont’s Killington Resort, the largest ski and snowboard resort in Eastern North America and a POWDR company, was awarded Best Overall Marketing Campaign (in the category of resorts with more than 500k skier visits) and Best #RideAnotherDay Program at the annual National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) Awards that recognizes ski areas across the nation for excellence in safety, growth, marketing and sustainability.
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Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Economic Development Authority (VEDA) today announced two newly elected members to its Board of Directors. Both Ted Foster of Vergennes and Tony Collier of Colchester attended their first Board meeting last week at VEDA's office in Montpelier. Ted Foster is a retired dairy farmer and co-founder of Vermont Natural Ag Products, serving as Treasurer at his family's 1,700 acre, 500-cow farm for over 40 years. Tony Collier is a Champlain Valley native with a passion for entrepreneurship and over six years of sales and marketing experience with Silicon Valley technology startups. He is currently an executive with a software startup based in San Francisco.
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Vermont Business Magazine Officials from the State of Vermont are reminding Vermonters in emerald ash borer (EAB) infested areas that the beetles will soon be emerging from affected trees. Moving any infested material, especially ash firewood, logs, and pruning debris, can quickly spread the destructive insect. Optimal practices are to move ash from the infested area only during the “non-flight season” before EAB emerges. This, and other recommendations to slow the spread of EAB, are described at vtinvasives.org/eab.
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by Brandon Arcari Vermont is home to unique businesses, ones that are as good to their employees and their customers, the environment and the world. Every year, Vermont Business Magazine and the Vermont Chamber honor a Vermont business that demonstrates an outstanding history of sustained growth while displaying an acute awareness of what makes Vermont unique. The Deane C Davis Outstanding Vermont Business of the Year Award, named for the former Vermont governor and established in 1990, boasts three finalists again this year. They are: Chroma Technology Corp of Bellows Falls, Green Mountain Power of Colchester and ReArch of South Burlington.
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Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont House of Representatives Thursday afternoon passed S.43, a bill that prohibits prior authorization requirements for medication-assisted treatment on a unanimous vote. This bill is an important step to increase access to opioid use disorder treatment for Vermonters.