Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Chittenden Solid Waste District/Green Mountain Compost has been awarded a grant worth $500,000 by the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), an arm of the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources. The overall purpose of the grant award is to fund an expansion of CSWD’s Green Mountain Compost facility in Williston to include additional composting and organics transfer. The intent is to increase the facility’s food processing capacity and efficiency in keeping these materials out of the waste stream.

Vermont State Police On 04/23/19, the Tunbridge Fire Department and Vermont State Police responded to a Tunbridge address (see below) for a reported house fire. This fire was reported by someone seeing a large glow in the sky and placing a 911 call. The FD was alerted and responded to the area and were unable to find the fire for approximately 45 minutes. The home was behind a locked gate and  a very long driveway which secluded the home from the roadway. Once the FD was able to get to the home it was found totally engulfed in flames along with a nearby garage.  Also found were three out buildings that had been apparently burglarized as they had been forced open. South Royalton FD was also asked to assist at the scene.

American Lung Association’s 20^thannual air quality report finds more than 4 in 10 Americans live with unhealthy air quality, Burlington-South Burlington metro area is 1 of 6 nationwide to record zero bad air days for ozone and short-term particle pollution 

Vermont Business Magazine The American Lung Association’s 2019 “State of the Air” report found Vermont’s Burlington- South Burlington-Barre metro area is ranked as the 12^thcleanest city for year round particle pollution in the US, and was one of only 6 cities nationwide to also record zero bad air days for ozone and short-term pollution.  Vermont is repeatedly considered one of the cleanest state for air quality in the U.S.. The annual air quality “report card” tracks Americans’ exposure to unhealthful levels of ozone or particle pollution, both of which can be deadly. 

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Public Radio has received the award for overall excellence and won five other 2019 Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards, the Radio Television Digital News Association announced Tuesday. The winning entries included a podcast about an averted school shooting (JOLTED), an investigative series on three towns that issue a quarter of Vermont’s traffic fines, and a news documentary covering a Utah developer's attempt to build a utopian community in rural Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Creamery, makers of fresh and aged goat cheeses, cultured butter, and crème fraiche, has been granted more than $65,000 in Vermont Training Program (VTP) funding. The funding will support Vermont Creamery’s workforce expansion of eighteen full-time production employees and allow for deepened cross-training efforts.

by Michael Seaver, People’s United Bank President, Vermont Throughout the course of my life I have had countless opportunities to learn the same lesson: When you engage with children and invest in them at a young age, their opportunity for success skyrockets. In January, I joined fellow business leaders, state legislators, early educators and community members at a State House press conference announcing new legislation proposing significant investments in high-quality, affordable child care. It was an opportunity to reflect on my experience as a child growing up in Northfield, Vermont; a parent raising my children and volunteering in our community; and a business leader responsible for growing a statewide company with over 800 employees.

Public Assets Institute Legislators in Montpelier are getting close to the end of the session, but they’re still in search of that elusive prey: revenue. According to legislative watchers, our elected officials are trying to find revenue sources for state investments that are widely acknowledged to be long overdue: clean water, child care, Reach Up, weatherization. Here’s an idea: How about using some of the $350 million in federal tax breaks delivered to upper-income Vermonters in 2018?

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont House of Representatives today gave preliminary approval to S86, raising the legal age for buying and using cigarettes, electronic cigarettes, and other tobacco products from 18 to 21 years of age on a vote of 124-14.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Women’s Fund awarded $103,000 through its competitive grant program to 15 nonprofit organizations that work to improve the economic security of women and girls in Vermont. In addition to its annual competitive grant round, the Women’s Fund is the lead funder of Change The Story. This initiative is the result of a partnership of three statewide organizations that also includes the Vermont Commission on Women and Vermont Works for Women. 

Vermont Business Magazine There is an important association between maternal cigarette smoking cessation during pregnancy and risk of preterm birth, according to a new Dartmouth-led study published in JAMA Network Open. The negative health impacts of cigarette smoking during pregnancy—which include low birth weight, delayed intrauterine development, preterm birth, infant mortality, and long-term developmental delays—are well known. In good news, the proportion of women who start their pregnancy as smokers has been declining in recent years.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets (VAAFM) has released a set of proposed rules that set the stage for growing the Vermont hemp industry and the state’s economy.  The Agency filed the rules with the Interagency Committee on Administrative Rules (ICAR), which begins the rule making process in Vermont. The Agency will hold public hearings around the state to take comments on the rules from all partners in the industry.

“Farmers are buying seed, equipment and land. Processors are opening facilities and hiring people. These proposed rules help shape the future. We are excited to help improve the rural economic landscape with this important step,” said VAAFM Secretary Anson Tebbetts.