Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Ben & Jerry's intends to eliminate single-use plastic. As a first step, the company will no longer offer plastic straws and spoons in any of its more than 600 Scoop Shops worldwide in early 2019. The company also announced a plan to address plastic cups and lids used to serve ice cream by the end of 2020. Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shops currently hand out 2.5 million plastic straws a year, and 30 million plastic spoons. If all the plastic spoons used by Ben & Jerry's in the US were placed end to end, they'd stretch from Burlington, Vermont to Jacksonville, Florida.

Leonine Public Affairs On Thursday Governor Phil Scott delivered his budget address to a joint assembly of the Vermont legislature and for the first time since taking office in 2016, the governor proposed a new tax. His proposal calls for a 92 percent wholesale tax on all e-cigarette products including the devices. If adopted, this would tax e-cigarettes at the same rate as other tobacco products like chewing tobacco. The governor also proposed numerous fee increases primarily in areas that have not seen increases in several years. 

Vermont Business Magazine Fuse, a marketing agency specializing in reaching teens and young adults based in Burlington, has released a new report on teens. At the start of a new year, it's valuable for marketers to consider what is most popular with teens. So, to kick the year off, Fuse asked 1,000 about their favorite things.

Vermont Business Magazine The North American Center for Saffron Research and Development at the University of Vermont (UVM) is hosting the 3rd annual workshop on Saffron production and marketing on Friday, March 15, 2019 in Burlington, VT. Saffron is the most expensive spice in the world, with a retail price of over $5,000/lb. It is made from the stigmas of a fall-blooming crocus flower (Crocus sativus), and is used as a culinary spice, coloring agent and medicinal herb. Saffron is a high-value crop that could significantly strengthen sustainable agriculture, and preserve the rural working landscapes of North America.

Vermont Business Magazine At the 3rd Annual Southern Vermont Economy Summit in May, Emerging Leaders of Southern Vermont will be recognized. The purpose of the Emerging Leaders nomination is to highlight and honor Young Professionals in their roles as leaders and change makers in the Southern Vermont economy. Nominees will be notified and asked to supply the selection committee with more detailed information about themselves. Honorees will be chosen by the Southern Vermont Young Professionals and the Shires Young Professionals selection committee who co-sponsor the Emerging Leaders Event.

Vermont Business Magazine Online registration is now open for the 10^th Annual Howard Center Curling Challenge on March 16. This year’s event is presented by the South Burlington Rotary Club, and proceeds will benefit Howard Center services and Rotary activities that benefit many local community organizations. As in past years, the Green Mountain Curling Club, with assistance from the Rutland Rocks Curling Club, will provide instruction and equipment for all 32 teams of four as they compete throughout the day at Cairns Arena in South Burlington.

Sponsorship opportunities are available at various levels, and the South Burlington Rotary Club will offer sponsors at the $1,500 level an honorary three-month club membership from April 1- June 30. The honorary membership entitles a sponsor representative to participate in weekly meetings (including breakfast) and all special Club events during that time. 

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine State economists this week added over $11 million to expected General Fund tax revenues for the current fiscal year. They also added nearly a million to the Transportation Fund and $1.6 million to the Education Fund. With the exception of a small decline in next year's Transportation revenues, they're expecting taxes to be up again next fiscal year. Typically, a report with such positive news would be treated as great news by the Emergency Board. Instead, the economists and the elected officials were simply cautious in their reaction.

Vermont Business Magazine Ben & Jerry's number one fan favorite flavor in the world, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream, will soon have company on freezer shelves. Ben & Jerry's has come out with three new cookie dough flavors with the biggest gobs of cookie dough running right down the middle of the pint. The 2019 flavors feature a tantalizing trio of bowl-licking favorites.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont’s Original, LLC, the 120-year-old Vermont manufacturer of the Bag Balm line of skin care and moisturizing products based in Lyndonville, has announced it has brought aboard VaynerX’s new agency, the Sasha Group, as its new strategic media agency of record. The Shasha Group specifically caters to entrepreneurs and small and mid-sized businesses.

Vermont’s Original President, Reid Greenberg states, “I view Bag Balm as a 120-year-old startup, and there is no better group in existence than Gary Vaynerchuk’s the Sasha Group to partner with. We have tremendous opportunity to unlock growth for this amazing brand and connect with a new wave of consumers who are seeking out products with fewer, simpler ingredients, that have a rich, authentic history and stand for something other than just big CPG.”

Vermont Business Magazine A nonprofit that provides free legal help to thousands of Vermonters each year has changed its name. Legal Services Law Line of Vermont, Inc. will now be called “Legal Services Vermont.” 

Vermont Business Magazine As part of the ongoing approach to make sure all Vermonters have safe drinking water, the Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) is proposing to adopt the Vermont Health Advisory as the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) at 20 parts per trillion for fiveper- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Over the next 30 days, the State will conduct pre-rulemaking stakeholder engagement to gather additional comments on the approach.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont Medical Center CEO Dr John Brumsted today announced that president Eileen Whalen, MHA, RN will retire in June after four years at UVM Medical Center and 35 years in health care. Dr Stephen Leffler will take on the role of interim president. Brumsted turned over the role of president to Whalen as the UVM Health Network, of which he leads, has grown into a multi-hospital organization in Vermont and the north country of New York.

Whalen was the face of the hospital during the bitter nurses strike last year, often emphasizing that she too is a nurse. The nurses strike was the first such action in the hospital's history.