Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity (CVOEO) has announced the 2018 Crystal Family New Hope Award recipients. This year, there will be two awards of $500 granted to Masiti Mohamed, and the Adhikari family, owners of the Everest Market in Essex Junction. Everest Asian Market, LLC is owned by the Adhikari family who came to the United States as refugees in March 2009. The market is primarily run by two brothers, Damber and Prakash, but the whole family is involved. In 1992 the family fled to Nepal from Bhutan where the political situation was worsening. They lived in a refugee camp in eastern Nepal for 17 years before immigrating to the United States.

Vermont Business Magazine On Tuesday, October 30 at 2pm Vermont Secretary of State Jim Condos will hold a media availability for members of the press and members of the public to ask questions about election cyber security and Election Day administration in advance of the November 6, 2018, General Election. This event will take place at the Vermont Secretary of State’s office, located at 128 State Street in Montpelier.

Secretary Condos will begin the media availability with a brief overview of the elections process, and the protections in place which ensure the integrity and security of Vermont elections. He will also discuss current voter registration data and early voting numbers before taking questions.

Secretary Condos will be joined by Deputy Secretary of State Chris Winters, Elections Director Will Senning, and Vermont Secretary of State IT Manager Jon Welch.

Vermont Business Magazine Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, NH, will join thousands of sites around the nation taking part in National Drug Take Back Day Saturday, October 27. The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will give the public its 16th opportunity in eight years to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs. Bring your pills for disposal to either Dartmouth-Hitchcock Pharmacy location, in the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center or in Centerra Office Park, both in Lebanon. (Like DEA locations, D-H cannot accept liquids or needles or sharps, only pills or patches.) The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

Vermont Business Magazine Comcast has announced that it is the nation’s largest provider of gigabit broadband, with the ultra-fast Xfinity Gigabit Internet and Comcast Business Gigabit services now available to nearly all of the company’s 58 million homes and businesses passed in 39 states and the District of Columbia. This availability includes nearly 100 percent of Comcast Internet serviceable households in Vermont, based on FCC 477 Broadband Deployment filing.

Vermont Business Magazine The Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce celebrated its 108th annual dinner on Wednesday, October 24. Four awards were presented recognizing businesses and business leaders for their accomplishments and contributions to our community. The Chamber also welcomed its incoming Chair of the Board of Directors, Don Baker and thanked outgoing Chair, Stephanie Taylor, with REM Development, for her service. Don Baker is the Vermont market President of KeyBank.

Vermont Business Magazine The City Council last night unanimously and enthusiastically approved Montpelier’s first Public Art Master Plan, the result of a nearly two-year process aimed at creating a structure to guide strategic investing in public art to celebrate the city’s history, culture and people. The process began in April of 2015, when the City of Montpelier, in collaboration with Montpelier Alive and the Community Engagement Lab, received a $50,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to create a master plan for public art.

Vermont Business Magazine This morning at Gardener’s Supply in Burlington, Representative Peter Welch (D-Vermont) unveiled his legislation to remove two major impediments to older disabled Americans remaining in the workforce past the age of 65. Under current law, qualified disabled adults receive an average monthly payment of $845.17 under the Social Security Disability Insurance program (SSDI). Beneficiaries are permitted to work but lose their disability benefit at the age of 65 if they choose to remain in the workforce. Welch’s legislation eliminates this barrier subject to state approval.

Vermont Business Magazine For Saint Michael’s College, where leaders hope students become properly trained to “do well and do good,” new majors in Health Science and Public Health approved by Trustees in October present a practical recruiting strategy rooted in market demands and the college’s existing strengths, as well as a new way to advance the Vermont institution’s society-serving Catholic liberal arts mission.

Vermont Business Magazine Representative Peter Welch (D-Vermont), a lead sponsor of legislation in the House to mandate Medicare price negotiation, issued the following statement in reaction to President Trump’s announcement this afternoon on prescription drug pricing. Welch and Representative Elijah Cummings (D-Md) met with President Trump in the Oval Office on March 8, 2017, to discuss their price negotiation bill. Welch is a senior member of the Energy and Commerce Committee and the Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Vermont Business Magazine Northern Power Systems Corp, a next generation renewable energy and energy storage technology company based in Barre, announced Wednesday that on October 22, 2018, in accordance with previously disclosed information on a Form 8-K filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on September 21, 2018, the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) delisted the Company’s securities from the TSX, effective October 22, 2018, for failure to comply with the TSX continued listing requirements.

Vermont Business Magazine In 2017, Burlington School District (BSD) embarked on a community-led strategic plan planning process. Part of that work revealed the need to conduct a District-wide Climate Survey to better understand how the district and individual schools engage with students, families, and staff. BSD spent the spring of 2018 conducting climate surveys, with more than 2,000 staff, students, and parents participating. The results of the survey, available on the District’s website, point to areas of strength and areas where growth is needed. http://www.bsdvt.org/climate-survey/

Vermont State Police The Vermont State Police is investigating a report of a missing 67-year-old man on Lake Champlain in Charlotte. A body believed to be the missing man was recovered late Thursday afternoon. State police in Williston received a report at about 1:45 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2018, that the individual was winterizing a boat near Thompson’s Point over the weekend, on the lake just off shore, but had not been heard from since. As search efforts continued Thursday, Oct. 25, 2018, the Vermont State Police is identifying the missing man as George Ruhe, 67, of Wethersfield, Connecticut, and Brattleboro, Vermont. He has been identified as the victim and the cause of death has been ruled an accidental drowning.