Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Christine Hallquist's campaign for Governor has announced that Virginia Delegate Danica Roem will visit to Vermont tonight, June 14, and will make a public appearance at Switchback Brewing in Burlington, from 5:30-8 pm. Roem became the first openly transgender woman elected to any state house in the country. Her opponent was a man who called himself the “chief homophobe” and sponsored Virginia’s bill to end same sex marriage. When he tried to use her gender identity against her, she declared that her identity shouldn’t be a big deal. "This is just who I am.”

She focused on the issues impacting her district and won her race. In January Time Magazine included Delegate Roem on the cover and called her an “Avenger.”

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Retail & Grocers Association (VRGA) is proud to announce their 2018 scholarship recipients. Over thirty applicants applied for ten scholarships, seven of which are based on financial need and merit and three of which are based on merit alone. Applicants must be affiliated with a VRGA member in Vermont and be a graduating high school senior planning to attend an accredited two or four year postsecondary school.

by Timothy McQuiston Vermont Business Magazine The 2018 sugaring season was a long and productive season for Vermont’s sugar makers. Once again Vermont led the nation in making maple syrup, producing nearly 2 million gallons of the sweet product. It means about half of the maple syrup produced in the United States (46.6 percent) is made in the Green Mountains. The 2018 total was 1.94 million gallons, down 2 percent from 2017 (1.98 million gallons), which fell just below 2016's record level (1.99 million gallons).

Vermont Business Magazine In a continuing commitment to investing in the growth and success of its employees and the Vermont community, FoodScience Corporation today announced that it will increase the company’s minimum wage across the business to $15 per hour. The change will impact all hourly employees, and represents a second wage increase this year for these employees.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Works and Cambrian Rise announce today a collaboration which will position the North End of Burlington as an innovation district for the City of Burlington. Cambrian Rise is a newly planned inclusive community with residential and commercial uses situated on the site of the former Roman Catholic Archdiocese between the New North End and Old North End, making it an ideal setting for the Vermont Innovation Commons. Construction and development of the property is currently under way.

Vermont Business Magazine Following Supreme Court decision in Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute on June 11, 2018, Vermont Secretary of State Jim Condos issued the following statement. In a 5-4 decision, the court sided with the state of Ohio in allowing for removal of names from voter rolls.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General TJ Donovan announced today a $6.5 million settlement with Volkswagen and related entities Porsche and Audi. The settlement resolves alleged violations of Vermont’s consumer protection laws involving VW’s false advertising claims about so-called “Clean Diesel” cars and the diesel engine emissions scandal. Under the settlement, VW has agreed to pay Vermont consumers up to $1,000 for every qualifying vehicle. Vermont is one of two states in which consumers will receive restitution payments as a result of a state enforcement action. Vermonters will receive a total of $2.9 million in direct consumer restitution. Vermonters are eligible to receive payments regardless of whether they have received money from other VW-related settlements. VW will also pay $3.6 million into the State's general fund.

Vermont Business Magazine University of Vermont Medical Center nurses voted to authorize a strike at the region's largest hospital, with 94 percent voting “yes" in polls held over the past three days. The results were revealed Wednesday morning. Seventy-two percent of nurses in the bargaining unit participated in the vote, which enables the union to call a strike when the contract expires on July 9 if negotiations fail to make progress.

At issue, the union said in a statement, is the chronic understaffing of the hospital and clinics.

The nurses, represented by Vermont Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (VFNHP), have proposed updated staffing grids and compensation policies - including immediate outpatient equity and at least $15/hr for all UVM Medical Center employees - that will incentivize the recruitment and retention of nurses and support staff.

Vermont Business Magazine Burlington Code’s drive to make Burlington the tech center of Vermont and New England just received renewed support from the Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies (VCET) to keep up the meetups. Volunteer-run Burlington Code, which brings together the tech community of software professionals and hobbyists through regular, free meetups to share knowledge, foster collaboration, and keep careers and companies competitive, has produced more than 104 meetup events in the past 26 months, and welcomed an average of 30 people at each event.

Burlington Code was formed in 2015 by Jon Hoguet, a software engineer who sought skills and knowledge through meetups early in his career.

Vermont Business Magazine A team of physicists at the University of Vermont have discovered a fundamentally new way surfaces can get wet. Their study may allow scientists to create the thinnest films of liquid ever made—and engineer a new class of surface coatings and lubricants just a few atoms thick.

Vermont Business Magazine The Women’s Community Club (WCC) of Grafton, celebrating its centennial this year, is pleased to announce the seven winners of its annual scholarships to benefit Grafton students. The scholarship awards are based on scholastic achievement, financial need, community involvement and extra curricular activities/work commitments at school. The WCC will award a total of $20,000.

Vermont Business Magazine Bluehouse Group was recently awarded seven prestigious Horizon Interactive Awards for their outstanding website design and development work. With over 1,200 agency submissions in 2017, Bluehouse was able to push their way to the top of the competition, scoring a spot on the Horizon Interactive Distinguished Agencies list.