Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Spoons at the ready, Free Cone Day is back! On April 10^th, Ben & Jerry's 40^th Free Cone Day arrives and as always, YOU are invited to celebrate. Imagine waking up to a day of endless ice cream … plus unlimited chunks and swirls. It must be Free Cone Day 2018. Free scoops of Ben & Jerry's euphoric ice cream, packed with chunks and swirls, will be offered at Scoop Shops around the country.

Vermont Business Magazine Local Burlington company SAP! Beverages is just one of 20 startups announced as finalists at Rabobank’s FoodBytes! Montreal, where leading food and agriculture entrepreneurs will pitch innovative solutions to food system fractures. Making its Canadian debut on Wednesday, May 16 at New City Gas, FoodBytes! Montreal will offer SAP! Beverages the chance to showcase its plant-based superfood sparking beverages made from maple and birch sap to investors, executives and media, and receive mentorship from food and agriculture industry leaders.

Vermont Business Magazine A construction management and consulting company has been named the 2018 Vermont Woman-Owned Business of the Year. Mel Baiser and Kate Stephenson, owners of HELM Construction Solutions, are being recognized by the U.S. Small Business Administration for employment growth, financial success, expansion and community involvement.

by Christine McGowan Butternut Mountain Farm in Morrisville, Vermont epitomizes both the quaint history and bright future for Vermont’s maple industry. The third generation sugaring operation, now run by siblings Emma and Ira Marvin, stands poised to build on the foundation of botany, forestry and maple syrup production laid by their father and grandfather, to capitalize on growing demand for pure maple syrup.

Vermont Business Magazine NBT Bancorp Inc (NBT) subsidiary EPIC Advisors, Inc. (EPIC), a full-service 401(k) recordkeeping firm, has acquired Retirement Plan Services, LLC (RPS), a retirement plan services company located near St Louis, Missouri, that provides full-service recordkeeping, administration and plan design solutions to employers nationwide. NBT Bank has branches in Northwestern Vermont.

“We’re pleased to have this opportunity to continue the growth of our well-established retirement services business with the acquisition of RPS by EPIC,” said NBT President and CEO John H. Watt, Jr. “We now have retirement plan clients in all 50 states and we serve over 220,000 plan participants through our retirement plan services entities. EPIC and RPS together will enable us to build on our mission of helping America retire.”

Vermont Business Magazine The Attorney General’s Office settled with six landlords in Vermont for violations of consumer protection and lead laws. Vermont’s lead law protects all Vermonters, especially children, from the harmful effects of lead poisoning. Every landlord with pre-1978 rental properties is required to submit annual compliance statements which show that the landlords have performed the essential maintenance practices (known as EMPs) and the properties are in compliance with the lead law.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Chamber of Commerce announces the recipients of its annual Hospitality Awards, the award ceremony will take place at the 35th Annual Vermont Tourism Summit on Wednesday, April 11, 2018.

Vermont Business Magazine Green Mountain Power crews are working hard and are well on the way to getting the lights back on for the nearly 56,000 customers affected by Wednesday’s strong winds. The storm brought tropical storm force winds, leaving widespread damage across the state, particularly east of the Green Mountain Ridge, with Windham County hit especially hard. Crews are encountering downed trees, lines, and broken poles.

A pine tree brings down power lines on Route 5 in Bellows Falls. GMP photos.

GMP and external crews were positioned to respond quickly before the storm hit and have been working non-stop to get the lights back on with more than 500 people doing storm repairs.

by Jack Hoffman Public Assets Institute Cost containment is the watchword around public education this legislative session, with a focus on “high spenders.” The assumption seems to be that reining in high-spending school districts will free up lots of money for low-spending districts and also lower property taxes for everyone. No one has defined “high spender” or “low spender,” although for some legislators the terms appear relative to their own towns’ spending. But one way to analyze education spending is to see where the majority of pupils fall and then look at who lies above and below.

Vermont Business Magazine US Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) announced today that he will hold three senior town meetings throughout Vermont on Saturday, April 14, to discuss issues facing older Vermonters. The meetings will be held in Montpelier, Newport and St Albans. The series of town meetings will include a discussion on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, as well as the high cost of prescription drugs, affordable housing, transportation and healthy food.

RSVPs are required. Please call Sanders’ office at 800-339-9834 to RSVP.

Saturday, April 14

Montpelier

What: Senior Town Meeting, with free breakfast

When: 9:30 a.m.

Where: Montpelier High School; 5 High School Drive; Montpelier

Newport

What: Senior Town Meeting, with free lunch

When: 12:30 p.m.

Vermont Business Magazine In the United States, the proportion of parents without health insurance has dropped 39 percent in just six years, according to the Annie E Casey Foundation's Kids Count Data Center. Today, only 11 percent of parents lack health coverage. At the state level, the rate of uninsured parents fell without exception. West Virginia reported the greatest change — a drop of 14 percent — leaving just 5 percent of parents uninsured in 2016. Maine, Massachusetts and Wisconsin reported the smallest drop — a dip of 1 percent. But those states already have high rates of coverage. Massachusetts is first with only 2 percent of parents not covered by health insurance. Vermont was tied for second with Hawaii at 3 percent not covered. Texas is by far the highest at 23 percent.

'Cognitive' Technology Could Vastly Speed Inspection Process for Urban Development

Vermont Business Magazine Digging a hole in most major cities – for new construction or infrastructure repair – is no minor undertaking. With a dozen or more separate utilities required to inspect the ground under the dig site for a welter of obstructions like water, sewer and gas pipes, electric lines and electric generators – some so old they don’t appear on city maps – the permitting process can take 18 months or more.

Transformational new technology being developed jointly by the University of Vermont and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga could reduce the inspection process to an afternoon’s work.