Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont’s ski and snowboard resorts are once again participating in the nationwide initiative set forth by the National Ski Areas Association to keep visitors safe on the slopes, National Safety Awareness Month. Once a week-long initiative, National Safety Awareness was extended to encompass the entire month of January to help educate skiers and snowboarders about the importance of being safe and in control while on the mountain.

Vermont Business Magazine The School for International Training is cutting nearly 30 employees at its Brattleboro campus, the Brattleboro Reformer reported Sunday. The Reformer quoted Trustee Jenny Backus as saying that SIT is committed to Brattleboro and is expanding its global educational opportunities. SIT (part of World Learning also based at the same Brattleboro campus) trains US college and graduate students for overseas studies, as well as bringing foreign students to the US. Backus is the daughter of former state Senator Jan Backus and granddaughter of SIT founder Jack Wallace.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department says preliminary numbers show 15,949 deer were taken during Vermont’s 2017 deer hunting seasons. Reports from big game check stations indicate hunters had successful deer seasons in 2017, taking 3,585 deer in archery season, 1,461 in youth season, 7,272 in rifle season, and 3,631 in muzzleloader season. The 15,949 deer brought home by hunters yielded more than 3 million meals of local nutritious venison.

Vermont Business Magazine US Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) issued the following statement Saturday after President Donald Trump, amid budget negotiations, demanded $18 billion to construct more than 700 miles of barriers along the border with Mexico. The president said any deal concerning Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (Dreamers) must include funding for the border wall, one of his top campaign promises.

Vermont Business Magazine Heidenberg Properties Group has opened a 15,000 square-foot Planet Fitness at the Berlin Mall. One of the largest and fastest growing franchisors and operators of fitness centers in the United States, Planet Fitness will serve as junior anchor of the 250,000-square-foot mall located on Berlin Mall Road.

by Robyn Freedner-Maguire If we want to make Vermont the top choice of young workers looking for the best place to work and raise their families, increasing access to high-quality, affordable child care is the smartest, most strategic investment we can make. In his 2018 State of the State address, Governor Phil Scott announced a new campaign to persuade young people and families to move to Vermont with the goal of growing the state’s dwindling working-age population.

Vermont Business Magazine Ceres Natural Remedies opened for business in mid-December at 190 College Street in Burlington. The shop is located across the street from Sweetwaters American Bistro and The Archives and carries the largest selection of hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) products in New England. The new Ceres Natural Remedies location replaces the smaller space it occupied in the Wing Building on Burlington’s waterfront from 2016-2017.

Vermont Business Magazine The Kmart at the Diamond Run Mall in Rutland Town will close sometime in April, according to a statement today by the parent company of Kmart and Sears. It appears to be the only Kmart or Sears store scheduled to be closed in the latest round of store closings by the struggling retailer. It will close a total of 103 stores by this spring.

Leonine Public Affairs The 2018 legislative session started on Wednesday, January 3 and legislators wasted no time getting to work. The House Judiciary Committee voted to move the marijuana legalization bill to the House floor in the morning of the first day of the session. The bill was debated at length and several amendments were offered over the course of the morning. All this occurred before Governor Phil Scott delivered the State of the State address at 2 pm on Thursday.

Vermont Business Magazine The Burlington Electric Department has announced that it entered into a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Great River Hydro, LLC for renewable hydroelectric power from Great River Hydro’s Bellows Falls hydroelectric facility on the Connecticut River with back-up power available from both Great River Hydro’s Vernon and Wilder hydro facilities. The two-year agreement, which commenced on January 1, 2018, will deliver 7.5 megawatts of Vermont-produced electricity to Burlington Electric’s 100 percent renewably-sourced portfolio. The new Great River Hydro PPA replaces an agreement that concluded on December 31, 2017 that had delivered energy from NextEra Energy’s Maine-based hydro to Burlington. Burlington Electric was successful in negotiating a better price per megawatt hour (MWh) for the new contract compared with the recently expired contract.

Vermont Business Magazine US Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) sharply criticized Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) Friday for his efforts to end seven years of budget agreements regarding parity for defense and non-defense spending. Sanders feared that McConnell was pushing the Senate toward a government shutdown with his efforts to end these longstanding bipartisan agreements.

Leonine Public Affairs The start of the 2018 legislative session in Vermont began earlier this week. The session kicked off on Wednesday, January 3, and if there is an overarching theme that will define discussions next year it is the uncertainty in Washington, DC, and the potential for actions taken by the Trump Administration and Congress to impact the state. Legislative leadership held a press conference in December to identify their priorities for the upcoming session, which include clean water funding, mental health, marijuana legalization, and several labor-related bills.