Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott, along with numerous elected officials across the country, declared October 12th Children’s Environmental Health Day. Environmental health organizations, medical professionals, business leaders, and members of the public gathered today at the Vermont State House to highlight the day, and to call for stronger protections for Vermont children from harmful chemicals.

“Despite the many successes and advancements in the field of children’s environmental health over the past few decades, today’s children face an epidemic of illness and chronic diseases linked to environmental exposures and our changing climate,” said Carol Westinghouse, President, Informed Green Solutions. “There is an urgent need to put children and families back into the forefront of our nation’s actions regarding health and environment.”

Vermont Business Magazine Today the Vermont Attorney General’s Office filed motions to stay and appeal the Energy and Environment Legal Institute (EELI) matter. EELI seeks to depose and gain access to personal emails and other personal communications of former Attorney General Bill Sorrell, and has now expanded its request and seeks to obtain personal emails from three current and former Assistant Attorneys General. Attorney General TJ Donovan stated today that it is the firm position of the Vermont Attorney General’s Office that state employees must follow “The Public Records Act,” but the Act does not strip those in public service of their right to privacy.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott and the Vermont Agency of Education (AOE) has hired Dr Oscar Aliaga as Vermont’s first ever State Career Pathways Coordinator. This position will help align Career Technical Educational (CTE) program offerings to the skill needs of key industries in Vermont’s economy, thereby ensuring students can access the education and training they need to obtain and advance in high-wage, high-growth careers in their home state. This position, proposed by the Governor and funded by the Legislature, represents the first state-level commitment to support career readiness.

Vermont Business MagazineRivers around the United States are several thousand pounds lighter of trash after more than 450 employees from Keurig Green Mountain, Inc, a leader in specialty coffee and innovative single serve brewing systems, took to the water this summer for the company's 13^thannual river cleanup events. Keurig’s Brewing A Better World efforts around restoring waterways is done in partnership with National River Cleanup®, an initiative of American Rivers, the national river conservation organization.

Vermont Business MagazineThe numbers are in and it was another successful year for Vermont businesses at the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, Massachusetts.In 2017, the Vermont Building earned $1,804,066 in gross sales. On Vermont Day, Saturday September 23, The Big E broke a single-day attendance record attracting 171,897 fairgoers. Over the course of 17 days, the Big E set an all-time attendance record exposing over 1.5 million people to the Vermont brand.

Governor Phil Scott visited the Vermont Building on Vermont Day to help showcase all Vermont has to offer, from hiking, biking and skiing to craft beer, maple syrup, cheese and new job opportunities.

“The Big E represents an opportunity for us to share why Vermont is a great place to live, visit, work and do business,” said Gov. Scott. “It’s also a chance for growing Vermont entrepreneurs to build relationships and strengthen the Vermont brand with out-of-state consumers.”

Vermont Business MagazineUSSenatorBernie Sanders (I-Vt) will visit the Regional Test Center (RTC) in WillistonThursdaymorning and hold a press conference to discuss the innovative solar technologies being tested to increase solar energy use in Vermont and throughout the United States.

The Vermont RTC is one of five such facilities in the United States that provide critical performance data on solar photovoltaic systems. Sanders helped secure $3 million in 2013 from the U.S. Department of Energy’s SunShot Initiative to create the Vermont solar testing site specifically to study the effectiveness of different solar technologies in a cold and wet climate.

The RTC is a collaborative effort, funded by the Energy Department, led by Sandia National Laboratories, and hosted by Global Foundries.

Thursday

What: Sanders visits solar testing site, discusses progress

When:11 a.m.;Thursday, Oct. 12

Vermont Business Magazine So, the NSAA got its Vermonter after all. The board of directors of the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA), a nonprofit trade association that represents ski area owners and operators in the US, has named Kelly Pawlak as NSAA’s new president and CEO. Pawlak, who is vice president and general manager at Mount Snow Resort, will assume the position January 1, 2018. Parker Riehle, head of Ski Vermont, was slated to take over the national job but had to decline for personal reasons in September.

“Finding someone with Kelly’s experience and knowledge ofski area operations as well as an appreciation of the challenges ahead will be a true benefit for the association and ski resort operators,” said Tim Silva, general manager at Sun Valley Resort, Idaho, and chair of NSAA’s board of directors.

Vermont Business Magazine On Tuesday, Governor Phil Scott addressed attendees at the Promises Made, Promises Kept Conference, hosted by the Vermont Business Roundtable and Champlain College’s Center for Financial Literacy. His remarks follow.

Vermont Business Magazine The Department of Environmental Conservation’s Clean Water Initiative Program announces over $1.6 million in Ecosystem Restoration Grants for projects to improve water quality across Vermont. DEC is awarding more than 50 clean water improvement projects, targeting Vermont’s impaired and at-risk rivers, lakes, and wetlands. The grants will go to municipalities, regional planning commissions, natural resource conservation districts, watershed organizations, and other partners to address nutrient and sediment pollution sources caused by stormwater runoff and erosion.

Vermont Business Magazine Business owners Roger and Donna Pion and their startup company Green State Biochar are the winners of $10,000 in legal services from the Intellectual Property Practice Group at Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC. The winner was chosen from an impressive list of applicants from across New England.

“This is an environmentally oriented business that shows great promise in the areas of agriculture, waste management and water quality,” explained Kevin McGrath, an attorney in the IP Group at DRM. “It is the type of home-grown company that the State of Vermont has sought to encourage. The owners are already in the final round of this year’s Fresh Tracks Road Pitch later this month and we’re very pleased to help the company get off the ground in northern New England.“

Vermont Business MagazineWhen local residents began planning to build their own high-speed fiber-optic network back in 2007, few expected them to be able to surmount the many challenges facing a high-tech start-up. As of October 2017, the East Central Vermont Telecommunications District (ECFiber) has built over 420 miles of cable and connected over 2000 active customers in parts of 20 member towns. It plans to complete another 170 miles of network this year and another 250 miles in 2018.

Tunbridge resident Pamela Whitney became customer number 2,000 when the ECFiber installers arrived at her home recently.

Vermont Business Magazine National weather forecasters are predicting a colder winter than last year. So with cold weather just around the corner, Green Mountain Power is helping Vermonters stay warm with a $130,000 donation to the statewide WARMTH program. This will be the 32nd year that Green Mountain Power has contributed funds to help people with heating emergencies.