Current News

Vermont Business Magazine NG Advantage LLC, which is majority-owned by Clean Energy Fuels (NASDAQ: CLNE) and is the US’s leading provider of trucked natural gas, has signed a 5-year contract with Southwestern Vermont Health Care to deliver compressed natural gas (CNG) to their location in Bennington. Southwestern Vermont Health Care is a comprehensive health care system serving Bennington and Windham Counties, eastern Rensselaer and Washington Counties in New York, and northern Berkshire County in Massachusetts. The contract was signed for Southwestern Vermont Medical Center, a 99-bed community hospital based in Bennington. NG Advantage, based in Colchester, will begin supplying the hospital with compressed natural gas this fall.

by Mike Smith In the early 1960s we still had racist state laws defending the widespread practice of segregation. Slowly — too slowly for many black Americans — those laws began to change. However, racism and bigotry don’t end by changing laws. In many respects, integrating lunch counters, schools and bathrooms is the easy part. The real challenge nowadays is confronting those individuals who have been taught to hate.

Too often, it’s easy to ignore racism and bigotry, because confronting hate brings risks. Perhaps it’s human nature to hope that hatred toward others will somehow fade on its own. But it seldom does: Instead, it usually intensifies with time. If racism and bigotry are left unchecked, those consumed by hate will ultimately become more volatile and more dangerous.

Vermont Business Magazine Just over three years have passed since Green Mountain Power was recognized as the first utility in the world to become a Certified B Corp - and the Colchester-based energy company has received recertification. B Corps are companies that believe business can be a force for good and are certified by the nonprofit B Lab to meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency.

GMP seeks to help customers use less energy and reduce carbon by assisting with heat pumps, home batteries and other innovative energy savers.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility (VBSR) is pleased to announce that the VBSR Marketplace, is expanding to include members of the Vermont Fresh Network (VFN). The partnership, facilitated by Vermont Resilience Lab, will allow VFN partner members to access the VBSR Marketplace, a popular, online trade network that helps Vermont businesses improve cash flow through trading excess products and services.

Vermont Business MagazineSeven Days, Vermont’s free, independent newsweekly, today released the500th episodeof Eva Sollberger’s video series, Stuck in Vermont. Since 2007, Sollberger has been documenting Vermont people, places, events and traditions in her videos, which are published each Thursday onsevendaysvt.com. Her Stuck in Vermont stories have been viewed nearly four million times on YouTube. Since 2012, Sollberger and her videos have also appeared weekly on the WCAX local news.

Lake Champlain CommitteeLCCcyanobacteria monitors mainly reported good conditions this week. There were two low alert blooms at Vermont inland lakes (Shelburne Pond and Ticklenaked Pond) with other sites evidencing good conditions. While blooms witnessed on Lake Champlain were restricted to Missisquoi Bay (one location) and StAlbans Bay (four sites), we are still at the peak bloom period for our region. Spring and summer rains have flushed lots of nutrients into the water and temperatures are predicted to rise through the beginning of next week. The warmer weather could trigger a spate of blooms so please be on the lookout,report anything of concernand avoid cyanobacteria.

Vermont Business Magazine As part of its continuing growth acceleration, BioTek Instruments is excited to announce the opening of the BioTek Middle East office, located in Dubai, UAE. The office will serve as the central hub for BioTek’s activities and growth in the Middle East and North Africa region, and will be headed by Ms Divya Galani, regional Application and Product Manager. The office, and all sales, marketing and distribution strategies in the region, will be overseen by Mr. Steven Fisher, Managing Director Asia Pacific and Middle East.

Vermont Business MagazineEvery Labor Day Weekend for 22 years the Southern Vermont Garlic & Herb Festival has been stinkin’ up Vermont. It’s known for it’s cascading rows of 200 plus garlic vendors, kids activities, food trucks, beer & wine garden, and regional live bands. It’s always a good thyme! Garlic Fest, as it's affectionately known as for short, is held at the grounds of Camelot Village and Antique Center located at 66 Colegate Heights in Bennington on September 2nd and 3rd - Labor Day Weekend.Gates open at 10 amto 5 pm.

Vermont Business Magazine OneDigital Health and Benefits, the nation's largest employee benefits-only company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia with an office in Colchester, Vermont has been selected for the eleventh consecutive year to Inc. 5000’s distinguished listing of America’s fastest-growing private companies. OneDigital’s record performance year-over-year is a testament to the organization’s financial and organic growth.

Vermont Business MagazineA dedication ceremony in memory of Southern Vermont College alumnus Lonnie Bortman ’94 took place on campus Sunday, August 13. The site of the dedication, called “Lonnie’s Lookout,” is located on the Everett cave path through the upper orchard on campus (a path off the Everett Mansion courtyard). Bortman was born in New Jersey in 1971 and grew up in Sunnyvale, CA. From a young age he enjoyed outings to parks and a variety of sports, especially soccer, bicycle riding and skiing. Family visits to the east coast and southern Vermont fostered his love of the mountains and sparked ideas of someday returning to the east coast.

Public Assets Institute In July Vermont’s labor force dropped to its lowest level in 15 years. The labor force comprises people who are employed, including self-employed, and those who are unemployed but actively job hunting. Vermont’s labor force fell to 343,850 last month—the lowest level since July 2002, when it numbered 343,835. The unemployment rate also dropped in July, to 3.1 percent. The decline in the labor force tells us that unemployment shrank not because people found jobs, but because they stopped looking.

Vermont Business Magazine In the wake of the deadly attack stemming from a far-right demonstration in Charlottesville, lawmakers led by US Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) are pressing the Department of Homeland Security on questions arising from the Trump Administration’s apparent de-emphasis on protecting Americans from domestic terrorism, especially the Administration’s apparent decision to de-emphasize combating far-right extremism.