Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Recipients of the 2017 Governor’s Awards for Environmental Excellence have been announced and will be recognized at a ceremony at the State House on August 4th. Environmental excellence awards have been given since 1993 to recognize efforts and actions of Vermonters to conserve and protect natural resources, prevent pollution, and promote environmental sustainability. To date, more than 200 efforts have been recognized.

“The Governor’s Awards are a longstanding tradition in Vermont to highlight the value of actions that go above and beyond what’s required by law. The actions taken by the recipients represent a culture of commitment to doing the right thing environmentally” said Kim Greenwood, Director of the Environmental Compliance Division of the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Economic Development Authority (VEDA) has approved nearly $6.6 million in financing to support several important economic development projects undertaken by Regional Development Corporations (RDCs) throughout the state. Several manufacturing expansion projects were approved for financing assistance through VEDA’s Local Development Corporation Loan Program. This Program provides financing to nonprofit local and regional development corporations to build facilities for lease to identified eligible tenants, or to plan and/or develop industrial parks. Four of the projects recently approved by VEDA -- two in Franklin County, one in Windsor County, and one in Rutland County -- total $33 million, with VEDA funding nearly $6.6 million through this program.

Vermont Business Magazine Hearings for Vermont hospitals have been set. The initial budget submissions by Vermont’s 14 non-profit hospitals continue the trend toward aligning health spending more closely with general economic growth, according to data made public by the Green Mountain Care Board. This fiscal year, FY18, the submissions of an aggregate Net Patient Revenue (NPR) of 3.6% (just over the 3.4% target set bythe Board).

Vermont Business MagazineIn partnership with the Pillsbury Manor,Home Care Assistance- Greater Burlington, a leading provider of in-home care for seniors, is excited to announce that it will be hosting a fun and informative six-part series. Led by Dr. Julie Richards, Home Care Assistance’s brain fitness expert and Director of Cognitive Therapeutics, The Mind Fit Series: Activities to Boost Brain Health will cover proactive ways to enhance cognitive functioning, including activities used in theCognitive Therapeutics Method, a science-based cognitive stimulation program. The series will kick-off August 2nd with subsequent sessions every Wednesday from 2:00 pm to 3 pm through September 6th in the Activities Room at Pillsbury Manor South, 20 Harborview Road, South Burlington. This event is open to all residents and the public free of charge.

by John McClaughry Governor Phil Scott has created a Vermont Climate Action Commission, in support of his commitment that Vermont will shoulder its share of the US obligation under the Paris climate agreement. This is the Obama agreement which, to the horror of the climate action boosters, President Trump excused us. It’s worth tracing the history of climate action inventions back to 2002. In that year Gov. Dean, planning his run for President, went to Quebec to endorse an enviro-produced climate action plan for the northeastern states and provinces, chock full of scary predictions about the dire consequences of inaction.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Rep Peter DeFazio (D-OR) proposed a rule Monday that would end price gouging on prescription drugs and other health care products developed with taxpayer money. Sanders and DeFazio reintroduced their bill, which they first proposed two decades ago with bipartisan support, after drugmaker Sanofi Pasteur refused to agree to fair pricing on a Zika virus vaccine developed with over $1 billion in taxpayer dollars.

Vermont Business Magazine E-cigarettes initially were developed as a cessation tool for tobacco dependence, but now it appears they are also a tool for introducing young adults to other tobacco products, says Ari Kirshenbaum of the Saint Michael’s College Psychology Department faculty, who has received a $365,865 grant from the National Institutes of Health to support his research on the abuse potential of E-cigarettes in young adults.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Cheese Council (VCC), an organization dedicated to the production and advancement of Vermont Cheese, has announced that Vermont cheesemakers took home 41 ribbons for 13 cheesemakers and companies at the 34th annual American Cheese Society competition in Denver, Colorado Friday evening. Two Vermont cheeses were honored for being Best of Show Winners, including a first- place win for Tarentaise Reserve from Spring Brook Farm/Farms for City Kids Foundation in Reading and a third-place for Harbison from Cellars at Jasper Hill Farm in Greensboro.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, eBay announced the winners of its annual seller recognition program, theSHINE Awards for Small Business. Denise Martell, of Al's Snowmobile Parts Warehousein Newport, was one of the five winners.The award program highlights the efforts and success of small businesses across the country and recognizes the entrepreneurs who have used eBay to help build successful businesses.

Vermont Business Magazine Milk Money, an equity-based crowd-investing company that connects Vermont entrepreneurs and small businesses with local investors, has announced that one of its small business campaigns—the Burlington Herb Clinic—has reached its campaign investment goal of $20,000 and is fully funded to move forward with the next stage in its development. A group of herbalists founded the clinic as a worker-owned co-op to support clients using herbal medicine for self-care.

Vermont Business Magazine The Champlain Housing Trust announced today that it has purchased the St Joseph School on Allen Street in the Old North End from the St Joseph Co-Cathedral Parish Charitable Trust for $2.15 million. The acquisition was made with plans to transform the building into a multi-purpose community center serving not only the residents of the neighborhood, but the rest of Burlington and greater region.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General TJ Donovan is leading a bipartisan coalition of 33 States and Puerto Rico to support the US Department of Justice’s request in United States versus Microsoft that the US Supreme Court decide whether email service providers can shield evidence of a crime from law enforcement by storing data outside the United States.