Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today issued the following statement: “As many around the state are working to assess damage and continue recovery efforts from this weekend’s rain and flooding, I want to remind Vermonters to stay alert in affected areas and continue to put safety first.

“I want to thank the local city and town officials and first responders for their efforts to prepare for and respond to the flooding, and ongoing work to help each affected community assess damage and plan for recovery.

“I also commend the Agency of Transportation (VTrans), Department of Public Safety, Division of Emergency Management & Homeland Security (DEMHS) and all of our emergency personnel for their work to keep Vermonters and our infrastructure safe.

Vermont Business Magazine The Clean Energy Development Fund (CEDF) at the Public Service Department announced today the availability of an incentive program for Vermont’s sugar makers to install pellet fueled evaporators. The program will offer grants up to $20,000 for the installation of evaporators that use bulk wood pellets or wood chips as the fuel. The cash grants will be available to all Vermont based sugar makers and will be based on the size of the evaporators installed.

Vermont Business Magazine Ben & Jerry's fans look forward to this time of year with hopeful anticipation and visions of a sweet, too-fleeting season. No, it's not summer—it's National Ice Cream Month, celebrated every year in July. This year, ice cream aficionados have new and flavorful ways to get the most of their favorite holiday month. Here's a look at 2017's ice cream highlights. BTW, the Number One flavor may surprise you.

Ben & Jerry's put a spin on chunks and swirls with Pint Slices. Inspired by the very best part of the pint, Pint Slices are euphoric flavors offered up in a round single serving, enrobed in a decadent chocolatey coating. These slices of ice cream goodness are available in four flavors: Chocolate Fudge Brownie, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Vanilla Peanut Butter Cup, and Americone Dream.

Vermont Business Magazine Burlington Parks, Recreation & Waterfront has begun the project to rehabilitate the Burlington Greenway through the northern portions of the waterfront bike path. The parks department has currently closed the path between Shore Road and North Avenue Extension. They are expecting the closure to remain from now through September. Phase 2b closure will tentatively begin at the end of September through December as work continues in the southern portion between North Beach and Shore Road. Their plan and discussion is below.

Vermont Business MagazineFamous for its pizza ovens, Blodgett Oven has announced the sale ofits property on Lakeside Avenue in Burlington and the purchase of amanufacturing facility at 42 Allen Martin Drive, Essex, VT. The MiddlebyCorporation, parent company of Blodgett, executed the sale and purchase onFriday, June 23, 2017.Blodgett Oven was established in Burlington in 1848 and produces awardwinning commercial convection and combi ovens as well as steam equipmentunder the brand names Blodgett and Market Forge. Blodgett has been at theLakeside Avenue site since the 1940s.

Vermont Business MagazineAttorney General TJDonovan announced today that Ship Sevin, LLC and Ship Sevin, LLC II, hasagreedto pay a penalty of $30,000 to the State of Vermont, and to reimburse Vermonters for illegal fees paid to Ship Sevin. Ship Sevin leases mobile homes, mobile home lots, and residential rental properties in Bennington, Caledonia, Chittenden, Lamoille, Rutland, and Washington Counties.

Vermont Business Magazine After 18 months and three construction phases, the $6 million expansion and renovation of Rutland Regional Medical Center's Emergency Department (ED) is finally complete. The project, which began in February 2016, added approximately 2000 square feet of new construction and completed partial renovations of the current 13,657 square foot space.

Vermont Business Magazine Forecasters are calling for possible severe thunderstorms, wind, heavy rain and flooding over the next few days. Scattered to isolated severe thunderstorms could begin as early as2:30 p.m.today, Friday, June 30 and continue sporadically throughSundaymorning,July 2.“Recent rainfall has saturated the ground, so there is risk of run-off, flooding and up-rooting of trees, which can cause outages,” said Green Mountain Power spokesperson Dorothy Schnure. “Our dedicated crews will work as quickly and safely as possible to restore any damage. We also have outside crews on alert in case they’re needed to help with power restoration from this storm that could cause outages across the state.”

Vermont Business Magazine At a special meeting on June 22, the Barre-based Granite Hills Credit Union membersapproved their Board of Directors’ recommendation to merge with South Burlington-based NorthCountry Federal Credit Union. The two credit unions have workedside-by-side in Washington County for many years, and share a commitment toproviding members with a world-class experience through value, convenience,and investments in the community. Integration of Granite Hills’s systemsinto NorthCountry’s will occur onSeptember30, 2017. At that time, bothGranite Hills locations will join NorthCountry’s branch network.

Vermont Business Magazine The Burlington Electric Department today announced that it has partnered with Freedom Nissan in South Burlington to offer a $10,000 rebate to Burlington Electric customers who purchase a 2017 Nissan Leaf electric vehicle (EV), which has a battery range of up to 107 miles, between July 1 and September 30, 2017. Additionally, Burlington Electric reminded its customers of its ongoing rebate incentive program through which they are able to receive a $1,200 rebate on the purchase or lease of a new EV or a $600 rebate for the purchase or lease of a new plug-in hybrid EV with an electric range of 20 or more miles. A Burlington Electric customer who purchases a 2017 Nissan Leaf would receive a $10,000 rebate from Freedom Nissan at the time of purchase, a $1,200 rebate from Burlington Electric upon submitting a rebate form and proof of purchase, and a potential federal tax credit of $7,500.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont may be hitting the peak of summer, but Killington Resort has its eyes on winter with the official confirmation that the Killington Audi FIS Ski World Cup will once again be hosted at the mountain this Thanksgiving. Last year, the event returned to the Northeast for the first time since 1991, bringing with it US ski team superstar athletes to Vermont. The competition drew an estimated 30,000 spectators.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Secretary of State Jim Condos issued the following response today to a letter from President Trump’s Election Integrity Commission requesting voter information:“My office has received a request from President Trump’s Election Integrity Commission to provide voter information – including dates of birth, social security numbers, and other personally identifying information. While it gives me pause to enable the work of this Commission in any way, I am bound by law to provide our publicly available voter file, but will provide no more information than is available to any individual requesting the file.