Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Stone Environmental’s Board of Directors has appointedJohn Hanzasas president andMichael Winchellas vice president, effectiveJuly 1, 2017. While stepping down from their current executive positions, president and founderChristopher Stoneand vice presidentDavid Healywill both remain at Stone providing senior executive and technical consulting support, as well as serving on Stone’s board of directors for the Montpelier-based engineering firm.

Hanzas and Winchell are both longtime Stone veterans and leaders in their respective fields. They currently serve on Stone’s senior management team and are well positioned to take on these new executive roles, as well as continue to lead Stone’s Agrochemical Fate and Exposure and Environmental Modeling teams.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Housing & Conservation Board will use $35 million in new funding for the creation of rental housing and home ownership opportunities for 550-650 low- and moderate-income Vermonters over the next two to three years. These funds will leverage upwards of $100 million for housing development. The new initiative represents the largest state investment in housing in more than a decade. It was first proposed by Governor Phil Scott in his January budget address, gained strong support in the Legislature, and was signed into law today as part of the budget bill.

Vermont Business Magazine A podcast exploring the status of Abenaki Native Americans in Vermont and a video that uses Legos to explain the Iowa caucus, and breaking news coverage of the Northeast Kingdom EB-5 scandal have won Vermont Public Radio three national journalism awards for its work in 2016. The annual Edward R. Murrow awards recognize excellence in electronic journalism. VPR won Edward R Murrow Awards for Best News Documentary and Excellence in Video from the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA), the world’s largest professional organization devoted exclusively to electronic journalism. VPR News also won the award for Breaking News from Public Radio News Directors Inc (PRNDI).

Vermont Business Magazine A national home security firm has used comprehensive law enforcement data to rank the safest municipalities in the US. Essex ranked second overall and Milton ranked 23rd. Vermont as a state was noted as having the fewest number of sex offenders per capita. The firm, SafeWise, is a home security and safety brand committed to increasing safety education, awareness, and preparedness in American communities. SafeWise has been recognized by The Huffington Post, AngiesList, Mashable, and Homes.com, for their Home Security Brand Comparisons and Safest Cities Reports.

Vermont Business MagazineVermont-made products wowed the judges this week at the 2017 Fancy Food Show in New York City. The Green Mountain State scored eleven“sofi” awardsat the world-renowned show - the largest specialty food industry trade event in North America.

Vermont Business MagazineFresh off the canning line, Rock Art Brewery’s first solar-powered beer,Sun Rocked IPA, provided the perfect toast for a historic moment for both Rock Art Brewery and Vermont brewing history. On Tuesday June 27^th, Rock Art Brewery became the first Vermont brewery to fully offset its electricity needs with solar. SunCommon, of Waterbury, helped the 20-year-old, family-owned brewery realize a longstanding goal to go solar by installing a 200-panel, 67 kW array on the brewery’s rooftop in Morrisville.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, Representative Peter Welch (D-VT) and House colleagues on the Bipartisan Task Force to Combat the Heroin Epidemic unveiled their legislative agenda to battle the opioid epidemic ravaging communities in Vermont and across the country. “Across Vermont, families and communities are struggling with the scourge of opioid addiction,” said Welch. “This Task Force has established a comprehensive agenda to support states, communities, providers, public safety agencies, and nonprofits who are on the front lines of this public health emergency. I am hopeful that the bipartisan composition of our Task Force will result in expedited action by House leaders on our agenda.”

The Task Force agenda includes the following bipartisan bills:

Senator Patrick Leahy: “I have heard from thousands of Vermonters who oppose these stumbling and outrageous efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and to replace it with Trumpcare. ‘Mean’ only begins to describe it.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, Governor Phil Scott sent the following letter to US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer regarding the Senate’s consideration of the Better Care Reconciliation Act. Scott said he remains concerned over the harmful impact this legislation could have on Vermonters, including provisions in the bill relating to the Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act (ACA or Obamacare).

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General TJDonovan filed an amicus brief filed with the USCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit, arguing that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The brief was led by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and signed by Donovan and Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen. This week marks the second anniversary of the USSupreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, which recognizes the constitutional rights for same sex couples to marry. The Attorneys General argue that sexual orientation discrimination is a form of sex stereotyping and wrongly penalizes LGBTQ employees for conduct that would be considered “acceptable” if they were of the opposite sex – thereby constituting disparate treatment on the basis of sex.

Vermont Business Magazine Over the last two years, South Burlington residents saved big in electricity costs, slashing 6% from their bills, or nearly $450,000 in real savings. How did they do it? It began when the City participated in the Georgetown University Energy Prize competition—offering a $5 million incentive prize to the community that leads the way in energy efficiency. The effort was led by The South Burlington Energy Committee, which has been active since 2008 and has a mission to promote energy efficiency, conservation, and renewable energy.

by Jack Hoffman The Equal Educational Opportunity Act, better known as Act 60, is 20 years old on Monday. On June 26, 1997, at an outdoor ceremony in Whiting, Governor Howard Dean signed into law Vermont’s unique and groundbreaking education funding system. As we face tensions over school consolidation and who should determine teachers’ health insurance benefits, it’s worth remembering what Vermont has already achieved in school funding.

Vermont has taken a huge step toward solving a problem that still plagues other states: educational disparities between kids born into wealthy communities and those in cities and towns with less wealth and fewer educational resources.