Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Division of Fire Safety Director Michael Desrochers is again kindly reminding Vermonters to have properly installed and maintained smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in their homes. So far in 2016 five Vermonters have been killed in fires and two more have died as a result of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning. “Smoke alarms, when properly installed and maintained can provide you the necessary early warning needed to escape a life threatening situation,” Desrochers said.  A fire that starts while you sleep immediately becomes a deadly hazard for you and your family, so early detection absolutely critical.”

Smoke alarms should be installed outside the immediate vicinity of sleeping rooms, in each sleeping room, and on each floor of the home – including the basement.  Never re-enter a burning home – get out, stay out, and call 911.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Peter Shumlin announced today that Saint-Gobain has agreed to cover costs for two engineering studies in Bennington and North Bennington. The engineering studies will determine the feasibility and costs of expanding municipal water supply infrastructure to service residences impacted by PFOA in the two towns. Additionally, the Governor announced that the preliminary soil testing results from around the former Chemfab facility in North Bennington show PFOA levels that do not pose significant risk of PFOA uptake into plants and vegetables from garden soils.

Vermont Business Magazine Van Jones, a CNN political contributor, attorney, author, and environmental and human rights activist, will deliver the 2016 Middlebury College commencement address on Sunday, May 29. Jones is the president and co-founder of Dream Corps, whose current initiatives, including #cut50, #YesWeCode, and Green For All, work to bring economic opportunity to disenfranchised communities.

Van Jones.

Vermont Business Magazine What makes some parts of the Lake Champlain Basin and its watersheds resilient in the face of  extreme weather events, increasingly common in a warming Vermont, while other parts fail to recover and rebound? A $20 million award from the National Science Foundation to Vermont EPSCoR will help answer that question, providing much needed information to decision-makers as they govern the basin and develop policies that reach far into the future.

Vermont Business Magazine Commissioner Christopher Recchia announced that the Department of Public Service (DPS) has awarded $913,054 from the Clean Energy Development Fund (CEDF) to increase the demand and supply for local wood heat. The CEDF awarded 11 grants to schools and affordable housing projects across the State to install advanced wood heating systems and five grants to increase the supply infrastructure of wood pellets. The heating systems are projected to eliminate the use of roughly 124 thousand gallons of fossil fuel annually, bringing the state closer to its goal of meeting 30% of Vermont’s space heating needs with renewable energy by 2025.

Vermont Business Magazine Dr. Ruth Seeler earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Vermont in 1958 and her M.D. from UVM's College of Medicine in 1962 and is currently emerita professor of pediatric hematology-oncology at the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago. In 2000, Dr. Seeler endowed a scholarship at UVM to help students meet the cost of their medical education. The scholarship is awarded annually to a third- or fourth-year student specializing in primary care. To date, 18 students have been awarded some $145,000 from the fund.

To ensure that the fund meets that need into the future, Seeler has committed $2 million in her estate plan to be added to the Ruth Andrea Seeler M.D.’62 Scholarship in the UVM College of Medicine. The college estimates the bequest will enable it to increase scholarship awards to primary care students by approximately $90,000 annually.

by Mike Faher/The Commons Back on home turf for one final “lunch with the governor” event, Governor Peter Shumlin got an honorary Brattleboro Area Chamber of Commerce membership and a chance to defend his six-year record as the state’s chief executive. Speaking April 11 at American Legion Post 5 in Brattleboro, the Putney native touted accomplishments in economic development, energy, education, health care, and agriculture. He said he has served in “a remarkable time” and hasn’t “shied away from the tough fights.”

Vermont Business Magazine Superior Technical Ceramics (STC) announced today its official participation in the largest-ever U.S. delegation to Hannover Messe, the world's foremost trade fair for industrial technology. Hannover Messe is taking place on April 25-29, in Hannover, Germany.  For the first time in the Fair's history, the United States will be the Partner Country, a status that provides the more than 390 businesses and organizations in the U.S. delegation an unprecedented opportunity to be prominently featured throughout the event.  President Obama will also participate in this year's event, themed "Integrated Industry-Discover Solutions."

Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont has joined a new national scholarship  program aimed at motivating students to do well in high school and prepare better for college.  Through an online program platform called Raise.me, students can now earn “micro-scholarships” from UVM starting in 9th grade for a wide range of individual achievements. Students applying to UVM, for example, receive scholarships for taking advanced courses, raising their high school GPA and engaging in community service or leadership.   

Vermont Business Magazine The Thomas Hirchak Company, of Morrisville and Williston, wants every consumer in the area to know a simple buying and selling message: Auctions Work. That's why the company has taken part in the #AuctionsWork campaign during National Auctioneers Week, April 11-17. The campaign relies on the power of hashtags and the efforts of NAA members like Hirchak, who have tagged social media posts with #AuctionsWork and #NAAPro. The second tag designates Hirchak's standing as part of an NAA network of auction professionals that believes in continuing education and ethical auction practices.

Vermont Business Magazine Champlain College President Donald J Laackman will confer more than 450 associate and bachelor degrees on May 14 during the College's 138th Undergraduate Commencement. The Saturday morning ceremony will include presenting honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degrees to musician Grace Potter, and author Katherine Paterson. Both women will address the graduating Class of 2016.

Grace Potter

Vermont Business Magazine Dr Robert Larner, University of Vermont Class of 1939 and UVM College of Medicine Class of 1942, and his wife, Helen Larner, say their philanthropic support for UVM is intended to ensure that the medical education provided by the University of Vermont College of Medicine is recognized as "second to none." The couple's latest gift, $19.7 million in commercial property and cash – is the largest one-time gift in the University’s history – and establishes them as second to none in their philanthropic support for UVM. The Larner’s lifetime giving to UVM now tops $33 million, a figure ranking them as the most generous donors in the 225-year history of the institution. The commercial property, valued at $18.7 million, will be held and managed by the UVM Foundation, with the income it generates directed to the College of Medicine to invest in its medical education programs. A $1 million cash gift was also included.