Current News

by Michael Bielawski Vermont Watchdog After dozens of hours of testimony and debate — and plenty of jargon about renewable energy credits and portfolio standards — the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Energy approved a bill aimed at reforming Vermont’s energy siting process. On Friday afternoon, the five-member committee voted unanimously to approve S230, the Energy Development Improvement Act.

by Mike Smith Recent polling suggests that one reason some voters are supporting Donald Trump for president is because “he tells it like it is.” His appeal to so many appears to be based on the fact that he isn’t polished or politically correct. Many Americans think political correctness is running amok, especially on college campuses. Anyone who has followed the news can see that protesting, almost for the sake of protesting, has become an extracurricular activity for a few students. But when a sorority and fraternity are chastised for being insensitive to Mexicans for hosting a cancer research fundraiser dubbed a “phiesta,” some question whether the perceived harm is concocted. And quickly this leads to a second question: Is it possible to do or say anything without offending someone? 

Vermont Business Magazine The Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce announced a new initiative focused on professional mentoring. Recognizing the significant value that comes from a relationship with a seasoned professional, the Chamber, in coordination with its Burlington Young Professionals program, is developing a suite of opportunities for professionals at earlier stages of their career. The first program in our new Professional Mentoring Initiative is the Professional Mentoring Program, which, in its first year, will pair 10 early-stage professionals with 10 established professionals for six months of one-on-one mentoring. The Professional Mentoring Program is sponsored by People’s United Bank. People’s United Bank came forward with eager support of the Program and young professionals in our region. 

by Erica Houskeeper Jed Singer is President of Socialight Media, a digital consultancy firm in Philadelphia. He is an instructor in the UVM Digital Marketing Fundamentals Program. We talked him about the dos and don’ts of social media in the business world.

Vermont Business Magazine iCement Plant Solar, a 500 kilowatt group net metered solar array, completed its first two months of commercial operations this month, delivering over 65,000 kilowatt hours to the Green Mountain Power electric grid.

The array is located on the former site of the William E. Dailey Inc. ready-mix concrete facility in Jamaica. Previously, the site had been used for batch mixing jobs, many of which were associated with the construction of buildings at Stratton Mountain and the surrounding area. In recent years, however, the site had become inactive, and the company had been exploring several possible uses when the idea for a net metered solar array was introduced.

Vermont Business Magazine  “They who drink beer will think beer,” said the writer Washington Irving. The School of the New American Farmstead at Sterling College is offering a new course in “Small Batch Brewing” for those who wish to think, drink, and make their own craft beer while being mentored by craft brewing experts including Anders Kissmeyer of Kissmeyer Beer & Brewing, and Jan Paul of Svaneke Bryghus, and featuring a master class with Shaun Hill of Hill Farmstead Brewery.

Vermont Business Magazine The Comcast Foundation, founded in 1999 to provide charitable support to its local communities and to empower and enrich lives, has awarded twenty Vermont high school seniors scholarships through its annual Leaders and Achievers® Scholarship Program.  The program, one of the Comcast Foundation's signature community investment programs, recognizes students' leadership skills, academic achievement and commitment to community service.

Vermont Business Magazine ECFiber, based in Royalton and now officially known as the East Central Vermont Telecommunications District, announced plans to activate 110 miles of network in 2016 and build an additional 250 miles in 2017. “Working with bond underwriters, we believe ECFiber has reached the point in its financial development that allows us to access institutional capital markets for the first time in 2016,” says Irv Thomae, District Chairman. “Since 2011, we have relied on 450+ local investors, some state-provided dark fiber, and VTA and Connectivity Fund grants to build the first 340 miles of network. By the end of 2016 we will be in parts of 21 of our 24 member towns, but many neighborhoods that desperately need ECFiber service cannot afford to raise the $30,000 per mile to complete a build. Outside financing would finally allow us to build to those towns that need us the most, not just those where we can raise capital.”

Vermont Business Magazine Penn State Milton S Hershey Medical Center has joined the growing family of organizations leveraging Mach7 Enterprise Imaging Platform to manage VNA archiving, communication, exchange and sharing of medical imaging data. Penn State Hershey, one of the leading academic medical centers in the US, provides a range of fully-integrated patient care services to the people of central Pennsylvania and to a growing care network. 

“We are thrilled to collaborate with Penn State Hershey,” said Eric Rice, chief technology officer, Mach7 Technologies. “Our advanced healthcare IT platform allows Penn State Hershey to own, manage, and share their unstructured clinical media. Mach7 enterprise imaging technology simplifies scalability, and expands clinical data access helping Penn State Hershey achieve their key business and care delivery goals.” 

by Jon Reidel, UVM The plan for Michael Schirling (UVM '92, G '05) following his retirement in June of 2015 as chief of the Burlington Police Department was to take a little time off, do some consulting and plot his next career move. That lasted two months. A call from local officials looking to hire Burlington’s first executive director of BTV Ignite, an organization that encourages public, private and academic institutions to capitalize on the city's massive high-speed gigabit infrastructure and to grow the tech economy, was too good to pass up.

Vermont Business Magazine As Vermonters move their clocks AHEAD an hour this weekend the Vermont Division of Fire Safety wants everyone to remember to also change the batteries in all smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. While changing the battery, it is also important to check the date on the alarm.  Most smoke alarms have an effective life span of around 10 years, and carbon monoxide alarms work for approximately 5-7 years depending on manufacturer.  If you do not have smoke or carbon monoxide alarms in your home, it is strongly recommended you install them as soon as possible to increase your chance of escaping a home fire.

According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), approximately 60-percent of home fire deaths between 2009 and 2013 were in homes with non-existent or inoperable smoke alarms.  Failure to maintain or replace dead batteries was the leading cause of the failure.

Vermont Business Magazine The Center for Women & Enterprise(CWE) is proud to have been selected by the US Small Business Administration (SBA) to establish and operate the Women's Business Center (WBC) in Vermont and provide services to the growing number of women entrepreneurs. CWE is a nationally recognized non-profit organization dedicated to helping women (and men) navigate the world of business ownership with education, training and technical assistance.  CWE also operates centers in Boston and Westborough, MA, Nashua, NH and Providence, RI, and serves over 7,000 clients each year.