Current News
by tim
Vermont Business Magazine Pathways Vermont, a local housing and mental health service agency, recently completed the installation of a community kitchen in their building in Burlington’s Old North End. The kitchen is a new addition to The Wellness Co-op, Pathways’ community center located at 279 North Winooski Avenue. The program is funded primarily by the Vermont Department of Mental Health and aims to create a vibrant community that supports resilience through collective learning, creative exploration and mutual support. In 2015 the center had more than 500 unique visitors.
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Business Expo at Great Ice Cancelled
Champlain Islands Business Expo at Great Ice on Saturday, February 6th, 2016 has been cancelled for this year due to weather challenges.
We hope you will join us for the other great events
that are still on the schedule!
FRIDAY Feb 5th
Christmas Tree Bonfire 5:30p at North Hero House Pier
Family Italian Dinner 6:30p at North Hero House Inn 372 4732
SUNDAY Feb 7th
FlapJack Breakfast 8-11a. A hearty VT breakfast at North Hero House.
Chili-Cook Off 12:30-1:30p at Hero's Welcome Picnic Area
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by Joyce Marcel, Vermont Business Magazine You’re reading an unusual story for Vermont Business Magazine — one that begins with a mostly naked pop star. In June of 2014, the pop singer Rihanna was presented with a style icon award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA). The dress she wore became an internet sensation around the world; the fashion magazine Elle described it this way: “In an Adam Selman gown made out of 230,000 Swarovski crystals and zero slips, Rihanna was basically naked on the red carpet.” As bare as she was, if you look closely you’ll see that under her sheer and sparkly dress Rihanna is wearing a tiny thong. A tiny thong that was made by a lingerie company called Commando LLC, which happens to be located in South Burlington, Vermont. It gives a whole new meaning to the term “Made in Vermont.”
by tim
Vermont Business Magazine According to filings by Senator Bernie Sanders' (I-Vermont) presidential campaign, more than $20 million – almost all from online contributions averaging about $27 apiece – was donated to Sanders’ presidential campaign in January during the run-up to Monday’s Iowa caucuses. The more than 770,000 individual contributions in January pushed the total number of donations for his entire campaign past the 3.25 million mark. That’s a record at this point in the campaign for any White House candidate. Unlike other campaigns which rely heavily on wealthy donors who give the maximum allowed by law, more than 99.9 percent of Sanders’ donors can give again. In sharp contrast, Federal Election Commission reports indicate that more than 3 in 5 dollars given to Hillary Clinton come from donors who already have given her the maximum allowed by law.
by tim
Vermont Business Magazine Revision Military, based in Essex Junction, Vermont, a world leader in integrated, purpose-built soldier solutions, aided a sting operation to arrest owners and representatives of a Chinese company illegally manufacturing and selling counterfeit eyewear. Revision worked in conjunction with the Dearborn and Ohio County Prosecutor’s Office in Indiana to execute this action. The operation was carried out on January 28th at the SnowSports Industries America (SIA) Snow Show in Denver, Colorado. Guangzhou Botai Optical Visor Co., Ltd. (“Guangzhou Botai”) U.S. representative and part owner, Gong Peiwen, also known as Daniel Gong, was arrested on the showroom floor. Arrest warrants have also been issued for brothers Jiang Xingde and Jiang Xinglin, co-owners of Guangzhou Botai, and Ding Xiaoxia, also known as Crystal Ding, Sales Associate for Guangzhou Botai, which is based in Guangzhou, China.
by tim
Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Chamber of Commerce and Vermont Business Magazine are accepting nominations until March 4th for the Deane C. Davis Outstanding Business of the Year Award that honors an outstanding Vermont business. The deadline for nominating a business is March 4, 2016. To recognize and honor Vermont’s best companies, the Vermont Chamber and Vermont Business Magazine created the Deane C. Davis Outstanding Business of the Year Award in 1990. Named for the former Governor of Vermont, this annual award honors a Vermont business that shows an outstanding history of sustained growth while displaying an acute awareness of what makes Vermont unique. Last year’s winner was Champlain Cable Corporation of Colchester, and recent award winners include Dealer.com, GW Plastics, the Foley Family of Companies, Small Dog Electronics, and BioTek Technologies.
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Vermont Business Magazine Farmers, producers, and localvores from across Vermont converged on January 27 for the 5th annual Consumer Night at the Vermont Farm Show in Essex Junction. Held on the second night of the Farm Show, Consumer Night celebrates the diversity of Vermont agriculture with the Winter Buy Local Market and Capital Cook-Off. The Winter Buy Local Market featured over 50 farmers and producers of local cheese, meat, fruits and vegetables, milk, maple syrup, jams, culinary oils, honey, wine, beer, spirits, wool, and handmade crafts as well as ready-to-eat prepared foods such as Maple Wind Farm’s bacon hot dogs and ice cream cones from Kingdom Creamery. Over 500 people shopped and grazed their way through the local product booths, and three raffle prizes were awarded to lucky Buy Local Market customers.
by tim
Vermont Business Magazine For the first quarter of fiscal 2016, Keurig Green Mountain (GMCR), the beverage company based in Waterbury, reported that net sales decreased 9% to $1,258.4 million as compared to net sales of $1,386.4 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2015. Gross profit for the first quarter of fiscal 2016 was $360.0 million, or 28.6% of net sales, as compared to $464.1 million, or 33.5% of net sales for the prior year period. For the first quarter of fiscal 2016, selling, operating, and general and administrative expenses decreased 20.0% to $198.5 million from $248.2 million for the prior year period. As a percentage of sales, SG&A expenses decreased to 15.8% in the first quarter of fiscal 2016 from 17.9% in the prior year period. The decrease in SG&A over the prior period was primarily attributable to decreases in compensation expenses, due to lower headcount, and decreases in variable marketing expenses.
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Vermont Business Magazine The Two Rivers‐Ottauquechee Regional Commission (TRORC), on behalf of the East Central Vermont Economic Development District (ECVEDD), has hired Michael Kane Consulting to conduct a 40‐town district‐wide Creative Economy Inventory and Action Plan over the next six months. Over the past fifteen years, there has been a growing understanding of the economic importance and potential of the region’s creative assets—its creative talent, enterprises, and organizations. To understand the full scale and potential impact of the creative economy in the towns served by the ECVEDD requires an examination of the linkages between the region’s creative talent and creative enterprises and other key clusters that are critical to the region’s economic future.
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by Mike Smith Nowadays, participants subjecting themselves to arduous military training are asked to swallow a capsule so medical personnel can continuously monitor their vital signs from afar. In some respects this capsule represents how technology will drive the design of our health care system in the future. No doubt these technological advances will significantly change our current health care delivery model, but they also have the potential to make health care more affordable and accessible, while maintaining quality.
Currently, state officials in Vermont are moving in a direction of changing how providers are reimbursed for the care they provide from the current fee-for-service system—where providers are paid, or reimbursed for each service—to one where they would receive a global budget and be required to manage the health of their population to that budget number.
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by Evan McMorris-Santoro, BuzzFeed News BuzzFeed's Evan McMorris-Santoro was the print pool reporter at campaign events in Marshalltown, Iowa. Here is the complete, unedited report issued Sunday at 7:23 pm: Sen. Bernie Sanders said he's in a "tossup" race with Secretary Clinton in brief remarks to a crowd of volunteers at his Marshalltown, IA field office Sunday. With a little more than 24 hours to go before the Democratic caucuses begin, Sanders thanked Iowans for "taking their responsibility very seriously" during the opening months of the 2016 presidential campaign.
The race is as close as it can be, Sanders said.
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Vermont Business Magazine Don George, President and CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont, has been honored by the American Heart Association (AHA) for helping improve the health and wellness of Vermonters and Vermont businesses through Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont’s (BCBSVT) Accountable Blue program. George received the Go Red for Women Crystal Heart Award at the Association’s annual Go Red For Women Luncheon on Thursday, January 28. The award is presented annually to a Vermonter who is an advocate, volunteer and role model for improving the health of our community.