Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets (VAAFM) has released a draft copy of the Required Agricultural Practices (RAPs) for a period of public comment which will run throughDecember 18, 2015. This is a pre-filing period which will afford the opportunity for all interested stakeholders to review the Draft RAPs and provide initial comment before VAAFM will formalize the draft this winter and will then enter into the formal rulemaking process in the spring of 2016. Additional public comment periods will follow both the draft rewrite as well as the formal rulemaking period.

Vermont Business Magazine As policymakers, customers and others debate New England's energy future, as much as 2,000 megawatts of hydro electricity continues to flow from Canada into central Massachusetts across a 960-mile, 450 kilovolt transmission system just as it has done for the past 25 years. The high-voltage direct-current, or HVDC, system links Hydro-Quebec with New England through a power line that travels across the border to Vermont before running down New Hampshire to Massachusetts. When it was placed in service in 1990, the Canada-New England HVDC system was the first of its kind in the world, and to this day remains the largest HVDC system in the eastern US.

National Grid is the majority owner of the US portion of the HVDC system, and operates the US portion on behalf of some 35 other companies. The system was designed by ABB, a world leader in power and automation technologies.

Vermont Business Magazine Healthy Living Market and Cafe, located in South Burlington, has been named as a Northeast Sustainable Grocery Environmental Leader by the state of Vermont for their environmental stewardship and sustainability efforts. The standards to meet this designation were developed by state environmental agency workgroup members of NEWMOA (Northeast Waste Management Officials Organization). The State of Vermont’s Green Business Program provides assistance to businesses desiring to “green up” their operations and recognizes businesses of all sizes for meeting a set of environmental standards. These standards are posted on the program websites (www.vbep.org).

Installation of the electric car charger in 2011. VBM photo.

Vermont Business Magazine The Alchemist, the Vermont maker of Heady Topper, is getting a boost from the local sun to green its brewing operations. AllEarth Renewables, a Vermont-based solar tracker manufacturer and developer of solar projects, and the Alchemist have announced a partnership that will provide the brewery solar energy from a portion of a 150kW Vermont solar orchard. The new solar project will provide nearly 100 percent of the energy the Waterbury brewery needs annually with emissions free, net metered solar and provide the company long-term annual savings on its electric bill.

Vermont Business Magazine Putney Mountain Winery, located in Putney, has been named a Vermont Green Business by the state of Vermont for their environmental stewardship and sustainability efforts. The Vermont Green Business Program provides assistance to businesses desiring to “green up” their operations and recognizes businesses of all sizes for meeting a set of environmental standards. These standards are posted on the program websites (www.vbep.org).

In addition to participating in an environmental assessment, Putney Mountain Winery is: 100% solar powered, purchases all ingredients of its products from local family farms, composts all waste from its production, recycles as much as possible and pursues the myriad of details that go into committing our business to improving the environment.

Vermont Business Magazine GlobalFoundries has invested $55 million into its Essex Junction plant to make another 5 million chips a day, the semiconductor firm announced today. Those semiconductors will mostly go into most cell phones and tablets used around the world. The investment was announced today with a press conference featuring plant executives and Governor Peter Shumlin. The capital investment in the company’s Essex Junction facility has been in the works for nine months. It was initiated by former plant owner IBM shortly after it was announced that GlobalFoundries would buy IBM’s chip making plants in Vermont and New York State.

Most of the investment went into the purchase, upgrade or moving of massive tools (some 12 by 12 feet) into its 200mm (8-inch) wafer fab in Essex Junction. Much of the rest of the expenditure went into the associated infrastructure the tools required.

CLICK HERE: https://iframe.dacast.com/b/56792/c/75084 to watch the Rising Stars Class of 2015 accept their award LIVE at The Hampton Inn on November 5, 2015.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General William H Sorrell joined a coalition of 25 states and various cities and counties in filing a motion to intervene in legal challenges by several states and industry groups to the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan. The Clean Power Plan requires mandatory cuts under the Clean Air Act in emissions of climate change pollution from fossil fuel burning power plants – the single largest source of these emissions in the nation.

“The Clean Power Plan protects Vermonters and all Americans from emissions of climate change pollution,” Attorney General Sorrell said. “These emissions must be reduced to protect our economy and the environment.”

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont’s “Wheels for Warmth” broke all records in its 11^th year, thanks in large part to its additional location in Rutland County. Final numbers for 2015 show the program collected a total of $55,801 for emergency fuel assistance programs, sold 2,200 safe tires, and recycled 3,775 donated, unusable tires. This year, in addition to the traditional collection and sale location at Dubois Construction in Montpelier, collections and sales also took place at Casella Construction in Mendon, with the aim of better serving people in the Central/Southern Vermont region. The Mendon sale was made possible in large part by local support in that community from new sponsor VSECU, a credit union for everybody in Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine Healthy Living Market – Burlington, Hunger Mountain Coop – Montpelier, and Commodities Natural Market – Stowe have been named as Vermont Green Grocery Environmental Leaders by the state of Vermont for their environmental stewardship and sustainability efforts. The standards to meet this designation were developed by multi-state environmental agency workgroup members of NEWMOA (Northeast Waste Management Officials Organization, as part of the Northeast Sustainable Grocery Environmental Leader program and include energy efficiency, water and waste reduction, recycling, environmentally preferable purchasing, and facility operations.

Vermont Business Magazine FairPoint Communications, Inc (Nasdaq: FRP), Vermont's largest communications provider, today announced its financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2015. “Our financial results in the quarter were in line with our expectations reflecting the progress in our business, the acceptance of CAF Phase II related funding as well as the completion of our headcount reduction plan initiated in May,” said Paul H Sunu, Chief Executive Officer. Shares were up modestly Tuesday following the news at $16.88 (52-week range: $13.30 - $20.98), despite posting a profit against losses last year. Net revenue also was positive in the second quarter.

Vermont Business Magazine The Brattleboro Retreat announced today that its board of trustees has appointed Louis Josephson, PhD, as the hospital’s new president and chief executive officer. He will start on March 1 after moving to Brattleboro. Josephson, a native of New York City, comes to the Retreat from Los Angeles, CA, where he has served as the president and chief executive officer of Vista Del Mar Child and Family Services since 2013. Prior to moving to Los Angeles he served for eight years as president and CEO of Riverbend Community Mental Health in Concord, NH. During that same period Josephson was also vice president of behavioral health at Concord Hospital, also in New Hampshire.