A Winooski soap company is expanding its manufactring into a second plant in Essex. When Twincraft Skincare opened its doors in 1978 the company formulated and manufactured bar soap. Now widely recognized as one of the most innovative and progressive contract manufacturers of prestige and specialty bar soap for the past 40 years, Twincraft continues to manufacture over 37 million bars of soap annually in the Winooski facility. In 2014, with support and encouragement from customers, Twincraft Soap became Twincraft Skincare and began presenting customers with a huge array of product options including an extensive variety of rinse-off cleansing and leave-on skincare products.

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger today highlighted more than $3.3 million worth of projects under way or completed in the past 13 months that make necessary repairs and energy efficiency improvements to city assets, and also announced $375,000 in additional sidewalk improvements funding for this spring. These projects, along with previously announced Penny for Parks projects, represent important steps in a long-term effort to responsibly maintain the City’s many physical assets. In the weeks ahead, the Administration will release a draft 10-year capital plan – the first ever systemic effort to guide, coordinate, and keep affordable the City’s investments over the next decade.

Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) has introduced far-reaching legislation to rebuild America’s crumbling network of roads, bridges and transit systems and other infrastructure projects. The five-year plan would invest $1 trillion and create or maintain at least 13 million jobs, said Sanders, the Senate Budget Committee ranking member. The legislation is co-sponsored by Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), the ranking member of the appropriations committee, and it is backed by the American Society of Civil Engineers, the AFL-CIO and others.

“For too many years, we’ve underfunded our nation’s physical infrastructure. We have to change that and that’s what the Rebuild America Act is all about. We must modernize our infrastructure and create millions of new jobs that will put people back to work and help the economy,” Sanders said.

by Morgan True vtdigger.org Gun Owners of Vermont President Ed Cutler thinks there are already too many gun laws in Vermont, and he strongly opposes background check legislation introduced in the Senate last week. The overarching issue for Cutler and many gun rights’ proponents, who gathered at the Statehouse on Tuesday wearing blaze orange clothing, is that they view any new gun law as a step toward criminalizing lawful gun ownership.

Vermont has among the most liberal gun laws in the country, according to the Law Center for Prevention of Gun Violence. The state does not require a permit for carrying a concealed gun, and does not impose a waiting period for purchases, limit the number of guns that can be bought at one time, require the reporting of mental health commitments, or require dealers to obtain a state license.

The City of South Burlington is seeking public input in defining what the next two City Center projects will look and feel like: Garden Street and City Center/Dumont Park. Garden Street will connect from the new Pier 1 store off of Dorset Street to Midas Drive south of Al’s French Frys. The City purchased Dumont Park in 1975 and has long planned to turn it into a natural area park serving City Center and adjoining neighborhoods. The public is asked to provide comments by February 5, 2015.

Actor, director and writer Alan Alda will give a lecture titled Helping the Public Get Beyond a Blind Date with Science at the University of Vermont on Monday, February 2 at 4 pm in the Grand Maple Ballroom in the Davis Center. The lecture, part of the Dan and Carole Burack President’s Distinguished Lecture Series, is free and open to the public. Seating is limited. Doors will open at 3:15. Alda, a longtime science advocate with extensive experience training scientists in communications, won the National Science Board’s Public Service Award in 2006 and a Lifetime Achievement Award from Scientific American in 2013 for helping advance public understanding of science.

Keurig Green Mountain, Inc (NASDAQ: GMCR), a leader in specialty coffee and coffee makers with its innovative Keurig brewing technology, today announced it will webcast the formal proceedings of its 2015 Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held Thursday, January 29, 2015 at 10 am ET. The meeting will be webcast live and archived via a link from the events portion of the Investor Relations section of the Company's website: http://investor.keuriggreenmountain.com/events.cfm.

About Keurig Green Mountain, Inc.

by Public Assets Institute The number of jobs declined in December, but Vermont still ended 2014 with more private sector jobs and more non-farm payroll jobs than it had at the start of the year. Private employers reported 255,400 jobs in December, an increase of 1,600 over January. The total number of jobs, both private and public, was up 900 from the beginning of the year, to 310,200.

The Ad Hoc Superintendent Search Committee of the Burlington School Board has identified two finalists for the position of permanent Superintendent for the Burlington School District. Joyce Mundy, currently the Superintendent of the Centennial School District in Warminster, Pennsylvania and Yaw Obeng, a Superintendent in Halton District School Board in Burlington, Ontario have been invited to Burlington for a final series of interviews this Thursday and Friday, January 29-30. We are pleased to announce that both candidates accepted their invitations.

Joyce Mundy

Crystal Rock Holdings, Inc (NYSE MKT: CRVP) announced on Tuesday its financial results for its fiscal year that ended October 31, 2014. Total sales for fiscal 2014 increased 6 percent to $75.2 million compared to $71.0 million in fiscal 2013. The increase was attributable to sales from acquired businesses which totaled $7.1 million. Gross profit decreased for the year ended October 31, 2014 to $35.9 million from $36.7 million for the year earlier. Gross profit as a percentage of sales was 48 percent in 2014 compared to 52% in 2013. It bottles and distributes natural spring water under the Vermont Pure brand and offers office beverage services.

Vermont Smoke and Cure has announced a significant expansion of its manufacturing and office facilities in Hinesburg, Vermont. Demand for the Vermont-based small-batch meats and meat snacks has fueled rapid growth - creating a need for increased facilities to meet market demands. The expansion will benefit Vermont’s economy, community and farmers.

The planned expansion includes a 16,000 square foot increase to Vermont Smoke and Cure’s raw materials coolers, refrigerated processing rooms and smokehouses. An additional approximately 3,000 square feet of office space will be created in the building. The expansion space is adjacent to and under the same roof as the existing operations. This capacity expansion will generate at least 15 new jobs in the coming year as well as increase Vermont Smoke and Cure’s capacity to purchase from local farmers.

Governor Peter Shumlin today announced that Chair of the Natural Resources Board (NRB) Ron Shems has decided to step down after four years on the Board. He will be replaced Jon Groveman, currently the general counsel for the Agency of Natural Resources (ANR).

“I want to thank Ron for his hard work over the past four years,” Governor Shumlin said. “He always sought to ensure that development in Vermont happened in a way consistent with our values. I wish him all the best.”