Current News

Vermont Business Magazine lululemon has announced a multi-year collaboration with San Leandro, CA, based biotechnology pioneer ZymoChem to help expand the company’s use of bio-based nylon and advance its leadership in sustainable innovation. Together, lululemon and ZymoChem will sustainably transform a key building block of nylon 6,6 – a foundational material used in many of lululemon’s iconic products including its Align and Wunder Train leggings. ZymoChem has additional offices in Burlington, Vermont. lululemon’s work with ZymoChem began last year with an initial investment to support innovative technologies used to create a bio-based version of adipic acid – one of the key chemical building blocks of nylon 6,6 traditionally produced from petroleum. 

Vermont Business Magazine Get ready to put on your dancing shoes and join us for the First Annual World Down Syndrome Day Sock Hop, an exciting and inclusive event celebrating individuals with Down syndrome and raising awareness about the community. The event will take place at the Delta Hotel in South Burlington on March 21, 2025, starting at 5:30 PM. This event will be one of many supporting local initiatives that promote awareness, inclusion, and opportunities for individuals with Down syndrome.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund (VSJF) announces the selection of the Energy 2025 cohort of the Vermont-based DeltaClimeVT business accelerator. Seven early-stage energy companies from across the U.S. will work directly with Vermont utilities to contribute to Vermont’s and Burlington’s energy goals over four months of intensive work sessions, including two online and two in-person intensive sessions (each 2-4 days in duration), weekly assignments and bi-weekly webinars as well as frequent 1:1 engagement. The first in-person sprint starts March 31 in Burlington, VT at Burlington Electric Department and will wrap up with an awards ceremony in Burlington June 12. 

Vermont Business Magazine As Vermonters patiently wait for spring temperatures, the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) invites the public to report when Vermont’s lakes and ponds lose their ice cover. Also known as the “ice-out date,” this date marks when lakes or ponds become ice-free from shore to shore. Tracking ice-out dates helps DEC scientists decide when to begin seasonal water quality sampling efforts. When ice covers lakes, the water below separates into layers based on temperature and density. When the surface ice fully melts in the spring, the heavy cold water sinks, and the water column fully mixes. Water samples collected at this time of mixing show the baseline amount of phosphorus a lake will have available to fuel algae and aquatic plant growth during the spring and summer.

Green Mountain Solar Since we were founded in 2017, our goal at Green Mountain Solar has always been to build a more environmentally and economically sustainable future for Vermont by making solar easily accessible to more people. As a member of Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility, we take our commitment to climate action seriously not only because it benefits our business but because climate change disasters and disruptions impact how we do business in Vermont. It has become more and more clear that the need for our work is important and urgent for the well-being of our beloved communities. The reality is that to help all Vermonters adapt to a more sustainable future and be protected against our new climate reality, Vermont businesses, legislators and residents need to work together support and uphold climate action laws and policies.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department has begun to receive reports of bears coming out of their dens and is urging Vermonters to remove their birdfeeders and take additional steps now to prevent conflicts with bears over the spring and summer. Bear incidents have been on the rise over the past several years.  Officials believe this trend is a result of Vermont’s healthy black bear population learning to associate people and food over multiple generations.  Even with a steady increase in the number bears harvested by hunters in recent years—including a record harvest in 2024—Vermont’s bear population has been stable over the past two decades and shows signs of growth over the past five years.

Vermont Business Magazine A daylong symposium presented by the Vermont Journal of Environmental Law at Vermont Law and Graduate School will bring together leaders in the field to discuss the intersection of climate change, vulnerable communities and legal advocacy. "Climate Justice LIVE" will take place in person and virtually on Saturday, March 22. It will feature a hands-on legal learning lab and three panels

Vermont Business Magazine This winter, Community Bank partnered with the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity (CVOEO) to match $25,000 in donations to the Warmth Support Program, which provides emergency funding to help households pay for heating, fuel and basic electrical needs during Vermont’s coldest months. Community Bank recently presented CVOEO with the $25,000 matching donation to mark the conclusion of this year’s campaign, which raised $55,263 to support neighbors in need.

by Sarah Lyons, Public Assets More than 3,000 Vermonters are caught in the on-again, off-again firings and layoffs of federal employees by the Trump administration and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). It is challenging to keep track of who has a job and who doesn’t, or even of which departments still exist. During the first two months of Trump’s second term, DOGE ordered mass layoffs of federal agency employees. Federal judges reinstated the workers in 19 agencies, including the Department of Education and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and temporarily paused firings. But uncertainty remains as to whether the reinstatements will hold and how long the pause will last—if, that is, the administration complies with the court orders. 

Vermont Business Magazine Following negotiations between the Legislature and Scott Administration, Secretary of Administration Sarah Clark today issued the below letter to level-set the conversation as it relates to the Budget Adjustment Act: While we have appreciated the face-to-face negotiations over the last several days, it appears you prefer to start putting these negotiations in writing, and making them public, so we will follow suit. It is unfortunate that I was uninvited to testify in your Committee this morning to present our feedback on the budget adjustment and provide clarity on our compromise proposals. Given some of the misinformation we have seen in the last 24 hours, I think it’s important to level-set where this discussion stands, from the Administration’s perspective.

Vermont Business Magazine On Wednesday, US Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, toured the Brattleboro Memorial Hospital, where he discussed his new bipartisan bill to support rural health care providers, the Rural Hospital Support Act, and the impact of President Trump’s and Congressional Republicans’ proposed Medicaid cuts on Vermonters. 

Vermont Business Magazine Yesterday, Transportation for Vermonters (T4VT) delivered their “Let’s Invest in Public Transit” petition to legislators, signed by over 950 Vermonters, and hosted a press conference underscoring the importance of investing in public transportation. Members of the public, coalition partners, and legislators spoke in support of greater investment in public transit and aligning the state’s transportation dollars with the needs of Vermonters. Service cuts are directly impacting Vermonters across the state, creating barriers to accessibility.