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Vermont Business Magazine The store will be owned and operated by Central Vermont Habitat for Humanity. According to store manager Harold Blake, its grand opening is scheduled for June 7th. The nonprofit has brought one full-time position, one part-time position, and will bring one additional part-time position to the area. The new store will be located at 149 South Main Street in Waterbury in the former Kinney Drug location next to Subway. It features approximately 3,500 square feet of retail space and is already stocked with a mixture of appliances, furniture, and home decor as Habitat for Humanity’s principal aim is to serve its community’s home needs. 

Vermont Business Magazine HB Lozito was honored with the 2023 Con Hogan Award. Lozito is the executive director of Brattleboro-based Out in the Open, which is working to build a multi-issue, multiracial social justice movement of rural LGBTQ+ people. In a recent interview, they talked about their life and work and what receiving the award meant to them both personally and professionally. Now in its tenth and final year, the award recognizes Con’s life and work by rewarding a community leader who shares his vision of a better Vermont and who seizes the responsibility for making that vision a reality. Awardees are individuals who focus on results, use data and measurement to mobilize action, work with people across diverse perspectives, take risks in pursuit of their vision, and persist through setbacks. 

Vermont Business Magazine Today, First Children’s Finance VT (FCF) announced that during the first quarter of 2024, more child care programs in Vermont opened than closed, signaling a new, positive trend for the state. In the first quarter of 2024, 10 new programs opened in Vermont, and licensed capacity in the system increased by 389 spaces. This is the first time since tracking began that more programs have opened than closed in a quarter. One year ago, the Vermont Legislature passed Act 76, a comprehensive child care bill with a long-term, sustainable, $125 million annual investment. FCF credits this public investment, along with access to capital such as the Infant/Toddler Capacity Building Grants Program, with helping to reverse a trend that has persisted for years, due to lack of public funding. 

Vermont Business Magazine As boaters visit Vermont’s lakes and ponds this spring and summer, the Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) and partners are offering a few tips on how to stay safe and protect Vermont’s natural resources. “Our state’s lakes and ponds offer exceptional recreational opportunities, clean drinking water, and outstanding fish and wildlife habitat,” said DEC Commissioner Jason Batchelder. “The kickoff of the boating season and nice days ahead remind us how important it is for everyone to use and enjoy public lakes and ponds in a safe and environmentally friendly way.”

Vermont Business Magazine Casella Waste Systems, Inc (Nasdaq: CWST), a regional solid waste, recycling and resource management services company, has been named to USA Today’s “America’s Climate Leaders 2024” list for the second consecutive year. The list recognizes the top 450 companies across the United States that have achieved the greatest reduction in their operational emissions intensity between 2020 and 2022 — a measure of the amount of Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gases a company produces relative to its revenue – and Casella is among just three in its industry to be recognized, and one of two to have been honored in back-to-back years. A pioneer in sustainable waste and recycling innovation, Casella established the first recycling facility in Vermont in 1977, recognized the benefits of organics and food waste recovery in the 1990’s, and was a charter member of the EPA’s Climate Leaders program in 2005.

Vermont Business Magazine The deadline to apply for a 2024 Vermont moose hunting permit is June 19. Moose permit applications are available on the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department’s website www.vtfishandwildlife.com for the hunt limited to Vermont’s Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) E in the northeastern corner of the state. The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Board voted on April 10 to have 80 either-sex moose hunting permits and 100 antlerless moose hunting permits available this year for a hunt limited to Vermont’s Wildlife Management Unit (WMU) E in the northeastern corner of the state.  The science-based hunt will result in an estimated harvest of about 94 moose, or about 10 percent of the current moose population in WMU E. 

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Public has won four national awards for its coverage in 2023 from the Public Radio Journalists Association. The PMJA Awards is the only national competition devoted to recognizing the best work in public media journalism. Awards are presented in five different size divisions representing public media organizations with as few as one to more than 30 newsroom employees. Vermont Public competes in Division E along with major metro public radio stations including WBUR in Boston, WBEZ in Chicago, and WNYC in New York. 

Vermont Business Magazine The National Life Group Foundation announced more than $1.16 million going to 115 grant recipients in this year’s grant cycle dispersed recently. Created in 2006, the Foundation offers grants to nonprofit organizations and schools primarily in central and northern Vermont and the Dallas, Texas, area where the company has offices, with a focus on ending childhood hunger and supporting youth mental health. Local recipients include: Vermont Foodbank; Hunger Free Vermont; Montpelier Alive; Central Vermont Medical Center; Vermont Council on Rural Development Inc; Community Harvest of Central Vermont; Kellogg Hubbard Library; Outright Vermont; Vermont Family Network; Lund Family Center (Vermont); and Montpelier Foundation.

VermontBiz We're now officially in farmer's market season—the perfect time for Vermonters to start planning and planting their vegetable gardens. This spring, Vermonters can use their 3SquaresVT benefits to purchase seeds and seedlings to grow fresh fruits and vegetables, ensuring a bountiful harvest throughout the summer. 3SquaresVT is Vermont’s name for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides eligible people money on an EBT card, which works just like a debit card, to help pay for groceries. 

Northeastern Vermont Development Association The Vermont Walk/Bike Summit 2024 will be held June 20, 8:30am-4:30 pm in St. Johnsbury. The Vermont Walk/Bike Summit is an excellent opportunity to connect with community members, employers, planners and researchers from throughout the state for in-depth sharing on current efforts, new ideas, and networking to advance more livable communities. This year’s Summit will include interactive demo workshops, peer exchanges, a highly-acclaimed keynote (Mirna Valerio – The Mirnavator!), and a variety of dynamic presentations and topics including advocacy and education, safe and healthy communities, economic development, and the built environment.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Community Canopy Program has completed its eighth successful season, distributing 1,000 free trees across the state and surpassing 5,000 trees planted since 2017. Funding this year was made possible by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and prioritized communities disproportionately impacted by the pandemic to help protect them from future crises. This program is a collaborative effort between the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation (FPR), the University of Vermont Extension’s Urban and Community Forestry Program, and the Arbor Day Foundation. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Attorney General’s Office announced that Jason Muxlow, 45, of Westminster, Vermont, was sentenced today in Vermont Superior Court, Windham Criminal Division, after pleading guilty to three felony counts of Possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material. The Court, Judge John Treadwell presiding, sentenced Mr. Muxlow by plea agreement to 22 months in jail, with credit for time served, and a 15-year term of probation with conditions that he complete sex offender programming, have no contact with minors, and that restrict his access to the internet. If Mr. Muxlow violates the terms of his probation, he faces 6 to 15 years in jail. Mr. Muxlow is also required to register as a sex offender for 10 years after he is discharged from probation.