Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Home Depot is hiring more than 75 associates in the Vermont-area for its busy spring season. The Home Depot’s Virtual Spring Career Day event on April 11 gives jobseekers an inside look at what it's like to be part of the team, including company benefits and culture, through live chats with current associates, virtual booths and more. A common question during last year’s Virtual Spring Career Day was “What’s my application status?” New for 2023, the queued chat function allows jobseekers to receive status updates from recruiters in real-time. Attendees will also have the chance to enter to win an iPad throughout the event.

Vermont Business Magazine There are many reasons to love Brattleboro, VT, but one of its great claims is to be among an elite group of towns housing an establishment where you can drink beer in two states at once. The line separating Vermont and New Hampshire runs right through Whetstone Beer Co.'s taproom on the Connecticut River, inspiring the brewery to celebrate its unique location with the release of Borderline Pale Ale. The "interstate" nature of Whetstone Beer Co. has a complex history. The original 1903 wooden bridge crossing the Connecticut River to New Hampshire at Whetstone's Bridge Street location was replaced in 1920 by a 330-foot-long truss. To support the structure, new footings were poured into the riverbed, extending the "land" on the Vermont side of the river by 5 feet. However, the state line already established by the US Geological Survey refused to budge, even as the structure that now houses Whetstone Beer Co. was built atop.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) last Saturday welcomed more than 130 students from across all 14 Vermont counties to his first-ever annual “Youth Chess Day.” Held at Vermont Technical College in Randolph, this inaugural event featured a learn-to-play session for students interested in trying out the game for the first time, as well as a recreational tournament for more experienced players.

Vermont Business Magazine LifeDNA, a wellness service and personal genomics company, now provides consumers with curated New Chapter vitamin and supplement recommendations based on their own unique DNA. Through data collected from a non-invasive DNA test, LifeDNA’s pioneering program uses science-backed nutritional insights to help users build custom wellness routines that are entirely rooted in genetics. LifeDNA’s new program creates science-backed reports with personalized insights about an individual’s DNA, including custom New Chapter® vitamin and supplement suggestions as determined by LifeDNA.

Vermont Business Magazine Downtown White River Junction residents will soon be able to enjoy a new community mural and public space on the side of the COVER Building at 158 South Main Street in White River Junction thanks to a recently launched crowdfunding campaign. The campaign is sponsored by the Vermont Department of Housing and Community Development’s Better Places program and led by the COVER Home Repair and Store. If the campaign reaches its $3,500 goal by May 1, 2023, “A Community Mural for White River Junction” will receive a matching grant of $7,000 dollars from DHCD’s Better Places program.

Vermont Business Magazine Lost Lantern, the award-winning independent bottler of American whiskey, is excited to announce the launch of its new Single Distillery Series. For its debut, Lost Lantern closely collaborated with two of the most exciting names in American single malt whiskey: Balcones Distilling in Waco, TX, and Whiskey Del Bac in Tucson, AZ. Each release in the Single Distillery Series is a blend of multiple casks all sourced from a single distillery. These whiskies allow the Lost Lantern blending team to deeply explore what makes a distillery unique and special, often by bringing together flavors in a new way and showing a new perspective on a distillery.

The Vermont Department of Corrections (DOC) is conducting internal administrative and medical reviews following the death of an incarcerated individual on Friday. Anthony Giallella, 85, of Brattleboro, Vt., was receiving end-of-life comfort measures at the SSCF infirmary following treatment in a medical facility. At 13:25, a Correctional Officer observed signs of medical distress during a routine visual check. SSCF medical personnel were notified and responded immediately. Mr. Giallella was pronounced deceased at 13:35. The official cause of death will be determined by the Vermont State Medical Examiner but is not considered suspicious at this time.

Vermont Business Magazine Venture 7 Advisors, a Burlington, Vermont-based merger and acquisition advisory firm, announced the recent sale of manufacturing and construction company Energy Smart Building of Starksboro, Vermont to private investor Kevin Moyer. Venture 7 served as the exclusive advisor to the sellers in the transaction. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.   Energy Smart Building represents the very best of traditional, honest New England craftsmanship. Their Vermont Frames division is one of the very few (and the largest) hand-cut timber frame makers in the US. The timber frames they cut fit together precisely using true mortise and tenon joinery and will stand for hundreds of years. They have produced more than 3,000 buildings including family homes, single floor retirement homes, barns for workshops or studios, and large commercial buildings.

Vermont Business Magazine Northeast Kingdom residents looking for a new job/career are encouraged to sign up for a new Broadband Installer Apprenticeship Program. Free training starts this spring for a career as a fiber optic internet network maintenance technician, splicer, or installer. NEK Broadband is building a 2,800-mile high-speed network to connect every address in the Northeast Kingdom and Wolcott that is currently underserved or unserved. “We need more workers to get this job done, and we’d love to keep it local and employ as many people from the Kingdom as possible,” said Executive Director Christa Shute. The course will include safety training, technology instruction, classroom and online work, and OSHA training.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, Mayor Miro Weinberger made several announcements regarding the future of Memorial Auditorium: The City will not be moving forward with any of the respondents to last October’s Memorial Auditorium’s Request For Proposal (RFP) process. The Mayor anticipates that the City will release a new RFP for Memorial Auditorium and the municipal parking lot west of the building in the coming months. The new RFP will have narrower goals and objectives to encourage more responsive proposals. This next step will include public engagement through the Parks, Arts, and Culture Committee. The City is in the process of carrying out the stabilization work recommended to reduce the potential for further weathering or structural failure over the next 3 to 5 years. This is to reduce the potential of injury to people in and around the building and enhance the feasibility of a potential renovation to occur in the future. The roof structure stabilization has been completed and the masonry stabilization will be put out to bid this spring.