Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Mayor Miro Weinberger and Burlington Electric Department (BED), joined by partners from Rewiring America, the nation’s leading electrification nonprofit, Key Motors of South Burlington, and the Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA), today announced new and expanded Net Zero Energy incentives and an innovative, on-bill financing program for home weatherization and cold climate heat pumps. BED continues to offer substantial rebates up to 75 percent of the installed cost on ductless mini-split heat pumps and, new for 2023, is offering a $500 rebate for a second heat pump. Also, BED has introduced a new tier of higher rebates for centrally ducted heat pumps offering up to 75 percent of installed cost for more heating-efficient systems, as well as incentives for EV, weatherization and even lawn mowers and e-bikes.

Vermont Business Magazine Vertek Corporation, an industry-leading telecom operations and managed security services provider, announced today that Jorge Reis has succeeded Brad Soutiere as President as part of a long-planned succession search and that Ron Hruby has been promoted to COO. Reis will be taking on the President role after serving as the Company's Chief Strategy Officer since March of last year. Prior to joining Vertek, Reis had spent 19 years with Telstra, a $28B communications carrier headquartered in Australia, the last 5 of which were as COO of Telstra Americas.

Vermont Business Magazine The 2023 US Good Food Award Finalists have just been announced and Blake Hill Preserves has once again been honored across multiple categories. Blake Hill’s NEWEST Botanical Shrub Collection has two Finalists in the Elixirs category with their Wild Mint Shrub and Spicy Jalepeño Shrub, and their Fresh Tomato Savory Jam is a Finalist in the Preserves category. Winners will be announced at the Good Food Awards Ceremony in Portland, Oregon, in April, 2023, and so there are many jam-making fingers crossed at the Windsor-based artisan jam company until then.

Vermont Business Magazine The ACLU filed a lawsuit yesterday on behalf of Andrew Cappello, who City of Newport officials served with a “notice against trespass” in August 2021, barring Mr. Cappello from city property. The “no trespass” order was issued at the request of the City’s Public Works Director with an apparent grudge against Mr. Cappello, a former Newport employee. He was told the notice would expire after one year but received no additional information. And, when Mr. Cappello requested an opportunity to petition the city council to lift the notice, the mayor refused.

Vermont Business Magazine VIP Tires & Service – a full-service automotive repair, maintenance, and tire shop with locations in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont – has opened a new store location at 183 Phyllis Lane in Bennington, formerly a Hyundai car dealership. The Bennington store marks the 67th location for VIP Tires & Service and is set to celebrate its grand opening on January 12 at 11 a.m. Starting on January 9 and running for seven weeks, VIP Bennington will be offering any oil change, including full synthetic oil changes, for only $10. 100% of the proceeds will go to the local school district, Southwest Vermont Supervisory Union schools, as a donation through VIP’s ‘Oil Changes for Education’ initiative.

Vermont Business Magazine As the new year begins, it’s usually the time we start to think about what we want to do, or achieve, over the year ahead, and make some resolutions. Perhaps it’s to lose weight, quit smoking, or even save money - but if what we want is vague, it’s less likely to happen. Indeed, studies that fewer than 25% of people actually stay committed to their resolutions after just 30 days and only 8% accomplish them. However, for those who have clear goals, particularly when it comes to finances, it is revealed that the average Vermonter plans to save $12,900 (which would be $1,075 per month) in 2023. This compares to a national average savings goal of $8,082.

Vermont Business Magazine Pomerleau Real Estate has released their Q4 transactions In addition to the below deals, they have announced that Kendra Kenney, who manages the Pomerleau family real estate portfolio of over 1.5 million square feet of commercial space achieved an all-time low vacancy rate of 1% during the 2022 calendar year.

Pomerleau Real Estate is excited to announce that the G&L Store in Benson, Vt has sold. Owners Greg and Lisa Fountain sold the building and business to John and Samantha Lendway. Congratulations to the new owners. Kendra Kenney and Kim Wichert represented the Owners.

by Chris Bradley When we consider Vermont, we must recognize that the vast majority of Vermont is rural. We also must recognize that Vermont has a chronic issue with the proper staffing of law enforcement, such that Vermont typically has one of the lowest Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) law enforcement officers per 100,000 residents in the nation. For 2019 we were the absolute lowest.

Vermont Business Magazine Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger released the Administration’s Legislative Priorities for the 2023 Legislative Session. The Mayor’s priorities include funding for the city’s new high school and technical center, public safety, gun safety, initiatives to support housing creation and end homelessness, new support for substance misuse and mental health, climate action, and more. The Mayor’s agenda also prioritizes funding for the new Burlington high school and technical center, climate action, and several public safety initiatives including several reforms to the state’s gun safety laws.

Vermont Business Magazine A newly released report from Building Bright Futures and Vermont’s Early Childhood Data and Policy Center, titled The State of Vermont’s Children: 2022 Year in Review, provides an objective, data-driven assessment of the well-being of young children and families in Vermont. The report includes the 2023 Policy Recommendations from Vermont’s Early Childhood State Advisory Council Network on how best to improve outcomes for each and every child in the prenatal period to age 8 and their family.

Vermont Business Magazine Following news reports that the pharmaceutical corporation plans to quadruple its price for the COVID-19 vaccine up to $130 per dose, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), the incoming chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, on Tuesday sent a letter to Moderna’s CEO urging the company to reconsider its decision and refrain from any price increase in light of the role the federal government has played in the development of the vaccine.

Vermont State Police On the morning of January 3, Vermont State Police were notified of a single-vehicle crash on Vermont Route 100 at the Killington/Pittsfield town line. Troopers along with the Killington Fire Department, Pittsfield Fire Department, and White River Valley Ambulance responded to the scene. Investigation showed that operator Barbara Cobb was traveling northbound on Vermont Route 100 and lost control of the vehicle due to the icy road conditions. On January 6, 2023, Troopers were notified by Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center that Cobb had succumbed to her injuries sustained in the crash.