Vermont Business Magazine Champlain Orchards, a family-owned and ecologically managed farm, recently received more than $15,000 from the Vermont Training Program (VTP). Champlain Orchards recently upgraded its inventory management system and VTP monies will be used to train staff in construction, customization, and use of the new system. Champlain Orchards is among the first in its sector to introduce this technology.

Vermont Business Magazine Exit 4 in Randolph looks like it will get a new hotel after all. After many years of attempts to develop the exit, and recently with a vast mixed-use commercial development, a hotel has been permitted across Interstate 89 on the southeast corner, on the right as you head up Route 66 toward Randolph Center and Vermont Technical College. Pomerleau Real Estate is in the process of leasing associated space for a restaurant to go along with the proposed Hilton/Hampton Inn.

Vermont Business Magazine Saturday (October 19) is the annual Vermont Women’s Economic Opportunity Conference. Senator Patrick Leahy launched the yearly conference 23 years ago, and he partners with several agencies and organizations to organize the workshops. This year’s keynote speaker is Jen Kimmich, CEO of Alchemist Brewery.  Under Kimmich’s leadership, the Stowe business has become one of Vermont’s most popular tourist destinations and is famous for its Heady Topper brew.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General TJ Donovan and Treasurer Beth Pearce met with community members at the Pope Memorial Library in Danville to discuss the importance of managing credit and protecting yourself from financial scams. They highlighted that as financial products become more complex and data breaches affecting consumers become more frequent, it is more important than ever that Vermonters manage their credit and regularly check their credit reports. In 2018, Vermonters filed 5,471 scam reports with the Attorney General’s Consumer Assistance Program – making scams one of the most common consumer issues affecting Vermonters.

Vermont Business Magazine US Senator Patrick Leahy visited the St Albans Town Education Center (SATEC) on Thursday, October 10th, to celebrate National Farm to School month and announce USDA grants awarded for school districts in Vermont to expand Farm to School activities. The grants total $300,000 and will help schools in Franklin, Grand Isle, Caledonia and Orange counties to connect their classrooms, cafeteria and community to local food and farms. The celebration was held in the school garden and orchard, which was the result of a state grant and where several new raised beds were being constructed on Thursday morning.