Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont House today gave preliminary approval to legislation that would update and substantially update the scope of the state’s beverage redemption program, commonly known as the Bottle Bill. The vote in favor of H.158 was 115-29, and the bill now heads to third reading.  The bill: Promotes clean air, clean water, and a cooler climate by collecting many more containers each year to be recycled into new products again; Makes the current redemption system more convenient by adding more points of redemption around the state; Reduces challenges facing Vermont businesses like redemption centers and small and medium-sized retailers. 

Vermont Business Magazine Today the Senate gave preliminary approval to S.18, an act relating to banning flavored tobacco products and e-liquids. This bill would ban the retail sale of flavored cigarettes, e-cigarettes, and e-liquids and would direct the Office of the Attorney General to report on the extent to which Vermont may legally restrict advertising and regulate labels for e-cigarettes and other vaping-related products. Data from the Vermont Department of Health and the Vermont chapters of the American Heart Association and the American Cancer Society show that nearly all youth e-cigarette users report using flavored products. More than eight in ten youth who have ever used tobacco products started with flavored products and nearly 65% of young menthol smokers say they would quit if menthol cigarettes were banned. 

Vermont Business Magazine Howard Schultz, who helped lead Starbucks for more than forty years and most recently served as CEO of the company, will on Wednesday, March 29 at 10 am ET appear before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee (HELP) at a hearing entitled, “No Company Is Above the Law: The Need to End Illegal Union Busting at Starbucks.” Since the first store successfully voted to unionize in Buffalo in December of 2021, workers at more than 350 Starbucks in nearly 40 states across the country have held votes to unionize. Over 80 percent of these elections have resulted in a union victory leading to nearly 300 unionized Starbucks coffee shops throughout the country.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund (VSJF) announces the selection of the Energy 2023 cohort of the Vermont-based DeltaClimeVT climate economy business accelerator. Eight early-stage energy companies from across the U.S. and Canada will work directly with Vermont  utilities to contribute to Vermont’s 90% renewable by 2050 and Burlington’s Net Zero by 2030 goals over three 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 April 3 in Burlington, VT at Burlington Electric Department and will wrap up with an awards ceremony in Burlington June 15.

Vermont Business Magazine Champlain Housing Trust announced today that it has financing available for a second round of applications for its Farmworker Housing Repair Loan Program. This program provides a loan up to $30,000 for farmers to make essential repairs and necessary improvements to their farmworker housing. The loan is forgiven over ten years so long as the housing is maintained for farmworkers. The program’s purpose is to preserve this important affordable housing resource and to help improve the health and welfare of the farm workforce. When the program opened last year, CHT received 45 applications seeking $1.8 million. The $500,000 available during the first round allowed loans to support just 15 of the applications. For this second round, CHT received an additional $774,000.