Business

SAVINGS BANK OF WALPOLE BREAKS GROUND FOR FIFTH BRANCH
Local builder and tradespeople chosen to build new location

Keene, NH, – Savings Bank of Walpole continues to branch out into the community and recently celebrated its future new Court Street, Keene location with a groundbreaking ceremony. The ceremony was held on Friday, August 5th at the site of the new branch located at 817 Court Street, (across from Dunkin Donuts). Attendees included several SBW executives and members of the bank’s Board of Trustees, along with the president and architect from local design/build firm Bensonwood, who are handling the design and construction of the building.

The Reformer is reporting that Brattleboro’s classic Chelsea Royal Diner is up for sale. The owenrs simply want to retire after decades of running a restaurant. Can anyone blame them?

Business is reported to be good there, so some enterprising diner chef to-be could pick up and keep things going. If you have $850,000, it could be yours.

The restaurant, among other things, has been featured in Zippy cartoons.

Combination with FirstLight Fiber and Oxford Networks will create a stronger Northeast fiber provider

Bellows Falls, VT, August 8, 2016 – Sovernet Communications (“Sovernet”), a leading fiber-optic bandwidth infrastructure services provider operating in Vermont, New York and southwest New Hampshire, announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Oak Hill Capital Partners (“Oak Hill”). At the closing of the transaction, Oak Hill intends to combine the operations of Sovernet with FirstLight Fiber (“FirstLight”), which Oak Hill previously announced an agreement to acquire. FirstLight is another leading provider of fiber optic communications in the northeast.

SAVINGS BANK OF WALPOLE WILL BE ONE OF THE FIRST AREA BANKS TO RETROFIT THEIR BRANCH ATMS WITH NEW SECURITY DEVICE

Keene, NH—In an effort to combat ATM fraud and “skimming,” Savings Bank of Walpole is pleased to announce that it will be one of the first area banks to utilize the ActivEdge Skim Guard system at all of their branch ATMs. The machines will be retrofitted with the ActivEdge system as of Thursday, August 4th.

Skimming means that a person (who is referred to as a skimmer) has installed a counterfeit card reader on the exterior of an ATM in an attempt to steal another person’s card information during ATM transactions or at point-of-sale machines like the ones used at gas stations or convenience stores.

Bellows Falls, VT – The Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation and the Town of Rockingham have announced a development project with Chroma Technology Corp. of Bellows Falls. A successful development process will see Chroma add a 40,000 sf expansion and upwards of 26 new jobs to their existing Imtec Drive location.

“This is a wonderful result after several years of collaboration and discussion with the Town of Rockingham, the Bellows Falls Area Development Corporation and Chroma about the possibilities of relocation or expansion,” said Rockingham Town Manager Willis “Chip” Stearns. “We are pleased Chroma has made this decision and the Selectboard supports this project.”

Keene, NH— The hot dog days of summer are here and Savings Bank of Walpole is ready to celebrate by hosting two separate Community Appreciation Cookouts as a way to say thank you to both its customers and the community. This is the 10th year the Bank has hosted the cookouts and this year’s events will be held on Friday, July 22nd from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Bank’s 84 Marlboro Street location as well as on Sunday, July 24th beginning at 5:00 p.m. on the Green in Walpole.

One of the things I learned over the weekend is that Brattleboro is home to quite a few AirBnB rentals. If you haven’t heard of it, it is an online service to connect people with spare rooms and houses with vacation rental seekers, and to facilitate payments.

The first one I learned of when my sister was booking a stay. “Is this near you?” as she showed me a photo of the house directly opposite ours. She made her reservation. (Other family members followed up with other rentals about town.)

Doing a quick search for a trip to Brattleboro this coming weekend shows at least 7 locations in town, with an average $95 a night fee for services provided.

Strolling of the Heifers and Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation invite you to apply to participate in the 2016 FreshTracks Road Pitch.

The Road Pitch, a gang of motorcycling business investors and advisors, is stopping in Brattleboro on the afternoon of August 2 to hear up to six funding pitches from local businesses that are ready to scale up.

Multiple Broadband Providers Leverage Sovernet’s State-of-the-Art Network to Serve Vermonters

BELLOWS FALLS, VT (June 6, 2016) – Sovernet Communications today announced that its state-of-the-art fiber network now supports broadband services for numerous rural Vermonters in the so-called “last mile,” by providing dedicated Internet access and data transport to other service providers. These providers, in turn, are extending further and further into rural Vermont to serve residential and business customers.

Visiting Nurse and Hospice for Vermont and New Hampshire Board of Trustees Approves Affiliation with Dartmouth-Hitchcock

Affiliation to strengthen patient care effective July 1

June 6, 2016 (White River Jct., VT) – The Board of Trustees of Visiting Nurse and Hospice for Vermont and New Hampshire (VNH) has voted to approve an affiliation agreement with Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health. With the May 24 vote, VNH will become an affiliate of Dartmouth-Hitchcock (D-H) on Friday, July 1, 2016.

VNH, the region’s largest provider of home health services, will become the first home health and hospice provider affiliate of Dartmouth-Hitchcock, which also includes five hospital affiliates.

Experienced Goods Thrift Shop announces a new and exciting adventure in shopping. PopUp@77Flat is an online shopping event, featuring the best of the best that Experienced Goods has to offer. All proceeds of Experienced Goods Thrift Shop including PopUp@77Flat benefit the important work of Brattleboro Area Hospice.

The Pop-up event will go live at 5:00 PM on Friday, May 6th. Monthly, a new themed auction window at Experienced Goods at 77 Flat Street, in downtown Brattleboro will be unveiled. At that time the online auction also goes live at www.32auctions.com/popup77flat. Items can be viewed from the street or more closely online at the auction site. Bids will be accepted only online and can take place 24 hours daily from the comfort of your own home.

SAVINGS BANK OF WALPOLE WELCOMES NEW COMMERCIAL LOAN OFFICER

Keene, NH – Savings Bank of Walpole (SBW) is pleased to welcome Stephanie Huestis, Vice President and Commercial Loan Officer, to their business banking team.

Ms. Huestis brings over 20 years experience within the finance industry to her new position and has a broad understanding of Relationship Management, Commercial Lending, Sales and New Business Development. Previously, she held a number of positions at Peoples United Bank in Brattleboro, most recently as Senior Vice President, Relationship Manager, where she serviced several towns within Southern Vermont and established a proven track record of successful new business development and portfolio management. Prior to Peoples United Bank, Ms. Huestis was a Mortgage Lender and Originator at Brattleboro Savings and Loan.

Meet Job Hunt Helper Ben Howe! During March & April, CCV student intern Ben Howe will help library patrons use computer technology for job and career-related tasks. Stop by for help exploring online career and education tools, finding resume prep tools, and completing online applications. Make an appointment with Ben at the Reference Desk: (802) 254-5290 x109, or by emailing him at jobhuntbml@gmail.com.

He’ll also provide drop-in help on a first-come, first-served basis during his regular library hours: Tuesday evenings, 5:00-8:00 and Thursday afternoons, 1:00-4:00. Feel free to call ahead for info on his likely availability. 

Hi there! We at BS&L are refreshing our blog, beginning with a good piece on a mail scam that a few of our customers have fallen victim to.  Please take a moment and read:

Rotary International, along with its various clubs throughout the world, has established January as Rotary Awareness Month. 



Greg Worden, Brattleboro Rotary Club president, said, “A lot of people don’t know what Rotary International does. We want to get the word out.”



One of the biggest focuses of the organization is working to eliminate polio. The club has worked closely with World Health Organization (WHO) and the Gates Foundation in this effort. 



“We pretty much have polio eliminated except for two or three countries,” Worden said. 



The Brattleboro Rotary Club bestowed the fourth annual “Norm Kuebler Four-Way Test Award” upon The Works Bakery Cafe at the club’s weekly meeting on January 14, 2015.

The award honors the late Norm Kuebler, who was a past president of the club, a local businessman, and a longtime community volunteer. Kuebler died unexpectedly at the age of 63 in April 2010.

Kuebler was a strong proponent of Rotary International’s code of ethics, called the “Four-Way Test,” which asks, “Of the things we think, say, or do: Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned?”

In this spirit, the Brattleboro Rotary Club each year recognizes a local business that best exemplifies these values.

Are you looking to start or grow your business in 2016? Community Capital of Vermont is a nonprofit small and micro business lender, with loans ranging in size from $1,000 to $100,000. CCVT specializes in providing loans to business owners who lack the collateral or credit history to qualify for traditional bank loans.

Loan proceeds can be used for working capital, to purchase equipment or inventory, or to refinance debt.

On Wednesday, January 13, at 6:30pm, the Community Development Action Team of the West Brattleboro Association will host the first ever BizUp West B! This will take place in the center conference room at 55 Marlboro Road.  (The building with Central Appliance on one corner.)

Connect, Collaborate and Innovate! BizUp events intend to connect our talented local business owners and organizational leaders with one another, providing the possibility of sharing resources, supporting collaboration and sparking innovation.

I tried to order a final gift online on Monday and my BS&L card was rejected by the web site. The site told me to re-enter my info, so I did, and it gave me the same error.

I had been doing this quite easily for the last few weeks, with items of similar prices, so I knew it wasn’t my card. I assumed the web site had errors.

So, while I liked the price and location of the original store in New York, I went to a different site in a different location and it worked. I ordered my item without a problem from a different place in Tennessee.

Unfortunately, after ordering, that store owner called me to tell me he was out of stock and didn’t expect a replacement until September.

BRATTLEBORO – Governor Peter Shumlin, U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy, U.S. Congressman Peter Welch, and local officials joined Norm Schneeberger, President and CEO of G.S. Precision, to break ground on a $17 million expansion that will bring 100 new jobs to Brattleboro in the next few years. The event capped nearly eight months of work by G.S. Precision, Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation, the Agency of Commerce and Community Development, the Vermont Economic Development Authority (VEDA), and the Town of Brattleboro to ensure that the company expanded its business in Brattleboro and not elsewhere.

“This project has been a team effort to combine federal, state, and local resources to retain and create great jobs in Brattleboro,” said Governor Shumlin. “This is the kind of public-private partnership that will help ensure Windham County’s economic future.”