Business

PUBLISHING AND PRINTING IN BRATTLEBORO TODAY
 
Write Action has joined the Friends of Brooks Memorial Library and the Brattleboro Historical Society in researching and promoting Brattleboro’s past heritage and present status as a “book town.”   This current collaboration is focused on both the history of, and identifying and presenting today’s publishing and printing businesses as an important and vibrant part of our community.
 
The Brattleboro publishing and printing collaborative launched its initiative in 2015 with a public meeting that generated ideas about ways to promote the town’s book history and reputation.  Subsequent projects have included the preparation of annotated bibliography about relevant holdings at the Brooks Memorial Library, and a public presentation about the Stephen Daye Press.
 
Additionally, the groups above have joined forces with the Brattleboro Literary Festival, Marlboro College, 118 Elliot and others to better highlight the rich history of the printed word in Brattleboro and environs for locals and visitors alike.  The “Peoples, Places and History of the Written Word in Brattleboro, Vermont” project, which was submitted to the National Endowment for the Humanities for a matching grant opportunity last month, aims to create a strong community focused on words in and around Brattleboro. The collaborative research, public events, and tours envisioned to be created by the Project will enable a more rooted connection to the history and places we share as a community today and stimulate increased tourism to the area.
 
If you are interested in learning more about the current project, please contact brattprintpub@gmail.com.

Job Hunt Helper Danielle Braverman will resume individual consultations for job hunters and career planners on January 24th. Contact the for an appointment, or simply drop by during Danielle’s weekly hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. Danielle’s services are provided through a partnership between the Community College of Vermont and the Vermont Department of Libraries, with funding from the J.

With all of this snow, don’t forget to have your roof cleared from the snow, preventive maintenance that saves a lot of money. If you need any snow Shoveling/Blowing done please give me a call. I have some openings on my schedule and would love to be of service.

Serving the following areas in VT:

Brattleboro. Tyrelle Appleton has joined Vermont Partnership as Interim Director of Marketing for its Vermont African American Heritage Trail Initiative. “Appleton brings crucial expertise in the field of social media to promote the heritage trail to the multicultural marketplace,” notes Curtiss Reed, Jr., executive director of Vermont Partnership for Fairness & Diversity.

Keene, NH – Savings Bank of Walpole (SBW) and the Monadnock Broadcasting Group/KNE-FM are once again teaming up with Douglas Cuddle Toys to support the Salvation Army of Keene’s annual Good Friends campaign — the largest fundraising effort in the Keene area that’s facilitated by outside organizations.

Beginning on Thursday, November 10 and throughout the holiday season, all SBW branches will serve as point-of-sale locations, selling stuffed animals generously donated by Douglas Cuddle Toys for $10 each. The Salvation Army receives 100 percent of the sale proceeds and uses the funds to help the community and those in need. Last year’s campaign raised over $21,000.

Octane AI announces new powerful bots platform for Messenger https://octaneai.com/

Marketwired (press release)

“The company was founded in 2016 by Matt Schlicht, Ben Parr and Leif K-Brooks and is based in San Francisco. Visit Octane AI’s website to sign up for…”

SAVINGS BANK OF WALPOLE EMPLOYEES RECOGNIZED FOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS NATIONALLY AND IN THE COMMUNITY

Keene, NH – Savings Bank of Walpole (SBW) is pleased to announce that a number of employees including Gregg Tewksbury, President and CEO; Mortgage Loan Officers Christine Greenwood and Michelle Hayward and Eric Schlim, Assistant Branch Manager at the Bank’s Marlboro Street location, have been recognized for recent achievements and contributions nationally and in the community.

The Windham Regional Commission (WRC) has released the Request for Proposals for the newly developed Windham County Renewable Energy Grant Program. The Vermont Clean Energy Development Fund awarded $400,000 to the WRC to develop a funding program to support renewable energy projects in Windham County. The program will focus on small-scale projects. Award amounts begin at $10,000 with a maximum of $320,000.

The 4th Annual Southern Vermont Career EXPO will be held on Thursday October 20th between 1:00pm – 5:00pm at the Robert H. Gibson River Garden and the Brooks House Atrium. Each year, the Career Expo brings together local businesses, colleges, and career service providers to promote and support exciting career opportunities right here in Southern Vermont.

WASHINGTON, DC (Sept. 27, 2016) – Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation on behalf to the Southeastern Vermont Economic Development Strategies accepted an award for Excellence in Economic Development for its 2016 project in the category of implementing a Multi-Year Economic Development Program from the International Economic Development Council (IEDC).

The honor was presented at an awards ceremony on Tuesday, Sept. 27, during the IEDC Annual Conference, which was held Sept. 25-28, in Cleveland, OH.

Super Extra Fresh from the Field and Forest: Solving the “Small-Scale Farming” Equation

Is the key to supporting local agriculture simple arithmetic? A group of local technologists and agriculturalists think so. Join the Brattleboro Area Technologists [BAT] and local permaculturists on Thurs., Sept. 15 from 6-7:30 to find out.

On one side of the equation is high-end food service providers who take pride in, and get a marketing edge for, using unique, fresh ingredients. The discerning customer is willing to pay a premium for the experience of something that is rare, has a particular nutritive value, superlative taste, or comes from a place with a particular character (such as Vermont). Such products can sell for hundreds of dollars per pound if delivered fresh.

SAVINGS BANK OF WALPOLE HOSTS CONGRESSWOMAN ANNIE KUSTER AS PART OF ABA’S “TAKE YOUR LAWMAKER TO WORK” INITIATIVE

Keene, NH, – Savings Bank of Walpole was pleased to host Congresswoman Annie Kuster (NH-02) on August 23rd as part of the American Bankers Association’s (ABA) “Take your Lawmaker to Work,” program. During her visit to the Bank, Congresswoman Kuster met SBW employees and customers and also learned more about the Bank’s operations and role as a community partner.

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.