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 Vermont Businesses for
Social Responsibility
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Vermont Businesses...Vermont Values
| September 2011
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E-News Sponsors
INTERESTED IN SPONSORING VBSR'S NEWSLETTER? E-mail info@vbsr.org
or call 802/862-8347 to secure a space today.
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Welcome New VBSR Members!
Please visit the full list on our web site. __________________ |
VBSR Marketplace
an online business-to-business marketplace using trade dollars valued the same as cash
Member OfferFrom Sammel Sign CompanySign and Displays We are a full-service sign and design company located in Essex Jct. Producing: Signs (Interior/Exterior), Window Signs & Lettering, Vehicles, Banners, Trade Show Displays. Part Cash/Part Trade Credits. Contact for quote.  ~~~~~~~~~~
Member RequestFrom Montpelier AliveLandscape Tuneup Wanted-before the snow flies! Montpelier Alive maintains all the planters for downtown. Before we replace our summer plantings with mums, we would like a professional landscape designer look at what we have and help us make appropriate choices for next year.  To Activate Your Marketplace Account and start buying & selling with VBSR members, click here__________________ |
VBSR Bookshelf
EcoMind by
Frances Moore Lappé
VBSR Bookshelf
brought to you by
Northshire Bookstore
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 | Brian Dunkiel
VBSR Board Chair |
As this is my first VBSR newsletter note as Chair of the Board, I am extremely proud of all the efforts during the past several weeks VBSR and its members have made to contribute to Irene storm relief and recovery efforts. VBSR businesses continuously aspire to give back to their communities, and the storm relief efforts demonstrate that we take this objective seriously. VBSR has been posting examples of member companies stepping up on the VBSR Facebook page. Please tell us about your businesses' contributions and we will post them.
VBSR is also doing its part to contribute to the relief efforts. Our Executive Director, Andrea Cohen, is serving on the Vermont Irene Flood Relief Fund oversight committee. We have also decided to turn our annual meeting (this Sunday in Richmond) into a Fund fundraiser. Please continue to help support small businesses in flood recovery.
It is examples of VBSR member companies' generosity that helps me maintain my optimism that Vermont communities will recover and thrive. However, at VBSR, we also need to be pragmatic about the health of the economy, considering local, regional, national, and global trends. There is no doubt that the economic and political indicators can be confusing, if not concerning. Nevertheless, I'm convinced that if VBSR stays true to its principles and values, we will continue to achieve important and meaningful successes. This is why one of my top priorities for VBSR this fall is to complete a revised strategic plan for the next five years. The Board made excellent progress at its June annual retreat in revising this document and with some more work, we should have it ready before the end of 2011.
I look forward to serving as the Board Chair and welcome your ideas and feedback for VBSR. Please don't hesitate to contact me.
Brian Dunkiel, Board Chair
Co-founding partner, Dunkiel Saunders Elliott Raubvogel & Hand, PLLC
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VBSR Educational and Networking Events
VBSR September Networking Get-Together hosted by InstrumartWednesday, September 21, 2011; 5:30 - 7:30 pm
Instrumart, 35 Green Mountain Drive, South Burlington, VT
Join us to learn more about this great Vermont company that has been named one of the Best Places to Work in Vermont. We'll talk with them about why their employees are so committed to the company, and you'll get a chance to take a tour of their newly-renovated 14,500 square foot office space! RSVP to Rita at ritab@vbsr.org. More info... VBSR Annual Meeting Picnic and Fundraiser Sunday, September 25, 2011; noon - 4:00 pm West Monitor Barn, 1949 East Main Street, Richmond, VT Please join us this Sunday for our Annual Meeting PIcnic and Fundraiser. We'll start the afternoon with VBSR's 2011 annual meeting and special guest speaker, Alan Newman, and balloons from Dux the Balloon Man and other fun for kids. Enjoy a picnic lunch from City Market and Magnolia Bistro, more local treats from the Cellars at Jasper Hill, Cabot Creamery Co-op, Vermont Bean Crafters, Vermont Smoke and Cure, and Shelburne Orchards. Get a 10-minute chair massage by Innovative Bodywork! Finish the afternoon dancing to the Starline Rhythm Boys. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Vermont Irene Flood Relief Fund. More info and to RSVP... VBSR 2011 Fall Conference Wednesday, November 16, 2011; 7:30 am - 5:30 pm The Grand Summit at Mount Snow, West Dover, VT Don't miss VBSR's largest southern VT event of the year! The conference is your opportunity to learn about the innovative practices of your business peers and to share your own. For details on sponsorship and exhibit opportunities, please see the conference page or contact Rita at ritab@vbsr.org. Stay tuned for full program details and registration information in the coming weeks! For more information on VBSR's and VBSR members' events, please visit our events pages... __________________________________________________________ |
 Local Matters
Study Finds Local Businesses Key to Income Growth
by Stacy Mitchell of the New Rules Project
 The results of a new study suggest that the key to reversing the long-term trend of stagnating incomes in the U.S. lies in nurturing small, locally owned businesses and limiting further expansion and market consolidation by large corporations. Economists Stephan Goetz and David Fleming, both affiliated with Pennsylvania State University and the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development, conducted the study, " Does Local Firm Ownership Matter?" It was published in the journal Economic Development Quarterly. Read more...__________________________________________________________ |
VBSR Member News
ECFiber Goes Live!  ECFiber is a group of 23 towns working to build a community-owned, subscriber-funded Fiber-to-the-Home network to provide phone, television, and ultra-high-speed internet services to 100% of the homes and businesses in the member towns. Having completed its beta testing, and with the Phase I project nearly complete, ECFiber began connecting its first customers on August 23. The Barnard General Store, one of the beta sites, has been offering the experience to customers via WI-FI, and has been finding folks on their doorstep at all hours, trying out the system. "It's been amazing," says Kim Furlong, one of the store's proprietors. "Because so much more of what we do is online, it is truly a joy to reap the reward of high-speed internet. Dial-up, and even satellite, is such a time-robber. Fiber is very different - you can be more efficient, and that is exciting." Read more...
Chroma Celebrates 20th Anniversary Bellows Falls Company Also Celebrates New Office in China and Higher Ranking on Inc. Magazine's 500/5000 List  On its 20th anniversary, employee-owned Chroma Technology in Bellows Falls has a lot to celebrate. The company, which manufactures optical microscope filters and coatings for laboratories all over the world, recently opened a sales office in Xiamen, China. And for the third consecutive year, it has been honored by Inc. Magazine, which released its prestigious Inc. 500/5000 - a list of the nation's fastest-growing private businesses - on August. 23. Read more...
Visit VBSR's News page for all the latest news from members!
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VBSR Mission
Our mission is to foster a business ethic in Vermont that recognizes the opportunity and responsibility of the business community to set a high standard for protecting the natural, human, and economic environments of our citizens.
We are committed to a multiple bottom line approach to business that values people, planet and profit.
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 Contact Us
Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility
60 Lake Street, Suite 3G
Burlington, Vermont 05401
802/862-8347
www.vbsr.org
info@vbsr.org
Membership Information
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