VBSR Vermont Businesses for
Social Responsibility
 Vermont Businesses...Vermont Values
January 2012 
In This Issue
VBSR Marketplace
VBSR Bookshelf
VBSR Solo Circles
VBSR Legislative Reception
VBSR Events
VBSR Public Policy
Join the Team!
2012 Terry Ehrich Nominations
Buy Local Coupon Book
VT Health Care
VBSR Local Matters
VBSR Member News
E-News Sponsor
Interrobang Design Collaborative

INTERESTED IN SPONSORING VBSR'S NEWSLETTER? E-mail [email protected]
or call 802/862-8347 to secure a space today.
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VBSR Marketplace
an online business-to-business marketplace using trade dollars valued the same as cash

 

Member Offer
From
  Clean Green Sanitation
Roll Off Containers
We deliver a container and you load it yourself. Roll offs are beneficial for household clean outs, roofing, siding, construction debris, etc.
100% Trade
Clean Green Sanitation
~~~~~~~~~~
Member Request

From
 Vermont Sustainable Exchange
We need help with our blog, twitter, facebook, and platforms we aren't even on yet! Estimate of 5-8 hours per month in trade.
100% Trade
Vermont Sustainable Exchange
To Activate Your Marketplace Account and start buying & selling with VBSR members, click here
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VBSR Bookshelf

  The Transition Companion 

by Rob HopkinsThe Transition Companion
 
VBSR Bookshelf
brought to you by
 Chelsea Green Publishing
Andrea CohenHere's to a Prosperous New Year !
Wishing you all much success and good fortune in 2012. VBSR plans to bring some new and some improved programs and services to our growing membership and we look forward to your involvement.  Please make sure to read this monthly e-news letter, and check the website and facebook page for updates in between. 

This month we are pleased to announce that we are sponsoring a "Smart Business Wednesday" radio show on WDEV. The show will air live from 1-2 pm and will be produced and hosted by Equal Time Radio. You can listen in on 96.1 FM/550 AM. We plan to have lively topics and guests that will highlight socially responsible business practices and sustainable economic development policies. Tune in, call in (877-291-8255) and participate! See a clip from the first show on VBSRTube:

 View our videos on YouTube

Or you can listen in full to the episode here.

We work to continuously add value to the work you do and we encourage and challenge our members to improve their socially responsible business practices. We hope you add to your New Year's resolution list a commitment to engage even more with VBSR in the new year. Please call or contact me if you want to discuss ways to do that. 

Sincerely, Andrea Cohen
VBSR Executive Director
circle VBSR Solo Circles
 
January Burlington Solo Circle
Tuesday, January 31, 2012; 4:30-6:00 pm 
VBSR/Seventh Generation Offices, 60 Lake Street, Burlington, VT 
Discuss Green Marketing Legal Issues with Brian Dunkiel, Esq. of Dunkiel Saunders.

February Montpelier Solo Circle 
Tuesday, February 21, 2012; 4:30-6:00 pm
Kellogg Hubbard Library, Montpelier, VT
Basic business financial management for solo and small businesses
Presented by Priscilla Gilbert, J.Cole Financial Managers

For more information or to RSVP, contact Becky at [email protected]
 

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VBSR Annual Legislative Reception
Thursday, February 2, 2012; 5:00-7:00 pm
Montpelier- City Center, 89 Main Street, Montpelier, VT
Please join VBSR, members, and Legislators for good company, conversation, and hors d'oeuvres. No cost to attend. Cash Bar. For more information, please contact Dan at [email protected] or 862-8347.

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VBSR Networking and Educational Events
 
February Networking Get-Together Hosted by hmc2 Advertising 
Thursday, February 23, 2012; 5:30-7:30 p.m.
hmc2 Advertising, 65 Millet Street, Richmond, VT
For decades, hmc2 has been helping some of Vermont's most iconic brands be heard and seen by their respective target audiences, both in the state and out. Come meet the people who make it happen and maybe even learn a little about what's hot in marketing for 2012.
Sponsorships available - deadline Monday, February 6. Contact Rita at [email protected].

March Networking Get-Together Hosted by National Life Group
Wednesday, March 21, 2012; 5:30-7:30 p.m.
National Life Group, 1 National Life Drive, Montpelier, VT

April Networking Get-Together Co-Hosted by Sovernet Communications and the Vermont Foodbank
Tuesday, April 17, 2012; 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Sovernet Communications, 5 Canal Street, Bellows Falls, VT 

 

VBSR 2012 Terry Ehrich Award Ceremony and Spring Conference

SAVE THE DATES! 

 

Terry Ehrich Award Ceremony

Monday evening, May 14, 2012

Location to be announced, Burlington, VT

We are now accepting nominations for the 2012 Terry Ehrich Award for Excellence in Socially Responsible Business. To learn more about the award or to make a nomination please visit the Terry Ehrich Award page.  

 

Spring Conference 

Tuesday, May 15, 2012; 7:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m.

UVM Davis Center, Burlington, VT 

Save the date, send a workshop proposal, sponsor the conference!

For more information, please visit the conference web page

 

For more information on VBSR's and VBSR members' events, please visit our events pages...
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VBSR Public Policy
The Legislature hit the ground running in January for the second half of the session. Lawmakers immediately began tackling issues such as the budget, health care reform, clean energy and Irene reconstruction.

VBSR is closely following several of the proposals in the Statehouse this year:

*    House lawmakers are working on a bill setting up the Health Insurance Exchanges and transitioning Vermont to a universal health care system.
*    Senate lawmakers will soon consider a resolution calling on the U.S. Congress to amend the Constitution to reverse the Citizens United Supreme Court decision.
*    House and Senate lawmakers are working on several green energy and climate change bills, including ones that would expand the Standard Offer and create a Renewable Portfolio Standard.

We are also sponsoring a bill to expand the type of Vermont companies that can become Benefit Corporations, a special type of company that puts profits on the same level with community and people.

I'll continue updating VBSR members on Statehouse news throughout the session every Monday morning in our weekly e-mail policy update.
-Daniel Barlow, Public Policy Manager
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Join the Team?
VBSR is looking to hire a Membership and Special Projects Manager.  Please pass the job announcement on to capable and talented people who would be a good fit with VBSR. The job description can be found here.
Application Deadline: February 7th, 2012
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VBSR Now Accepting 2012 Terry Ehrich Award Nominations
Terry Ehrich - Who do you know?
VBSR's annual award ceremony honors an outstanding individual of a member company with the Terry Ehrich Award. Named for the late owner of Hemmings Motor News and founder of the First Day Foundation, the Terry Ehrich Award is given annually to a person who exemplifies Terry's commitment to the environment, workplace and community. The award will be presented at the VBSR Annual Terry Ehrich Award Event on the evening of May 14, 2012, the night before the Spring Conference.

Nominations will be judged on four criteria:  workplace environment, political environment, social environment and natural environment. Self-nominations are accepted and encouraged. Any VBSR member at a for-profit business is eligible to be nominated. (Employees of not-for-profits or public sector agencies as well as past award winners and sitting members of the nominating committee are not eligible.)

Deadline for nominations is March 2, 2012.

Please click here to fill out the nomination form. For more information, please cal Becky at 802-862-8347 or email [email protected].
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The 2011/2012 Buy Local Coupon Book is a hot commodity!
2011-2012 Local First Coupon Book You may have noticed that levels of 2011/2012 Buy Local Coupon Books for sale are dwindling. Many distributors are sold out, but click here for an up-to-date list. Also, if your child's school, team or club is looking for a great spring fundraiser, contact Amy at Red Barn Fundraising and she can set them up to sell the coupon books.
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VT Health Reform and Your Business
Gov. Shumlin's administration released H.559, its health care reform bill to the Legislature on Jan. 17th. The bill details how the Administration would like to set up the federally mandated Health Insurance Exchanges and begin to transition Vermont to a single-payer system.

The 87-page bill is now in the House Health Care Committee and VBSR is looking at the proposal very closely. At first glance, there is a lot to like about the bill. Among the proposed changes are:

*    Allowing businesses with 100 or less employees to buy insurance through the Exchange.
*    Merging the individual and small group insurance markets.
*    Giving some judicial powers and statewide budget review powers to the Green Mountain Care Board.
*    Starts a medical care payment reform pilot program.
*    Directs the State to begin seeking the necessary waivers to transition to a single-payer health care system.

VBSR is always looking for business leaders willing to talk to their lawmakers and other state officials about the need for health care reform. If you are interested, please contact VBSR Public Policy Manager Daniel Barlow at [email protected].
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Local First Vermont Local Matters   
Tune in here for current news about Local First Vermont and other local economies features...

Mad River Food Hub Celebrates Grand Opening
First Small Food Processing Facility Serving Local Farms and Value-Added Producers
Waitsfield, VT-January 17th 2012 - Vermont's first Small Scale Food Processing facility has officially opened the doors to local farmers and food producers in Central Vermont. Governor Peter Shumlin attended the ribbon cutting at the facility on Tuesday, January 17th.
   Livestock and vegetable producers now have another way to add value to their products and tap into the growing local food movement in Vermont. The Mad River Food Hub is the first of its kind fully equipped, licensed vegetable and meat processing facility in New England. Located in Waitsfield, Vermont, it provides farmers and food producers with a wide array of commercial scale meat and vegetable processing equipment, as well as on-�-site storage and distribution services to local market outlets.
Read more here...

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VBSR Member News
LineSync Architecture Honored by American Institute of Architects - VT Chapter
LineSync Architecture AIA-VT award The Wilmington firm of LineSync Architecture received one of two Honor Awards for Cattail Cottage on Lake Bomoseen. "Simple, imaginative solution within the constraints of the existing small house plan. There were few opportunities given the site and setting - the end result is quite wonderful.  One main gesture, attention to detail, and sustainable. The original houses' plan was maximized and improved by this intervention."  AIA VT 2011 Honor Awards Jury
Read more...

Jeffrey Hollender Named NYU Stern's Citi Leadership & Ethics Program Fellow
Jeffrey Hollender Marking its ninth year, NYU Stern's Citi Leadership & Ethics Program appointed Jeffrey Hollender, co-founder of Seventh Generation, one of the country's leading providers of natural products, as its 2011-2012 Distinguished Citi Fellow in Leadership and Ethics. Through its fellow appointments, the Citi Program enlists business leaders who exemplify how business can address some of the world's most intractable problems, including poverty, homelessness and environmental concerns, and stimulate economic growth.
Read more...

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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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Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility
60 Lake Street, Suite 3G
Burlington, Vermont 05401
802/862-8347
www.vbsr.org
[email protected]
Membership Information