VEC Monthly News Blog
January 2016 

Great things coming for 2016!


With the beginning of 2016 just upon us and a whole year ahead of us, it is an exciting time in Vermont! First, Happy New Year to all! It is time to recoup from the holiday season and organize our desks to get things done in 2016! Second, we want to let you know that this is the first of 12 in our new series of article/blog entries/posts (whatever you'd like to call it these days), to provide readers of our e-newsletter information on the latest and greatest in environmental and other pertinent news. Topics could be about urban soils, bio digesters, groundwater, or industrial hygiene. We hope you find these beneficial!

In our last e-newsletter we asked you all to SAVE THE DATE for our FIFTH ANNUAL Water Quality Conference on June 8, 2016 at the Vermont Technical College. We have seen several positive things happen since the August 2015 release of the EPA's TMDL, for example, the formation of the Connecticut River Farmers' Watershed Alliance (CRFWA), a new farmer led regional initiative that will work to sustain the environmental health of the Connecticut River watershed. We are discussing how to broaden our conference scope and focus on different sources statewide, as well as to discuss regulatory issues for planners, but are still in our preliminary planning stages for the conference. More details will be out soon, so in the meantime please mark your calendars to discuss this important issue.

Also in our last e-news was a mention of our long time Board President, Jill Michaels, 
VEC Board thanks Jill
Michaels for her service to
VEC at 2015 Annual Meeting. Pictured, l to r, Miles Waite, President, Jill Michaels, & Tom Broido, Treasurer.
stepping down as President of the VEC. Jill will be replaced by the new President, Miles Waite. In December we also held our election of officers. We would like to welcome Dan Voisin from Stone Environmental and Ron Shems of Diamond and Robinson, PC to our board! We would also like to congratulate Shaun Fielder of VT Rural Water Association for being named Board Vice President and thank Michael Jordan of Stone Environmental for his years of service on the VEC BOD.

At our Board of Directors Retreat in October 2015 we identified some of the initiatives that VEC would like to take on in 2016. Increasing membership was definitely a priority. In 2016, so far, we have welcomed new member  companies, Diamond & Robinson, P.C.; KAS, Inc. & Lamoille 
2015 Board of Directors Retreat
Economic Development Corporation! As with every membership organization, strength is in numbers! We want to make sure we are offering benefits of membership that interest you and your business. If you have a few minutes and can take a brief survey that can help to ensure that we are providing you with useful content via our conferences, e-newsletters, and more. 


Please take this brief VEC MEMBERS survey here. Not a member, or not a member anymore? We want your feedback too! Access the non-member survey here.

Through advocacy, education and networking VEC supports business, government, and education to promote the economic development of Vermont's environmental business sector. We as a group sensed that we were missing the mark on the educational component of our mission and collectively wanted to do something about it in 2016.   Kurt Muller, P.E.  is spearheading an effort to offer Vermont universities and colleges the opportunity to host environmental career panel discussions.  The panels will be comprised of VEC board members with diverse backgrounds and professions within the environmental sector.  They will provide students with a better understanding of the different opportunities in the environmental field regardless of degree focus and hear firsthand from prominent environmental professionals in Vermont how their career paths evolved.  The panels will also give students advice on how best to market themselves to potential employers and will allow students an opportunity to ask questions. Stay tuned for more information on this project!

We hope that you will join us at the State House in Montpelier for our Legislative Breakfast on February 5, 2016! Special thanks to Geotech Environmental Equipment, Inc., Community Investments, and Waite-Heindel Environmental Management for sponsoring this year's breakfast.
GeoTech logo Waite Heindel Logo

Stay warm out there and look out for our February issue of the VEC Monthly News Blog, which will be focused on Urban Soils (topic subject to change).

~The VEC Board of Directors
VEC Board Members Govern and Lead
Miles Waite, VEC President,  Waite-Heindel Environmental Management, Exec. Comm.
Shaun Fielder, VEC Vice President,  Vermont Rural Water Association, Exec. Comm.
Melissa Levy, VEC Secretary,  Community Roots, Exec. Comm.
Tom Broido, VEC Treasurer,  ATC Group Services, Exec. Comm.
Jill Michaels,  Community Investments
Dan Voisin,  Stone Environmental
Joan Richmond-Hall, Ph.D.,  Vermont Technical College
Joseph Hayes,  Environmental Compliance Services
Curt Carter,  Greater Burlington Industrial Corporation
Geoff Hand,  Dunkiel Saunders Elliott Raubvogel & Hand
Peter Murray,  Geotech Environmental Equipment
Jack Byrne,  Middlebury College
Michael Stafford,  Staff Sterling Management
Susan McMahon,  Windham Regional Commission
Kurt Muller,  The Johnson Company
Ron Shems,  Diamond & Robinson, PC
William Scott Buckley,  ENPRO Services, Inc.
Martha Roy,  The Verterre Group/Subterra Locating Services
Jared Duval,  Vermont Department of Economic Development
Since 2000, VEC brings businesses, educational institutions and state and U.S. government officials together to make Vermont a leader in the green economy. VEC promotes growth and supports economic development in Vermont's environmental business sector through networking, information sharing and special projects.

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