Spring is sugaring season in Vermont and this year that means Audubon Vermont's Bird-Friendly Maple project seems to be in the news everywhere.

"Bird-friendly maple certification catches on with producers" was the lead on CBS-affiliate WCAX-TV Channel 3 News on April 2nd. Adam Sullivan talked with long-time maple producers in the Buck family as well as Steve Hagenbuch, manager of the BFM program, about their partnership to protect the sugarbush as a habitat for birds while producing award-winning maple syrup. Civil Eats and the Addison County Independent also covered the increase in the maple producers and sugarbush acreage involved in the Bird-Friendly Maple program.

Judith Newman interviewed Spring Lake Ranch's Director of Admissions & Outreach Rachel Stark for an AARP article about national "failure to launch" treatment programs for young adults, including the work done at the Ranch.

Everyone likes to receive good news mail and that was certainly the case the first week of February here at Marketing Partners. The team was excited to open this month’s edition of Business People Vermont and read the thoughtful article by PhylNewbeck onMarketing Partners’ president Pat Heffernan.

Business People Vermont was celebrating the Vermont women business owners and operators they had previously profiled many years earlier. In Pat’s case, that was 20 years ago, and she eloquently explains, “What we do hasn’t changed, why we do it hasn’t changed, who we do it for hasn’t changed, but the way we do it has changed.”

Marketing Partners, Inc. announces the addition of Karen Wilkinson to its team as a graphic design and marketing specialist. In this role, Karen will develop an overall campaign look and feel for clients, plus wire frames, website graphics (including infographics), print, digital and broadcast graphics. She brings over 20 years’ experience in the design, marketing and advertising industry, and is excited to find effective, creative solutions for each and every client brief.

Karen received a Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design from Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga, Australia. She has brought her Aussie accent all the way to beautiful Vermont, and enjoys many of the outdoor pursuits on offer with her husband and two teenagers.

Chittenden Solid Waste District (CSWD) and the State of Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation have teamed up to promote recycling awareness.

The campaign, Recycle Like You Live Here, provides three easy steps to recycle properly in Vermont.

1. Learn what goes in Vermont blue recycling bins
2. Learn the blue bin recycling DOs and DON'Ts
3. Ask your waste district, town, or hauler what else you can recycle

C.J. Spirito, Head of Rock Point School, was interviewed by Lake Champlain Chamber of Commerce President Tom Torti on Channel 17 public access recently to discuss the impact of #RockPointSchool in our Burlington community and the academic options for youth who learn differently.

Our own Hiro Soga offered his commentary at the Burlington stop on Facebook's tour of smaller cities. ABC-TV Channel 22 captured the action.

"To me, Facebook is just Mark Zuckerberg, but these guys are coming out here to help promote their platform," Soga said. "I know they've gotten a lot of backlash recently, but I think this is something good that will help instill a little bit more security or trust, especially with smaller markets like Burlington."

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For the fifth year in a row, Heidi Clute, founder and Managing Partner of Clute Wealth Management, joined Road Pitch 2018, a multi-day motorcycle trip around Vermont as one of the “business bikers” with investing, entrepreneurial/business and business advisory experience who ride together and stop in small towns where “Local Organizers” have organized a pitch session for entrepreneurs to pitch their business ideas to the group.

The 2018 event was scheduled for Monday, July 30th to Thursday, August 2nd, with one finalist selected at each of eight stops and a final winner selected in October. A record number of women business owners pitched at this year's event.

Vermont Coffee Company publicly announced becoming the nation’s first 100% renewable biogas-powered coffee roastery in May 2018 — but this change has been a long time coming! Since founding Vermont Coffee Company in 2000, Paul Ralston has been searching for renewable energy sources for roasting coffee, which traditionally consumes high volumes of energy during the roasting process.

Marketing Partners helped Paul and the VCC team get out the word about the big news through a multi-media news announcement and landing page that was picked up by numerous regional, local and  major trade publications.

VPR’s Vermont Edition hosted a discussion about the newly recognized ‘Gaming Disorder’ diagnosis and Rachel Stark, director of admissions and outreach at Spring Lake Ranch, shared her expertise.

Rachel described how the Ranch staff help residents who have Gaming Disorder, which was recognized earlier this year by the World Health Organization. Limiting time on the computer, prohibiting cell phone use, and encouraging involvement in other offered activities at the residential mental health treatment community are just a few of the many tactics used by the Ranch.