The Environmental Protection Agency has recognized the Hanover Co-op Food Stores for reducing refrigerant emissions 82.9 percent since 2011, the greatest improvement among the 10,800 grocery stores across the United States that participate in the EPA’s GreenChill Partnership, which focuses on emission reduction. According to the EPA, an average grocery store can leak up to 1,000 pounds of refrigerant gas into the atmosphere each year, contributing to pollution and ozone depletion. The GreenChill Partnership encourages grocers to focus on reducing leaks, which has economic benefits for the businesses as well as the environment. “Before we joined GreenChill it was not uncommon to have emission rates of 50 percent across our organization, downtime of days, and related costs exceeding $300,000 per year in repairs and refrigerant,” Hanover Co-op facilities manager Tom Guillette said in a news release. Over the past five years, the Co-op has invested in refrigeration system upgrades and repairs to increase efficiency. The effort resulted in a 77.4 percent reduction in emissions between 2015 and 2016, for which the EPA also recognized the organization.
North Country Smokehouse recently began operating in its new 65,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility in the Syd Clarke Industrial Park off Grissom Lane in Claremont. “We will be creating a lot of efficiencies in this facility,” said Mike Satzow, who opened Butcher Block on Washington Street in 1972 and whose grandfather Abraham Satzow began selling meat on the streets of Claremont in 1912. The new plant will allow North Country Smokehouse to triple its production capacity, said Satzow, who sold North Country Smokehouse in 2015 to the Canadian meat processor Les Specialites Prodal. Part of the deal included an agreement to build the new facility in Claremont. Les Specialites Prodal’s president, Serge Breton, said the Claremont building represents an investment of about $25 million. “This will allow the company to meet a growing demand in the U.S. for the company’s smoked meats,” Breton said in a telephone interview from his office in Quebec. “We expects to double our sales (in Claremont) to about $50 million in the next three or four years.” Production equipment includes a half-million dollar bacon slicer that uses an electronic eye to cut the product with the optimal ratio of lean to fat; two computer-controlled tumblers that can hold 10,000 pounds of meat; injector machines that infuse the meats with maple syrup, salts, sugars and natural curing agents; a sausage stuffing machine; and chillers with 100 tons of refrigeration to cool the product down quickly.
The co-working space in The Engine Room has moved out of Freight House Hall and around the corner into a 2,000-square-foot space at 240 S. Main St. in White River Junction. Now renamed White River CoWorks and managed by Ryan Munn, a former finance manager at White River Toyota, the co-working space continues to offer the same amenities as the prior location — Wi-Fi, work stations, conference rooms, printers, projector screens, coffee and snacks — but without the potential distraction of an alcoholic beverage bar. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The space is closed on weekends. White River CoWorks offers both day passes ($6-$10) and monthly passes ($150-$200) as well as “dedicated desks” ($300 a month) in the communal co-working space, located at the side entrance (marked by a yellow door) of the building formerly occupied by lawn equipment supplier L.F. Trottier & Sons, now located in Hartland and South Royalton. Munn said co-working space owner Mike Davidson decided the mash-up of different functions at The Engine Room, in the space adjacent to the Elixir restaurant, weren’t “conducive” to a communal workspace environment. Since Davidson opened The Engine Room last fall, the space has evolved into an “events” venue and now also hosts the Club Diesel Sports Bar & Lounge, a recently opened nightclub. Munn, whose job description is “curator” at White River CoWorks, said the private office spaces have already been rented out by a publisher, a computer programmer and project manager, a video editor and the administrative office of a commercial and home painter.
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center plans to open a 24-hour pharmacy at Centerra Marketplace in the former Lake Sunapee Bank space at the south end of the building. D-H has submitted a building permit application to the Lebanon planning office outlining the $420,000 “interior fit-up” and hospital officials hope the pharmacy will be open by late winter or early spring. Unlike the current pharmacy inside the D-H complex, the new pharmacy will also process medication prescriptions ordered by providers not affiliated with D-H and be open to the general public. The D-H Centerra pharmacy’s hours are expected to align with those of the Hanover Co-Op’s Centerra location (7 a.m. to 9 p.m.), with a pharmacy technician on the night shift to serve the 24-hour drive-up window.
The Hannaford supermarket is adding freezer capacity and parking spaces at its store on Route 12A in West Lebanon. The $140,000 project calls for adding a 366-square-foot freezer unit attached at the northeast corner of the building, in addition to making room for 34 more parking spaces on top of the 222 the supermarket already has, according to a building permit on file with Lebanon’s planning and zoning office. Although the additional parking spaces were approved in the original 2010 site plan for the project, they “were not constructed at the time with the understanding that they would be constructed if determined necessary after the store opened and was operating,” paperwork filed in connection with the permit application noted. “Based on the past several years that the store has been operating it has been determined that these spaces are needed to accommodate customer and employee parking,” the paperwork said.
The Cohase Chamber of Commerce currently is seeking nominations from the public for its annual Business of the Year and Citizen of the Year awards, which will be presented at the chamber’s annual meeting on Jan. 22. The deadline for submissions is Nov. 30. Nomination forms and instructions are available at http://www.cohase.org (click on the “Nominations” button at the top of the screen) or by contacting the chamber at cohasechamber@gmail.com or 802-518-0030. The Cohase Chamber of Commerce serves Newbury, Bradford and Fairlee in Vermont and Haverhill, Orford and Piermont in New Hampshire.
The owners of Claremont Spice and Dry Goods on Tremont Street have opened a second business in an adjacent storefront that most recently was home to a Thyme to Cook. The Kitchen Drawer stocks of variety of mostly American-made kitchenware and gadgets, including bakeware, cookie cutters, salt and pepper shakers, graters, cutlery and more in a roughly 250-square-foot space.
A new sports card and sports memorabilia shop is getting ready to open in the former Hirsch’s clothing store building on Hanover Street in Lebanon. The Bullpen is an extension of the Twin States Sports Card and Collectibles Show that runs every month at the Upper Valley Senior Center and which is run by Jim Younce and Brian Pike. Younce and Pike, co-chefs at the Harvest Hill retirement community, have been trading sports cards both online and at collector shows for several years but think the recent rebound in the card trading market will support the opening of a storefront despite the challenges faced by traditional retailers in the online shopping age. Younce said one of the things that attracted them to the Hirsch building was building owner Ed Hirsch, whose family-owned store occupied the location for decades until Hirsch ended the work apparel side last year focus on the uniform business. “We had a long conversation with him. He’s just such a genuinely good guy,” Younce said. Hirsch has had the building, which has six apartments on the second floor, listed for sale and said potential buyers look at the building weekly, “but we are nowhere near a sale.”
The Crossroads Country Cafe in White River Junction has been sold by its owner, Randy Jacobs, to Vincent Cantore, owner of Cantore’s Pizza in the Glen Road Plaza shopping center in West Lebanon. Jacobs, who bought the Crossroads Country Cafe 14 years ago, is the owner of the Claremont Country Cafe. Cantore, who opened Cantore’s Pizza six years ago, said the restaurant will be renamed Cantore’s Crossroads Cafe. “We are going to make some minor changes here and there but otherwise keep it a good quality breakfast and lunch business,” he said in a telephone interview. Among the changes will be a “tweak” in the hours — from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m., seven days a week. The cafe used to be open until 3 p.m., but Cantore said “there isn’t much business” in that last hour. The menu will remain the mostly same, he said, but desserts will return and cupcakes will be added. “Cupcakes,” he said, “are technically a small dessert.”
Janet and Jim Proctor, owners of Proctor’s General Store in Enfield Center, are selling the Route 4A store that has been in their family for nearly 70 years to Bill and Emily Henry. The sale price was not disclosed. The two-story, 2,500-square-foot building was last valued at $325,400, according to assessing records. The Henrys recently moved from the Midwest to the apartment above the store. Bill Henry is an Enfield native.
John and Janine Putnam, of Thistle Hill Farm in North Pomfret, were honored by Broomfield, Colo.-based Horizon Organic for their commitment to organic agriculture and quality milk production. The Putnams were awarded the National Quality Award, which recognizes the Horizon farmer partner who produces the highest-quality organic milk in Horizon’s milk supply. The awards were presented last month in conjunction with the annual Farm Aid concert in Burgettstown, Pa. The Putnams have been farming since 1986, and their farm has been certified organic since 1995. They now have 20 milking Jersey cows on their farm and their children, Lindsey, 30, Andrew, 29, Ian, 27, and Caleb, 22, have at some point all worked on the farm. Ian remains actively involved in the farm as a full-time milker. “This National Quality Award is really thanks to Ian,” Janine Putnam said in a news release from Horizon Organic.
Green Mountain Hypnosis has moved to a new location at 85 Mechanic St., Building H, in Lebanon. “Our new location allows for better accessibility,” Karen Gray, certified hypnotist, said in a news release. Gray opened Green Mountain Hypnosis, formerly located on Buck Road in Hanover, in 2016 after a 10 year career in nursing. She is certified in pain management using hypnosis but also works with clients on phobias and fears, as well as smoking cessation and weight management. For more information, visit http://www.greenmountainhypnosis.com or call 802-566-0464.
Chippers Inc., a commercial and residential tree service in Woodstock, recently renewed its three-year residential-commercial accreditation in accordance with Tree Care Co. accreditation standards put forth by the Tree Care Industry Association. Accredited companies must re-apply every three years so the association can verify that the company continues to meet the standards of the accreditation and employs best business practices. The accreditation process involves an independent audit of the company’s insurance, licenses, customer service practices and operating standards. The company must also show evidence of formal employee training, adherence to safety and quality standards, compliance with industry standards, and employment of best business practices.
BE Fit Physical Therapy has opened its second clinic at the Upper Valley Aquatic Center in White River Junction. Physical therapists Dave Barlow and Eric Ellingson opened the business in 2009 at 45 Lyme Road in Hanover. The company now employs seven physical therapists and three staff members.
The Upper Valley Aquatic Center in White River Junction and River Street Pharmacy in Springfield were among the Vermont employers named by the Governor’s Committee on the Employment of People with Disabilities as 2017 “Spirit of the ADA” Award winners. The awards are given to employers who reflect the spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act in their employment practices including recruitment, outreach and equal accessibility in the application, interviewing and hiring procedures for people with disabilities; use of on-the-job accommodations, modifications and progressive employment methods; and use of accessible physical structures, work stations and equipment.
Two Upper Valley companies will share a portion of $9.9 million in financing approved last quarter by the Vermont Economic Development Authority. Rogers Hill Sugar Maple Farm, in Bradford, received approval for $171,200 in financing through the Vermont Agricultural Credit Corp., VEDA’s agricultural loan program. The financing will help the long-established certified organic maple producer expand from 14,200 taps to more than 26,000 taps. The business will purchase the necessary maple equipment, tanks, and a larger reverse osmosis machine to accommodate the increased production. The Woodstock Farmers Market Inc. received approval for $190,000 in financing to support the construction of a single user net-metering solar project in Sharon. The Vermont State Employees Credit Union also is expected to partially finance the project.
Twin States Storage, at 91 Main St., Claremont, has become a U-Haul dealership, U-Haul Company of New Hampshire Inc. said in a news release. Twin States Storage partners Jerry Santana and David Bonneville will now offer trucks, trailers, towing equipment, moving supplies and in-store pick-up for packing boxes. The business is open seven days a week. For hours and more information, call 603-542-4417 or visit http://www.uhaul.com.
The Lebanon and Claremont locations of Stone Arch Bakery have closed after the state denied the renewal of the cafe-bakery’s meals and rooms tax license. The New Hampshire Department of Revenue denied the renewal of Stone Arch’s license on Aug. 22, according to Shaun Thomas, a field audit leader on the department’s revenue administration staff. Thomas said he couldn’t disclose the reasons for the denial because the proceeding is confidential. Todd Bersaglieri, owner of Stone Arch Bakery, did not respond to messages seeking comment. Within the past couple of weeks signs were posted on the door of both Stone Arch locations that announced, “we are closed today and potentially for a while longer as we try to overcome the effects of a period of slow business. We have always valued your patronage and will try to return things to normal as soon as possible. Thank you.” Hanover book publisher Chip Fleischer, who a couple of years ago acquired the Hanover Street Plaza property where the Lebanon Stone Arch Bakery is located, said recently that he does know when or if the restaurant will reopen. Gene Lattuga, the Cornish developer and owner of the building at 37 Main St. where the Claremont Stone Arch Bakery is located, did not return a message seeking comment.
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Items of interest to the local business community are published in the Business & Money section of the Sunday Valley News and also are collected in Enterprise. Submissions may be sent by email to biznotes@vnews.com.
