‘It is a captive audience’
Valley News Correspondent The instant, cost effective and far reaching impact of internet advertising, including websites and social media platforms, have dramatically affected traditional advertising revenues — but not in all sectors.The simple sign, used for centuries whether on a storefront or by the road, still remains an effective way of reaching customers, even as digital advertising and all its 21st century applications that...
‘They want their kitchen to be grand’
Valley News Correspondent Last year, the National Kitchen and Bathroom Association said 70% of homeowners named their kitchens and bathrooms as the spaces they would most likely remodel. According to industry analysts who study home renovation trends, remodeling expenditures were projected to continue to grow by at least 10%.The range of costs for a full kitchen remodel is quite broad, but the minimum is around $25,000 and can rise to...
Basing a business on self-care
Valley News Correspondent WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — Harnessing the power of natural ingredients is Kirsten Connor’s focus at Flourish Beauty Lab, her store where she makes and sells body care products suitable for those with sensitive skin. Connor has seen an increase in demand for her products as more people turn to natural ingredients for body care products. Free Verse Farm in Chelsea has seen a similar demand and both companies expect...
Heat pumps are here to stay
For Vital Communities Imagine a refrigerator that increased threefold anything you put in it. Nice thought. But what sort of device multiplies by three what’s put into it? Heat pumps do. Every BTU — or British thermal unit — of electricity used by a heat pump produces three BTUs of heat, or thermal energy. That’s 300% efficiency. Compare that with 90% or lower efficiency of heaters using fossil fuels, wood or electric resistance. This...
Finding ways to be energy efficient
Valley News Correspondent Kim Quirk, branch manager at ReVision Energy in Enfield, studies sustainability and energy efficiency. In 2009, she started Energy Emporium, a business that helped people move towards energy efficient, fossil fuel free homes. Quirk merged her business with ReVision Energy in 2019 and continues to provide the Upper Valley community with services such as solar panel installation, renewable energy products and...
‘Being able to solve issues every day’
Valley News Correspondent For decades, the trades have seemed like an unconventional career path for women and the statistics back that up: According to a 2021 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data report, only 1.7% of electricians in the country are women. Undeterred by the statistics, two female electricians from the Upper Valley have found joining the trades to be a smart and rewarding career choice. Both women described what it’s...
‘We still need tradespeople’
Valley News Correspondent BRADFORD, Vt. — Garret Girard decided early on to pursue a career in the trades. For Marc Tetreault, the decision came a little later in life. Now both men have full-time jobs in their chosen field while enrolled in the four-year apprenticeship program for plumbing at Vermont Technical College in Randolph as they work toward becoming licensed as journeyman plumbers. “I was in the flooring industry from 2013...
Is wood heat still good heat?
For Vital Communities Here in northern New England, wood heat is in our DNA. We live by that old “saw”: “Wood heats you four times: when you cut it, when you split it, when you stack it, and when you burn it.” But now we’re also being warmed by climate change — which is caused in large part by combustion, including of wood. In light of this fact, can wood heat still be considered good heat? The argument against wood heat starts with...
‘It was this mysterious thing’
Valley News Correspondent STAFFORD — Jeffrey Gale was working as a naturalist in New Hampshire when a couple of books by Eric Sloane — Seasons of America’s Past and Reverence for Wood — inspired him in a way that led to a livelihood as a basket maker. From his first basket nearly 40 years ago, Gale, 69, has made baskets in a traditional way, harvesting most of the wood for his baskets on his property and using only hand tools. He...
