Coupled with State and Federal Funds, New and Expanded Electrification Incentives Will Provide Significant Financial Assistance to Burlingtonians

Burlington, VT – Mayor Miro Weinberger and Burlington Electric Department (BED), joined by partners from Rewiring America, the nation’s leading electrification nonprofit, Key Motors of South Burlington, and the Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA), today announced new and expanded Net Zero Energy incentives and an innovative, on-bill financing program for home weatherization and cold climate heat pumps.

“Congress’s passage of President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act in 2022 represents the most important climate action the federal government has ever taken,” stated Mayor Weinberger, a founding member of Rewiring America’s Mayors for Electrification group and one of the nation’s first mayors to sign the “Electrify Everything” pledge. “It is now up to America’s states and cities to implement this historic bill and make good on its transformative potential. These new and expanded incentives we are announcing today are designed to help our ratepayers make the most of new opportunities flowing from this first-time federal investment. There has never been a better time than 2023 to electrify your home or vehicle, and I encourage all Burlingtonians to take advantage of this robust combination of City, State, and Federal incentives and rebates to ‘electrify everything’ and help us achieve our bold goal of becoming a Net Zero Energy city.”

“Strategic electrification is a key component of achieving Burlington’s Net Zero Energy city goal that keeps more energy dollars in the local economy and reduces greenhouse gas emissions,” stated Darren Springer, General Manager of Burlington Electric Department and member of Rewiring America’s CEOs for Electrification group. “The message today for our customers is that there never has been a better time to switch from fossil fuels to electric vehicles, heat pumps, and other renewably-powered technologies. We also continue to focus on providing enhanced incentives for our low- and moderate-income customers to make these technologies more accessible and affordable.”

BED New and Expanded Rebates Available for 2023

In 2020, BED’s Green Stimulus program launched to boost both the City’s economic recovery from the pandemic and its transition to becoming a Net Zero Energy city. Since the Green Stimulus launch, residential cold climate heat pump installations have increased by approximately 20 times. In December 2021, voters approved the Net Zero Energy Revenue Bond, supporting critical investments in infrastructure projects and liquidity for BED’s incentive programs. For full details of all programs, please visit www.burlingtonelectric.com/rebates.

Program restrictions may apply to the below-listed 2023 incentive levels:

• Heat Pumps: BED continues to offer substantial rebates up to 75 percent of the installed cost on ductless mini-split heat pumps and, new for 2023, is offering a $500 rebate for a second heat pump. Also, BED has introduced a new tier of higher rebates for centrally ducted heat pumps offering up to 75 percent of installed cost for more heating-efficient systems. For more details, please visit www.burlingtonelectric.com/heatpumps.

• Electric Vehicles (EVs) & Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs): Rebates will continue at 2022 levels with increased rebates (to $3,000) for new EVs for low- and moderate-income Burlingtonians.

• Home Car Charging Stations for Pre-Owned EVs: Rebates increased to $900 (from $700) to match rebates for charging new EVs. New and pre-owned PHEV home charger rebates will continue at $700.
• Car Charging Stations for Workplace: Rebates increased to $2,000 (from $1,500) for a Level 2 system and $10,000 for a Level 3 system with a minimum 50 kW output.

• Residential Electric Riding Lawnmowers: Rebates increased to $300 (from $200). Rebates for residential electric push lawnmowers will continue at $100.
• Heat Recovery Ventilators & Energy Recovery Ventilators: These ventilation systems bring fresh air into a home while exhausting stale and moist air from bathrooms, kitchens, and other locations. New this year, rebates range from $500 to $1,000. For more details, please visit www.burlingtonelectric.com/ventilation.
• Continuing Rebates: In addition to the new and expanded rebates, many popular rebates will continue, including for electric bikes, electric snow blowers, electric chainsaws, electric forklifts, electric lawn care equipment, commercial electric push lawnmowers, and electric motorcycles.

BED Incentives Can Be Combined with State and Federal Incentives

In addition to BED incentives, Burlingtonians may be eligible for various State of Vermont and federal tax credits and incentives, including those from the new federal Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Illustrative examples follow:

• A moderate-income household purchases a Chevrolet Bolt: In the case of a new Chevrolet Bolt all-electric vehicle with a range of approximately 250 miles with a purchase price of $31,000, a low- or moderate-income customer could receive a $3,000 rebate from BED, at least a $4,000 rebate from the State of Vermont, and a federal tax credit of $7,500, totaling savings of $14,500 and reducing the overall cost by nearly 50 percent. Further, the customer could receive a $900 BED rebate toward purchasing and installing a Level 2 home EV charging station. Finally, that same customer could leverage additional savings by participating in BED’s special, residential off-peak EV charging rate of 65-70 cents per gallon of gas equivalent.

• A single-family household purchases and installs a ductless mini-split heat pump for heating and cooling: In the case of a single-head, ductless mini-split heat pump, a customer could receive as much as $2,450 in rebates and discounts from BED and, new this year, up to 30 percent (maximum $2,000) as a tax credit from the federal government. This combination of financial support could reduce the overall cost of a heat pump installation by approximately 75 percent. Additional federal rebates for heat pumps for low- and moderate-income customers are expected to be available later this year.

Tools to Help Assess Available Incentives

Resources to help BED customers determine which incentives are available to them include:

• BED’s Energy Services Team offers free consultations about electrifying homes.
• Rewiring America’s IRA Savings Calculator provides helpful guidance for federal home electrification incentives.
• Drive Electric Vermont details State of Vermont EV incentives.
• BED’s Net Zero Energy Podcast teaches about taking steps toward Net Zero Energy.

Support from Key Partners

Participating virtually in today’s announcement was Rahul Young, Director of Local Engagement at Rewiring America, who stated: “Burlington continues to lead the way in pursuing the ambitious goal of becoming a Net Zero Energy city by 2030. Offering additional localized incentives like Burlington Electric Department is something cities around the nation should strive to emulate. In combination with the newly available Inflation Reduction Act home electrification tax credits and forthcoming rebates, Burlingtonians are better positioned than ever to electrify everything, saving money on energy costs and creating healthier homes for families.”

Sophie Ferrone, Assistant Sales Manager at Key Motors of South Burlington, stated: “Our team at Key Motors of South Burlington appreciates the innovative work utilities like Burlington Electric Department are engaging in to create impactful incentives that are making it possible for more and more of our mutual customers to afford to drive electric. We invite Burlingtonians and all Vermonters to visit with us to learn more about the benefits and affordability of driving electric.”

New Weatherization Repayment Assistance Program (WRAP)

The partners also promoted the new Weatherization Repayment Assistance Program (WRAP), which will allow homeowners and renters to finance qualifying weatherization projects like insulation and air sealing, as well as heat pumps and advanced wood heating systems, with repayment through a monthly charge on their utility bill. The majority of program funding is targeted to households earning between 80 to 120 percent of the area median income (AMI). Households earning 80 percent AMI or less are eligible for free services through the state’s existing Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP).

“WRAP’s innovative on-bill financing model will make the benefits of weatherization available to more moderate-income households,” stated Maura Collins, Executive Director of the Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA). “Vermont Housing Finance Agency is excited to partner with Burlington Electric Department to reduce household energy costs, make homes safer and more comfortable, and help meet Vermont’s climate goals.”

The program intends to address challenges commonly encountered in weatherization, including high upfront costs and limited access to credit. WRAP will not run credit checks on customers, instead verifying a clean utility bill payment history. If a customer moves, the next occupant of the property will pay the surcharge. In addition to BED, WRAP will be offered through VGS and Efficiency Vermont, with all three organizations connecting customers with approved contractors and energy rebates. VHFA will provide capital and incentives for the remaining upfront costs of the project using state funding.

Springer added: “We strongly support the program’s focus on providing financing to expand access for moderate-income customers to invest in clean energy technologies. WRAP is an important new program that will help our community make progress toward our Net Zero Energy by 2030 goal.”

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Mayor calls for urgent state action to help Burlington and other Vermont cities address the many post-pandemic crises we are facing

Burlington, VT – Today, Mayor Miro Weinberger released the Administration’s Legislative Priorities for the 2023 Legislative Session. The Mayor’s priorities include funding for the city’s new high school and technical center, public safety, gun safety, initiatives to support housing creation and end homelessness, new support for substance misuse and mental health, climate action, and more.

“Like communities across Vermont and our nation, Burlington is facing numerous, serious challenges that have been exacerbated by the pandemic,” said Mayor Weinberger. “Our City is facing these challenges head-on with unprecedented investments, including creating a Special Assistant to End Homelessness, devoting millions of dollars of ARPA funds to housing and homelessness, adding numerous social workers to the police department, and by innovating a public health approach to homelessness with the Elmwood Emergency Shelter that is about to open. Burlington and other Vermont cities need similar, urgent action at the State level to address housing, public safety, homelessness, substance misuse, and mental health crises in our communities.”

The Mayor’s agenda also prioritizes funding for the new Burlington high school and technical center, climate action, and several public safety initiatives including several reforms to the state’s gun safety laws.

Weinberger added, “If the State will not give cities the ability to create gun safety regulations at the local level, it is long past time for statewide action. Burlington voters overwhelmingly approved measures to ban guns from bars and to require the safe storage of firearms. I will be advocating for these policies and more to keep Vermonters safe from the unique, American scourge of gun violence.”

Mayor Weinberger will be advocating for action in Montpelier on the following initiatives:

• State assistance for PCB remediation and regional technical center funding.
• State support for local efforts to address substantial statewide increases in violent crime and property crime, including; support for the recruitment and retention of police officers, modernization of shoplifting statutes, and increased funding of the Victims Compensation Fund.
• Statewide gun safety laws, including; requiring the safe storage of firearms, prohibiting guns in bars, restaurants, and other sensitive spaces, making reckless endangerment with a gun a felony, and funding gun violence research.
• State support for local efforts to address the housing shortage, including an Act 250 exemption for municipalities with robust local zoning controls that meet state standards.
• State funding for initiatives to end homelessness, including a plan for the end of the motel voucher program, new funding for permanent (non-time-limited) supportive housing services, and funding additional case management services for housing navigators.
• State action to address fentanyl and meth misuse and mental health needs, including providing specialized care for violent individuals, improving access to Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD), accelerating responses to growing methamphetamine use, expanding re-entry support for justice-involved individuals with substance use disorder, expanding residential treatment opportunities, including both long-term treatment and short-term treatment for fentanyl-addicted users entering MOUD, and removing barriers at the State level to the creation of Overdose Prevention Sites.
• State Action on Climate and Electrification by extending Act 151, strengthening the Renewable Energy Standard (RES), ensuring that any changes to the RES are analyzed fully and determined to be cost-effective for ratepayers, and by protecting Burlington’s authority to regulate thermal systems.
• Continued State funding for Green Mountain Transit and public transportation.

A complete Agenda of the Mayor’s Legislative Priorities is available online here.

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Burlington, VT – Today, Mayor Miro Weinberger made the following statement:

“Today is a momentous day for Vermont and our federal representation.

I want to congratulate Becca Balint for shattering over 200 years of historic barriers and being sworn in as Vermont’s first woman and first openly gay representative in Congress.  I also want to congratulate Peter Welch, who I have known and appreciated for over 40 years, on joining Senator Bernie Sanders in the Senate. I have every confidence that our new federal delegation will continue our state’s legacy of outsized leadership on the national stage and will serve the people of Burlington and Vermont with distinction. I look forward to working with Senator Welch and Congresswoman Balint in the years ahead to serve our City and State.

With the swearing-in of the 118th Congress, Senator Patrick Leahy officially concludes his 48-year tenure of service to Vermont in the United States Senate. His contributions to our state and to the nation have been profound, and have positively impacted the lives of many Vermonters. Burlington thanks Senator Leahy for his remarkable career of service, and the City will proudly steward the many landmarks that his forward-thinking leadership shaped. From the great pedestrian marketplace of Church Street to the now revived, post-industrial waterfront on the shores of the great Lake Champlain, Senator Leahy has through wisdom and persistence brought generational investment to our City.

Personally, I will always be grateful that the Senator gave me my first opportunity in government when I served as an intern and mail clerk for him in 1991.  Burlington looks forward to welcoming the Senator and Marcelle home, and will forever be grateful for their relentless commitment and countless contributions to Burlington and Vermont. “

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Burlington, VT – Today, Mayor Miro Weinberger, along with Burlington Electric Department (BED) General Manager Darren Springer and VGS President & CEO of VGS Neale Lunderville, provided an update to the Burlington City Council on recent progress with the establishment of a District Energy System (DES). Following the completion of Phase 3 feasibility work this past summer and additional design and engineering work this past fall, the project is ready to advance to the State of Vermont Act 250 permitting process. Beginning the permitting process now is necessary to maintain its construction schedule.

“Burlington has among the most ambitious climate goals in the country, and meeting those goals will require innovative local strategies to dramatically lower emissions from our largest driver, thermal heating,” said Mayor Miro Weinberger. “Generations of Burlington residents and leaders have recognized the opportunity of creating a District Energy System, and after 35 years of stops and starts, it is exciting to pass another key milestone in our steady progress toward bringing this project to life.”

“Today we announce another significant step forward in the effort to advance district energy in Burlington, by moving the project into state permitting for the first time,” said Darren Springer, General Manager of Burlington Electric Department. “With district energy, the McNeil wood chip plant would not only produce renewable electricity but also provide renewable steam to help reduce fossil fuel use and support progress towards our Net Zero Energy goal. It is important to note, however, that there remains substantial work ahead on the financing and pricing for the project before we can reach an ultimate ‘go’ decision. We offer our thanks to the University of Vermont Medical Center, University of Vermont, VGS, The Intervale Center, the McNeil Joint Owners, and Ever-Green Energy for their intensive work over the past several years on the current iteration of the district energy project.”

“Displacing fossil gas with alternative supply options, like the Burlington District Energy System, is a top climate priority for VGS,” said Neale Lunderville, President & CEO of VGS (Vermont Gas). “While there is still much work ahead to fully green light this project, advancing to environmental permitting is a big milestone and will help the project stay on schedule as the parties work diligently on outstanding items. We welcome this partnership as we work together toward the shared goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the fight against climate change.”

Next Steps for District Energy System

Burlington District Energy, a non-profit formed by Ever-Green Energy to manage and finance the DES in coordination with BED and other partners, is expected to make an Act 250 state permit submission for the project in mid-December 2022. In the first quarter of 2023, the project partners will work toward finalizing and evaluating project pricing. Steps will include receiving bids for construction, finalizing debt financing rates and structures, and entering fuel pricing agreements. Additional financial agreements among the project partners would be necessary to advance the project, which has a proposed construction start date as early as 2023.

Background

• The McNeil Generating Station’s original state permit from the 1980s references the opportunity to provide district heating, and as far back as 1994, BED has studied and evaluated the district energy opportunity for Burlington.
• In 2018, BED, VGS, the University of Vermont Medical Center (UVMMC), and the University of Vermont (UVM) engaged Ever-Green Energy to begin a series of feasibility analyses on a steam-based DES
• In early 2020, Mayor Weinberger, BED, UVM Medical Center, and VGS announced a milestone step forward to enter Phase 2 of the updated District Energy System Project.
• In early 2021, these stakeholders with Ever-Green announced another milestone step to sign a Letter of Intent to enter Phase 3 planning.
• In the summer of 2022, BED provided an update to the Burlington City Council on the completion of Phase 3 feasibility work, and a letter of agreement among BED, the City, VGS, UVMMC, UVM, The Intervale Center, and Ever-Green Energy to guide additional development work on the project. Also at that time, the Administration sought and received Council approval for BED to accept a grant of $5.16 million in federal funds secured by Senator Patrick Leahy, and to create a 501(c)(3) to be run by EG Services, LLC (Ever-Green Energy) to manage the DES project development.

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Burlington, VT – The City of Burlington is excited to announce its second annual ‘Fines for Food’ campaign to fight food insecurity. From November 25th through December 31st, 2022, the Department of Public Works’ Parking Services team will donate half of all overdue parking tickets paid to Feeding Chittenden – Vermont's largest emergency food provider. Last year, Parking Services donated nearly $40K to fight food insecurity. (see last year’s announcement, here; pic attached)

“This innovative, meaningful program gives Burlingtonians and visitors another opportunity to support their neighbors during the holiday season and is an outstanding example of how the City team continues to work toward equitable outcomes that keep taxpayers whole while protecting our most vulnerable community members,” said Mayor Miro Weinberger. “I hope that we can grow on the success of last year’s pilot program, and contribute even more to support Feeding Chittenden’s mission to ensure no one in our region goes without food.”

“We are deeply grateful to the Department of Public Works for their hard work and innovative approach to fighting hunger in our community,” said Rob Meehan, Director of Feeding Chittenden. “Fines for Food assistance is needed now more than ever as a growing number of people experience food insecurity. Funds from this effort will go directly to feeding our neighbors.”

City Council President Karen Paul – who helped establish the ‘Fines for Food’ program in 2021 - had this to say:

“Although Chittenden County is considered one of the healthiest in Vermont, over 10% of our community members, many of them children, are food insecure, an unnecessary truth and one that should be unacceptable to all of us.

Fines for Food was created so we, as a community, could pay it forward and support an important and vital need. As a caring, compassionate and giving community, food insecurity is a challenge that we can address. There is hope and a kind spirit in all of us. I am grateful to the combined efforts of the amazing Parking Services team at DPW and the important work of Feeding Chittenden as well as those who will be paying their overdue fines and in turn supporting our city’s infrastructure and community needs.  I hope that there will come a time when this program is no longer needed either because the city has no overdue fines or food insecurity is a truth of the past. Much as I would hope for the former, it is my hope that the latter comes first.”

“The mission of Fines for Food is to create a positive experience while resolving overdue tickets, unlock overdue or lost revenue to fund City services and, most importantly, to take concrete action to address food insecurity in our community,” Director of Public Works Chapin Spencer and Division Director of Parking & Traffic Jeff Padgett – who oversees Parking Services - said in a joint statement. “The Parking Services team works toward safety & equity day in and day out – this effort is directly in line with the passion and resolve in which they serve the City. We thank them for their hard-work and creativity in making Fines for Food a success for the community.”

Overdue parking tickets can be paid online at www.burlingtonvt.gov/parking or by stopping by the Parking Services office at 645 Pine Street during business hours (8:00-4:00 Monday-Friday).  For those who have no overdue fines, but wish to contribute to Feeding Chittenden, you are encouraged to visit https://feedingchittenden.org/.

A NEW MISSION FOR PARKING -- SAFETY & EQUITY

 In 2021, DPW completed its reorganization of Parking Services to create a one-stop-shop for all parking needs. The new Parking Services Office has placed an emphasis on safety, equity and the customer experience. Since inception, Parking Services has:

• Increased the towing threshold under the City’s scoff law from $75 to $250 to reduce the number of tows and increase the time to cure violations
• Removed “convenience” fees from online payments
• Instituted the ‘Whoops!’ program which will waive one non-safety-related parking violation each year
• Re-organized existing staff to expand hours of service to ensure that safety violations, such as blocked hydrants, could be responded to faster
• Digitized monthly permits
• Digitized resident parking permits for convenient online purchase

FREE PARKING!

Don’t forget, every Friday and Saturday this Holiday Season, get 2 Hours of Free Parking when you use ParkMobile! 

Questions on Fines for Food?

Contact Jeff Padgett, Division Director of Parking & Traffic at jpadgett@burlingtonvt.gov or call the Parking Services office at 802-540-2380.

Feeding Chittenden is committed to providing food for everyone, creating community and cultivating opportunities.  As the largest direct service emergency food provider in Vermont, Feeding Chittenden is a program of Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity and serves over 12,000 people each year through programs that include the food access center and network, home delivery, culinary job training, hot meals, and the Good Food Truck. Visit www.feedingchittenden.org for more information.

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Burlington, VT – Today, Mayor Miro Weinberger and Burlington Fire Fighters Association (BFFA) leaders signed a new three-year contract. With the BFFA contract, the Administration completes a twelve-contract run without arbitration over three rounds of bargaining with the City’s four unions; the American Federation of State, County, Municipal, Employees (AFSCME), Burlington Fire Fighters Association (BFFA), Burlington Police Officers’ Association (BPOA), and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW).

The Mayor made the following statement:

“Since first being elected, I have sought to reach agreements with the City’s unions at the negotiating table, instead of through adversarial binding arbitration. Our consistent success proves that through good communication and strong collaboration with our unions, it is possible to build fair contracts that value workers while protecting taxpayers.

In all of our contract negotiations, we have taken on our biggest employment challenges head-on – including rising health care and pension costs – and this was our most challenging bargaining round yet, as it took place during a time of great economic uncertainty and high inflation that is impacting workers, households, and City expenses.  The Administration worked hard to come together with our union leaders to ensure competitive wages, and fair benefits, and to become the first town or city in Vermont to support its employees with paid family leave, all while limiting financial risk to Burlington’s taxpayers and ratepayers and creating the needed recruitment and retention tools for the City to succeed during the current workforce shortage.

I am grateful to serve alongside our hardworking City employees who provide a variety of essential services from emergency response, to running our elections, to maintaining public infrastructure. It is thanks to their skills and commitment that Burlington will have a safer, greener, and more just future.”

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Burlington, VT – Today, Mayor Miro Weinberger made the following statement:

“During a week when we should all have the opportunity to gather with loved ones and celebrate the uniquely American holiday of Thanksgiving, we are once again confronted with the horror of the uniquely American scourge of mass shootings.

Burlington condemns these killings in the strongest possible terms and offers strength and solidarity to the grieving communities of Colorado Springs, CO, and Chesapeake, VA.

That the Colorado violence once again took place in an LGBTQ+ space, during a period of rising violence against queer and trans people across the country and in Vermont, is a further outrage and tragedy that has shaken many members of our community. I urge all Burlingtonians to do what they can to support the LGBTQ+ community during this painful time and to continue Burlington’s vigilance against hate and bigotry.

As of this morning, the United States has experienced at least 606 mass shootings in 2022, after experiencing 692 in 2021, and routine gun violence has corroded public safety throughout Vermont this year. No other country tolerates this level of gun violence, and we should not either. Since state government has aggressively blocked Burlington and other Vermont cities and towns from taking action to protect its people from gun violence, the Governor and state legislature have a duty to act this session to pass statewide gun safety measures to keep all Vermonters safe and free from fear.”

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Burlington, VT – Today, Mayor Miro Weinberger and University of Vermont (UVM) President Suresh Garimella announced and celebrated the completion of the University Place street improvements. The City of Burlington and UVM collaborated on the project to make the central location safer for all people including pedestrians, bicyclists, and other active transportation users.

“This project is an example of how the City and our partners can work together to advance common goals for a safer, greener future,” said Mayor Weinberger. “This investment makes important water and sewer modernizations underground while ensuring that students, faculty, and visitors can travel safely whether they walk, bike, drive, or bus to work and school.”

Identified in UVM’s Master Plan and Active Transportation Plan as a high priority, the City’s improvements to University Place create a new multimodal street with a pedestrian crossing plaza, wider sidewalks, buffered bike lanes, and decorative lighting, as well as modernized water and sewer infrastructure. Located between historic campus buildings and the University Green, the one-way street can better accommodate student events and gatherings with long-term parking removed and an improved food truck area with permanent electric utilities to eliminate the need for generators.

“The University Place project has visually transformed this historic heart of UVM’s campus, providing a much-improved and safer connection between our most iconic buildings and the beautiful university green," said UVM President Suresh Garimella. "This project could not have happened without the strong support of our partners in the city of Burlington and we thank them for their commitment to this project.”

Background

• In February 2018 the City entered into a sustainable infrastructure agreement with UVM with respect to the City's Ten-Year Capital Plan. UVM’s investment, combined with that of Champlain College, allowed the City to bond for General Fund capital work with the two institutions making debt service payments on that bond over a 20 year period.
• In that agreement, the City and UVM agreed to jointly advance significant investments in the hardscape and streetscape of University Place that would improve safety and accessibility for students, faculty, and residents.
• Public outreach and stakeholder engagement began in the fall of 2020, followed by design. Construction on the project began in May of 2022 and was completed in November 2022, about 1-month ahead of scheduled.
• Total investment in the University Place project was $3.2 million, paid for by $1.375 million in City Capital Funds; $225,000 in ARPA funds; $1.6 million in UVM Capital Funds.
• The project reconstructed approximately 1,200 feet of sidewalk on the east side, built approximately 270 feet of new sidewalk on the west side, created 1.25 miles of bike infrastructure, included 1.88 miles of paving, and relined water and sewer infrastructure throughout the project area.

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Mayor Weinberger Announces the Return of the BTV Winter Market

Burlington, VT – Mayor Miro Weinberger announced that tomorrow the BTV Winter Market will return to City Hall Park. A collaboration between Burlington City Arts (BCA) and Love Burlington, the BTV Winter Market is an outdoor market featuring a rotating group of local artists, makers, and food vendors in a festive atmosphere that captures the spirit of the season.

“The BTV Winter Market creates a vibrant and joyful space for our community to celebrate this special time of year while supporting a broad spectrum of local artists and small businesses,” said Mayor Miro Weinberger. “We’re excited to grow on the success of last year’s season and this year’s summer market, and to welcome even more families, neighbors, and visitors to the downtown this holiday season.”

BCA and Love Burlington launched the first-ever BTV Winter Market in 2021 and have doubled the number of vendor booths and participants for its second year. Each Market day there will be 20 booths, rotating to feature 80 seasoned makers and emerging local vendors over 6 weeks. Local vendors participating include printmakers, painters, jewelers, woodworkers, daycare providers, and photographers. Food options will range from coffee and soup to Thai, Somali, and Mediterranean fare.

"The BTV Winter Market is a tremendous collaboration between artists, small businesses, and the City,” said Executive Director of BCA Doreen Kraft. “We are so proud to continue and expand the legacy of our artists market, and add even more micro-businesses and BIPOC entrepreneurs to our wonderful rotation of vendors."

A 5-person panel of community members selected the vendors from over 100 applications. Of 80 vendors chosen for this BTV Winter Market is 19% BIPOC-owned and 80% women-owned. There will be 13 retailers and 60 artists featured.

“This market, like our summer market, is an important micro-business incubator,” said Burlington’s Director of Business and Workforce Development Kara Alnasrawi. “It allows small entrepreneurs to access a much larger customer base than normal and we hope it is the first step in growing their businesses.” 

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Every year on November 11th at 11:00 am Mayor Weinberger participates in an annual event hosted by the VFW Howard Plant Post 782 at Battery Park to commemorate Veterans Day. The timing of the event originates at the end of World War I when the armistice between the Allies and Germany began at 11:00 am on the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the year.

Below are the Mayor's remarks from this year's event: 
 

Good morning,

I want to thank you all for joining us today and honoring the millions of Americans who have served in our armed forces.

As Mayor, it is always a great privilege to join you to reflect on Vermont’s and Burlington’s proud tradition of military service and the positive impact of that service on our community.

To the veterans here with us and their families, on behalf of the people of Burlington, I say thank you for that service.  Thank you for your sacrifice.  Thank you for all that you have done to keep this city safe.

On Veterans Day, I also remember my grandfather, Teddy, who served in World War II and was part of the successful campaign of the Allied forces to retake France and then push the Nazis back toward Germany.  He was five months into his European deployment on November 11, 1944, when my mother, Ethel, was born. 

Fortunately, Teddy survived the war and returned to America to prosper.  He got to spend many happy years with his grandchildren. However, he never got back that chance to be there for the birth of his first child.

So many Burlingtonians, Vermonters, and Americans have such stories – many stories of far greater sacrifice.

To our Veterans, I share I am moved by your stories, your service, and your commitment to our City, State, and country.  Today, we honor and remember your service.

We gather like this twice a year, on Veterans Day and Memorial Day.  I have been participating in these ceremonies for over a decade now, and I have often found it challenging to fully evoke the connection between the prosperity we enjoy here and America’s military conflicts.  The horrific battles this country has faced in deserts, beaches, and cities around the world can feel very distant from this beautiful place.

Much less so this year.

Today we gather at a time when war is once again raging in Europe.  We gather at a moment when once again it is very clear that, at times, all that separates us from a world dominated by tyrants and fascists is the willingness of free people to fight for liberty, justice, and democracy.

Just before coming to the park this morning, I saw a video of the Ukrainian flag flying again in Kherson, the only regional capital that Russia had, before today, been successful in capturing in nine months of fighting. 

The world is so much safer today – we are so much safer here in Burlington – with President Putin humiliated and retreating, than the world we would have been living in had he succeeded at claiming Ukraine by force quickly and easily.

It is the men and women of Ukraine, of course, who are paying the ultimate sacrifice in this war against tyranny. 

However, we are standing with them in aid and in spirit and must continue to do so resolutely. 

I am grateful that we have had a federal delegation that has been committed to this.

And the bravery and sacrifice of the Ukrainians are a fresh reminder of how important it is that so many Americans are willing to wear the uniform and defend the values and safety of this country.

So, in conclusion, I say again, thank you to all our veterans

And to the families of our veterans, we know and honor your sacrifice too.

Thank you all – and Happy Veterans Day.