News/Business
Private equity firm buys Claremont IT company Red River Technology
By JOHN LIPPMAN
CLAREMONT — A major New York private equity fund has acquired control of Claremont IT consulting firm Red River Technology.Cerberus Capital Management, which oversees a portfolio of companies in aerospace, defense, health care, real estate and retail,...
Woodstock Inn & Resort promotes marketing chief to president
By JOHN LIPPMAN
WOODSTOCK — The Woodstock Inn & Resort, the luxury hotel and anchor of the village’s economy, has named marketing and business development chief Courtney Lowe as president, with management oversight over all operations.Lowe, a longtime hospitality...
Bottom Line: Whiskey meets glass as WhistlePig and Simon Pearce team up for restaurant, tasting room
By JOHN LIPPMAN
Two familiar Vermont names are getting a cozy place together in Quechee.Glassmaker and restaurant operator Simon Pearce and craft distiller WhistlePig are joining forces in the reopening of the Parker House tavern, which Simon Pearce purchased last...
Founders sell Norwich Bookstore to Seattle couple
By JOHN LIPPMAN
NORWICH — A new chapter is in the works at the Norwich Bookstore.Founders Penny McConnel and Liza Bernard, who have owned and run the independent bookstore for nearly 27 years, are selling their business to a Seattle couple who will take over next...
Haverhill biodiesel proposal raises alarms about emissions, waste
By JOHN LIPPMAN
NORTH HAVERHILL — A proposal by a biodiesel plant to increase production capacity is raising concerns among neighbors about its impact on health and the environment and raising complaints about lax enforcement of restrictions at Haverhill’s town-owned...
Bottom Line: Dairy Twirl owners get into towing, automotive business
By JOHN LIPPMAN
When Brent Murray was a Lebanon paramedic, he frequently dealt with people in crisis and urgent need of help. He says that training is a good background for his newest venture.Murray and his wife and business partner, Cinnamon Murray, have completed...
Former Element hotel looks to bounce back from explosion with conversion to short-term apartments
By JOHN LIPPMAN
LEBANON — The high-profile building along Route 120 formerly known as the Element Hotel is assuming a new identity.It’s been closed since a Christmas Eve explosion and fire in 2019 crippled its mechanical system, and the owner of the building near the...
Bottom Line: West Lebanon costume shop closes; pie shop gives investors a slice
By JOHN LIPPMAN
On the morning of March 9, Mark Young, owner of Costumania, erected a sign out front in LaValley’s Colonial Plaza in West Lebanon to announce the costume store was closing and everything was 75% off.“I never thought I’d have to hang up one of those...
White River Junction wool mill spins yarns on a small scale
By JOHN LIPPMAN
After a silence of 64 years, the clack-clack-clack and rum-rum-rum of wool mill machinery is being heard again in Hartford.At 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, the picker, carder, pin drafter and spinner were switched on for the first time at Junction Fiber Mill, a...
Bottom Line: Woodstock butcher shop off the block as longtime owners step away
By JOHN LIPPMAN
The Village Butcher in Woodstock is in new hands. George and Linda Racicot, owners of the Elm Street butcher shop and deli for decades, have sold their business to Alex and Cristy Beram, Upper Valley transplants from Massachusetts who promise to...
New Hanover restaurants hope upcoming openings sync with return to normal
By JOHN LIPPMAN
The options for going out to get something to eat — or for eating in — will increase sharply come spring in Hanover.Nigel Leeming and Tony Barnett, owners, respectively, of mainstay Hanover restaurants Murphy’s on the Green and Molly’s, are each...
Lebanon diner settles with state in racial discrimination case
By ALEX HANSON
LEBANON — The Civil Rights Unit of the state Attorney General’s Office has reached a settlement with The Fort@Exit 18, the Lebanon truck stop diner charged in 2018 with employment discrimination and creating a hostile work environment.Juan Smart, who...
New owners for three Upper Valley convenience stores aim to remain core of their towns
By JOHN LIPPMAN
Rural general stores, given the number that have closed across the Upper Valley, are generally not considered hot growth businesses.But several well-known general stores in the region recently have been taken over by new owners who apparently see a...
New Hampshire state surplus equipment auction is going online
By DAVID BROOKS
Everything else has gone online during the pandemic, so why not the auction of a used front-end loader? Why not, indeed. The twice-annual sale of used equipment from the state and local governments will take place Thursday in computers rather than at...
Longtime pharmacy closing for good
By JOHN LIPPMAN
WOODSTOCK — Come Oct. 4, the Woodstock Pharmacy will have dispensed its last prescription.Owner Gary Smith said Friday that the 167-year-old pharmacy would soon end its run, confirming speculation that has swirled for weeks.Smith “concluded the best...
Canadian firm buys Rymes Propane and Oil for $159 million
By DAVID BROOKS
CONCORD — Rymes Propane and Oil, founded a half-century ago and long based in New Hampshire, is being bought by a Canadian energy firm for $159 million.The purchase by Superior Plus needs regulatory approval and is scheduled to wind up Sept....
J.C. Penney in West Lebanon to close, leaving another huge vacancy on Route 12A
By JOHN LIPPMAN
WEST LEBANON — The Route 12A shopping strip has suffered a 1-2 punch.One week after Kmart revealed it would close its store, J.C. Penney has announced that its store in Upper Valley Plaza will be among the 154 stores the bankrupt retailer would close...
Upper Valley slaughterhouses rise to meat demand during pandemic
By JOHN LIPPMAN
Kacey Knight says she typically hears two kinds of reactions from people when they learn she’s a supervisor on the “kill floor” at Vermont Packinghouse slaughterhouse in North Springfield, Vt.“It’s either ‘Oh, really?’ or ‘I don’t want hear about...
Owner of Dartmouth Coach to suspend bus service throughout New England
Concord Coach Lines, which owns Dartmouth Coach, said it will suspend bus service throughout New England on Saturday after a former passenger tested positive for the coronavirus.The passenger was on a Concord Coach Lines bus on four separate trips...
Sock maker Darn Tough closes factory; workers will receive full pay and benefits
By ANNE WALLACE ALLEN
NORTHFIELD, Vt. — Darn Tough Vermont, the Northfield-based sock maker, is shutting down its manufacturing operations through March 27 to minimize the risk of COVID-19. Workers will receive full pay and benefits during that time, said Brooke Kaplan,...
