Giving Thanks from Central Vermont

Hello and welcome to SBE’s first weekly blog update! We here at SBE are excited and thankful this holiday season for not only the turkey on the table, but for the permits we hold in our hands – building permits that is!

We are happy to report that as of Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 26, we have cleared the appeal period on our Vermont State Act 250 Land Use permit. The approval of our Act 250 permit on October 26 marked a near record turnaround for approval on a project of our size and we cannot thank all of those at the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources enough for their hard work in helping us to bring much needed jobs to Central Vermont. While all of our permits were approved some time ago, having now eclipsed this final appeal period we are one step closer to putting shovels in the ground and people to work!

Before we begin the 8-10 month process of building our new 52,800ft2 manufacturing facility in the Wilson Industrial Park of Barre, VT, we must first receive approval on our federal Environmental Assessment. We have been working with the U.S. Department of Energy and their privately contracted firm, Mangi Environmental Group to provide all the supporting information necessary to complete the review process as soon as possible. We project that we will clear this final hurdle to our construction start date by no later than mid-February 2010 and be ready to build with the coming of the spring thaw.

We again would like to thank everyone who has been a part of making this project both a reality and a success. From the U.S. Department of Energy for their generous contributions of American Recovery and Re-Investment Act funds, to the countless number of State of Vermont agencies and programs who have provided both financial and logistic support, and, of course, to our local supporters like the Town and City of Barre, our local State representatives, and the Vermont Congressional Delegation. Without all of you this project would not have been possible.

From all of us here at SBE, we hope you had a happy Thanksgiving, and please check back for more updates from SBE!