Tretap

Tretap
pristine water from vermont’s maple trees

Do you know where your bottled water comes from? as in, exactly where? which state? what town? Probably not.

Well, now you can buy water and know exactly where it comes from – the organic maple trees on Branon’s West View Maples. Yes, you read correctly – water from maple trees. Here’s where is gets even cooler.

These maple trees are tapped for their sap to make maple syrup. In the process the sap, which is what is used to make maple syrup, gets separated from the tree water. Up until now, sugar makers have been discarding this water. What a brilliant idea? Save that tree water, sell it and give the maple syrup makers another source of revenue.

And don’t worry, the water has been through a couple filters and a reverse osmosis machine before getting bottled. RIght now there are three flavors:

• Blueberry
• Cranberry
• Cucumber

At 10 calories and 5 grams of sugar a serving, this tree water is a great made in Vermont alternative to other bottled waters. Look for a new carbonated line called Vermont Tapped coming soon.

We think this is a win win win. A win for the maple sugar makers, a win for water drinkers and a win for Vermont.

Learn more about the Tretap story here  or, better get, buy a bottle at the stores listed here.

Generator

Generator
art x technology = generator

Generator is a new “makerspace” located Burlington’s Memorial Auditorium Annex. Need clarification on a “makerspace”? It’s a place or “open community lab” where people who work in technology, science, art, the mechanical, electrical and digital worlds can work, collaborate and share resources to create or “make”.

Monthly memberships are reasonable and gives you access to a long list of tools:

• laser cuter
• 3D printer
• milling machine
• vinyl cutter
• 6 soldering stations
• hand & power tools
• high end mac & pc workstations
• computer lab with gigabit internet access

There’s also a long wish list of hand and power tools – so there will be more. Take a look at the list. Maybe you have one of these tools in your garage collecting dust. Consider donating it and let it be used to make someone’s dream into a reality.

Or maybe you’re an artist, needing your own studio space? A studio membership will give you:

• studio space
• electricity
• high-speed wireless internet
• heating
• a dumpster
• access to a loading dock

Always wanted to learn how to work with a  laser printer or 3D printer? Go ahead – why not take a class. Check their current listings of classes to see if there is one that interests you.

Burlington’s new Generator is an artist studio, a classroom as well as a business incubator. What more could an aspiring entrepreneur, or rather a vermontrepreneur, need to make that idea into a new business?

Check it out.

 

 

 

girl develop it

girl develop it
don’t be shy. develop it.

Girl Develop It, or GDI, does exactly what you’d think it does. It helps girls to develop – as in software development, right? We’ve all read (or maybe you haven’t) that the high tech world is really a guy’s world with very few women (aka girls).

Enter GDI. They’re working on changing that by empowering all women, 18 and older, to develop software through classes and meetups. Currently there are GDI chapters in 17 cities worldwide. Check here to see if there’s one near you.

Of course, there’s one here in Burlington, Vermont. In fact their next “Monthly Code & Coffee” is scheduled for November 20th. Come on gals, girls, ladies, lassies, women – what are you waiting for? If you’ve ever had an interest in software development – this is your chance – an opportunity to explore  your developing skills.

Not interested in joining GDI yourself? but think it’s an awesome idea (because it is), how about supporting them or spreading the word by following them on facebook and twitter.

Come on, let’s get more girls in the high tech world.

flavor plate

flavor plate
websites for restaurants

What a great idea! Let restaurant owners and chefs do what they do best – prepare and serve delicious meals. And let Flavor Plate do all the work to give them a digital and mobile presence. What Dealer.com does for car dealerships, Flavor Plate does for restaurants.

Take a look at all the features they offer:

• website manager
• menu manager
• photo gallery
• mobile friendly
• design tools
• events calendar
• online gift card sales
• social media
• online reservations
• SEO control
• email marketing
• google maps

Restaurateurs! what more could you want? ok, maybe all this for free? Well, Flavor Plate does have just ONE very reasonable plan that for a small monthly fee covers all of it! You can’t afford to not have one of these websites.

Join these fine restaurants and consider becoming a client today:

• The Bearded Frog
• Black Sheep Bistro
• Cucina Antica
• Hinesburgh Public House
• Magnolia
• Starry Night Cafe

Bonus perk! If you’re a farm-to-table restaurant, you’ll get a discount.

“Simple. Beautiful. Restaurant websites.”

And of course, all made in Burlington, Vermont!

gredio

gredio
software applications for food companies

Remember Green Mountain Mustard? Well, founder/owner Michael Adams has started another company offering an app for food companies called Gredio. It’s a way for food producers to keep track of and control:

• recipes
• inventory
• product costs
• production schedules
• production history
• invoices
• lot tracking of ingredients

It even has 8 calculators that help figure out:

• ingredient costs
• labor rates
• transportation costs
• retail price

Just to name a few. Take a look at their one minute video.

This app from Gredio is the perfect solution for:

• value-added food producers
• home bakers
• co-packing kitchens

So for all those “made in vermont” food producers/home bakers and those beyond our state, why not try Gredio’s new app to help organize your business, become more efficient and make more sales?

It’s free.

p.s. Gredio recently won the LaunchVT competition for young entrepreneurs.

log on to learn

Log on to Learn
anytime ~ anywhere

Think you really know how to use Word? Not sure of all the useful tools in Excel? You probably don’t even realize that you could be much more productive if you knew how to use your software better. Log on to Learn can help you.

Log on to Learn offers computer instruction – the how to’s – for everything in Microsoft Office, Crystal Reports and the Adobe Creative suite… all online. You can rent tutorial videos for 30 days or pay for a monthly subscription for full access to their virtual learning library. You’ll have access to:

• video tips
• comprehensive video series
• downloadable/printable step-by-step tutorials
• printable reference guides
• regularly scheduled live training events
• community forums
• quizzing and certification

Take a tour.

Not only will you learn how to use your software to its fullest potential you’ll increase your proficiency and office productivity.  It’s easy and right at your fingertips.

This Vermont start-up not only helps individuals but also businesses. Companies can have their own branded group page that can act as their training portal allowing employees to have access to their own internal training docs and videos as well as all Log on to Learn tutorial videos. With no set up fees, this is a win win for companies, paying only a monthly fee to give their employees access to so much learning to make them more productive.

Do you know how to create PivotCharts in Excel? Well, it’s time you Log on to Learn!

vert mont perfumery

Vert Mont Perfumery
artisanal botanical perfumes

Based in the Mad River Valley, Vert Mont Perfumery makes fragrances that are designed, blended and bottled by hand. Their perfumes are made from pure organic plant essences from around the world. Each fragrance is blended to compliment a specific human experience:

• SOMA (body) – surrender to lightness of being  (pink grapefruit, fresh ginger, petitgrain bigarade, amyris & high elevation lavender)
• PSYCHE (mind) – heady intrigue & effortless travel (lemon peel, ginger lilly, clary sage, himalayan cedar & bergamot)
• EROS (desire) – An elegant notion of a love potion (mandarin, coriander, orris root, patchouli, juniper & jasmine)
• ANIMA (soul) – instinctually sensual. unleash your possibilities. (persian lime, spikenard, melissa, frankincense & ylang ylang)
• COR (heart) – tune into core emotions (sweet orange, vetiver, rosewood, cypress & moroccan rose absolute)

How can you not love the names and each tag line? So clever. These perfumes have no synthetics and Vert Mont Perfumery is committed to being environmentally friendly as well. Each perfume comes in a Miron Violet Glass bottle with a Biostone label in a hand stamped canvas bag for sleek, minimal packaging that is all recyclable or reusable.

Visit VMP’s Facebook page and website for background stories and more day to day activity. Currently available at the Warren Store in Warren Vermont, Proud Flower in Waterbury and more to come.

Vert Mont Perfumery is one to watch – with Mother’s Day around the corner, how about a bottle?

blu-bin

Blu-Bin
your ideas made real

Yes, America’s first retail 3D print shop is in VERMONT! Poultney, Vermont to be exact. Let’s be more specific, it’s the first store where anyone, regardless of skill level, can come in and get their ideas made into reality using 3D printers.

You can draw a picture of something, have it made into a CAD file and then have it printed into a 3D object. Hard to believe right? Well then check out this video.

This is game changing and seriously cool. Think of all the possibilities…

Anyone want to go to Poultney for the day, grab lunch and have your dream “thing” made into a reality?

toonuva

Toonuva
wicked. fun. games.

High tech right here in Burlington, Vermont! You know that Burlington recently made the list of 4 underrated tech hubs to watch, right? Well, it’s in part due to companies like Toonuva.

Toonuva creates fun and immersive games in-house and for organizations. Their flagship product, Epic Knights, was inspired by Saint Michael’s College.  Epic Knights has been downloaded in over 70 countries, been featured in the app store and has 4/5 stars.

Not only do these guys live in Vermont, they live to make games. If you want a game made, they can make it for you!

Check ’em out!

 

loveopolis

Loveopolis.com
Online Dating just got a Whole Lot Better!

Looking for that “someone special”? Want to help a friend find “the one”?

Loveopolis, a startup based in Burlington, Vermont can help! Loveopolis is a new online dating platform that not only incorporates your closest friends (single or married) in your quest to find love, but also allows you to browse “Matches” that have the same interests as you. Soon you’ll be able to create an account and your “Inner Circle”, a group of your closest friends you trust and can share anything with. Your Inner Circle can give you feedback and even recommend matches they think will be the best fit for you. Bounce thoughts off them – what do they think of this match?

Loveopolis also have “Vouches” – you can vouch for a friend or check to see the vouches of your match. That way you’ll know if your match is really as awesome as they say they are. It’s not just an online dating platform, it’s a community of people helping people to find their match.

Request an Invite to their Beta launching later this year at Loveopolis.com and be sure to follow their “Road to Launch” at Blog.Loveopolis.com.

If you’re looking for love or know a friend who’s looking, check out Loveopolis…it’s free!