Efficiency Innovations
Allan Bullis, an experienced energy auditor, has established Efficiency Innovations, LLC, which focuses on energy auditing for commercial and industrial firms, out of his home at 30 Pine Street in Burlington.

Bullis recently retired as project engineer at the Vermont Air National Guard. He earned a degree in electrical engineering from the University of New Hampshire and an associate’s degree from Vermont Technical College. He has a nearly 20-year history in the business of energy conservation.

As a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-certified professional and certified energy manager (CEM), Bullis provides auditing for commercial and industrial facilities as well as independent, third-party quality- assurance inspections, including air-leakage testing.

Bullis developed a passion for the energy field in college through a course called Energy and Society. With an engineering degree and an avid interest in energy, he worked at Vermont Yankee near his hometown of Putney. While there, he was selected for training for a commission as a second lieutenant in the Air National Guard.

Upon his return, his interest shifted to energy conservation, leading him to a position as an energy auditor for the Champlain Valley Weatherization Service in 1990.

“Given my background in construction and new-found knowledge of building science . . . I realized that there was a tremendous need to approach buildings as a system,” he said.

In 1992, he approached his brother, Charles Bullis, with an idea for a weatherization business to be called Energy Alternatives. That business continues to provide weatherization services and Bullis remains involved. It specializes in residential and light commercial weatherization, with evaluation of heating systems, insulation, air sealing and ductwork, as well as energy audits.

In 1998, Bullis was offered a full-time position as project engineer at the Vermont Air National Guard. It was an opportunity to utilize his engineering degree and learn about commercial and industrial facilities. As campus energy manager and project designer, he executed projects from conception through design through construction, involving many energy conservation upgrades.

“(Last year) when I was in Iraq with the Army Corps of Engineers, energy prices were going through the roof,” he said. “The time was ripe to get back to full-time energy conservation work.” It was then that his new business, Efficiency Innovations, was conceived.

Through Efficiency Innovations, Bullis said he can save money on building utility costs for facility managers and building owners.

“It is especially satisfying to go through a building that has already had an energy audit and (institute) conservation measures that are of low or no cost, and (result in) a rapid payback for the client,” he said.

“Conserving energy is a win-win-win situation; good for the environment, good for national security, and good for the local economy,” Bullis said. “The more I travel, the more I appreciate Vermont . . . I am passionate about helping to make it an example to the world (in the field of) energy efficiency.”

The mailing address for Efficiency Innovations is 30 Pine Street, Burlington, VT 05401. The telephone number is 802.238.2123. The e-mail address is allan.bullis@gmail.com.

Superb Health

Getting fit has become more convenient and affordable: Nick Lynch and Mike Veselka have launched Superb Health LLC, an online personal training service that also offers chiropractic and nutritional advice for as little as $10 a month.

Members of Superb Health receive two sets of online exercise routines, one for use at home and another for use in a gym, that are customized for their individual level of fitness. The Web site, www.imsuperb.com, also features an online chat room; a personal notebook that members use to track their progress; and weekly news updates.

Lynch is certified as a sports conditioning specialist and fitness trainer and has been a trainer in six gyms in Vermont and Milwaukee. Veselka is also a certified fitness trainer who has won bodybuilding titles in Wisconsin; led nutrition tours and lakefront boot camps; and conducted private and group training.

Lynch, a Montpelier native, currently lives in Middlebury, VT and Veselka lives in Milwaukee, WI. The two men met in Milwaukee where they worked in the same fitness facility. They launched the Web site in May 2009.

Lynch’s brothers, Dan Lynch and Shane Lynch, also work for Superb Health. Dan Lynch is a nutritionist and trainer in Burlington. He has a bachelor’s degree in nutrition and food science from the University of Vermont, where he is working toward a master’s degree in that same field. Shane Lynch is a chiropractor who shares the Lynch Family Chiropractic practice in Montpelier with his father, James M. Lynch.

Superb Health offers a free seven-day membership for individuals to try out the Web site. Members first answer an eight-question questionnaire to determine their current level of fitness, from level 1 (beginner) to level 5 (advanced). They then receive two sets of videos with individualized exercise routines designed to bring them to the next fitness level.

One set of videos can be used at home or other locations that lack exercise equipment; the second set is designed for use in an exercise facility with equipment. Audio instructions, photographs and text descriptions for each exercise accompany the video routines. The exercises can be printed out with photos and text descriptions, and members who exercise in gyms can access the Web site’s videos through their cell phones. Imsuperb.com currently has more than 350 exercise videos and 900 photographs on the site.

“One big thing we focused on in designing the Web site was to make it extremely easy to use,” said Lynch. “We also wanted to show that you can exercise anywhere, in any location. Many people who first start an exercise program are not comfortable leaving their house and going to a gym.”

Members can communicate with trainers, a chiropractor and nutritionist seven days a week through the live chat room. The Web site also offers weekly news updates with recipes, posture tips, anti-inflammatory foods, food combinations and overall lifestyle suggestions.

Individuals can purchase a one-year membership for $10 per month, a three-month membership for $12 per month or a one-month membership for $15. Businesses can also purchase discounted memberships for their employees. “We want to make it affordable to everyone,” said Lynch.

The e-mail address for Superb Health LLC is info@imsuperb.com. Nick Lynch can be reached by telephone at 414.477.1263 or by e-mail at nicklynch@imsuperb.com.



Expressive Arts Therapies

Michael Watson and Jennie Kristel have merged their therapy practice to form Journey Works, doing business under the name Expressive Arts Therapies.

Expressive art therapy utilizes art, be it visual or performing, to get to the root of a patient’s problem.

The pair previously shared office space but worked independently, with Watson renting space to Kristel. Their new partnership required a change of venue, with offices now located at 11 Kilburn Street in Burlington.

The partnership will allow for a broader range of services for their clients, they said, adding the space has an art studio and room for group drama work.

“For a lot of people who’ve been traumatized, whether a child or an adult, talking about the situation is upsetting … (incorporating the arts) allows them to see something or understand a situation that has been painful,” Watson said. “It’s not meant to diffuse the problem, but helps them deal with it more easily.”

The process is sensory and gives the client more responsibility in the healing process, said Kristel. “They can go home and write or draw and feel empowered to do that,” she said.

Each brings a holistic philosophy to the practice, with Watson practicing traditional healing, or Shamanism, and Kristel practicing Reiki.

Watson has been in practice since 1980. He holds master’s degrees in fine arts and in counseling. He also earned his doctorate as a clinical mental health counselor. Kristel earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology while minoring in theater. Moreover, she holds a master’s degree in expressive arts therapy. She began her practice in 1986, leaving the field for a period and reentering private practice in 2001.

Both Watson and Kristel are also members of Vermont Playback Theater, with Kristel serving as its executive director. The concept, explained Kristel, involves having a participant share a personal story and then having another individual play, or act, it back. Playback Theater is an effective communication tool for community building or conflict resolution, they said. Classes are planned later this fall for community leaders and professionals.

Watson and Kristel see clients by appointment only. For more information, call 802.860.6203.



Ralph’s Foreign Auto

Business picked up this summer at Ralph’s Foreign Auto in Colchester after slowing down earlier in the year.

“We had a slump earlier this spring,” said Ralph Humburg, owner of the foreign-car repair business at 61 South Oak Circle in Colchester.

“People were getting worried” about the way the economy was crashing, he said, “but now it’s picked up again.”

Humburg, 57, said he has loved repairing things since he was a kid in Salem, NY.

“I was handy with my hands and when I was a kid, fixing things like bikes, lawn mowers and outboard motors was all I wanted to do,” he said in between jobs at his shop.

Humburg moved from Salem in 1975 and was hired as a mechanic at Imported Car Center on Williston Road, staying there until 1990. Eager to run his own business, he leased the Mobil Station near the traffic circle on Shelburne Road in Burlington, repairing foreign cars for three years, bearing annual rent increases and being forced to stop work to pump gas.

“I wanted a place where there weren’t any gas pumps,” Humburg said. After looking around for a suitable location, he found the Colchester building and closed a lease arrangement in 2005.

A native of Switzerland, Humburg said he was adopted and brought to the U.S. He attended school in Salem, graduating from Fox Lane High School.

The telephone number for Humburg is 802.6546844.



Synergy Fitness

Synergy Fitness, a new eco-friendly fitness center, has opened in Williston’s renovated White Cap Business Park.

Co-owners Yuri Trump and Christina Schueneman have outfitted Synergy with state-of-the-art strength and cardiovascular equipment, infrared saunas and a juice bar, and will offer personal training and group fitness classes.

White Cap Business Park was built in 1974 as the U.S. headquarters for Rossignol Ski Company Inc., and is being renovated to meet the U.S. Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver Certification standards.

Synergy occupies 2,705 square feet of the 143,000-square-foot building. Yves Bradley of Pomerleau Real Estate was the listing and leasing agent for the transaction.

The fitness center was built with green materials including recycled rubber flooring; FSC and low VOC lockers; EcoTop countertops made from bamboo and recycled wood and paper; and paint and carpeting that meet LEED Silver guidelines.

T&M Construction of St. Albans was the general contractor. Synergy Fitness hired several local companies to get the business running including Place Creative Company; Propeller Media Works; the law firm of Clarke, Demas & Baker, LLC; Sheer & Hickey Accountants; Alan Ashe Insurance Agency; the accounting firm of Deborah J. Mitchell & Associates Inc.; Amalgamated Culture Works; American Stonescapes; and Pompanoosuc Mills.

“As our business grows, we will continue to utilize local talents and products,” said Schueneman. “We are purchasing local produce for the juice bar and are looking for local products to sell in our pro shop. We are also partnering with local artists to showcase their work.”

Most of Synergy’s records are paperless in an effort to reduce paper use. It purchases eco-friendly cleaning and laundry products from Swish Maintenance Limited of Burlington. The juice bar sells natural fruit smoothies, protein shakes and snacks, and the drinks are served in Greenware cups manufactured from a plant-derived resin.

Synergy Fitness is the first facility Trump and Schueneman have opened, but both have experience in the industry. Trump managed health clubs and ran a personal training business in Pennsylvania for more than18 years. Schueneman earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Vermont and a master’s degree and juris degree from Villanova University. Schueneman also managed a health club in Pennsylvania.

Synergy Fitness offers 20 group fitness classes each week such as spinning, kickboxing, SynergyPump, Zumba and Kettlebell. The facility has 35 pieces of strength-training equipment including Life Fitness; Nautilus One; Hammer Strength; and Iron Grip.

There are also 25 pieces of cardio equipment: treadmills; elliptical trainers; upright and recumbent bikes; summit trainers; and step mills, each with its own television. Synergy also has indoor cycling with 20 multi-level bike placements and a one-on-one personal training studio.

Each locker room is outfitted with a four-person, Saunatec Far-Infrared Sauna, which Schueneman said warms the body like natural sunlight and requires less energy to run.

New members receive one to three free personal training sessions, depending on the length of their membership. Synergy Fitness offers corporate rates of $54 per month for companies with five or more employee-members, as well as companies with 25 or more full-time employees.

Synergy Fitness is located at located at 426 White Cap Business Park, Suite 7, 426 Industrial Avenue, Williston, VT 05495. The telephone numbers are 802.310.4018 and 888.499.0696 (toll free). The e-mail address is ask@SynergyFitnessVt.com. The Web site is www.synergyfitnessvt.com.


Lang Farm Antique Center

By JOY PERRINO CHOQUETTE

For Jon and Debbie Lang, the closing of the Williston Antique Center couldn’t have come at a better time.

The Essex couple, owners of several businesses in Lang Farm, were looking for something to fill their 3,000-square-foot former dairy barn. Dealers with booths at the Williston Antique Center were looking for new places to set up shop. The rest, as they say, is history.

“It was perfect timing. The next day (following news of the closing), we went and posted signs there … people (the dealers) pretty much flocked here,” Debbie Lang said of the new venture, the Lang Farm Antique Center.

She credits the former owner of the Williston Antique Center and the owner of the Five Corners’ Antique Center in Essex Junction as being their mentors.

With little fit-up required beyond dividers to serve as stalls, the Langs were able to open within seven weeks of conceiving their idea. Local visitors may recognize the Langs’ trademark copper counter as they enter the antique center.

Business, she said, has been great; about 40 percent of the sales, however, have been to other dealers. She said the best part of the business has been getting to know the dealers, who currently number about 30.

“The dealers have been so supportive,” she said. “They really are there to help run the shop … they are happy, friendly, and not competitive.”

The Langs charge a fee for booth space and a commission on sales. The dealers, she said, tend to police themselves with setting prices for their wares. Lang maintains a wish list for customers; the dealers, she said, are helpful in trying to track down a particular item.

“A customer wanted a hitching post. Two days later, a dealer brought one in,” Lang said, adding the dealers get excited over their finds and love to share their stories.

For Lang, the business has been a bit of a temptation. “I’ve been buying for myself for 20 years,” she said, adding that while her personal taste is eclectic, she considers herself a purist.

Her private collection runs the gamut from American art and antiques and primitive pieces to international treasures found while traveling. She admits loving the hunt. “I’m always buying, changing, adding, subtracting,” she said of her own collection.

The Lang Farm Antique Center is located on Route 15 in Essex. The mailing address is 51 Upper Main Street, Essex Junction. The phone number is 802.879.0122. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.



August First

By MIKE REILLY

A new bakery and coffee shop called August First has opened just off Main Street in downtown Burlington.

Owners Phil Merrick and wife Jodi Whalen said August First offers a selection of organic hearth-baked breads, breakfast pastries including scones and cinnamon rolls, homemade granola and what Merrick called a “full-line coffee shop.” That includes Burlington-roasted coffees, cappuccinos, espressos, lattes and whole bean and fresh-ground coffee by the pound for take-out.

August First, which opened in August, also serves lunches including salads, soups and sandwiches that emphasize seasonal items and local ingredients. Merrick uses wheat grown and milled in Southern Quebec. “That’s as local as it gets for Vermont,” he said.

The business’ guiding concepts are “simplicity and quality,” Merrick said. “We want to make fabulous bread and serve great coffee and food in a warm, welcoming atmosphere.”

Added Whalen: “We want this to be an extension of our home, with our guests feeling welcome and nurtured.”

After searching for a spot for more than a year, Merrick and Whalen took six weeks to transform the 2,000-square-foot space from a community meeting room previously occupied by Turning Point into a bakery.

Between the downtown location near the waterfront and the approximately 6,600 cars that travel along Burlington’s Main Street daily, the couple said they think their South Champlain Street location is ideal to serve local residents, tourists and the many nearby businesses and professional offices.

Merrick is in charge of the baking. He studied artisan baking for two years in California under Fredrick Holmshaw, and owned Merrick’s Bread and Coffee in Wadhams, NY for five years. Whalen brings extensive marketing and community relations experience, some gained in Vermont’s microbrew industry.

“I see a strong connection,” she said. “People are looking for local bread the way they were looking for local beer ten years ago.”

Whalen said August First takes its name from “Lammas Day,” or “loaf mass,” an old European festival celebrating the first wheat harvest. “We were also inspired by the great names of other local businesses, such as Magic Hat and Seventh Generation, which are now part of the local vernacular,” she said.

The owners incorporated used equipment and reclaimed materials wherever possible. “We looked for used items first, then for used materials,” said Merrick.

They acquired tables and chairs from the University of Vermont after renovations at Waterman Café; a grinder and displays from Green Mountain Coffee Roasters; and counters and fixtures from local business that have closed. The couple also shopped the Vermont Business Materials Exchange and Recycle North.

“We tried to be aware of any impacts we were having as we set this up, and did a lot of research before shopping,” Whalen said.

The business currently employs five workers, four of whom are full time. Merrick said the staff could grow to ten within six months.

August First is open from 7:30 a.m. to 5: 30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday. The mailing address is 149 S. Champlain Street, Burlington VT 05401. The phone number is 802.540.0060. The Web site is www.augustfirstvt.com.