Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Working Lands Enterprise Board (WLEB) has announced the opening of this year's grant cycle and the availability of approximately $650,000 in grants funds for the 2017 program year. Funds support projects across forestry and agriculture that enhance Vermont's communities, economy and culture. Links to the requests for proposals and applications can be found online at http://workinglands.vermont.gov/apply/rfp. Applicant Information Sessions are scheduled for October 6th and 11th at various locations across the state.

Franklin County farm. VBM file photo.

by Mike Faher/The Commons, Vernon As the federal government works to come up with new rules for decommissioning nuclear plants like Vermont Yankee, U.S. Rep. Peter Welch can distill his hopes into two words. “We’re trying to say over and over again — ‘community involvement, community involvement, community involvement,’” said Welch, D-Vermont. Welch doesn’t believe the nuclear industry has the same goals. That’s why he and 14 other federal lawmakers — including Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. — have sent a letter to the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission expressing their concerns about the industry’s recent lobbying.

by Mike Faher/The Commons, Brattleboro Vermont Yankee administrators waited two years for the state’s permission to build a new storage facility for nuclear waste at the defunct Vernon plant. When they finally received that permit in late June, they didn’t waste any time getting started. Entergy administrators last week said the construction of a spent fuel storage facility is well under way, with a few dozen contracted workers having recently installed a massive generator that will provide emergency power to the complex.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont and the entire Northeast have experienced vigorous consolidation of telecommunications firms, especially of fiber optic carriers, with Oak Hill Capital Partners being one of the major players. FirstLight Fiber was sold to Oak Hill in September. In August, Oak Hill acquired Sovernet. Oak Hill bought FirstLight Fiber from private equity owner Riverside Partners, which is also investing in the deal and will continue as a minority investor in FirstLight. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. It is expected to close in early 2017.

FirstLight is a leading fiber-optic bandwidth infrastructure services provider operating in New York and Northern New England. Sovernet is a Bellows Falls-based telecom provider, which also offers "middle mile" fiber, mostly to schools and government. In 2010 it received a $33.4 million federal stimulus to build a fiber-optic network in Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General William H Sorrell announced today that his Office has concluded, as a matter of law, that Franklin County Deputy Sheriff Nicholas Palmier was legally justified in his use of deadly force when he fatally shot Jesse Beshaw, who was unarmed, on September 16, 2016, in Winooski. The legal standard for the use of deadly force is whether the officer reasonably believed that he or a third party was in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury, and that deadly force was necessary to respond to that threat.

by Edward Coates, SVP & Agricultural Banking Manager at NBT Bank Vermont has a diverse agriculture market with significant dairy and produce farms as well as maple syrup producers. There is also a movement throughout the Northeast and much of the country toward more natural, organic and locally-produced foods. This trend means expansion opportunities for well-established agribusinesses as well as new opportunities for start-ups. At NBT Bank, we are seeing many agribusinesses developing new markets and products, including many of the smaller operations that are significantly important to the overall industry.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont’s congressional delegation – Senator Patrick Leahy (D), Senator Bernie Sanders (I), and Representative Peter Welch (D) – on Wednesday announced a nearly $9 million grant to support an innovative project to help Vermont students with disabilities in transitioning to the workforce. The grant from the US Department of Education to the Vermont Agency of Human Services Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (Voc Rehab) is for the Linking to Learning Careers Program.  These funds will support a new pilot project through the federal Disability Innovation Fund to evaluate a pioneering model to support students with disabilities in preparing for and entering the workforce.

Vermont Business Magazine Four Vermont economic development organizations received grant awards totaling $4.45 million from the US Department of Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) late last month. The Flexible Capital Fund, Housing Vermont, NeighborWorks of Western Vermont and the Vermont Community Loan Fund will use the awards to provide services to Vermonters who lack access to financial services and resources.

“This is great news for economically distressed communities in Vermont that lack adequate access to capital and affordable financing,” said Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Representative Peter Welch (D-Vermont). “Because of these targeted funds, individuals, businesses, and projects in the areas of our state that need it most will get capital to create jobs, fund housing projects, stimulate business development, and invest further in our communities.”

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) is awarding $3.5 million in construction and planning grants for municipalities to improve bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure. Cities and towns throughout the state are responding to ongoing interest in making downtowns and village centers walkable, bike-friendly, and more accessible for all modes of transportation.

“In addition to the economic impacts of better access to city centers, these projects help improve Vermonter’s health by providing safe infrastructure for commuting and recreating,” said Governor Peter Shumlin.

by Chris Kolmar www.zippia.com Back in high school I had the best job you could have in high school, I worked at the local movie theater for minimum wage plus free popcorn and movies. I was happy to make minimum wage back then, but now I couldn’t imagine living on the $5.86/hr I was making. All of this reminiscing got me wondering, who gets paid the least in Vermont? So to piggy-back on our research into the highest paying jobs in Vermont, we decided to use data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to identify the lowest paying jobs.

Vermont Business Magazine At its October 4 meeting, the South Burlington Business Association’s (SBBA’s) Board of Directors voted in support of the November ballot question authorizing the expenditure of up to $5 million funds in the Tax Increment Finance (TIF) District in support of the redevelopment of Market Street and Dumont Park. In 2015, the SBBA adopted a position statement supporting the vision of City Center “as a mixed use urban environment, including commercial, residential, public, and recreational uses. The SBBA also supports the use of TIF (Tax Increment Financing) in order to drive the development of the City Center vision.”

Public Assets Institute, Montpelier The state’s economy would be stronger, and Vermonters would feel more secure financially, if we all had retirement nest eggs. According to a 2012 report by the National Institute for Retirement Security, “[l]ess than half of Vermont workers participate in a retirement plan at work.” And those who have defined contribution accounts, the Institute found, the average balance is the lowest in the country—just $19,768.