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Vermont Business Magazine Despite nearly four years of work by Vermont’s congressional delegation, the Vermont Division of Emergency Management & Homeland Security, Agency of Transportation, and Agency of Natural Resources to help the town of Bennington secure funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for costs incurred during Tropical Storm Irene in 2011, FEMA today denied the final appeal allowed under federal law.

Vermont Business Magazine The AARP Fraud Watch Network lit up the phone lines today as part of a “Reverse Boiler Room,” dialing thousands of residents to warn them about two leading “imposter scams” hitting thousands of Vermonters – the IRS and “tech support” scams. Vermont Attorney General Bill Sorrell joined AARP Vermont volunteers and staff in Boston along with other regional attorneys general to help educate the public and call attention to the growing crime. Borrowing a favorite tactic of con artists, AARP Fraud Watch Network staff and volunteers operated their own telemarketing boiler room. But instead of hearing from crooks, Vermont residents received tips and information on how to protect themselves from “imposter scams.” Impersonating police officers, federal agents, the IRS or financial service companies, scammers use their “authority” to scare a person into paying them. Or, they pretend to be a friend or loved one in trouble who needs money.

Vermont Business Magazine US Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) has announced the Department of Health and Human Services awarded $2.7 million to 10 community health centers throughout Vermont. The health centers will use this new federal funding to offer more than 3,700 additional Vermonters low-cost prescription drugs and medical, dental and mental health care services. See list below.

The Vermont awards are part of nearly $500 million in new funding announced by HHS for community health centers across the United States. The funds will provide health care services for 1.4 million new patients nationally. The funds were authorized by a Sanders provision in the Affordable Care Act that made available $11 billion for community health centers.

By Jim Condos, Vermont’s Secretary of State Vermonters deserve good government - and that includes an open and transparent government! By and large, Vermont is well served by our dedicated public servants. Most of our elected state and local officials are trustworthy, dedicated and passionate individuals working to do right by their constituents. However, corruption can exist, and in small doses it can be just as corrosive to our democracy as any prominent scandal, undermining the public trust.

The public’s access to open and transparent government is key to our democracy.

This sacred trust must not be taken lightly. We must restore that accountability or risk Vermonters’ faith in our ability to govern.

Vermont Business Magazine For the fifth consecutive time Seventh Generation has been ranked as the best company on the planet according to 'The Better World Shopping Guide,' a book that provides consumers with company ratings based on social and environmental responsibility. The company also received an A+ rating and title of 'green hero' in the cleaning products category in the most recent edition.

"It's not easy for companies to do the right thing when it comes to their environmental and social impacts in the world. It's almost always more profitable to cut corners and pretend to be doing good," said Dr. Ellis Jones, author of 'The Better World Shopping Guide.' "That's why it's so important that consumers recognize which companies are walking the talk and which ones are just for show. Seventh Generation has led the charge in integrity around these issues for the past decade and continues to set an example for how business should be done on this planet."

Vermont Business Magazine BlueNRGY Group Limited, based in Florida, (OTC: CBDEF) announced today that it has completed the acquisition of the monitoring platform and certain other assets of Draker, Inc, the leading independent provider of monitoring and data management services to the US solar industry. BlueNRGY will continue to offer best-in-class systems and services to measure and optimize the performance of solar power generation facilities under the Draker name. The combined BlueNRGY and Draker monitoring and data analytics business for the U.S. will operate from Draker's current location in Burlington, VT and the substantial majority of the Draker employees located there will be employed by BlueNRGY.

by Mike Faher/The Commons Take one look at the pale-green wall covered with white gauges in the Vermont Yankee control room, and it’s clear that the panel hasn’t changed much since the nuclear plant began operating in the early 1970s. But there is something new: Blue signs carrying the word “abandoned” dot the wall, indicators of portions of the plant that are no longer active since the Vernon plant shut down on December 29, 2014.

Vermont Dept of Tourism All of Vermont is still very green and in the early stages of color development with nice early colors -- particularly yellows -- emerging in the northeast and at higher elevations, even in central Vermont. Some dry sites, roadside sugar maples, and red maples in wetlands are showing typical early splashes of red. Overall, things are shaping up quite nicely statewide, with trees everywhere beginning to distinguish themselves in the canopy and with a slight detectable change from deep, lush greens to a range of lighter green hues, signaling that the show is, indeed, beginning.

www.VermontVacation.com Sept. 16, 2015

Vermont Business Magazine Energize Vermont is pleased to announce that Pete Antos-Ketcham, formerly of the Green Mountain Club (GMC), has joined the organization as its new Executive Director. Antos-Ketcham succeeds Mark Whitworth. Pete Antos-Ketcham comes to Energize Vermont with over 22 years in natural resource and non-profit management. Antos-Ketcham is leaving his position as GMC’s Director of Land and Facilities Management. While at GMC, he oversaw the construction of the club’s new Visitor Center in Waterbury Center, Vermont. The Visitor Center consumes no fossil fuels and employs appropriately-scaled renewables to produce more electricity than it uses. It demonstrates an approach to an energy future that doesn’t require massive energy sprawl.

by Erin Mansfield vtdigger.org Vermont Business Magazine Contributed to This Story Solar is the fastest-growing source of energy in the country, and Vermont’s solar industry is growing dramatically. The solar industry is booming nationwide because of multibillion-dollar federal tax breaks, and developers have their eyes on Vermont because of its additional cash incentives. In 2014, the state ranked at 22 out of 50 states for total solar capacity nationwide and 8th highest in solar per capita. Rutland itself is now the 'Solar Capital of New England.' Vermont’s industry employs about 1,500 people at 72 companies, and produces $76 million in output, making it the state with the most solar jobs per capita.

Vermont Business Magazine Revision Military, a world leader in integrated, purpose-built soldier solutions, with operational headquarters in Essex Junction, is establishing a new UK facility not only to support the ongoing delivery of the VIRTUS Programme UK Head Sub-System (the Cobra Plus protective head system) but also to facilitate closer communications and support for Revision’s UK and European customers. With Revision’s industry-leading integrated soldier systems capabilities, which now include power provision and management, the Company believes there are numerous opportunities that will benefit from this local resource support. The facility, which is scheduled to open in Q4, 2015, will be located in Bristol near the Ministry of Defence’s Abbey Wood site that houses the Defence Equipment and Support procurement organisation.