Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Department of Public Service invites all interested Vermonters to provide input on the standards the Department must create per Act 174 of 2016 for determining consistency of regional and municipal plans with state energy policy. The Department will host a forum to gather input on August 30, from 9 a.m. to noon, in Montpelier at the Vermont College of Fine Arts (Noble Hall). For those who prefer to provide input in writing, the Department has published an online survey, available at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WMTZFF2. Responses to the survey are due September 5, and those received by August 25 will help inform the discussion at the forum on the 30^th. The Department expects to release an initial draft of the standards later in September for additional public comment.

by Beth Fastiggi, FairPoint Communications Vermont State President Companies often find it challenging to stay on top of the most up-to-date tech products for their offices because they are busy focusing on the core needs of their business. Though understandable, this focus can prevent them from taking advantage of the new technologies that would truly make a positive impact on their businesses.

Vermont Business Magazine After the previous week's spike and relatively high summer numbers, weekly unemployment claims fell last week to their lowest level of the season. Claims in 2016 generally have been running above 2015 claims, but were down last week year-to-year. For the week of July 30, 2016, there were 362 claims, down 277 from the previous week's total and 26 fewer than they were a year ago. By industry, claims claims were down across the board, especially for Manufacturing, which spike in the previous report. Service, the usual leader, again had the most claims. 

Altogether 4,060 new and continuing claims were filed, a decrease of 176 from a week ago, and 68 more than a year ago.

The Department processed 0 First Tier claims for benefits under Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 2008 (EUC08).

Vermont Business Magazine Today, Senator Leahy joined public officials, residents and staff from Downstreet Housing & Community Development celebrate the official opening of Downstreet’s new office, community space and 27 units of affordable housing known as Downstreet Apartments. The ceremony included the unveiling of a new granite sculpture, designed and created by Barre artist George Kurjanowicz, in the green space surrounding the new building.

The building is located in downtown Barre at 22 Keith Avenue, (on the corner of Summer St. and Keith Ave.) which provides easy access for residents to downtown Barre amenities, and makes Downstreet staff more accessible to residents and clients with ground-floor offices, according to Liz Genge, Downstreet’s Director of Property Management.

by Yana Walder, Lake Point Property Management Moving your office operations into a new space will most likely be exciting and stressful. To avoid it being mostly the latter, read on for seven insights on leasing a professional office space in Vermont. It can take a small to midsize company three to six months to secure a lease for a new office. There is no standard commercial lease deal; each tenant, property owner, and building is unique. It is helpful to understand how they fit together.

Before you set out to find your new ‘just right’ office space, consider the workflow of the space your company currently occupies. Does the size, budget, location, and fit up work for you? What doesn’t work? Are you growing, downsizing or running steady? Do you require privacy and confidentiality or do you bank on interaction and creativity by leasing in a shared space?

1. Budget the right amount of space

Vermont Business Magazine Green Mountain Power President and CEO Mary Powell was named among the top 25 Most Influential Women of the Mid-Market CEO Connection in 2016. This list recognizes the top 25 women in the U.S. based on their ability to influence change, innovation, and standards for excellence in companies with annual sales between $100 million and $3 billion. GMP hopes trailblazing CEOs like Powell will inspire the next generation of female leaders to break barriers and take chances. Other winners include businesswoman and fashion designer Tory Burch.

Mary Powell. GMP photo.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont consumers and the State of Vermont will receive a total of over $1.6 million as part of a settlement concerning the wakefulness drug Provigil, Attorney General William H. Sorrell announced today. The settlement ends a multistate investigation into anticompetitive conduct by Cephalon and affiliated companies to protect the monopoly profits earned from Provigil by delaying generic competition. Vermont and 48 other attorneys general entered into a $125 million settlement with Cephalon.

by Lake Champlain Committee On Friday June 17, EPA released a final Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for Lake Champlain. The TMDL sets a pollution budget, defining how much of a given pollutant can enter a water body with water quality standards still being met. It took 5 1/2 years to complete, and is the culmination of hard work by dozens of scientists, engineers, computer modelers and others working for EPA and the state of Vermont. The effort was thorough, and required by law, but it is not a roadmap for cleaning Lake Champlain. The TMDL is only a budget for how much the lake can absorb and meet water quality standards.

The Commons, Brattleboro Over the first several years of his tenure, Governor Peter Shumlin made no secret of his desire to shut down the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant. And since the Vernon facility stopped producing power at the end of 2014, Shumlin’s administration has repeatedly challenged plant owner Entergy’s decommissioning plans — often without much success, given that the process is mostly federally regulated. It will be up to Shumlin’s successor to set the tone for the state’s interactions with Entergy starting in January 2017. In interviews in advance of the Aug. 9 primary, five gubernatorial candidates discussed their proposed approaches to monitoring and intervening in Vermont Yankee decommissioning.

Vermont Business Magazine The final weekend of July 2016 was unlike any other weekend at the Johnson headquarters of Vermont Electric Cooperative.  While VEC is always prepared for emergencies and the unexpected, on July 30 and 31, VEC had the opportunity to participate in a national level emergency response exercise called “Vigilant Guard”.  The exercise, sponsored by the National Guard, was designed to improve cooperation and relationships between civilian, military, and federal partners in preparation for emergencies and catastrophic events. 

Vermont Business Magazine When Vermonters think of September, they picture the last days spent swimming in our lakes and rivers, or the first cool nights that signal the start of fall. However, for many Vermonters, September also signifies the perfect time of year to put on some work gloves and join friends and neighbors in hauling tires, refrigerators and shopping carts from our rivers and streams. September is Vermont's River Cleanup Month and Watersheds United Vermont invites interested volunteers to get involved.

Vermont Business Magazine Farm-Way, Inc recently celebrated the grand opening of its expanded operations at its family owned and operated store in Bradford. Twin State Fertilizer and its predecessors manufactured and repackaged seeds, fertilizer and pesticides for 50 years or more on the site where Farm-Way’s expanded facility is now located.