Current News

CLICK HERE: https://iframe.dacast.com/b/56792/c/75084 to watch the Rising Stars Class of 2015 accept their award LIVE at The Hampton Inn on November 5, 2015.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General William H Sorrell joined a coalition of 25 states and various cities and counties in filing a motion to intervene in legal challenges by several states and industry groups to the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan. The Clean Power Plan requires mandatory cuts under the Clean Air Act in emissions of climate change pollution from fossil fuel burning power plants – the single largest source of these emissions in the nation.

“The Clean Power Plan protects Vermonters and all Americans from emissions of climate change pollution,” Attorney General Sorrell said. “These emissions must be reduced to protect our economy and the environment.”

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont’s “Wheels for Warmth” broke all records in its 11^th year, thanks in large part to its additional location in Rutland County. Final numbers for 2015 show the program collected a total of $55,801 for emergency fuel assistance programs, sold 2,200 safe tires, and recycled 3,775 donated, unusable tires. This year, in addition to the traditional collection and sale location at Dubois Construction in Montpelier, collections and sales also took place at Casella Construction in Mendon, with the aim of better serving people in the Central/Southern Vermont region. The Mendon sale was made possible in large part by local support in that community from new sponsor VSECU, a credit union for everybody in Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine Healthy Living Market – Burlington, Hunger Mountain Coop – Montpelier, and Commodities Natural Market – Stowe have been named as Vermont Green Grocery Environmental Leaders by the state of Vermont for their environmental stewardship and sustainability efforts. The standards to meet this designation were developed by multi-state environmental agency workgroup members of NEWMOA (Northeast Waste Management Officials Organization, as part of the Northeast Sustainable Grocery Environmental Leader program and include energy efficiency, water and waste reduction, recycling, environmentally preferable purchasing, and facility operations.

Vermont Business Magazine FairPoint Communications, Inc (Nasdaq: FRP), Vermont's largest communications provider, today announced its financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2015. “Our financial results in the quarter were in line with our expectations reflecting the progress in our business, the acceptance of CAF Phase II related funding as well as the completion of our headcount reduction plan initiated in May,” said Paul H Sunu, Chief Executive Officer. Shares were up modestly Tuesday following the news at $16.88 (52-week range: $13.30 - $20.98), despite posting a profit against losses last year. Net revenue also was positive in the second quarter.

Vermont Business Magazine The Brattleboro Retreat announced today that its board of trustees has appointed Louis Josephson, PhD, as the hospital’s new president and chief executive officer. He will start on March 1 after moving to Brattleboro. Josephson, a native of New York City, comes to the Retreat from Los Angeles, CA, where he has served as the president and chief executive officer of Vista Del Mar Child and Family Services since 2013. Prior to moving to Los Angeles he served for eight years as president and CEO of Riverbend Community Mental Health in Concord, NH. During that same period Josephson was also vice president of behavioral health at Concord Hospital, also in New Hampshire.

Vermont Business Magazine University of Vermont start-up company EASY LLC has received a $1 million Phase II Small Business Technology Transfer grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop a commercial prototype for a digital printer that will translate conventional graphics to raised-line versions readable by the blind. Under a Phase I version of the grant, intended to demonstrate product feasibility, the company developed the first working prototype for the printer. EASY originated in an engineering class at UVM.

Vermont Business Magazine Two years ago, the Vermont Department of Health launched an informational outreach campaign called ‘049’ that asked women and health care providers to become more aware of how alcohol can cause health problems for babies. A new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) identifies prenatal exposure to alcohol as the leading preventable cause of birth defects and intellectual and neurodevelopmental disabilities in children.

by Erin Mansfield vtdigger.org Regulators will hold three more days of hearings to hear testimony over an embattled natural gas pipeline project, following allegations from opponents that ratepayer advocates and Vermont Gas were trying to thwart the legal process. The Public Service Board ruled Monday that it would hold three days of hearings starting Dec. 1 to hear testimony on a memorandum of understanding that Vermont Gas and the Public Service Department submitted Oct. 15. Under the agreement, ratepayers would pay for $134 million of the Addison Rutland Natural Gas Project.

by Mike Smith In this country we have the right to assemble and stage lawful protests. Usually the purpose of a protest is to draw attention to a certain issue and raise awareness, with the ultimate goal of having more people gravitate to your cause and broaden your support. For this reason protesters need to be careful that they do not alienate those who otherwise might be sympathetic to their point of view.

But some protesters can be too intense, perhaps even intimidating or sometimes frightening, which prevents them from attracting broader support. That’s when the use of a protest becomes counterproductive. When the intensity, rhetoric and actions of the protest don’t match that of the general public, then protesters appear to be out-of-line and over-the-top. Unfortunately, those that are so ideologically wedded to their cause rarely see it that way.

Vermont Business Magazine As two in five working Americans want to own their own business, leading personal finance website GOBankingRates conducted a study, released Monday, to find out which US states offer the best conditions for Americans wanting to start a business. Vermont was seventh worst, according to the study. The study found that while Washington,Wyoming and California are the best states for entrepreneurs, West Virginia, Hawaii and South Carolina are the least-friendly states for new business.

Vermont Business Magazine Representatives from the Southwestern Vermont Regional Cancer Center invited members of the Cancer Center Community Crusaders (known as the 4Cs) and the Quiet Valley Quilters Guild together Wednesday, October 7 to mark the beginning of a new program for patients. The three organizations worked together to provide 14 handmade quilts to cancer patients whose treatment has ended because it is no longer effective to stem the course of their disease. Many transition to hospice care.

Cancer patients often come to the cancer center for appointments over the course of many years. Because of this, patients and staff build deep relationships. Once a patient has transitioned to hospice care, they no longer come to the Cancer Center; both patients and staff feel that separation.