Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Several Vermont companies were recently recognized for their strong commitment to effective workplace safety at the annual Vermont Safety & Health Council meeting held in Killington, Vermont. The Governor’s Awards for Outstanding Workplace Safety are presented by officials from the Vermont Department of Labor, the Vermont League of Cities & Towns, and the President of the Vermont Safety & Health Council.

The Governor’s Award for Outstanding Workplace Safety is the highest honor given by the State of Vermont to recognize an employer’s commitment to excellence in workplace safety and health policy and practice. These awards recognize specific companies that are committed to effective workplace safety.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Peter Shumlin has appointed Theresa Wood of Waterbury to the House seat vacated by former State Representative Rebecca Ellis, who resigned from the Legislature in August to join the Shumlin Administration. The Washington-Chittenden district, which Wood will represent, includes the towns of Waterbury, Huntington, Buel’s Gore, and Bolton.

“Theresa is smart and driven and has a record of getting things done,” Shumlin said. “Her experience in both state and local government will serve her well in the Legislature. She cares deeply about helping her community succeed and I have no doubt she will serve her district incredibly well.”

“I am extremely excited and humbled to be appointed by the Governor, and I look forward to the opportunity to serve my district and my state in this new role,” said Ms. Wood.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Chamber of Commerce announced today the highly anticipated 2015-2016 Top Ten Winter Events. Each year, a panel of independent judges chooses Vermont’s best activities, selected for their diversity, wide appeal, and consistency with Vermont's brand. Tori Ossola, Vice President of Tourism noted, “Vermont is known for being a top destination for recreation, scrumptious food, hand-crafted beer, wine and spirits and experiential travel. This year's Vermont Chamber Top Ten Winter Events feature happenings from all regions of the state to appeal to the many interests of our visitors and locals alike.”

Vermont Business Magazine SolarCity (NASDAQ: SCTY), America’s #1 solar power provider, has opened a new 13,000 square foot operations center in South Burlington. The new facility is the California company's first operations center in the state, and it expects to employ approximately 100 people at the center when fully staffed. SolarCity, which launched Vermont service in August, makes it possible for many Vermont homeowners to install solar with no upfront cost and pay as much as 20 percent less by going solar than they pay for utility power, with installation, production guarantee, monitoring and repair service included at no additional cost. The company’s services are available to customers of Burlington Electric and Green Mountain Power.

Vermont Business Magazine Burlington College announced Tuesday The Communiversity at Burlington College. This formal initiative brings together education and training partners such as Vermont HITEC, Community Kitchen Academy, Oplerno, New England Institute for Teacher Education, and the Association for Anthroposophic Psychology. It also engages supporting partners from the State of Vermont— Department of Labor and Department of Tourism & Marketing. Employers such as Vermont Information Processing, Husky, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, Triad Business Services, and others are also part of this new endeavor.

by Wendy M Levy/The Commons The Vermont Department of Taxes recently informed Vernon town listers that they must add Vermont Yankee to the town’s grand list for calendar year 2015. This means that according to the state, Entergy, VY’s parent company, must fork over $2 million, which will make its way into the state’s education fund. Though they ultimately billed the utility — and Entergy, for its part, is mulling its options over the matter — town officials are not happy, and they feel that the state agency has incorrectly put them in the middle.

by Timothy McQuiston Vermont Business Magazine Casella, the solid waste and recycling company based in Rutland, has released more financial results that it hopes will ensure that shareholders will elect the slate of directors as nominated by its board. Outside investor JCP Group is conducting a proxy contest and is seeking the election at the 2015 Annual Meeting of two director candidates in opposition to the director nominees unanimously recommended by the Casella board. Among those up for re-election this year's is Chairman and CEO John Casella. The annual meeting is November 6.

On October 19, 2015, Casella reported preliminary results for the three-month period ended September 30, 2015. In a statement, Casella said that these results demonstrate that the company continues to execute well against key strategies driving improved financial performance. Third quarter preliminary financial highlights included the following:

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont’s emergency management program has once again been accredited by the Emergency Management Accreditation Program (EMAP), Governor Peter Shumlin and Division of Emergency Management & Homeland Security (DEMHS) Director Christopher Herrick announced today. DEMHS previously achieved accreditation in 2010. EMAP is a voluntary program in which emergency response organizations show their ability to respond to a disaster effectively. Vermont met a set of 64 standards involving hazard identification, prevention, incident management, communications and warning, training, and others.

by Anne Galloway vtdigger.org Opponents of a natural gas pipeline say Vermont Gas is using a legal maneuver to subvert the regulatory process in order to reap double digit rate increases. The utility and the Vermont Department of Public Service forged an agreement earlier this month that caps ratepayer liability for the pipeline project at $134 million. Governor Peter Shumlin lauded the memorandum of understanding, but lawyers for several groups say the agreement is a “bad deal” for ratepayers and doesn’t reflect the total cost of the project. AARP and the Vermont Fuel Dealers Association have described the agreement as a “PR stunt” that puts political pressure on the quasi-judicial Vermont Public Service Board to bless the project with rate increases baked in.

Vermont Business Magazine The Oryza Group has announced that the firm has reached a new, five-year collective bargaining agreement with workers at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service's Vermont Service Center in St. Albans. The agreement, struck early this morning between Oryza and leaders of Local 208 of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, next moves to a ratification vote by the bargaining unit's approximately 350 workers.

Leland Rice, President of Oryza, praised negotiating teams on both sides for bargaining intensively but respectfully.

"This agreement strikes a good balance between the need for fiscal responsibility in a time of economic challenges and our employees' desire for fair wages and benefits," Mr. Rice said. "Most importantly, the agreement enables us to provide long-term stability and continuity of service to the immigrant population that relies on us."

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets (VAAFM) has announced grants totaling $255,475 for eight projects to benefit Vermont fruit, vegetable, hops, maple, and added-value producers and increase consumer access to locally produced food. These grants, funded through the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service’s Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP), were awarded to six agricultural organizations to undertake a range of research, education, promotion, and program-building projects. The grants will leverage an additional $300,000 in matching funds.

Vermont Business Magazine Greenbacker Renewable Energy Company has announced it has purchased the rights to construct two additional ground mount solar systems located on leased property in Proctor and Hartford. Electricity produced by these sites will be sold under long term contracts with two Vermont municipal entities. The Proctor facility was developed and is being constructed by Green Lantern Capital while the Hartford Landfill facility was developed and is being constructed by groSolar; two leading players in the Vermont solar marketplace.

With the addition of these systems, Greenbacker's Green Maple portfolio will own and operate seven solar systems in Vermont. In total, these systems comprise 5,469 kW of generating capacity which is expected to produce enough electricity to power approximately 902 homes for one year of typical use.