Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Downstreet Housing and Community Development of Barre is one of 20 nonprofit community development organizations were recognized today for their excellence in sustainable business and housing practices by NeighborWorks America. To date, 81 network members -- or nearly one-third of all organizations in the network -- have earned the NeighborWorks Green Organization designation. Affordable Housing Education and Development of Littleton, NH, was also recognized. This is the fourth year of the NeighborWorks Green Organization program, which recognizes community development nonprofits in its network of more than 240 organizations that achieve a comprehensive commitment to sustainable operations -- both in their lines of business and the corporate operations they run.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Gas today submitted its regular quarterly report regarding the Addison natural gas expansion project with the Vermont Public Service Board (PSB). The filing shows that the Addison pipeline is on track and has remained on schedule and on budget since December 2014. Vermont Gas submits quarterly reports to the PSB regarding budget projections and expenses related to the project. The latest filing reflects the project’s budget standing as of September 30, 2015. Vermont Gas is still waiting for a decision by regulators on whether they will reopen the certificate of public good process.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Peter Shumlin has joined eight Governors from across the country in sending a letter to Congressional leadership urging an end to current trade sanctions imposed against Cuba by the United States. Ending those restrictions could open up an 11 million person market for many Vermont industries, including dairy, renewable energy, consumer and manufactured goods, technology, tourism and others. Current constraints severely limit the ability of US companies to serve the Cuban market. One such limitation prevents US companies from offering standard credit terms, requiring Cuba to pay cash in advance, which is a serious barrier to conducting business. Without such restrictions, competitors like Brazil, the European Union, and Canada are increasingly establishing themselves as a more reliable trading source.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies and Hotel Vermont announced today the InnovateHER VT Challenge, a new business pitch event in Burlington.The competition is at 5:30 pm October 19 at the Hotel Vermont, 41 Cherry Street. Vermont EPSCoR and VCET have underwritten a $10,000 cash prize to the event winner as well as a nomination to participate in the national Small Business Administration event, which has $70,000 in prizes in spring 2016. Organizers intend this competition to increase access to capital and feedback for local entrepreneurs, to highlight the importance of women led companies, and ventures that are specifically designed to improve the lives of women and families.

InnovateHER VT is a part of a national pitch competition through the SBA celebrating and promoting women entrepreneurs and ventures that impact and empower the lives of women and families.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell is warning consumers who have filed or may soon file for bankruptcy of an emerging scam by impostors claiming to be the consumer’s attorney, the attorney’s partner or a member of their staff. The perpetrators of this scam use software to “spoof” the Caller ID system so that the call appears to be originating from the phone line of the consumer’s bankruptcy attorney. Consumers are then instructed to immediately wire money to satisfy a debt that is supposedly outside of the bankruptcy proceeding.

The perpetrators may be using information from public filings to identify consumers to target and the names of their attorneys. The calls come late in the evening or during non-business hours to minimize consumers’ ability to verify the call by contacting their attorney. Consumers who receive such a call should not wire funds and should contact their attorney as soon as possible.

Vermont Business Magazine Although an estimated 40 percent of Vermont households drink water from private sources, only five percent of those private wells have been tested for contaminants. The Vermont Department of Health was awarded five years of federal funding in the amount of $670,010 to close this gap and promote safe drinking water for Vermonters. Vermont is one of 14 state and five local health departments to receive funding from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to reduce contaminant exposures from private drinking water sources. Grant funds will be used to support water testing for vulnerable populations that are at greatest risk, especially children and pregnant women.

The CDC funding will also allow the Health Department to compile and analyze private well testing data to identify geographic areas where drinking water supplies may put vulnerable populations at increased risk of adverse health effects.

Vermont Business Magazine Entergy Corporation (NYSE: ETR) announced today that it will close its Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth, MA, no later than June 1, 2019, because of poor market conditions, reduced revenues and increased operational costs. Entergy closed its Vermont Yankee nuclear plant for financial reasons in December 2014. Entergy notified the independent system operator of the electric grid, the ISO New England Inc. (ISO-NE), that as of that date, Pilgrim would not participate as a capacity resource in the market. The exact timing of the shutdown depends on several factors, including further discussion with ISO-NE, and will be decided in the first half of 2016.

Vermont Business Magazine A new nationwide survey suggests as many as an estimated 24.5 million Americans* would like to try growing marijuana for personal use -- if growing it was legal. The survey conducted earlier this year, also finds 70-percent of Americans sure of their response are in favor of seeing marijuana laws liberalized -- and 63 percent agree with the statement that "medical use of marijuana should be legalized." The survey findings are a benchmark, according to Bruce Butterfield, Research Director for the National Gardening Association, based in Burlington.

Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont Health Network has announced the appointment of Adam Buckley, MD, to the position of chief information officer. The UVM Health Network is a four-hospital system serving the residents of Vermont and northern New York with hospital locations in Burlington and Berlin in Vermont, and in Plattsburgh and Elizabethtown in New York.

Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont Medical Center has received the “Get With The Guidelines Resuscitation Gold Award” for sustained use of quality improvement measures in the treatment of in-hospital cardiac arrests, which occurs in the US 200,000 times per year. The American Heart Association and American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Resuscitation Program is designed to save lives by providing hospitals with current research-based protocols for treatment, and by tracking their use. To earn the Gold Award, the Code Team at The University of Vermont Medical Center had to achieve a high level of compliance with the guidelines for two consecutive years.

Vermont Business Magazine Katie Nee, Resource Coordinator for Howard Center’s Comprehensive Care Program, says, “You don't have to be married, rich, or own a home to be a perfect foster or adoptive parent. You will be supported every step of the way by our team.” In addition to providing a variety of mental health support services to children and families in the community, her program helps find foster homes and respite foster care for children ages 4-18. Her team provides information and guidance for families who are considering becoming foster parents.

Nee’s program will sponsor an informational open house for adults interested in learning more about Comprehensive Care’s Foster Parent program:

Wednesday, October 14
5:30 – 7:00 p.m.
1138 Pine Street, Burlington, VT

by Robert Keren/Middlebury College Middlebury opened a new chapter in its 215-year history today, October 11, 2015, with the inauguration and celebration of its 17th president, Laurie L Patton, on a splendid fall morning punctuated by gusty winds and sunny skies Sunday. More than 1,000 people gathered in the quadrangle on the west side of Old Chapel to bear witness to history and absorb the words of the new president and several others as autumnal colors emanated from the maples, beeches, and hickory trees surrounding the pastoral scene.