Current News

According to the Chittenden Solid Waste District, here's what happened when someone tossed a small container of household hazardous waste into their recycling bin. One container of household hazardous waste shut down CSWD's recycling facility for a day in late April and sent several people to the hospital. UPDATE: The substance was bear repellant, according to Vermont Emergency Management.

Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) issued the following comment Wednesday after the House overwhelmingly approved the bipartisan, bicameral USA FREEDOM Act to end the NSA’s dragnet surveillance of Americans’ phone records. Leahy is the lead Democratic coauthor of the legislation in the Senate, which he recently introduced with Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah). The White House endorsed the bill on Tuesday in a Statement of Administration Policy.

Standing side-by-side with nonprofits and charities – a sector that employs tens of thousands of Vermonters and accounts for billions of dollars in economic activity every year – Governor Peter Shumlin this morning reiterated his opposition to plans being considered in the Legislature to limit charitable giving.

“Limiting the ability of Vermonters to give to charities is not just a bad idea, it would be terrible economic policy,” Gov. Shumlin said. “Charities and non-profits in this state not only provide services to our neighbors in need, they employ our neighbors, drive economic activity, and contribute greatly to our state’s economic success.”

The Vermont Judiciary and Vermont Information Consortium (VIC) have announced the re-launch of their comprehensive online attorney licensing service, now in its ninth year. The online service, available at https://secure.vermont.gov/courts/licensing/, is now available to process 100 percent of the state’s annual attorney license renewals.

Road Pitch, a four day motorcycle tour of Vermont in which a gang of “business bikers” (comprised of investors, entrepreneurs and business advisors) ride around the state and stop in various towns to listen to entrepreneurs pitch their business concepts, has announced its 2015 schedule. Road Pitch was founded in 2014 by Cairn Cross co-founder of FreshTracks Capital. “I gathered together close to 30 other founding riders during 2014” said Cross, “and we proved the Road Pitch concept by riding 500 miles through Vermont stopping in various towns and listening to more than 30 pitches.” The idea behind Road Pitch is to bring advice and possibly investment to businesses around the state and to help connect entrepreneurs to various resources that are available to them and to promote Vermont as a perfect motorcycle touring destination.

For 2015 Road Pitch will stop in 8 towns during the first week in August. The schedule is:

Northern Power Systems Corp (TSX:NPS), a next generation renewable energy technology company based in Barre and known for its remote wind energy systems, today announced financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2015. Revenues for the three months ended March 31, 2015 were $8.3 million, compared to $13.8 million in the first quarter of 2014. GAAP net loss for the first quarter of 2015 was $4.1 million, compared to a net loss of $3.1 million in the prior year first quarter. Order backlog at the end of Q1 was $43 million, an increase of $2 million during the quarter.

The State of Vermont has named the Shelburne Craft School the latest Vermont State Craft Center, a distinction designed to promote Vermont’s high-quality craft galleries and craft schools, as well as its craftspeople. The well-known Shelburne Craft School joins the Vermont Woodworking School in Fairfax and the Fletcher Farm School as Vermont’s official State Craft Education Centers. Designated State Craft Center Galleries include Frog Hollow Craft Center in Burlington, Artisans Hand in Montpelier, the Gallery at the VAULT in Springfield, and the Northeast Kingdom Artisans Guild in St. Johnsbury.

Galleries and education centers that apply for state designation are judged on a variety of measures, including the diversity and quality of work displayed in galleries and the breadth and quality of class offerings at educational organizations.

Citizens Bank is marking Small Business Month by offering eight simple small business cash flow tips. In many cases, with business owners focused primarily on day-to-day operations, cash flow is only a focal point when there is a problem. But business owners who establish proactive strategies for cash management are able to avoid those problems and create new growth opportunities through reinvestment by making their capital work better for them.

“Managing cash flow is one of the most important yet under-appreciated challenges faced by small businesses,” said Quincy Miller, President of Business Banking for Citizens. “Companies that have accelerated their receivables, streamlined their payroll and established more-advantageous payment terms and processes with their vendors, suppliers and customers have a definite competitive advantage in today’s marketplace, no matter their business.”

Consider the following tips to improve cash flow:

On May 13, more than 6,000 KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) employees will participate in the bank’s 25th annual Neighbors Make the Difference Day, a day of volunteerism supported by paid time off. Employees will spend the afternoon volunteering on more than 700 service projects in 13 states across the nation, from Maine to Alaska, donating 24,000 hours of time. In Vermont, employees will volunteer at 11 organizations, including the Vermont Respite House and the Rutland Housing Authority.

Burlington: Key employees will volunteer for various jobs at the Chittenden Emergency Food Shelter, Sara Holbrook Center, Community Health Center and Champlain Housing Trust

Barre: Key employees will be helping with a mailing at the Vermont Historical Society

Middlebury: Key employees will be helping with spring cleanup projects at the Counseling Service of Addison County

Lyndon State College has been named one of America’s 100 Most Affordable Small Colleges by Best Value Schools. Lyndon landed at 55 on the list; it is ranked as the most afforadable of the three Vermont schools listed. Best Value Schools is an online guide for aspiring college students who are seeking the best value in their college education. The Best Small College’s list focuses on traditional four-year colleges — not community colleges, graduate schools, or specialty schools. For this list, “small college” was defined as a school with fewer than 4,000 students.

Vermont Tent Company, based in South Burlington, has been in business since 1975, with John Crabbe, Jr at the helm since it’s early beginnings as Vermont Tent & Catering Services with one tent and a few tables and chairs. As the company grew into one of the highest regarded event rental providers in the area, three key employees had devoted years of their time to gain the knowledge and experience needed to become the trusted and professional leadership group to take over the reigns and ownership of the company.

It will be a seamless transition for Mike Lubas, CEO, Lon Finkelstein, CFO and Mike Solomon, COO who are now equal partners that will continue the strong Vermont Tent Company legacy. There will be no other changes, as the location and all employees will remain the same.

by Lisa Ventriss, President, Vermont Business Roundtable The good news is that Vermonters have had a very robust dialogue on education reform this year, which has moved us farther than previous years in terms of understanding of and agreement on the need for system-wide change. This is due primarily to the tremendous work of Vermont’s Education Secretary Rebecca Holcombe who, in a very brief period of time, has created a database of “current state” information on every school in Vermont. The bad news is that so much of our school data is suppressed because of micro-sized schools, but the available data tell a very troubling tale of the students currently in our PreK-12 education system. The worse news is that we have an even more challenging population coming into the system and we are not prepared for them.