Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Corporate Income Tax receipts were strong in March, which could bode well for revenues the rest of the fiscal year. Corporate tax returns were due on March 15 and economists have suggested that business profits could lead to an increase in Personal Income Tax revenues, in what they called an "April surprise." Taxpayers who received dividends and bonuses at the end of last year, predicated on the success of their business, could find themselves paying more in taxes (and getting less in refunds) than they expected and withheld. The result being a windfall of tax revenue for the state.

by Amy Ash Nixon vtdigger.org The House approved a plan on Thursday to merge the state’s 272 school districts into fewer, larger school systems. H361 mandates that school districts study merger options with neighboring districts. By 2019, all districts must be part of PreK-12, “integrated education systems” with a minimum of 1,100 pupils. The legislation also puts a cap on school spending.

Proposed amendments to the bill on Thursday included the elimination of a controversial spending cap on local school districts and the formation of regional districts centered on tech center catchment areas. Both amendments failed and the House passed H361 on a voice vote. For the final version of the House bill, click here.

The Agency of Human Services announced today the selection of the first seven Vermont communities that will participate in the new Promise Communities initiative. This initiative supports collaboration across the education, health care, human service, public, and private sectors to create an all-of-the-above, comprehensive approach to transforming communities to better support children with high needs.

The communities selected to participate in the first part of the initiative are:

· Barre City, Barre Town;

· Bellows Falls;

· Green Street to Canal Street in Brattleboro;

· Franklin County Early Childhood Programs region (includes the schools of Franklin Central and Franklin Northwest Supervisory Unions);

· Rutland City;

· St. Johnsbury; and

· Winooski.

Vermont’s tourism industry professionals gathered this week in South Burlington for the 32^nd annual Vermont Travel Industry Conference (VTIC). Together, they celebrated the success of their peers with six awards; two presented by the Vermont Travel Industry Conference and four presented by the Vermont Chamber of Commerce. The awards ceremony was emceed by Alan Hebert, board member and treasurer of VTIC, Inc., and strategic planning manager of hospitality and ski areas at Efficiency Vermont.

Vermont Travel Industry Conference Awards:

1. Governor’s SMART Award for Creative Marketing in Tourism: WCAX “Leafie” Campaign

New regulatory protocols have been implemented due to the increasing complexity and growing number of EB-5 proposals at the federal level, where EB-5 regional centers number close to 700. Delays may occur due to the expanded review process, slowing project approvals. Despite significant changes in the federal and state oversight and regulatory process, proposed development plans in Newport and Burke are still on track. AnC Bio Vermont received state approval on March 30 to move forward. Groundbreaking on the 84,000 square foot bio-medical manufacturing and research facility is expected to proceed this spring.

Q Burke Mountain Resort - Construction Updates

Project Highlights - March

FairPoint Communications, Inc (NASDAQ: FRP), a leading northern New England retail and wholesale communications provider and largest telecom in Vermont, has announced the launch of data center services applications for wholesale re-sellers and cloud providers seeking a New England presence.

Growth in Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions will drive cloud providers to use third-party data centers to grow their business, since they often need to scale their solution into regions further away from their primary data center. Satellite data centers reduce latency and improve performance of application servers by moving compute and storage resources closer to customers and off-loading the primary and secondary data centers. In addition, data centers can also be employed as part of a comprehensive disaster recovery strategy.

Ello, the Burlington-based, revolutionary community-supported social network, announced the rollout of Ello Beta V2 today, and simultaneously completed a new $5 million round of financing from Foundry Group, Techstars Ventures, and FreshTracks Capital. "Ello Beta V2 completely redefines the social network experience, with full screen image posting & browsing, and an interface that acts and feels more like an app than a web site," said Ello CEOPaul Budnitz.

New features include full-screen browsing and navigation, expanded search, improved discovery, drag & drop editing, drafts, rich publishing and much more. CodePen integration allows developers and hobbyists to write web apps and embed them right into their Ello posts.

Nina Totenberg, one of the nation’s preeminent legal affairs correspondents, will deliver the University of Vermont’s 2015 commencement address and receive an honorary degree from the university. Seven fellow recipients of this year’s honorary degrees will join her on the podium Sunday, May 17, including alumna and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Annie Proulx.

Totenberg’s award-winning coverage of the Supreme Court and legal affairs across the country airs regularly on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and Weekend Edition. She is a frequent panelist and guest on television public affairs programs and has published articles in the New York Times Magazine, the Harvard Law Review, Parade Magazine and New York magazine, among others.

State Senator Bill Doyle (R-Washington) has released his annual Town Meeting Day poll. Town Meeting goers decisively opposed the payroll tax to reduce the cost of Medicaid; weren't too sure over the carbon tax; had a strong, but-split, opinion on the sugary drink tax, and supported a one-day sales tax holiday. There was less support for legalizing marijuana than other polls have shown. Governor Shumlin's approval is low, which is not surprising, but it's lower than other polls have suggested. Doyle's poll, begun in 1969, is not scientific, but it has offered insight into the mind of Vermonters attending Town Meeting. It's also been reflective of what legislation ultimately will follow. Doyle asked 15 questions.

Vermont Business Magazine A new report by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) finds in New England overall electric rates went up an average of 9.7 percent last year (January 2014-January 2015) to 17.34 cents per kilowatt hour, the greatest increase in the nation. During that same time, Vermont's overall rate went down 1.6 percent to 14.24 cents/kwh and Green Mountain Power's rates went down 2.46 percent. GMP is Vermont's largest electric company. Vermont was the only state in New England that saw rates fall in 2014.

Vermont has the second lowest rates in New England. Maine is at 14.14 cents/kwh, though its rates went up 2.4 percent. Vermont's neighboring states were all higher. New York's rates are 15.36 cents/kwh; Massachusetts' rates are 17.87 cents/kwh and New Hampshire's are 16.87 cents/kwh. The US average rate is 10.19 cents/kwh, up 0.6 percent. SEE TABLE BELOW FOR ALL STATES AND REGIONS.

The UVM Health Network Board of Trustees voted yesterday to enter into a formal affiliation with Alice Hyde Medical Center in Malone, NY, and expand its network to include a total of five hospitals in Northern New York and Vermont. Pending due diligence and regulatory approval, Alice Hyde Medical Center will become the fifth hospital in The University of Vermont Health Network joining:

• The University of Vermont Medical Center (Burlington, VT)

• The University of Vermont Health Network – Central Vermont Medical Center (Berlin, VT)

• The University of Vermont Health Network – Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital (Plattsburgh, NY)

• The University of Vermont Health Network – Elizabethtown (NY) Community Hospital

by Chuck Ross, Secretary, Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, & Markets The clean water bill currently under consideration in the Vermont House of Representatives (House Bill 35, which the House gave preliminary approval to Wedensday evening) is a vital step forward for Vermont’s efforts to address the problem of polluted storm water runoff into our lakes, ponds, rivers and streams. This bill addresses the problem of excess nutrients and sediment that flow off of our parking lots, roofs, roads, driveways, yards and farm fields when the snow melts or the rain falls. As Secretary of Agriculture, as a farmer, as a father, and as someone who takes great pleasure in enjoying swimming, boating and fishing on Lake Champlain, I could not be more pleased with the direction that the legislature is headed with this important piece of legislation. The health of our state’s economy, including our farm economy, depends upon finding a solution to the our water quality chal