Current News

Northern Power Systems Corp. (TSX: NPS), based in Barre, Vermont, a next generation renewable energy technology company and maker of wind turbines, has announced financial results for its three and six month periods ended June 30, 2014. Revenues have tripled while the net loss has fallen. "Our second quarter financial results demonstrated continued strong year-over-year revenue growth. With our next generation distributed turbine ready for the market and our capital raise concluded, we are planning our targeted expansion strategy to enter new regions and market sectors," said Troy Patton, president and chief executive officer. "We also continue to be very pleased with the scope of our strategic partnership with WEG Industries. WEG's production and delivery of 2MW turbines leveraging our licensed technology platform continues on pace to fill its current Brazilian orders of greater than 150 MW.

Vermont Fish & Wildlife has reopened the cliffs closed to hiking and access earlier this spring to protect nesting peregrine falcons. “The young peregrines have fledged, and nesting data suggest the species had a good year due, in part, to cooperation from hikers and rock climbers during this critical nesting period,” said Fish and Wildlife’s migratory bird biologist John Buck. “Peregrine nesting success is also helped by the nearly 40 volunteers who monitor the nest sites from March to the end of July.”

Looking to boost activity on the northern side of the waterfront, while upgrading infrastructure for even more development, especially the re-development of the moribund Moran building, Mayor Miro Weinberger Tuesday was joined by Senator Patrick Leahy, Commissioner Noelle MacKay of the Vermont Department of Housing and Community Development, other State and City officials, waterfront stakeholders, and community members for the Waterfront Access North (WAN) project ground-breaking event. The $9.1 million WAN represents the first major new waterfront public infrastructure investment since the creation of Waterfront Park in the early 1990s.

The project includes the following key improvements:

· Realigning, widening, and rebuilding the currently decayed and disjointed section of the Burlington bike path immediately north of Waterfront Park to better accommodate path users and other activities on the northern waterfront;

After months of construction, Governor Peter Shumlin today gathered with local officials to celebrate the official reopening of the Morrisville-Stowe State Airport. The governor also announced an exciting public/private partnership to bring additional investment to the airport, including a new air charter company with service to and from cities such as New York, Boston, Toronto and Washington, DC.

New York Attorney General Eric T Schneiderman and Casella Waste Systems Inc of Rutland, Vermont, have settled a dispute concerning Casella’s contracting practices in New York State. The NY AG stated that combined with Casella's market dominance and pattern of acquisitions of smaller competitors, it unlawfully restrained competition in the North Country and Southern Tier. The settlement requires Casella to change its contracts to reduce the legal and financial obstacles faced by customers that wish to switch to competing providers. The AG said these changes are expected to rejuvenate competition by reducing customers’ switching costs and facilitating new market entry. The settlement, announced in July, also requires Casella to report certain future acquisitions of competitors to the Attorney General’s office, and to make a monetary payment of $100,000 to the State.

Compressed natural gas (CNG) is now paving the streets in the center of Rutland, running the largest commercial laundry in the state, as well as heating the local hospital. The gas is being delivered by NG Advantage and what it calls a "virtual pipeline," consisting of a fleet of high-tech tractor/trailers, as the region waits for the natural gas pipeline to be extended from northern Vermont by 2020.

Rutland’s Mayor Chris Lourassaid, “A significant number of local employers currently use large amounts of #2 and #6 fuel oil to produce heat. This is inefficient, expensive, and not an environmentally sound practice for the long term.

The Mad River Food Hub, the CAE Vermont Food Venture Center and the Vermont Community Loan Fund are pleased to announce a new equipment leasing program for food businesses and entrepreneurs.

The Vermont Value-Added Producer Equipment Access Program will help emerging food business by creating access to specialized equipment that will help them increase production and enhance product quality. Participants will have worked with a food business incubator for at least 3 months, have annual revenue of over $20,000, be planning to use the equipment in Vermont and directly or indirectly source ingredients from Vermont farms and producers.

The Equipment Access Program has been made possible by philanthropic support, in particular from the Castanea Foundation, High Meadows Fund, the Surdna Foundation, the John Merck Fund and the State of Vermont’s Working Lands Enterprise Initiative.

by Anne Galloway vtdigger.org Is it legal for the Shumlin administration to keep financing plans for the single payer health care system a secret? Even when those plans have been shared with House legislative leadership? Those are the questions at the heart of a lawsuit brought by Representative Cynthia Browning, D-Arlington, against the state of Vermont. Governor Peter Shumlin has used executive privilege, a legal doctrine that protects his decision-making process, to keep the deliberations of the Business Advisory Council on Health Care Reform and the Consumer Advisory Council on Health Care Reform out of the public purview. Browning believes Shumlin has applied the doctrine too broadly in order to prevent public access to information about his plans for single payer. She said her request does not breach executive privilege.

Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility (VBSR) has chosen Mark Curran, Founder and Co-Owner of Black River Produce, as the 2014 recipient of the Terry Ehrich Award for Excellence in Socially Responsible Business. Named for the late owner of Hemmings Motor News and a founding member of VBSR, the award is given to a VBSR member who best exemplifies Terry Ehrich’s commitment to the environment, workplace, progressive public policy and community.

by Morgan True vtdigger.org Margot Page was worried about a gap in her health coverage. It was March and her pharmacy claims were being rejected. Earlier in the year, Page, 61, of Sunderland purchased health insurance through Vermont Health Connect, the state’s online insurance marketplace. Her old coverage expired in March, but despite months of back-and-forth with Vermont Health Connect customer service representatives, she was unable to change the start date of her coverage, which was mistakenly entered as April. In a panic the first week of March, Page reached out to her friend, Representative Patti Komline, R-Dorset, for help. Komline put Page in touch with Lindsey Tucker, a deputy commissioner for the Department of Vermont Health Access, and the woman who happens to be in charge of the day-to-day operations for Vermont Health Connect.

Vermont Business Magazine Norwich University’s College of Graduate and Continuing Studies (CGCS) has announced the renewal of a grant that will support students in the online Master of Science in Nursing program. The National Faculty Loan Repayment Program will provide $250,000 towards the repayment of student loans to those graduates that agree to go into teaching in an accredited nursing school upon graduation. The grant is from the US Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration.

HowardCenter was recently awarded a three-year accreditation—the highest level of accreditation—from CARF International (formerly known as the Commission of Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities) for its San Remo Drive clinic, which provides medication assisted treatment for individuals with opioid dependence. The award commends the HowardCenter and notes that, “This achievement is an indication of the organization’s dedication and commitment to improving the quality of the lives of the people served.”

The CARF Accreditation report highlights program strengths, including HowardCenter’s long, rich history of providing high-quality, compassionate human services in Vermont and a high level of patient satisfaction.