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The US Small Business Administration has announced certain Private Non-Profit Organizations (PNPs) that do not provide critical services of a governmental nature may be eligible to apply for low interest rate disaster loans. These loans are available following a Presidential disaster declaration for Public Assistance resulting from damages caused by severe storms and flooding on April 15-18, 2014. PNPs located in the counties of Caledonia, Essex, Franklin, Lamoille, Orange, Orleans and Washington inVermont are eligible to apply to SBA. Examples of eligible non-critical PNP organizations include, but are not limited to, food kitchens, homeless shelters, museums, libraries, community centers, schools and colleges.

by Laura Krantz vtdigger.org Connie Norona treats opiate addicts at the Chittenden Clinic. She can tell you stories of excitement and growth and improvement. But Wednesday night, she told a different story. Norona, and about 150 others, gathered in Burlington City Hall to rally for higher wages for HowardCenter workers like herself. Social workers and clinicians at the Chittenden County social services agency say their bosses have improperly withheld a 3 percent raise the Legislature gave them.

“Opiate treatment is working. It works on the backs of the clinicians,” she said, describing how she and her co-workers put in at least eight unpaid hours per week just to complete paperwork for their rising caseloads.

Governor Peter Shumlin will present Vermont Small Business Person of the Year to Bill Cherry and Jeff Neiblum, owners of Switchback Brewing Company in Burlington. The 2014 Vermont Small Business Awards Ceremony is Tuesday, June 17, from 4 to 7 pm at the Shelburne Museum Pizzagalli Center.

Previous Vermont Small Business Person of the Year recipients include Ben and Jerry’s, Vermont Teddy Bear Company and Dealer.com. The Small Business Administration Vermont District Office has awarded Small Business Person of the Year annually since 1967.

Vermont Business Magazine New unemployment claims in Vermont last week remained at a very low level. For the week of June 7, 2014, there were 403 new, regular benefit claims for Unemployment Insurance in Vermont. This is an increase of 3 from the previous week's total, and 243 fewer than they were a year ago. Claims in 2014 have been running signifantly lower than those in 2013.

Altogether 5,016 new and continuing claims were filed, a decrease of 144 from a week ago and 1,049 fewer than a year ago. The Department also processed 13 First Tier claims for benefits under Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 2008 (EUC08), 21 fewer than the previous week.

Vermont Student Assistance Corp has announced its fixed rates for Vermont Advantage education loans for the 2014-15 academic year. Available to both undergraduate and graduate students who need additional financing for postsecondary education or training, the Vermont Advantage offers rates as low as 5.85 percent APR. Vermont students attending college in the US or abroad or students from out of state attending a Vermont institution are eligible for this financing.

“The Vermont Advantage is good option for students and families to help make up the difference between the total cost of education and the various kinds of financial aid they already may have received,” said Scott Giles, president and CEO of VSAC. “As Vermont’s postsecondary education and training information resource, we are dedicated to working with Vermonters as they continue their studies after high school and helping them finance their education.”

About VSAC

What do an animal shelter, audio systems, softball camps and salads made with local greens all have in common? They’re all part of several entrepreneurial ideas and business plans developed by over 40 statewide high school and technical center students who submitted plans in the 6^th annual VT REAL (Rural Entrepreneurship Through Action Learning) High School/Tech Center Entrepreneurship Business Plan Competition. A special awards reception was held Thursday at Vermont Tech in Williston and presented by the Vermont Small Business Development Center to honor the top winners in the competition for their creative work.

Landmark College will receive a $1 million gift from noted economist Paul McCulley, an executive with the Pacific Investment Management Company (PIMCO) and the father of 2014 Landmark College graduate Jonathan McCulley. The funding will create the new Morgan le Fay Center for Advances in Business and Entrepreneurship Instruction at Landmark College. It will support development and refinement of progressive pedagogy for students with learning difficulties (LD) in the fields of business, economics and entrepreneurship, as well as research, training and related innovations for educators in the field of LD.

Governor Shumlin has released for public comment the Climate Cabinet’s Draft Vermont Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Action Plan (linked below). This plan is an important step to meeting the commitments the Governor made in a memorandum of understanding (MOU) he signed with seven other governors to put 3.3 million ZEVs on the road by 2025. ZEVs include pure battery electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles. The partner states are California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, and Rhode Island.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Peter Shumlin signed the cell phone bill Thursday that would prohibit the use of handheld cell phone use while driving. The bill to make it illegal to use a handheld mobile devices while driving was signed at the VTrans Maintenance Garage in Colchester. The governor initially was not enthusiastic about the bill because he believed it did not go far enough to prevent distracted driving, but he became a late "convert" to the it. Drivers will not be able to talk, text, use social media or even look at a device while holding it. The law will take effect October 1 and requires a public information campaign to inform motorists of the change.

PC Construction, based in South Burlington, has been awarded a $4.9 million construction contract for an expansion project at Oxford Networks Data Center in Brunswick, Maine. Located in a 52,000-square-foot former secure data and communications center for the now decommissioned Brunswick Naval Air Station at Brunswick Landing, the project involves the modernization and renovation of the 1980s building.

PC Construction has been on site since mid-March deconstructing a portion of the building, removing walls and electrical systems to create an expansive 6,500-square-foot data room. Teams are now beginning to install extensive electrical components to comply with the redundancy requirements for the data center’s electrical distribution system.

Aspects of the project also include the construction of a 3,200-square-foot electrical area to house electrical and mechanical systems away from data servers, as well as upgraded plumbing, fire suppression and alarm systems.

Shap Smith, the Morrisville lawyer who has served three terms as Speaker of the House, has filed a petition to seek re-election to the Vermont House of Representatives. Smith is seeking a seventh term as a member of the House. This coming legislative biennium most notably will feature the development of a funding scheme for Green Mountain Care, Governor Shumlin's universal health care plan. Also, in the session recently concluded, legislators, who had to struggle to balance the budget for fiscal year 2015, which begins this July 1, indicated that next year will be even worse.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) Thursday secured unanimous bipartisan committee approval of the nomination of Vermont Supreme Court Justice Geoffrey Crawford for an upcoming vacancy on Vermont’s US District Court. Crawford earned unanimous support by the committee for his nomination to fill the vacancy that will occur this weekend, on June 15, when Judge William Sessions takes senior status. Leahy, who recommended Justice Crawford to the White House and presided over his confirmation hearing last week, welcomed the committee’s timely and unanimous approval for the nomination.