Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Last night, the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved a major drug pricing reform bill that includes a price negotiation initiative long championed by Rep Peter Welch (D-Vermont). The Lower Drug Costs Now Act of 2019 (H.R. 3) was approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee by a vote of 30-22. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill will save at least $345 billion. It is expected to be considered by the full House in the near future.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General TJ Donovan and Treasurer Beth Pearce met with community members at the Pope Memorial Library in Danville to discuss the importance of managing credit and protecting yourself from financial scams. They highlighted that as financial products become more complex and data breaches affecting consumers become more frequent, it is more important than ever that Vermonters manage their credit and regularly check their credit reports. In 2018, Vermonters filed 5,471 scam reports with the Attorney General’s Consumer Assistance Program – making scams one of the most common consumer issues affecting Vermonters.

Vermont Business Magazine Today the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a $25,000 Healthy Communities Grant award to the University of Vermont in Burlington, Vermont. Announced during Children's Health Month in October, the grant will help create a new partnership project between the University of Vermont, middle school and high school teachers and students, and community partners to pilot a team-based approach to education, hazard reduction, and educational materials development related to addressing lead in water and soil in Burlington and Winooski.

Vermont Business Magazine US Senator Patrick Leahy visited the St Albans Town Education Center (SATEC) on Thursday, October 10th, to celebrate National Farm to School month and announce USDA grants awarded for school districts in Vermont to expand Farm to School activities. The grants total $300,000 and will help schools in Franklin, Grand Isle, Caledonia and Orange counties to connect their classrooms, cafeteria and community to local food and farms. The celebration was held in the school garden and orchard, which was the result of a state grant and where several new raised beds were being constructed on Thursday morning.

Vermont Business Magazine All three major data points were negative in September as unemployment rate went up for the first time in over ten years, as the Vermont Department of Labor reported today. According to household data, the seasonally-adjusted statewide unemployment rate for September was 2.2 percent. This reflects an increase of one-tenth of one-percentage point from the revised August rate. If this preliminary data holds, it would be the first increase to the unemployment rate since April 2009.

Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility is proud to welcome New Chapter, King Arthur Flour & Vermont Creamery as newest Champion Member
Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility (VBSR) Board of Directors is pleased to announce New Chapter, King Arthur Flour and Vermont Creamery have become VBSR’s newest Champion Members. 

Vermont Business Magazine On Saturday, October 19 from 10 am to 2 pm, Vermont’s leading and emerging outdoor recreation businesses, trail and conservation organizations, and state officials will gather at Bolton Valley Resort for an expo hosted by the Vermont Outdoor Business Alliance (VOBA) and the Vermont Outdoor Recreation Economic Collaborative. The public will have a chance to demo bikes and sample products from a wide variety of Vermont’s outdoor recreation brands at VOBA’s first-ever Outdoor Expo. 

“We’re excited about gathering leaders from Vermont’s best-known outdoor recreation businesses – Burton, Darn Tough, Orvis and Rome to name a few – as well as newer brands, trail and stewardship organizations, and state agencies to explore ideas for strengthening outdoor recreation opportunities and increase our sector’s economic impact in Vermont,” says VOBA Executive Director, Kelly Ault. 

Vermont Business Magazine Central Vermont Home Health & Hospice (CVHHH) raised over $60,000 to support programs and services for central Vermonters at the 20th annual Seasons of Life Fashion Show, Live Auction, and Dinner. Over 200 guests gathered on Friday, October 4 in the Governor’s Ballroom at the Capitol Plaza Hotel in Montpelier, where they mingled, watched models walk the runway, bid on live-auction packages, and celebrated the platinum anniversary of CVHHH’s largest annual fundraiser.

Vermont Business Magazine Green Mountain Power (GMP) crews made significant progress restoring power after a Nor’Easter socked the region Wednesday night packing strong winds that did more damage than forecasted. GMP crews and 30 external crews have been working non-stop to get the lights back on, restoring power to more than 25,000 customers. About 4,800 customers are still without power while new outages continue to be reported from the storm, mostly in southwestern Vermont. Crews are working around the clock, and expect the majority of customers will be back on by Friday afternoon. Isolated damage in some of the worst hit areas could take into the weekend. Throughout the Northeast region, more than 600,000 were without power because of the storm earlier Wednesday.

Vermont Business Magazine Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary Ethicon, Inc will pay Vermont $1.37 million for misrepresenting the safety and effectiveness of transvaginal surgical mesh devices and failing to sufficiently disclose risk associated with their use. Following a multistate investigation, Johnson & Johnson and Ethicon agreed to pay 41 states, including Vermont, and the District of Columbia a total of $116.86 million for their deceptive marketing of transvaginal surgical mesh devices. Restitution for affected consumers is still pending in class action cases.

“Johnson & Johnson’s deceptive acts caused women to suffer in profoundly personal ways,” said Attorney General Donovan. “My office will continue to hold companies who harm Vermonters accountable for misrepresenting the safety and efficacy of their products.”

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Economic Development Authority (VEDA) approved over $25 million in loans for Vermont enterprises between July 1 and September 30, 2019. That total exceeds the previous quarter's approval volume by $10 million.  The financing was approved to help small businesses, farmers and other borrowers expand their operations, build solar energy arrays, conserve and clean-up land, revitalize a city block in downtown St. Albans, and create new job opportunities across the state. Financing included: Congress & Main in St Albans; Ski Magic in Londonderry; Black Flannel Distilling in Essex Jct; Green Lantern Development in Waterbury; 16 farm operations; and affiliate state loan programs, including the Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund and Clean Water State Revolving Fund.

Vermont Business Magazine Union Bankshares, Inc (NASDAQ - UNB) today announced results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019.  Net income for the three months ended September 30, 2019 was $2.7 million, an increase of 18.5% over the third quarter of 2018, and earnings per share was $0.62, and increase of 19.2% over the same period in 2018. The Company's return on average assets was 1.34% and return on average equity was 15.79% for the third quarter of 2019. The Board of Directors also declared a cash dividend of $0.31 per share payable November 7, 2019 to shareholders of record as of October 28, 2019.