Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Community Mutual announced in a press release Monday that Thomas A White, president, will be retiring from his position effective December 31, 2018. The Troy, NY-based insurer is part of the Union Mutual group, which is headquartered in Montpelier. On October 1, 2003, White joined Community Mutual as Executive Vice President. After Robert Carpenter’s retirement in March of 2005, the Board of Directors elected White as Community Mutual’s next president.

White was instrumental in a number of key initiatives including Community Mutual’s affiliation with Union Mutual in 2013. Under his oversight, the Company has subsequently grown its Direct Written Premium 85% and Surplus nearly 230%.

Vermont Business Magazine Leonine Public Affairs, Vermont’s largest government relations and strategic communications firm, announced today the addition of Maggie Lenz to its team. Lenz, an experienced lobbyist and political organizer, will be joining Leonine’s public affairs group in Vermont, which provides lobbying and strategic communications services to both in-state and national clients.

“I am excited to be joining the Leonine team,” said Lenz. “I am passionate about the dynamic nature of Vermont politics and the issues that are at the forefront right now. The wide array of lobbying, public relations, strategic communications and campaign services Leonine covers is a great fit for my skillset and interests.”

Maggie Lenz

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Procurement Technical Assistance Center (VT PTAC) invites Vermont businesses to join them and the State of Vermont, Office of Purchasing and Contracting (OPC), for an in-depth look at how to do business with the State of Vermont. This free, two-hour workshop will focus on working specifically with the Office of Purchasing and Contracting (OPC). OPC oversees the centralized purchasing and contracting for the State of Vermont.

Does the State of Vermont buy your products or services? Small businesses like yours will get a chance to speak directly to a representative from OPC and receive personal assistance from the Vermont Procurement Technical Assistance Center team (VT PTAC). VT PTAC can help you find the State bids that are right for you, sort through the paperwork and enable you to bid on State contracts effectively and efficiently. VT PTAC services are free to Vermont businesses.

Vermont Business Magazine Great Place to Work and FORTUNE have honored Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont (BCBSVT) as one of the 2018 Best Workplaces for Women. They are the only recipient in the state. The ranking was based on anonymous survey feedback representing more than 4.5 million US employees from Great Place to Work-Certified companies. Great Place to Work, a global people analytics and consulting firm, analyzed women and men’s responses to over 60 different metrics measuring the extent to which their organizations create a Great Place to Work For All.

Vermont Business Magazine Casella Waste Systems, Inc (Nasdaq: CWST), a regional solid waste, recycling and resource management services company based in Rutland, announced that on November 8, 2018, the company and the Town of Southbridge, MA, reached a settlement to resolve claims that were the subject of litigation filed in Worcester Superior Court. The settlement will allow Casella to close the local landfill in exchange for free waste collection and disposal services.

Under the terms of the settlement, the company and the Town agreed to advance the date through which the company is obligated to provide free curbside collection and disposal of the Town’s residential waste from May 28, 2027 to March 31, 2024. The settlement also permits the company to close the waste transfer station located in the Town at the end of 2018.

Vermont Business Magazine Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CWST), a regional vertically integrated solid waste, recycling and resource management services company based in Rutland, announced today that it has acquired the assets of Al’s Maintenance on December 1, 2018. Al’s is a provider of residential and roll-off collection services in the Rochester, NY market.

“With the acquisition of Al’s, we have acquired roughly $77 million of annualized revenues during 2018,” said John W Casella, Chairman and CEO of Casella Waste Systems, Inc.

Vermont Business Magazine Weekly unemployment claims last week nearly doubled as the typical holiday season volatility kicked in. For the week of November 24, 2018, there were 1,125 claims, 526 more than they were the previous week, but 36 fewer than they were a year ago. The holiday season sees wild swings in claims, as retailers in particular hire and layoff workers in spikes in November and December.

Vermont Business Magazine The Fletcher Free Library was one of 250 school and public libraries around the country to receive a $500 microgrant Thursday by the American Library Association’s (ALA) Libraries Ready to Code initiative, sponsored by Google to help plan and implement coding activities during Computer Science Education (CS Ed) Week 2018 (December 3-9).

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) and Governor Phil Scott on Saturday offered their thoughts on the passing of former President George HW Bush. Bush, 94, died late Friday at his home in Houston surrounded by family.

Vermont Business Magazine Mayor Weinberger today announced his support for Vermont to lead the nation in the fight against climate change, and become the first state to pass a revenue-neutral Carbon Pollution Fee.

Lake Champlain Committee While snow has blanketed much of the Champlain watershed and dusted the edges of the lake, we still have a few more weeks of fall left. Below we share some late autumn updates about recent work, our 2018 GreatNonprofit status, an upcoming event along with nature notes, Lake Look and water news from near and far. We hope you enjoy reading them, and look forward to your continued engagement in the work for clean water.

Vermont Business Magazine On December 1^st 2018 at approximately 2:30 pm Vermont State Police received a call from an emergency response company who advised that they received an S.O.S beacon activation from a device they sell. The company had contacted the emergency contact listed for the owner of the device.

It was learned that 46 year old David Gagne of Chester New Hampshire had been skiing the back country at Bolton Valley and had not been seen by his skiing partner in a few hours. Gagne was not familiar with the area. Vermont State Police and Stowe Mountain Rescue responded to the area of the beacon activation on Cotton Brook Road in Waterbury and were able to locate him and give him a ride out of the woods. Gagne had a problem with his skis and was having difficulty moving in the deep snow when he activated his emergency beacon.