Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Burlington Business Association (BBA) will raffle a Rolex watch, generously donated by Perrywinkle’s Fine Jewelry! A portion of the proceeds from this raffle will go to the Howard Center Street Outreach Team. The winning raffle ticket will be drawn at the BBA Annual Dinner on Thursday April 5th, 2018. It is not required to be present to win.

The winning ticket will receive an Oyster Perpetual Rolex Watch & Watch Winder Package.

Vermont Business Magazine On Tuesday the House held a marathon floor session to give final approval to S.55, a gun safety bill. The bill would ban “bump-stocks,” limit the capacity of ammunition magazines, require background checks for private gun sales and increase the age at which one can purchase a firearm from 18 to 21. After considering numerous proposed amendments the House approved the bill on a 89-54 roll call vote. The bill went back to the Senate and on Friday afternoon after an acrimonious floor debate the Senate signed off on the changes made by the House on a 17 to 13 roll call vote.

Vermont Buisness Magazine In anticipation of a legislative ban on standard capacity rifle magazines, the editors of RECOIL magazine have worked with MAGPUL Industries to facilitate the delivery and distribution of 30-round PMAG rifle magazines free of charge to the citizens of Vermont in an overnight operation dubbed the “Green Mountain Airlift.”

In order to support the law-abiding gun-owners of Vermont and blunt the assault on their Second Amendment rights, RECOIL’s Executive Editor, Rob Curtis, will give away 1,200 30-round PMAGs on Saturday afternoon in front of the Vermont Statehouse in Montpelier starting at 2:30pm.

"We invite the public to track the shipment of magazines from MAGPUL’s Cheyenne, WY facility to Vermont using the following FedEX tracking number: 771880807512. Should the shipment be delayed, the distribution will shift to 2:30pm on the date the shipment arrives," Curtis said in a press release.

by Timothy McQuiston Vermont Business Magazine It seemed like a good idea at the time, but just six months after the most recent microcell/911 service was rolled out in two rural areas of the state, the service is dying. The Department of Public Service told VBM Friday that it could cease service as early as Easter Sunday.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced that Secretary of Administration Susanne Young has updated Vermont’s procurement requirements, per Executive Order No. 02-18, to ensure net neutrality protections are included in the State’s internet service contracts.

by Paul Cillo Public Assets Institute While state leaders work on neutralizing a $30 million state income tax increase that would result from federal tax reform, there has been not a word about the much bigger state impact of that reform: the $500 million tax cut mostly for those at the top and the likely cuts in federal support for state services.

Vermont Business Magazine A group of Vermont gun owners held a press conference to advocate for the passage of the gun violence prevention bills currently before the Vermont Legislature Thursday. The gun owners, from around Vermont, gathered at the State House to let elected officials know that they support what they call the common sense gun safety measures being debated.

Vermont Business Magazine Weekly unemployment claims last week fell in their recent up-and-down pattern as levels remain just below the same time last year. For the week of March 24, 2018, there were 450 claims, 288 more than than they were the previous week, and 19 fewer than they were a year ago. Altogether 5,887 new and continuing claims were filed, a decrease of 201 from a week ago and 829 fewer than a year ago. For most weeks of 2017 and into 2018 claims have been below the year before.

Vermont Business Magazine Brattleboro Memorial Hospital (BMH) will join hospitals and healthcare organizations across the country in celebrating National Doctors Day on Friday, March 30. Observed annually, Doctors Day provides an opportunity to let healthcare providers know they are appreciated. The first Doctors’ Day observance was March 30, 1933, in Winder, Georgia. Eudora Brown Almond, wife of Dr. Charles B. Almond, decided to set aside a day to honor doctors. This first observance included mailing greeting cards and placing flowers on graves of deceased doctors.

Vermont Business Magazine In the absence of federal leadership, and building on a string of clean energy policy wins in states across the nation, Vermont Conservation Voters is joining with the national League of Conservation Voters and other state affiliates in the Conservation Voter Movement to double down on the progress that can be made at the state and local levels by launching a first-of-its-kind “Clean Energy for All” campaign to advance clean energy solutions and support leaders in an effort to move the country closer to a goal of 100 percent clean energy by 2050.

With an initial investment of over $2 million, the network of organizations is collectively launching the “Clean Energy for All” campaign to engage at the state and local level by:

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and other members of the Senate and House Appropriations Committees will meet today and Friday with NATO officials, at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, about national security issues facing the United States and its NATO allies. The meetings come as the United States and the NATO allies are acting to counter a variety of security threats, especially from Russia, which include interference in elections, the conflict in Syria, cyber warfare, and the attempted murder on English soil of a former Russian intelligence agent. Great Britain, the United States and other NATO powers attribute the assassination plot to the Russian government. The United States this week joined other NATO members in expelling dozens of Russians with diplomatic passports.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets (VAAFM) awarded $74,000 to nine Vermont produce growers making on-farm improvements that prevent or reduce produce safety risks. Prompted by high demand, VAAFM’s Produce Program issued a second round of funding to help Vermont producers continue to grow food safely, efficiently, and economically.