Current News

The Vermont Law School Board of Trustees announced today the appointment of Marc Mihaly as VLS’s eighth president and dean, effective August 1.
Mihaly, one of the nation’s leading environmental lawyers, will succeed Jeff Shields, who will retire July 31 after eight years as president and dean of the nation’s premier environmental law school. Mihaly currently serves as associate dean for VLS’s Environmental Programs, director of the Environmental Law Center and professor of law.
Board Chairman Ed Mattes said Mihaly was chosen, after a thorough national search, because of his leadership skills, strategic vision and scholarly accomplishments.
‘Marc is an inspiring leader who grasps the shifting legal landscape,’ Mattes said. ‘He comes with tremendous institutional knowledge, enabling VLS to react swiftly and strategically. As a proven entrepreneur, fundraiser and communicator, he will be well positioned to take advantage of new opportunities.’

With the outpouring of support and encouragement from those who have enjoyed decades of Nordic and backcountry skiing at Bolton Valley, the Vermont Land Trust signed a contract to purchase the 1,161 acres that hosts the Bolton Valley Nordic and backcountry trails.
In addition to attracting more than 15,000 people each year, the land is in the center of the Chittenden County Uplands Conservation Project (CCUCP) area’an area that has been a focus for forestland and habitat protection for more than 10 years.
The Friends of Bolton Valley Nordic and Backcountry Land Inspired Action

US Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) focused attention on a dental crisis in the United States during a town meeting today at Montpelier High School attended by about 200 people.
"As a nation, we don't talk about it much, but there is a dental crisis in America," said Sanders, chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging. ‘This is an issue of huge consequence, but it doesn’t get the type of attention deserves.’
The senator, who presided at a late February hearing in Washington, D.C., on the dental crisis, announced today he plans to introduce legislation to make dental care more affordable and accessible.
In preparation for the hearing and today’s town meeting, Sanders asked people from Vermont and across the country to share their experiences. More than 1,300 people wrote to the senator, including nearly 400 Vermonters. He began the town meeting by playing recordings of Vermonters who sent him their stories.

by Alan Panebaker vtdigger.orgThe left-leaning public policy and consumer affairs group, Vermont Public Interest Research Group has spun off a nonprofit solar installation pilot project into a business.
The company, SunCommon, a so-called ‘benefit corporation,’ installs residential solar systems.

In support of its philosophy to manufacture and develop products exclusively in Vermont, USA, BioTek is committing a record amount for new 2012 capital investments.
Highlights include:

New computer numerically controlled (CNC) machines in manufacturing and enhanced tooling and test equipment for product assembly
A new teleconference system supporting communication between BioTek's Vermont headquarters and our international sales and service offices in Singapore, China, South Korea, Germany, Switzerland, France and the United Kingdom
Additional laboratory instrumentation to support BioTek's growing application research in molecular diagnostics and cellular biology

Friendly rivals Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, based in Waterbury, Vermont, and Starbucks, based in Seattle, may see that relationship change profoundly. Starbucks Coffee Company (NASDAQ:SBUX) announced Thursday its first foray into the at-home premium single cup machine, which it calls the Verismo system by Starbucks. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters' Keurig machines have been the standard in the industry for single-cup servings through its K-Cups. Now Starbucks is challenging Green Mountain Coffee on the individual serving machine. On the announcement, Starbucks shares ($52.18, up $1.81 +3.59%) increased while GMCR's ($52.99, down $9.41 or -15.08%)plummeted in overnight trading; it finished Friday at $52.59.

FairPoint Communications, Inc (Nasdaq: FRP) has announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2011. The news created stock market volatility today as prices first spiked to $4.50 after opening at $4.19 and then falling to $3.58 before stabilizing around $3.90. The North Carolina firm is the principal landline phone company in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.
Because the company came out of bankruptcy protection early in the year, the financial results are also broken out to show the difference. While voice access lines continued to decline, though at a continuing slower pace, broadband subscriptions have increased. FairPoint emphasized its free cash flow position in 2011. FairPoint laid off 400 workers last September systemwide, or about 10 percent of its force in order to save money. Revenues and expenses were both down for the quarter compared to Q3, while revenues were down and expenses were up compared to Q4 2010.

John Mitchell, former general manager of Champlain Oil (parent company of Jiffy Mart Stores) was recognized at the recent Vermont Grocers & Retailers legislative luncheon as the recipient of the National Grocers Association Spirit of America Award the Vermont Grocers Association Person of the Year. The luncheon was held in Montpelier on February 23 and attended by approximately 200 including industry members, state legislators and officials. His career with Champlain spanned 37 years and during that time had helped the company grow into the state’s largest petroleum distributor and one of Vermont’s larger convenience store retailers. He is a past board member of the Vermont Grocers' Association.

Keen interest in buying Vermont bonds and record low interest rates has resulted in the State paying the lowest borrowing costs on record in decades. In addition, the $69 million refunding portion of this week’s bond sale will generate $5.4 million in budget savings over the next 13 years.
‘In a very diverse sale of four different bond offerings totaling $132 million, the State averaged a true interest cost of just 2.11 percent,’ said State Treasurer Beth Pearce. ‘We had originally planned a two-day sale period for the Citizen Bonds and the Refunding Bonds, but interest was so great the sale was completed in just one day. The quality of our highly rated bonds allowed us to pay less in borrowing costs, which translates into further fiscal savings for Vermont taxpayers.’

National Life Group, based in Montpelier, Vermont, today released its consolidated financial results for 2011, reporting new record highs in pre-tax operating income, net income, total assets under management, life sales, insurance in force, in-force annuity flow premium, and statutory surplus.
‘We are a healthy, thriving entity,’ said CEO Mehran Assadi. ‘To set so many records across the board in such challenging times is testament to our excellent fiscal health.’
‘We saw earnings growth in all business lines, and earnings at our asset management company, Sentinel Investments, were almost double those of 2010,’ said Assadi.

One month after selling its 300th share, the threshold needed to begin the skier-owned Magic Partnership LLC, Magic Mountain finished raising the maximum shares allowed for the investment with 333 shares sold at a price of $3,000/share for a total capital raise of $999,000.00. Much of this capital will go toward improving the snow-making capacity at the 50-year old ski area.
The final shares came just as Magic was experiencing southern Vermont’s first major snow storm of 2012 which dropped upwards of18’ of snow last week to bring a couple of renowned Magic powder days to skiers and riders.

Senator Patrick Leahy has joined in offering new legislation to breathe new life into homes and businesses made vacant by foreclosures. Leahy is an original cosponsor of the Project Rebuild Act, introduced in the Senate this week by Rhode Island Democrat Senator Jack Reed.
Leahy said, ‘Vacant homes and businesses are a drag on entire neighborhoods and communities.Abandoned buildings are a foot on the brake pedal, depressing home and commercial property values and slowing the economic recovery. Getting these vacant buildings back into productive use is one of the keys to rejuvenating our economy. These investments would turn the liabilities of abandoned buildings into assets for their communities, helping our housing market to rebound from the slump and driving job creation and economic development.’