Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Green Mountain Care Board (GMCB) issued decisions Thursday requiring Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont (BCBSVT) and MVP Health Plan, Inc to lower the premiums they wanted to charge individuals and small businesses for health insurance plans in 2023. BCBSVT asked for a 15.4% increase and got 11.7% in the small group (business) plan; MVP asked for a 23.4% increase and got 18.3%. The increase in rates for individuals were similar (see below). Despite the reductions, the rates are still the highest approved since August 2019.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Attorney General’s Office today announced a settlement with heating woodchip supplier Limlaw Pulpwood Inc and its related businesses for violating the Vermont Consumer Protection Act by falsifying the weight of its woodchip loads. The Attorney General’s Office investigated after receiving a report from the Agency of Agriculture regarding concerns that Limlaw was deceptively weighing its woodchip loads to make deliveries seem heavier, resulting in overcharges to consumers. The settlement requires Limlaw to reform its business practices, pay a penalty of $100,000 to the State of Vermont, and provide $1,000 restitution credits to approximately 30 Vermont consumers.

VermontBiz has released a poll of some of the most competitive primary races. Voting day is this Tuesday, August 9. The races we are closely following include US Senate, Congress, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State and Attorney General. This year the primaries are considered some of the most competitive in memory. To take this poll, just click on the Quick Poll link.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health reported August 3 that COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are still considered "Low." Total cases for the week fell slightly, while hospitalizations saw another increase. The BA.5 variant has become the predominant variant of COVID-19. There were 12 deaths in June attributed to COVID after 32 in May. May saw an increase in fatalities from April and March. As of August 3, there were 9 deaths from COVID in Vermont in July for a pandemic total of 693. This is the fewest COVID fatalities since July 2021 (2). There have been no reported deaths over the last week (the VDH report could change as more data is provided).

Vermont Business Magazine Fidium Fiber’s multi-gigabit, all fiber service is now available to order for 12,000 homes in Bennington County, including 400 homes that previously did not have access to high-speed internet. The new fiber network, announced in May, is the result of a partnership between Southern Vermont Communication Union District (CUD) and Consolidated Communications. Southern Vermont CUD represents 14 rural towns in Bennington County. The CUD advocates for bringing high-speed internet to their hard-to-connect region and has been successful in securing state funding for broadband projects.

The Vermont Department of Labor and the State Workforce Development Board will host the final Triple Play Job Fest event on Friday in Burlington at Centennial Field at 5:30 pm. The state has held three prior Job Fest events in White River Junction, Montpelier, and Burlington. The event will be held in partnership with the Vermont Lake Monsters.

Vermont Business Magazine ATTOM, a leading curator of real estate data nationwide for land and property data, today released its second-quarter 2022 U.S. Home Equity & Underwater Report, which shows that Vermont once again has the highest "equity-rich" homes (71.4 percent), while having the lowest "underwater" rate (1 percent, tied with California and Washington). Overall in the US, 48.1 percent of mortgaged residential properties in the United States were considered equity-rich in the second quarter, meaning that the combined estimated amount of loan balances secured by those properties was no more than 50 percent of their estimated market values.

Ledyard Financial Group, Inc (ticker symbol LFGP), the holding company for Ledyard National Bank, has reported record quarterly earnings for the first quarter of 2015. Net income for the quarter ended March 31, 2015, was $1,119,680 or $1.10 per share compared to $938,305 or $0.93 per share for the same period in 2014, an increase of $181,375 or 19 percent.

The company, with branches in New Hampshire and Vermont, reported record total revenue for the quarter ended March 31, 2015, of $5,780,095 compared to $5,455,967 for the same period in 2014, for an increase of $324,128 or 5.9%. Net interest income for the quarter ended March 31, 2015, was $3,320,128 compared to $3,148,548 for the same period in 2014, for an increase of $171,580 or 5.5%.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Historical Society has received a competitive Museums for America grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services totaling $136,585 to create a major, three-year oral history project, Collecting COVID-19: A Vermont Story, which will document the state’s response and experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is one of 120 institutions across the country receiving grant funding. The Institute of Museum and Library Services has long been supported by Vermont senators Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders. This grant will be used to capture, preserve, and share the stories of Vermonters during the pandemic, which will include 100 oral histories from first responders, healthcare workers, educators, retail workers, and others.

Vermont Business Magazine Vanguard Renewables’ Chief Strategy Officer John Hanselman and Vermont Creamery’s President, Adeline Druart, were joined Wednesday by Vermont Secretary of Agriculture Anson Tebbetts, along with Danielle Goodrich-Gingras, co-owner and herdswoman of the Goodrich Family Dairy Farm, to announce Vermont Creamery’s membership in The Farm Powered Strategic Alliance (FPSA/Alliance). The announcement occurred at Vanguard Renewables’ anaerobic digester, the largest in the northeast, located on the Goodrich Family Dairy Farm in Salisbury, Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine To celebrate Single Women’s Working Day today August 4, Wisevoter, a bipartisan educational platform has put together rankings for best and worst states for women's employment and earnings. Vermont came out at #4 ranking as one of the best states for women to work in. Vermont was 7th overall when all life factors for women were included.