Current News

by Linda Gray I hear on the news about the current increases in heating oil and gas prices, but they aren’t hitting my wallet. Why? Because in 2015, my late husband and I installed a heat pump on the main floor of our home, and in 2020, I installed another (on the basement level), plus a heat-pump water heater. We had previously weatherized our home, installed solar panels in the field below our house, and bought an electric car. We did all this because we knew two key things from my husband’s 30 years of work on renewable energy: 1) the reality of the climate crisis means that we need to stop burning fossil fuels, and 2) making these changes would save us money in the long run. Those two ideas are also embedded in the Clean Heat Standard bill in the Vermont legislature.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department has released the Vermont Master Angler Program 2021 Annual Report with 1,169 entries and 73 Master Angler Award recipients. Vermont’s wealth of waters and abundant fish populations provide many opportunities to experience outstanding fishing. The Vermont Master Angler Program recognizes the achievements of anglers who catch trophy-sized fish from Vermont waters and celebrates the clean water and healthy habitats that allow these fish to survive and grow to exceptional sizes. The Vermont Master Angler program is a length-based program that sets “trophy sized” benchmarks for 33 eligible fish species.

Vermont Business Magazine The Department of Environmental Conservation hosts a monthly Clean Water Lecture Series aimed at raising awareness on the State’s efforts to improve water quality for Vermont’s rivers, streams, lakes, ponds, and wetlands. The Series continues into April and May, with three new talks covering efforts to reduce water pollution stemming from forest lands and roads, as well as efforts to restore and protect wetlands. Learn more and register for these virtual talks on the Department’s Clean Water Lecture Series webpage.

Vermont Business Magazine Vanguard Renewables, a Boston-based organics-to-renewable energy company, has a lot to celebrate this Earth Day. Since 2014, Vanguard’s Farm Powered solution, which captures greenhouse gas emissions from dairy manure and food and beverage waste to create renewable energy, has mitigated nearly 500 thousand tons of greenhouse gas emissions and recycled more than 831 thousand tons of organic waste, or the equivalent of the weight of more than 5,000 Statues of Liberty, at their Farm Powered anaerobic digesters. To put the greenhouse gas emissions numbers into perspective, it is the equivalent of any one of the following statistics: Taking more than 104 thousand cars off the road for one year; Planting nearly 8 million trees; Generating the power to charge more than 160 million individuals’ cell phones for one year.

​Vermont Business Magazine The Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Commission (TRORC) has been awarded a portion of a $40,000 grant from the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, as part of the US Environmental Protection Agency pass-through funds for Water Quality Management Planning.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today signed several bills into law, including a charter change for Burlington on which local voters will have to act, making Essex Junction the newest Vermont city, and an act relating to exempting property owned by Vermont-recognized Native American tribes from property tax.

Vermont Business Magazine On Wednesday, the Senate passed an $8 billion dollar budget to support the priorities of Vermont’s working families. The Senate’s budget proposal prioritizes investments in housing, mental health and disability services, workforce and economic development, and higher education. It invests over $160 million in climate action and close to $100 million in broadband connectivity. The Senate is also committed to putting over $30 million back in the pockets of Vermonters through a balanced package of tax relief.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health today is reporting 332 cases of COVID-19 for Tuesday as cases more than doubled in one day. The VDH reported no additional deaths, which held at 626 statewide. April, with five to date, is still on track to have the fewest COVID-related fatalities since last July. As cases have risen in the Northwestern part of the state over the last few weeks, Chittenden and Washington have reported both the most total and the highest rate per capita. Overall, cases are up 27 percent per day in Vermont over the last week.

Vermont Business Magazine Union Bankshares, Inc (NASDAQ - UNB) today announced results for the three months ended March 31, 2022 and declared a regular quarterly cash dividend. Consolidated net income for the first quarter was $2.5 million, or $0.55 per share compared to $2.9 million, or $0.64 cents per share, for the same period in 2021, a decrease of $394 thousand, or 13.7%. Interest income was $9.7 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022 compared to $9.5 million for the comparable period in 2021, an increase of $226 thousand, or 2.4%, due to higher volumes of interest earning assets partially offset by lower average yields.

​by Mike Donoghue, Correspondent, Vermont Business Magazine A Florida man, who helped facilitate an $85 million investment fraud in the Northeast Kingdom, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Burlington to 18 months in prison on Wednesday. The sentence for William Kelly, 73, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. for his part in the EB-5 scandal matched the prison term imposed last week on co-defendant William Stenger, 73, of Newport the former president of Jay Peak Resort. Chief Federal Judge Geoffrey Crawford noted Kelly and the three co-defendants were part of a scam that provided nothing to investors for their $85 million.

Vermont Business Magazine Ledyard Financial Group, Inc (ticker symbol LFGP), the holding company for Ledyard National Bank with a branch in Vermont, has announced record earnings for the first quarter of 2022. This is the ninth consecutive quarter of record earnings and while uncertainty continues in the economy, these results are evidence of the strength of our core businesses and financial condition. Despite these challenges, our attention remains on strengthening our financial position and continuing to make progress on our strategic initiatives. Net income for the quarter ended March 31, 2022, was $2,044,552 or $0.63 per share compared to $1,835,871 or $0.58 per share for the same period in 2021, an increase of $208,681 or 11%.

Vermont State Police. MORGAN, Vermont (Tuesday, April 19, 2022) — Early Tuesday evening, members of the Vermont State Police SCUBA Team recovered the bodies of two drowning victims from Seymour Lake in the town of Morgan.

The victims are identified as Aidan Connolly, 27, of Roslindale, Massachusetts, and Nicholas Samuels, 29, of Weston, Massachusetts.

Their bodies were found about 100 yards from shore and will be transported to the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington for autopsies to confirm the cause and manner of death.

The weather at the time of the incident was cold with increasing rain and strong winds. The lake became choppy with significant waves, ice and slush. Investigation by VSP determined the victims set out in a single kayak from a protected cove where the conditions on the open lake were not apparent and worsened while they were on the water.