Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Orvis, a luxury clothing retailer with headquarters in Arlington, VT, answered Southwestern Vermont Health Care’s (SVHC) call for personal protective equipment (PPE) with a shipment of 750 cloth masks.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Labor announced today that it has provided more than $24 million in direct deposit payments to Vermonters through the newly created Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program. At his Wednesday press briefing, Governor Phil Scott said 8,500 claims were filled and back-dated as needed to the beginning of the month.

Suresh Garimella, President, University of Vermont As we, and colleges and universities across the country, approach the end of a semester the likes of which we have never seen, we now face questions about the potential impact COVID-19 may have on fall operations. We approach these questions using the philosophy that has guided the University of Vermont since its founding in 1791: gather information and insight, assess it in a way that is balanced and pragmatic, and chart a course that we can follow together.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General TJ Donovan has joined a group of attorneys general in urging the telecommunications industry to make further commitments to protect consumers who are struggling financially as a result of COVID-19 and in calling upon the FCC for support.

by Tim Volk Vermont is broken. Don’t take my word for it. Just survey the policy failures in recent years. The debacle at the Vermont State Colleges System is just the latest in a series of failures of inaction or half action. Chancellor (now former) Jeb Spaulding finally called the Legislature’s bluff with a proposal to shutter Northern Vermont University and its two campuses and to consolidate Vermont Technical College in Williston. You can criticize him for poor tact and timing but not for honesty and consistency.

Vermont Business Magazine NBT Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ: NBTB) reported net income of $10.4 million, or $0.23 per diluted common share, for the three months ended March 31, 2020. NBT’s results in the first quarter of 2020 reflect the Current Expected Credit Losses accounting methodology, including the estimated impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on expected credit losses. Net income was down 64% from the previous quarter and from the first quarter of 2019 ($0.66) primarily due to higher provision for loan losses related to the deterioration of economic conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Norwich, NY-based NBT Bank has branches in Northwest Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Mountaineers announced today that they have cancelled their 2020 season out of an abundance of caution and concern for the safety of their fans, their host families, their volunteers, vendors and their players and coaches. The Mountaineers are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Montpelier. The team, a member of the New England Collegiate Baseball League, plays their home games at Montpelier Recreation Field.

Vermont Business Magazine Ledyard Financial Group, Inc (ticker symbol LFGP), the holding company for Ledyard National Bank, has announced record quarterly earnings for the first quarter of 2020. They acknowledge that their enthusiasm is tempered by concerns for those impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and how it will impact Ledyard, including employees and the communities they serve. Ledyard has a branch in Norwich, Vermont. Net income for the quarter ended March 31, 2020, was $1,620,939 or $0.51 per share compared to $1,307,760 or $0.42 per share for the same period in 2019, an increase of $313,180 or 24%. The underlying results for the Company were extremely positive, but we are expecting significant challenges ahead, in both the level of problem loans and volatility in the equity markets.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont reached a milestone of sorts today as the Vermont Department of Health is reporting that there are only 29 Vermonters in hospital statewide either with COVID-19 or under investigation for it. The number of hospitalizations is a key data point in the progress and decline of the novel coronavirus which causes the illness known as COVID-19. The high water mark was on April 6 with 91 hospitalizations. Governor Scott and Health Commissioner Levine have stressed that despite the positive trends and measured reopening of some businesses Vermonters must remain vigilant and wear masks when at work or out among people.

Vermont Business Magazine As a result of the COVID-19 emergency, some motor carriers have requested an extension of the International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) first-quarter report currently due by April 30, 2020. IFTA has issued a notice that it will not require first-quarter funds to be transmitted from jurisdictions until early June.

Vermont Business Magazine Just as the world confronts the coronavirus pandemic and economic pandemonium, and the American educational system struggles to transition to meaningful online education, Sterling College is poised to confront all three challenges simultaneously with the support of a recently awarded $1.5 million grant. Sterling College is breaking new ground with EcoGather, the first online higher education platform of its kind designed to advance ecological thinking and action as a foundation for building regenerative communities.

Senator Patrick Leahy Today the DC Court of Appeals is hearing arguments in the US House of Representatives’ lawsuit against the Trump administration for hijacking billions of congressionally appropriated dollars to benefit military families and redirecting them to build President Trump’s wall. The House’s central argument – that Congress, and Congress alone, possesses the power of the purse – doesn’t require any esoteric interpretation of the Constitution; it simply requires a reading of its plain text.