Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary Ethicon, Inc will pay Vermont $1.37 million for misrepresenting the safety and effectiveness of transvaginal surgical mesh devices and failing to sufficiently disclose risk associated with their use. Following a multistate investigation, Johnson & Johnson and Ethicon agreed to pay 41 states, including Vermont, and the District of Columbia a total of $116.86 million for their deceptive marketing of transvaginal surgical mesh devices. Restitution for affected consumers is still pending in class action cases.

“Johnson & Johnson’s deceptive acts caused women to suffer in profoundly personal ways,” said Attorney General Donovan. “My office will continue to hold companies who harm Vermonters accountable for misrepresenting the safety and efficacy of their products.”

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Economic Development Authority (VEDA) approved over $25 million in loans for Vermont enterprises between July 1 and September 30, 2019. That total exceeds the previous quarter's approval volume by $10 million.  The financing was approved to help small businesses, farmers and other borrowers expand their operations, build solar energy arrays, conserve and clean-up land, revitalize a city block in downtown St. Albans, and create new job opportunities across the state. Financing included: Congress & Main in St Albans; Ski Magic in Londonderry; Black Flannel Distilling in Essex Jct; Green Lantern Development in Waterbury; 16 farm operations; and affiliate state loan programs, including the Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund and Clean Water State Revolving Fund.

Vermont Business Magazine Union Bankshares, Inc (NASDAQ - UNB) today announced results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019.  Net income for the three months ended September 30, 2019 was $2.7 million, an increase of 18.5% over the third quarter of 2018, and earnings per share was $0.62, and increase of 19.2% over the same period in 2018. The Company's return on average assets was 1.34% and return on average equity was 15.79% for the third quarter of 2019. The Board of Directors also declared a cash dividend of $0.31 per share payable November 7, 2019 to shareholders of record as of October 28, 2019.

Vermont Business Magazine VSECU is announcing the annual launch of We Care 2, a member-directed giving program through which donations are distributed to Vermont nonprofit organizations. Because of the program’s significant impact on communities around Vermont, the credit union is increasing the amount that will be directed by members from $23,000 to $50,000. Now through November 29, VSECU is accepting applications from Vermont-based nonprofit organizations that make a positive and direct impact on issues of food, shelter, heat, financial education, or the environment.

Vermont Business Magazine Green Mountain Power (GMP) crews worked quickly and safely overnight to restore power to more than 12,700 customers after a Nor’Easter slammed the region. So far, the storm caused more damage than forecasted, with outages reaching into the hundreds of thousands in New York, Massachusetts and Maine. GMP’s field operations team closely monitors multiple forecasts days in advance to respond safely and effectively for customers, and crews were prepared for the forecast. About 9,200 GMP customers were still without power Thursday morning, and more outages are expected as the storm’s strong winds continue today.

Vermont Business Magazine Massachusetts-based Vanguard Renewables has selected Connecticut's Kinsley Energy Systems to supply high-efficiency combined heat and power (CHP) for a groundbreaking renewable energy project in Vermont. Kinsley will provide an 800 kW TEDOM CHP system to power a new renewable natural gas (RNG) production facility located on Goodrich Farm in Salisbury, Vermont. The system, owned and operated by Vanguard, produces bio-methane from the anaerobic digestion of dairy manure and food waste, which is cleaned and concentrated into pipeline-quality RNG for distribution through the utility pipeline to Middlebury College. The high-purity RNG produced from waste will ultimately provide 50 percent of the heating and cooling for the college in support of its plan to use 100 percent renewable energy by 2028.

Vermont Business Magazine Renewable Energy Vermont’s 19^th annual Conference and Exposition, REV2019, themed REV It Up: Empowering Energy Transformation, convened last week hundreds of business, political and non-profit leaders for two days of collective re-envisioning of New England’s energy needs. The conference also provided an opportunity to recognize the contributions of individuals who have devoted their lives to addressing the climate crisis by advancing renewable energy in Vermont.

Dartmouth/​Susan J Boutwell Dartmouth College is widening its analysis of energy-generation options to heat its campus as the institution continues to move forward with the Dartmouth Green Energy Project, which is aimed at improving energy resiliency, sustainability, and efficiency. Emerging climate science research in the last year calls for rapid change in energy systems. The time frame to significantly reduce greenhouse gas and carbon emissions has shifted from a decades-long window to a much shorter and more urgent one, requiring major reductions worldwide in emissions in the next two to 10 years.

Vermont Business Magazine Burton, the world’s leading snowboard company, today announced that it’s becoming a Certified B Corporation. As a sustainability leader within the outdoor and winter sports industries, Burton has become the first snowboard company to receive this certification, which reinforces the brand’s commitment to doing business as a force for good. Widely recognized as the gold standard for responsible business, B Corps are committed to practicing the highest social and environmental standards.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General Donovan yesterday joined a multistate coalition challenging a Trump Administration rule aimed at turning away individuals seeking asylum from Central and South America. Under the rule, many individuals seeking asylum at the southern border would be turned away unless they could prove they applied for, and were denied, asylum in at least one country they traveled through prior to their arrival in the US.

Vermont Business Magazine US Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, and Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), former Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today introduced new legislation that would eliminate the family and employment green card backlog by increasing the number of green cards. Close to four million future Americans are on the State Department’s immigrant visa waiting list.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Wood Works Council is inviting the woodworking community to its Vermont Woodworker of the Year tour on October 17 at Birdseye Building & Architecture in Richmond. The award-winning Architecture studio at Birdseye offers the best of residential design and planning services for your project. Birdseye has over three decades of experience in a wide range of construction techniques, including conventional stick-framing, steel construction, new timber framing, as well as meticulous rehabilitation of antique timber framed structures. Birdseye has the skill and equipment necessary to execute any landscape design including seawalls, stonework, roads, ponds, and tree planting.