Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont State Parks has announced a partnership with Local Motion, Inc to provide bike rentals at Burton Island State Park. New for the 2019 season, a fleet of rental bicycles will be provided for park visitors to use while visiting the island.

Vermont Business Magazine Ledyard Financial Group, Inc (ticker symbol LFGP), the holding company for Ledyard National Bank with a branch in Norwich, Vermont, has reported record quarterly and year-to-date earnings through June 30, 2019. Net income for the quarter ended June 30, 2019, was $1,563,045 or $0.50 per share compared to $1,341,896 or $0.43 per share for the same period in 2018, an increase of $221,149 or 16.5%. Net income for the six months ended June 30, 2019, was $2,870,804 or $0.91 per share compared to $2,549,200 or $0.82 per share for the same period in 2018, an increase of $321,604 or 12.6%. Strength in the Company’s core businesses and the ability to control operating expenses are the primary contributing factors to these record results.

Vermont Business Magazine Weekly unemployment numbers fell dramatically last week. Summer usually brings low claim levels, but sub-300 claims indicates very low volume. Initial claims for the week of July 20, 2019, totaled 262, down 122 from last week. Claims were 42 fewer than they were at this time last year. Altogether 3,479 new and continuing claims were filed, a decrease of 389 from a week ago, and 6 more than a year ago.

Vermont Business Magazine State Treasurer Beth Pearce today announced a new agreement with the Vermont Community Loan Fund (VCLF) to invest up to $1.5 million to support local investment in Vermont communities, increasing VCLF’s capacity to offer flexible financing so businesses and organizations can grow their missions and stimulate economic activity across the state.

“All Vermonters benefit when we invest dollars in our local communities,” said Treasurer Pearce. “We are thrilled to increase by 50 percent the capacity we provide VCLF. These dollars will move into the hands of local businesses and community organizations, where they will create jobs throughout the state. We look forward to continuing our partnership with VCLF to invest in entrepreneurs and community leaders who spur economic opportunities for Vermonters.”

Vermont State Police, July 25, 2019 Shmuel Rabinowitz was located and escorted out of the woods uninjured.  The Vermont State Police Search and Rescue Team were assisted by Killington Search and Rescue, Killington Fire Department, Killington Police Department, New England K9 Search and Rescue, Upper Valley Wilderness Response Team, Vermont Fish and Wildlife, Vermont Air National Guard, US Forest Service and the Green Mountain Club.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Transportation (AOT) has detected contaminated soil at the construction site of the replacement drawbridge between Grand Isle and North Hero. The Agency suspected the presence of lead around the bridge from previous paint systems, and recent testing yielded positive results for some lead as well as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Secretary of State Jim Condos issued the following statement after former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s testimony before members of the US House Judiciary and House Intelligence committees on June 24. The Mueller report spelled out plainly and simply what I and my election official colleagues, alongside the entire US intelligence community, already knew: the Russians executed a sweeping and orchestrated campaign to attack US state election systems, warp public opinion, and weaken voter confidence in the integrity of our elections in 2016.

Yesterday, in former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s testimony before congress, he couldn’t have spelled out these facts more clearly for members of Congress. When asked if these attacks were a one-time occurrence, or an ongoing threat, he responded “they’re doing it as we sit here.”

Vermont Business Magazine The University of Bridgeport and Marlboro College announced today that they are planning to enter into a merger that will draw on the strengths of both institutions to create an expanded university with deeper connections between professional programs and the liberal arts. The colleges said in a joint announcement that the move is a way to expand geographic and educational opportunities for students while creating a sustainable future for one of New England’s storied liberal arts colleges at a time of rapid change in the higher education landscape. The University of Bridgeport is the most diverse private, secular University in the Northeast, and Marlboro College is recognized as ranked among the best Northeastern Colleges by the Princeton Review.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, the US Environmental Protection Agency came to Montpelier to announce that seven grantees in the state of Vermont have been selected to receive $3,025,000 in EPA Brownfields assessment and cleanup funding. These funds will aid under-served and economically disadvantaged communities around the state in assessing and cleaning up abandoned industrial and commercial properties.

Vermont Business Magazine As part of the state’s expanded effort to identify sources of PFAS (per and polyfluoroalkyl substances) chemical contamination in the environment, the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) sent letters to public drinking water system operators to begin testing for PFAS. Act 21, which was passed by the Vermont Legislature and signed into law by Governor Phil Scott in May, requires all public and noncommunity water systems to conduct monitoring for PFAS by December 2019. If monitoring confirms PFAS contaminants in excess of 20 parts per trillion (ppt), the water system is required to implement treatment to reduce PFAS contaminants below that level.

Vermont Business Magazine The Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act (HR 3962) authorizes a variety of tools to help energy users become more efficient while requiring the country’s largest energy user – the federal government – reduce its energy use by employing energy-efficient technologies. The bill incentivizes the use of technologies that are commercially available today, can be widely deployed across the country, and will quickly pay for themselves through energy savings. 

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, joined by 45 Senate cosponsors, on Monday, July 29, will introduce the Freedom for Americans to Travel to Cuba Act of 2019. The bill would eliminate restrictions on travel to Cuba by American citizens and legal residents. Identical legislation is being introduced today in the House by Representatives Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) and Tom Emmer (R-Minn.).