Current News

Vermont Business Magazine At Ledyard Financial Group, Inc’s (Ticker symbol LFGP) annual shareholder meeting on May 23, 2019, Dr Dennis E Logue retired from his position as Chair of the Board of Directors as he reached the mandatory retirement age. Dr Logue, a founding director and an original Founding Advisory Board member, was honored and recognized for decades of dedicated leadership at a private dinner attended by members of Ledyard’s Board of Directors, senior management, and family members.

​Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Days is an annual invitation to visitors and Vermonters to explore, for free, Vermont’s excellent fishing, state parks, historic culture, and celebrate the arrival of summer. On June 8-9, all Vermont State Park day-use areas and all state-owned Historic Sites will be open at no charge. Saturday is free fishing day, the one day of the summer when anyone can fish in Vermont without a license. It’s also a day for history: the Vermont History Museum in Montpelier and the Vermont History Center in Barre will offer free admission on Saturday, June 8.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General TJ Donovan announced today that his office has reached a $1.75 million settlement with DG Retail, LLC, also known as Dollar General, for violations of Vermont’s Consumer Protection Act. Under the settlement, Dollar General resolved claims that it sold products that were advertised on the shelf at a lower price than the price at the register, even after being told at least 50 times by state inspectors from the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets to correct the pricing inaccuracies. The state of Vermont will get $1.65 million. The Vermont Foodbank will receive $100,000 pursuant to the settlement.

Vermont Business Magazine In a letter sent to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell today, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) called for the Raise the Wage Act to be brought to the floor of the Senate for an immediate vote. The bill, co-sponsored by 32 members of the Senate, would raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2024 and index it to median wage growth thereafter.

Vermont Business Magazine Bloomfield, CO-based Vail Resorts, Inc (NYSE: MTN) today reported results for the third quarter of fiscal 2019 ended April 30, 2019, as well as the company's results of its early season pass sales for the 2019/2020 North American ski season. Vail owns the Stowe Mountain and Okemo (Ludlow) ski resorts in Vermont, among its global properties. The release of Vail's quarterly results comes on the same day that Ski Vermont reported significant gains in last winter's local ski season.

Senator Patrick Leahy Since the House first passed a disaster package back in January, Senate Republicans needlessly delayed its progress at the direction of President Trump. It was in response to the President’s direction to not provide a dollar of additional aid to Puerto Rico that Republicans delayed the disaster relief for over four months. Democrats have said from the beginning, the President cannot pick and choose which American citizens to help in the aftermath of a disaster.

Vermont Business Magazine Skiing in Vermont was good early and good late, which resulted in the industry's best season in four years. Members, supporters and friends of the Vermont ski and snowboard industry gathered at Jay Peak Resort on June 5-6 for the Vermont Ski Areas Association’s 50th Annual Meeting. Alpine and Cross-Country members, associate members and marketing partners were among those who celebrated what will be remembered as a historic season for Vermont skiing and riding, in which abundant early-season snowfall helped the industry post an increase in business over the 2017-18 season.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Technology Alliance, the business association representing Vermont’s tech sector, has announced the recent addition of new board members.

by Don Turner Every year, when budget writers in Montpelier begin their work--and legislators begin to determine what to spend--the backdrop of these conversations is marked by a unavoidable reality: Vermont has a serious problem with its unfunded liabilities. All together, we have a total liability of just over $8 billion--that’s billion, with a “b.” For comparative purposes, that’s larger than our entire state budget. These liabilities are composed of our teachers’ pension ($3.4 billion), teachers other post-employment benefits, or OPEB ($0.9 billion), state employees’ pension ($2.7 billion), and state employees OPEB ($1.2 billion). We have a little over $3.5 billion of assets, leaving us with an “unfunded” liability of about $4.5 billion dollars.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Secretary of State Jim Condos delivered a keynote address on cybersecurity at Route Fifty’s “Building a New Cyber Security Paradigm” summit in Boston, MA, today. “Defending our elections and other government systems from cyber attackers takes constant diligence, and requires continual investment in the robust defense network that keeps the bad actors out,” said Secretary Condos. “With respect to elections, voters deserve to know that when they cast their ballot, their vote is secure, and that when they give information to state and local governments, we’re doing everything in our power to ensure that information is protected.”

Vermont Business Magazine Trace, a Vermont company utilizing blockchain technology to track and verify cannabis products, announced today the launch of Trace Exchange. Trace Exchange is the nation’s first blockchain-based platform where hemp cultivators and buyers can connect and track their plants through the supply chain and integrate their inventory directly with the market.

“Until now, there has been no industry standard for hemp cultivators or buyers to verify their plants and products as they change hands,” said Josh Decatur, founder and CEO of Trace. “By using Trace hemp growers can easily track their harvest from soil to shelf and be connected with potential buyers, putting control back in the hands of farmers in an exciting but uncertain market.”

Vermont Business Magazine MVP Health Care today announced that its CEO, Denise Gonick, will leave the company at the end of the summer. MVP is a health insurer serving Upstate New York and Vermont. Gonick’s signature accomplishments as CEO include leading MVP through the difficult political environment surrounding the adoption and subsequent scaling back of the Affordable Care Act. She also spearheaded the acquisition of Hudson Health Plan in 2013, securing MVP’s position as a market leader in upstate New York. Under Gonick’s leadership, MVP's robust expansion was recently noted as it is now ranked as the second largest company based in the Capital Region according to the Albany Business Review.