Current News

Vermont Business Magazine A cloud-based accounting company in Burlington was recently named the 2019 Vermont Minority-Owned Business of the Year. Reconciled, founded and owned by Michael Ly, provides bookkeeping, accounting & CFO services to small businesses throughout the US. “Reconciled provides consistent, accurate remote accounting services while removing the burden of having to manage a part-time bookkeeper. We hire only US-based accounting professionals who possess an accounting certificate from an accredited institution and/or equivalent bookkeeping experience.”

Ly hatched the idea for Reconciled while working as an accounting consultant. Ly noticed many of his clients had poor bookkeeping records. Rather than constantly asking for more financial documentations and making corrections, Ly felt he could serve them more effectively if he did their bookkeeping for them online. 

by Cinda Donton, Eldercare Clinician, Southwestern Vermont Council on Aging May 20 marks National Older Adult Mental Health Awareness Day, creating an opportunity to raise recognition in our communities around the importance of supporting older Vermonters in maintaining good mental health. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Public Service Department today announced the next meeting of the Vermont Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel (VT NDCAP) has been scheduled for Monday, May 20, 2019, from 6:00 PM to 8:50 PM in the Vernon Elementary School Cafeteria / Auditorium, 381 Governor Hunt Road, Vernon, VT.  (Use “387 Governor Hunt Road, Vernon, VT for accurate Google Maps driving directions to this meeting site.)

Vermont Business Magazine Construction on the University of Vermont’s long-awaited Multi-Purpose Center project is scheduled to begin as early as next week, University officials announced today at a small, ceremonial groundbreaking held Saturday morning. More than 20 years in the making, a $4 million gift from UVM alumnus Chuck Davis (Class of 1972) and his wife Marna allowed the UVM Foundation to meet—and exceed—the initial fundraising goals stipulated by the University of Vermont Board of Trustees. UVM has raised over $32 million for the new facility. UVM has raised over $32 million for the new $95 million facility.

Vermont Business Magazine Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) has obtained an Act 250 permit from Vermont’s Natural Resources Board authorizing a planned renovation and expansion of its Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC) Deerfield Valley Campus, a family medicine practice, which provides primary care for patients of all ages.

by Joyce Marcel, Vermont Business Magazine You can keep your Ben & Jerry's. For my money, there couldn't be a more iconic business in Vermont than Vermont Teddy Bear. They're soft, they're cuddly — they're teddy bears, for heaven's sake — they come from Vermont and they're shipped around the world.

Vermont Business Magazine The state unemployment rate dropped to 2.3 percent in March, a historic low and again tied for the lowest rate in the nation. The current seasonally-adjusted estimate of 7,971 unemployed Vermonters is the lowest monthly estimate since the US Bureau of Labor Statistics online historical series started in 1976. Vermont General Fund revenues bounced back in March, notably for the vital personal income tax, but uncertainty continues as to how refunds ultimately will play out in April through June, which will mark the end of the fiscal year. The State has reached a final agreement with Saint-Gobain for the properties on Bennington’s east side affected by perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) contamination. As part of the agreement, 245 homes on the east side of Bennington are eligible to receive municipal water service. In total, the state has now secured the extension of waterlines to 470 homes or businesses in Bennington and North Bennington. AND MORE...

​Vermont Business Magazine In honor of National Stop the Bleed Day (May 23, 2019) Rutland Regional Medical Center will be offering FREE, One Hour, Stop the Bleed Trainings, Thursday, May 23, at 8am, Noon, and 4pm in the CVPS/Leahy Community Health Education Center in Conference Rooms A &B. These trainings will be conducted by Sheena Daniel, RN, BSN, CEN -Emergency Room Manager at RRMC, and Ryn Gluckman, BSN, RN, and CEN. 

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott took the following actions on bills between May 11, 2019 and May 17, 2019.

Public Assets Institute Vermont has gone from a record high of 25,059 people unemployed in May 2009 to a record low of 7,565 unemployed last month. But fewer jobless has not meant more employed. The number of Vermonters at work increased by just 2,782 in the same period, meaning that the labor force—the total of everyone working or actively looking for work—shrank by more than 14,000.

Slow GDP growth

Vermont Business Magazine Matt Seaholm, the executive director of the American Progressive Bag Alliance, released the following statement after a Vermont General Assembly conference committee approved a proposal to ban plastic bags in the state. If this proposal is signed into law, Vermont shoppers will see an influx of thicker plastic, nonrecyclable bags stamped “Made in China.”

Vermont Business Magazine The Working Land Enterprise Board (WLEB) has announced the annual 2019 Ski Vermont Grant – awarded through the Working Lands Enterprise Fund will be given to KJ Pratt Logging and Tree Service, LLC, of Jericho. The $15,000 grant will be used to help KJ Pratt acquire a firewood processor, to expand the low-grade wood division of its business. KJ Pratt currently rents one yet experiences a high demand for wood. In order to keep up with that demand, the Working Lands grant is timely to prevent further roadblocks with deliveries.