Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Public Utility Commission is seeking to fill two vacancies on the Vermont System Planning Committee (VSPC) to represent the interests of electric power supply resources, such as electricity generators. The openings are for one primary member and one alternate member, who would attend VSPC meetings when the primary member is not available.

Bromley Mountain Resort Spring or Winter weather, we're always having a good time on the slopes! If you're a forecast follower, you know we're heading into some T-shirt temperatures (in the 50s!) for Friday, and then back to mid-30s for Saturday. The marketing spin? Our superb base (5 feet deep, in spots!) will remain fully slashable. There's a chance of a few quick showers on Friday, but the warm temps and our superb grooming team will keep the surface fun through the weekend.

Senator Patrick Leahy Marcelle and I are shocked by the barbaric act of terror against innocent Muslims in Christchurch, New Zealand – a mass murder that took the life of 49 human beings. Our hearts ache with the families of the victims and the communities that have been rocked by this attack.  Let us be clear about one thing: This wanton violence was explicitly motivated by Islamophobic and xenophobic vitriol that has spread like a cancer in the age of social media.

Public Assets Institute Reach Up is Vermont’s primary cash assistance program for families in poverty. It focuses on helping “eligible parents gain job skills and find work so they can support their minor dependent children.” 1 One function of the law, according to state statute, is to “improve the well-being of children by providing for their immediate basic needs, including food, housing, and clothing.” But due to years of under-funding, Reach Up is not fulfilling the state’s fundamental obligation to ensure that families with children can meet those needs.

by Shawn Shouldice McShane A bill under consideration by the Vermont Legislature allowing employees to take up to 12-weeks of paid leave a year for an illness, to care for a relative or the birth of a child, will cripple many small businesses in the state. It will also hurt the employees if those companies are forced to scale back operations or shut down because they don’t have enough staff to accommodate the workload.

At a mom and pop auto shop in Northeast Vermont, the owner says their ten employees are a prized asset and they do all they can now to accommodate requests for family leave. But that flexibility would vanish under a government mandate allowing up to three months of leave, especially if a specialty mechanic were off, or two workers took leave simultaneously.

Vermont Business Magazine In celebration of their Diamond Jubilee Anniversary, Sugarbush Resort announces the inaugural class in their newly established Wall of Fame. Similar to a Hall of Fame, Sugarbush’s Wall of Fame seeks to recognize some of the most significant contributors to the Sugarbush experience from 1958 to the present. The Sugarbush Wall of Fame recognition will be awarded annually to those who have made a significant contribution to “cultivating a spirit of lifelong adventure and camaraderie among Sugarbush staff, guests, and the community.” The Wall of Fame Review Committee met in late February to review those nominations submitted for the Wall of Fame.

Vermont Business Magazine Waterbury flower shop, Proud Flower, is excited to announce the launch of Proud Flower Studio – a branch of the business that will focus on weddings. Nina Towne, founder and owner of Proud Flower, has partnered with Jasmine Bigelow, who will be the owner-manager of Proud Flower Studio. Jasmine will provide all wedding flower services on behalf of Proud Flower, and also offer event design and specialty rentals, as Proud Flower Studio.

“I am so excited to have Jasmine join the Proud Flower family,” says Towne, “She is a creative soul, talented designer, and a resourceful, caring individual. Jasmine’s talents are a fabulous fit for the floral business, and she’s the perfect person to be working with our customers and friends on their special celebrations. After 10 years in business, as primarily a one-woman show, I’m welcoming a savvy, smart, creative partner, and we will grow Proud Flower together.”

Vermont Business Magazine Northern Power Systems Corp, a distributed wind company based in Barre, announced Thursday that John Simon and Kevin Kopczynski, each a member of the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Northern Power Systems Corp., provided the Board with a notice of his resignation from the Board, effective February 23, 2019. The Board has initiated a process to identify new directors to fill recent vacancies on the Board. NP has suffered financially over the last year and was recently de-listed by the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Vermont Business Magazine General Fund tax revenues fell below expectations for February and are now behind targets for the fiscal year. The vital personal income tax, after a strong January, was off by -11.25 percent, or -$3.02 million. A whopping increase in the corporate tax was undermined by a poor month in the insurance premium tax. February marks the eighth month of Fiscal Year 2019.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott’s and Governor Chris Sununu’s administrations have released the responses Vermont and New Hampshire received to their joint request for information (RFI) on administering and insuring the Twin State Voluntary Leave Plan, a bi-state voluntary paid family and medical leave program. The Legislature is currently working on a mandatory family leave plan. Last year, Governor Scott vetoed a mandatory plan supported by a payroll tax. Since then he and Sununu have developed a voluntary plan backed by the weight of about 18,500 twin state government employees and paid for with premiums.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Attorney General TJ Donovan announced today that his office has resolved Vermont’s lawsuit against more than two dozen of the nation’s largest refiners of gasoline. The State’s case, filed in June of 2014, alleged that these refiners caused widespread pollution of Vermont’s groundwater with the gasoline additive [Anchor] methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE). As a part of the settlement between the state and the gas companies, the state will receive a payment of $3.8 million. In return, the state has dismissed its remaining claims against the gasoline companies.

Vermont Business Magazine Often touted as the single-most important day in a medical student’s medical school career, Match Day is the day when graduating medical students learn where they’ll spend the next three to seven years for specialty training. On Friday, March 15, 2019 beginning at noon EDT, fourth-year students at the University of Vermont’s (UVM) Larner College of Medicine and soon-to-be-doctors across the US and world will learn the location of their US residency program.