Current News

by Peter Stromgren of Bennington and Bill Schubart of Hinesburg In a recent VTDigger piece, Secretary of Commerce and Community Development, Mike Schirling, highlighted actions his agency has taken to make a positive impact on Vermont’s previously lackluster economic development program: “focusing on fundamental activities, supporting economic growth, and affordability.”

Vermont Business MagazineJim Brown, President of The Bank of Bennington, has announced that the bank has donated $10,000 to Second Chance Animal Center in Arlington. In doing so, the bank joins nine other prominent area businesses and becomes one of “Ten for Ten”—local companies each donating $10,000 to the animal shelter’s capital campaign.

“We are so pleased to support this local community resource that helps our four-footed friends with such amazing service. This is an outstanding non-profit that assists both pets and pet owners in our community and as such, is deserving of our support.” said Jim Brown, President of The Bank of Bennington.

Green Mountain College President Robert W Allen, January 23, 2019, Poultney: I regretfully announce that after a 185-year legacy, Green Mountain College will be closing. Although the Trustees of the College have not yet set a specific closing date, we anticipate cessation of operations after the Spring 2019 semester. The Board of Trustees has concluded it is in the best interests of our students, prospective students, faculty, and staff to notify them of this decision at this time, so they can make informed choices for their future. Our most important concern is supporting all members of the GMC family in this difficult time.

Vermont Business Magazine Castleton University, part of the Vermont State Colleges System (VSCS), announced Wednesday that it has reached a teach-out agreement with Green Mountain College that ensures many of the students impacted by Green Mountain's impending closure will be able to complete their degrees at nearby Castleton. Castleton will match tuition, waive application fees, and host information sessions. GMC is located in Poultney, just south of Castleton.

"It is our intention to help as many students as possible fulfill their goals and complete their degree requirements without leaving Vermont," said Castleton University President Dr. Karen M. Scolforo. "We are saddened to see Green Mountain College close its doors and our hearts go out to all of the impacted faculty, staff, and students. By making this opportunity affordable and accessible for the students, we can help them remain on track and offer a measure of hope."

Vermont Business Magazine University of Vermont president Tom Sullivan has been appointed to the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions. He will begin serving immediately and continue through August 31, 2021. The committee is an independent administrative body charged with deciding infractions cases involving NCAA member institutions, their employees and their students. Its membership includes volunteers from NCAA member institutions and conferences and individuals from the general public who have legal training.

Vermont Business Magazine Burlington International Airport (BTV) announced today new and low-cost direct service to Denver starting in May 2019, provided by Frontier Airlines. According to officials, this announcement builds on the successes of 2018, which was one of BTV’s most successful years to date.

Vermont Business Magazine Thursday morning in State House Room 10, the House Judiciary Committee is holding a public hearing on the status of the state’s Fair and Impartial Policing policy. Migrant Justice and the ACLU of Vermont will be testifying about problems with the implementation of the law and continuing concerns that the Attorney General and other Vermont leaders are not doing enough to protect the civil rights of Vermont’s immigrant communities.

Will Lambek of Migrant Justice: “Vermont police continue to unnecessarily facilitate Trump’s policy of mass deportation. Police departments are failing to implement, train to, and enforce adequate Fair and Impartial Policing policies. The Attorney General’s office and the Vermont legislature must hold departments accountable to our values.”

Vermont Business Magazine Today Vermont Attorney General TJ Donovan issued recommendations to the Vermont legislature to enable law enforcement agencies to better protect immigrant communities. Attorney General Donovan also called for robust trainings for law enforcement in hate crime and bias incident investigation and implementation of the Fair and Impartial Policing Policy (FIP).

“My mission as Attorney General is to increase public safety and access to justice,” Attorney General Donovan said. “Vermonters need to be able to trust that state and local law enforcement will work hard to protect them, regardless of where they are from. We are all Vermonters.”

To achieve this goal, the Attorney General said law enforcement cannot be effectively deputized as federal civil immigration agents.

Vermont Business Magazine Sugarbush Resort is offering federal employees affected by the government shutdown free skiing and riding while the government remains shut down. Any federal employee furloughed or working without pay may show their federal ID and an official letter stating that they are not getting paid in exchange for a free Adult All Mountain lift ticket (does not include $5 RFID). The deal extends to a federal employee’s immediate family.

“Not receiving a pay check for nearly four weeks is a huge burden for families,” said Win Smith, President of Sugarbush Resort. “We certainly hope that our representatives in Washington can reach a compromise soon and get everyone back to work. In the meantime, we wanted to offer those on furlough and their families an opportunity to enjoy the camaraderie of skiing and riding especially when conditions are so nice.”

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Economic Development Authority (VEDA) approved $8.3 million in financing to support manufacturing, agricultural and small business projects totaling $26 million throughout the state. Firms included: Flex-A-Seal, Williston ($1.5 million); Long Falls Paperboard, Brattleboro ($1.5 million); Branon Farm, Fairfield ($1.4 million); and Small Business Loan Program ($1.8 million).

Vermont Business Magazine Casella Waste Systems, Inc (NASDAQ:CWST), a regional solid waste, recycling and resource management services company based in Rutland, announced after markets closed Tuesday that it has commenced an underwritten public offering of 3,100,000 shares of its Class A common stock. Casella also intends to grant the underwriters of the offering an option for a period of 30 days to purchase up to an additional 465,000 shares of Class A common stock. All of the shares in the offering are to be sold by Casella.

by Katie Keszey, CCV Cathy Solsaa is a talented, busy person. She’s a longarm quilter, a wife, and a mother of four. She has a degree in economics, she’s a massage therapist, and she helps run her husband’s contracting business. “I’m sort of a seeker, a learner,” she says. She recently added another qualification to her list. Last year, Solsaa took CCV’s Certified Public Bookkeeping (CPB) class. “110%, it was a good investment of my time.”

Solsaa had spent years doing the books for her husband’s steadily growing business, but never without the fear that she was doing something wrong, without the stress of somehow finding herself in trouble with the IRS, or without the sense that she was wasting some of her valuable time and energy. Despite being comfortable with numbers, she always felt like she was “winging it.”