Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Bar Harbor Bank & Trust is grateful for all of the toys donated to the Bank’s first annual Holiday Toy Drive which concluded on December 21. So many customers and community members dropped off new children’s toys at their local Bar Harbor Bank & Trust branch. All Bar Harbor Bank & Trust branches in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont participated, collecting more than 1,260 toys in total. Bar Harbor Bank has branches in central Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine New England Federal Credit Union (NEFCU) wrapped up its year-long campaign of strong community support with two donations to important Burlington-area organizations. $10,000 was given to the Community Health Centers of Burlington (CHCB). Since 1971, CHCB’s mission has been to provide exceptional primary and preventative health care to people of all ages, backgrounds, and life circumstances. The YMCA of Greater Burlington (YMCAGB) received $5,000. The organization seeks to strengthen the community through youth development, healthy living and social responsibility.

Vermont Business Magazine On Thursday, January 3, 2019, US Representative Peter Welch (D-Vt.) will be sworn in to the 116th United States Congress in a ceremony on the floor of the US House of Representatives. The ceremony will begin at noon. Congressman Welch has represented Vermonters in Congress since 2007.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont's minimum wage rate increased to $10.78 per hour from the 2018 rate of $10.50 per hour, effective on January 1, 2019. Twenty-nine states have a minimum wage higher than the US minimum of $7.25 an hour. Most of those states are raising their minimum wage again this year. New Hampshire and Pennsylvania are the only states in the Northeast to retain the federal rate.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont topped the list of Top Moving Destinations of 2018 according to the 2018 National Movers Study by United Van Lines, the nation’s largest household goods mover. In 2018, more residents moved into Vermont than out of the state, with 72.6 percent of moves being inbound. This marks the second straight year that Vermont is the top inbound moving destination in the US. This year’s study reflects continuing trends of Americans moving to the Mountain West (55.5 percent inbound moves) and the South (53.1 percent inbound moves). Overall, the Northeast region continues to see more residents leaving than moving in, with 57 percent of all moves within the Northeast US being OUTBOUND moves. Vermont, however, was an outlier in this trend. Vermont also ranked highest in the Northeast for the U-Haul survey, ranking 7th best in the nation.

Vermont Business Magazine Everything continued to be bigger in Texas last year, including the number of U-Haul trucks pulling into the state versus the volume leaving. Texas registered as the U-Haul No. 1 Growth State in America for the third consecutive year, according to U-Haul data analyzing US migration trends for 2018. Vermont also did well among do-it-yourself movers, finishing 7th overall, up three spots from 2017. Vermont over the last few years has been a destination state, with United Van Lines survey ranking Vermont number 1 for its professional movers. On both lists, Vermont is the top state in the Northeast.

by John McClaughry The carbon tax warriors are promoting yet another version of “carbon pricing”. This new version is the “Transportation and Climate Initiative” (TCI), promoted in nine Northeastern states by the Georgetown (University Law School) Climate Center.

A December 19 report by Mark Johnson in Vermont Digger described the TCI as a “pricing mechanism” that “caps the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that are allowable in particular industries or across the economy, and then creates a carbon market that allows entities to trade pollution allowances, benefiting those who cut pollution faster and imposing an increasing financial burden on heavy polluters.” Got that?

Let me make it easier to understand.

According to carbon tax backers, the planet is imperiled by the Menace of Climate Change caused by humans recklessly burning fossil fuels to get to work and school, earn their paychecks, and heat their homes and businesses.

by C.B. Hall, Vermont Business Magazine With the end of the year at hand, a threat by Amtrak to suspend all passenger rail service in Vermont appears to have evaporated, at least for the time being. Fears of a service suspension grew out of a announcement last February by the company's chief, who said that Amtrak would probably stop serving routes that, like those in Vermont, lack a safety technology known as positive train control, or PTC.

Senator Patrick Leahy December 31, 2018: There is one reason and one reason only that much of our federal government is shut down through the holidays and countless Americans are living with uncertainty – and that reason is President Trump. For 10 days he has held the federal government hostage in an attempt to force us to pay for an ineffective and expensive wall on the southern border, a wall he promised that Mexico would pay for. It will not work. He does not have the votes.

Today, House Democrats introduced a commonsense path forward to end the Trump Shutdown: six bipartisan appropriations bills and a continuing resolution for the Department of Homeland Security. Following this path, we can finish six of the seven appropriations bills this week and get the government back open and working for the American people.

Vermont Business Start the New Year on the right foot with a hike in a Vermont State Park on January 1, 2019. Join a free, family-friendly, guided hike taking place in state parks across Vermont. Professional guides and outdoor educators will lead the way, sharing their knowledge and love of the Vermont outdoors. Don't need a guide? Explore a state park on your own. The parks are always open and close by. Entry is free and you will discover a whole new world in the winter.

Vermont Business Magazine VSECU, a credit union for everyone who lives or works in Vermont, is offering assistance for members impacted by the partial government shutdown. The Member Emergency Loan (MEL) is a low-rate loan of up to $1,500, intended to help replace the lost wages of furloughed federal employees, including military personnel. VSECU staff will be working to quickly process these loan applications so affected Vermonters won’t have to enter the New Year with financial uncertainty.

“It’s a frightening prospect to suddenly lose income at any time of the year, but winter in Vermont is an especially difficult time to find yourself suddenly without funds,” said Valerie Beaudin, head of Consumer Residential Lending. “VSECU is here to support our members, and together we’ll get through.”

Vermont Business Magazine Mobile Semiconductor has announced their new 22nm FDX ULP (Ultra Low Power) Memory Compiler complete with a comprehensive set of features that cement their leadership position in FDX Memory Compiler offerings. Mobile is based in Seattle with a design center in Williston, Vermont. This new Memory Compiler offers an Ultra-Low Power mode at 0.65V that is useful to a wide range of wearable and battery powered devices. The 22nm FDX ULP joins their expanding 22nm FDX Memory Compiler family that currently covers a wide range of speeds, power requirements, and ultra-low leakage offerings. The 22nm ULP product draws from the expertise developed over the past three years with our successful 28nm and 55nm Memory Compilers.