Current News

Vermont Business Magazine As VEC welcomed mutual aid crews from New Jersey and Pennsylvania to help with power restoration efforts, the co-op urged members who still do not have power to be prepared to be without electricity possibly into the weekend. Today, crews from Sussex Rural Electric Cooperative in New Jersey and Northwestern Rural Electric Co-op in Pennsylvania arrived in Vermont to assist with restoration efforts.

“As VEC crews, along with line workers who have come to help, work hard to restore power, the safety of our members who remain without electricity is a primary concern,” said VEC Chief Operating Officer Peter Rossi. He urged people who are vulnerable and without power to call 2-1-1 or 866-866-652-4636 to ask about warming or overnight shelters. “Also, if you are in a position to do so, please check on your neighbors, the elderly and anyone else who might need help, to be sure they are okay,” he added.

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont): Mr President, I hope the Saudi royal family was paying attention to yesterday’s debate in the United States Senate. The bipartisan vote on Senate Joint Resolution 54, introduced by Senators Bernie Sanders, Mike Lee, and Chris Murphy, of which I am a cosponsor, was significant for multiple reasons, but most of all for what it says about the potency of the outrage and disgust in this country and in the Congress about the conduct of Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi Crown Prince...

Vermont Business Magazine Green Mountain Power crews restored power to more than 90,000 customers as crews continue a days-long battle with challenging conditions including heavy wet snow and severe widespread damage in Central and Southern Vermont. Crews in the areas around Royalton, Springfield, Rutland, Wilmington and Brattleboro are still confronting multiple trees and lines down, often in off-road, back country locations.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, Lisa Ventriss, President of Vermont Business Roundtable (VBR) and Jeffrey Carr, President, Economic & Policy Resources (EPR), announced the Q4 of 2018 outlook results of their joint initiative, the VBR/EPR Business Conditions Survey and Index. More than 80 percent of respondents shared negative outlooks specifically with ease of hiring for available positions; a majority of respondents expressed a neutral outlook about the state’s overall business climate; and the Finance and Insurance sector expressed the most optimism (54%), while the Education sector had the most pessimistic outlook (50%).

Vermont Business Magazine Earlier this month, the CCRPC released the results of the 2018 Chittenden County Transportation Survey. The purpose of the survey was to objectively measure public opinion regarding performance of the region's transportation system and strategies to address existing and future transportation issues. Among the findings is that people want existing roads and bridges better maintained but don't want to see new highways; interest in public transportation appears to have waned a bit; people are willing to pay more in gas taxes to get transportation upgrades they do want; and they're letting the Internet do their shopping instead of driving around as much.

Vermont Business Magazine US Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) announced on Wednesday that his office will again organize six senior holiday dinners in December. The meals are an opportunity for seniors to come together, enjoy a holiday meal and hear holiday music performed by local students. There will also be brief “town meeting” updates on senior issues. The meals will be held in Barre, Bennington, Brattleboro, Burlington, Rutland and St Johnsbury.

Seating is limited and RSVPs are required. All meals start at noon except for Burlington’s dinner, which will start at 1 pm.

St. Johnsbury Senior Holiday Dinner

When: Friday, December 7 at 12:00 noon

Where: St. Johnsbury House; 1207 Main Street; St. Johnsbury

Details: RSVP by Tuesday, December 4 to Senator Sanders’ Office at 800-339-9834 (toll-free) or 802-862-0697

Burlington Senior Holiday Dinner

Vermont Business Magazine The Sanders Institute announced their inaugural conference, The Sanders Institute Gathering, late last week. Scheduled to be held in Burlington, Vermont, from Thursday, November 29th through Saturday, December 1st, 2018, the array of speakers come from both the national and international progressive community. Among the participants will be AIDS Healthcare Foundation. In late 2017, AHF launched the Healthy Housing Foundation (HHF), part of a community-based effort to address the exploding housing and homelessness crisis in Los Angeles and elsewhere in the US.

Vermont Business Magazine Representative Peter Welch (D-Vermont) issued the following statement Wednesday, November 28, 2018, concerning his vote for Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House of Representatives for the 116th Congress.

Vermont Business Magazine Despite the calendar, winter seems to have arrived. "A tough job gets even tougher this time of year,” Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets Secretary Anson Tebbetts commented after this week’s wintery weather. “If getting up at 4 am every day wasn’t tough enough, Mother Nature has now added heavy, wet snow to the roof of the barn!” Winter weather conditions including snow, cold and winds present additional challenges for Vermont’s hard working farmers. The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets wishes for all our farmers to remain safe while handling these added conditions to their daily routines. Below are a number of reminders and resources for folks involved in our farming and working lands enterprises.

Vermont Business Magazine A project in Waterbury was among four projects in New England to repair and upgrade drinking water infrastructure that were recognized for excellence and innovation by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Boston. The Village of Waterbury was recognized for its wastewater treatment facility upgrade.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Secretary of State Jim Condos will hold the 2018 General Election Audit at 10:00AM on Thursday, November 29th at the Pavilion Auditorium, located at 109 State Street in Montpelier. Members of the public and the press are invited and encouraged to attend. “Ensuring the integrity and accuracy of our Vermont elections is critical to our democratic process, and to voter confidence in that process,” said Secretary Condos. “That’s why we use paper ballots and conduct a post-election audit after every General Election. We want to ensure that there are no anomalies between official results and audited results, and want to give Vermonters peace of mind in the integrity of our elections.”

Vermont Business Magazine SIX Marketing, a local boutique marketing firm based in Rutland, has announced the “Do Good Grant." This grant promises free digital marketing for one full year beginning January 1, 2019. SIX is calling for all nonprofits to apply and submit the grant application by December 10, 2018.