Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Weekly unemployment claims last week rose again and are at a higher level than they've been for several months. For the week of November 17, 2018, there were 629 claims, 119 more than they were the previous week, but 32 fewer than they were a year ago. The holiday season typically will see wild swings in claims, as retailers in particular hire and layoff workers in spikes in November and December. Altogether 3,310 new and continuing claims were filed, an increase of 296 from a week ago, but 446 fewer than a year ago. For most weeks of 2017 and 2018 claims have been lower than the year before. The last spike in claims came in late June (799 claims) during the end-of-school transition. Vermont, like the nation as a whole, is locked into a historically low period of unemployment.

Vermont Business Magazine A new federal report released today finds that climate change is affecting the natural environment, agriculture, energy production and use, land and water resources, transportation, human health and welfare across the US and its territories.

Vermont Business Magazine Scheduling is complete for the Vermont Department of Health’s three upcoming PFOA blood test clinics in Bennington, but officials want the public to know that walk-ins eligible for blood testing are welcome. The final blood draw clinics of 2018 will be held at the Bennington Local Health Office located at 324 Main Street, Suite 2 in Bennington. Clinic dates are November 28 from 7 am to 3 pm, November 29 from 9 am to 6 pm, and on December 28 from 9 am to 2 pm. Walk-ins will be screened for eligibility and can have their blood drawn. Due to staffing limitations, walk-ins should anticipate longer wait times to accommodate the screening process.

In 2016, private drinking water wells in the area around the former Chemfab/Saint-Gobain facility had detections of PFOA ranging from non-detect to nearly 3,000 parts per trillion, well above Vermont’s health advisory of 20 parts per trillion.

Windham votes to close its elementary school and file litigation as the final Act 46 deadline approaches

by Olga Peters/The Commons, Brattleboro State Representative Carolyn Partridge, D-Windham, wishes she could take back her “yea” vote on Act 46. “I’m afraid that all of the information and all of the intent of this was not made really clear at the time this was going through,” she said. Partridge’s statement summarizes the frustrations for many opponents of Act 46, a 2015 law that implemented education reform in the state. Vermont schools are wrestling with keeping costs down amid shrinking school populations.

Vermont Business Magazine In front of 18,500 screaming fans, former Vermont high schooler and gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin ended up just off the podium in fourth place at the Killington Cup giant slalom, where Italy's Federica Brignone wowed the crowd with her solid skiing for the victory, followed by Norway's Ragnhild Mowinckel and Austria's Stephanie Brunner in third.

Vermont Business Magazine Two-thirds of US corporate decision-makers have not locked in favorable rates to mitigate their interest rate and foreign exchange exposure, a decision that can cost their firms millions of dollars, according to a survey released November 21 by Citizens Bank. Citizens has branches across Vermont. Despite this reality, the survey found that business leaders expect rates to continue to rise and the value of the dollar to fluctuate due to tariffs and other macroeconomic factors.

Vermont Business Magazine Suicide Six Ski Area at the Woodstock Inn & Resort has invested $400,000 to upgrade its snowmaking infrastructure for the 2018/2019 season with the installation of 10 new TechnoAlpin snow producers. For the first time snow production on “The Face,” the mountain’s signature trail, and the ski and snowboard learning center, will be fully automated. The snow guns replaced by the new technology have been reallocated to other areas of the mountain to phase out aged snow guns and ultimately create higher quality snow and shorter production times across the ski area’s 24 trails and slopes.

​Vermont Business Magazine Heady Vermont has launched Unhidden: A Curious Cannabis Podcast. As the global wave of cannabis legalization gains momentum, and transforms the lives of enthusiasts, explorers, healers, and entrepreneurs - not to mention veterans, pets, and CBD-loving Grandmothers - host Kathryn Blume will explore the search for success, health, pleasure, and justice in an increasingly green - and slightly sticky - world.

by Robert Zulkoski, Social Entrepreneur Although our lives might appear more complicated and convoluted than the lifestyles of fifty years ago, dirt farmer wisdom takes us back to our roots and brings us down to earth, gently guiding us toward a simpler, more satisfying life…the Vermont of our past which we stubbornly cling to as a comfort, which we can maintain even while we successfully adapt to the new digital age.

Vermont Business Magazine The Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission (CCRPC) will aid the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) in cleaning up state waters through the incorporation of potential projects into DEC’s Watershed Projects Database. This Database is a key component of the DEC’s Tactical Basin Plans that address water quality issues throughout the State. These plans prioritize water quality problems, consider alternatives, and recommend solutions and funding sources. The Database keeps track of potential projects to address these problems as well as assess project readiness. For example, some projects are only at the scoping level and would need further definition while others have been fully designed with both construction plans and cost estimates prepared.

Vermont Business Magazine In his newest collection, In the Wild, recently released by Button Street Press, the acclaimed New Yorker cartoonist illustrates country life, exurbanites and the ironies of living in the boonies. His cartoons have Vermonters looking at city folk, and city folk looking at Vermonters. Koren’s humor, his humanoid, fuzzy, puzzled and brave creatures will delight the reader, country dweller or not. In this latest collection of cartoons on country life, drawn from his porch in Vermont, nothing is sacred: vegetarians, parenting, animals, gourmands, country stores…all are examined with the unique perspective and creativity of this brilliant observer (and artist) of “the wild.”

Vermont Business Magazine The League of American Bicyclists has honored the University of Vermont with a Gold-level Bicycle Friendly University award in recognition of the institution’s achievements in promoting and enabling safe, accessible bicycling on campus. The program, which now includes 193 BFU colleges and universities, is part of the League’s larger program and mission to create a Bicycle Friendly America for everyone.