Current News

Eliminate the property tax on primary residences and base school taxes on income

by Paul Cillo, Public Assets Institute In 1997 the Vermont Supreme Court declared the state’s education financing system unconstitutional and required that the Legislature devise a system that provides substantially equal access to public education resources for all of the state’s children, regardless of the wealth of the community they live in. That is what Act 60 accomplished. Before Act 60, property-wealthy communities could raise lots of money for their schools with low tax rates, while property-poor communities had high rates and still were not able to raise much.

Vermont Business Magazine Dr Harry Chen has been named executive director of the Center for Health and Wellbeing and public health officer at the University of Vermont. He begins work today, October 15. Dr Chen served as commissioner of the Vermont Department of Health for six years. He was also a three-term Vermont State Representative and served as acting secretary of the Vermont Agency of Human Services. While serving as acting secretary, Dr Chen was a co-chair of the President’s Commission for Alcohol, Cannabis and other Drug Use at UVM.

Dr. Harry Chen has been named executive director of UVM's Center for Health and Wellbeing. (Photo: Ed Neuert)

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Miami-based Mi9 Retail, a provider of end-to-end software solutions for retailers, wholesalers, and brands, announced today that it has signed a contract to acquire MyWebGrocer (MWG), a leading software and digital media company to the grocery and Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) industries based in Winooski. Financial terms were not disclosed. MWG was founded by the Tarrant family in 1999. It moved into the Champlain Mill in June 2011 as part of a major redevelopment of downtown Winooski. Earlier this year MWG told Vermont Business Magazine that it employed 160 in Vermont and 315 total. MWG was previously sold to California private equity firm HGGC in 2012, who itself had acquired it from New York investor Stripes Group. The Stripes investment occurred in 2009, with the Tarrant brothers retaining minority ownership. The MWG website now redirects to the Mi9 site.

Vermont Business Magazine LIFT Giving Circle, a philanthropic collective with 38 members from the Greater Burlington area, made its first annual award in the amount of $16,000 to The Janet S. Munt Family Room (the Family Room). The Family Room is a parent child center providing programs that are accessible to all and flexible enough to meet the needs of our changing community. In its first year, LIFT Giving Circle has collectively awarded more than $20,000 to local nonprofits, including the Family Room and KidSafe Collaborative.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, Vermont Works Management Co, an independent alternative investment firm focusing on delivering both competitive financial returns and social impact in support of Vermont’s job creation and economic development, announced the Vermont Innovation Commons’ acquisition of Milk Money L3C, a Vermont based third-party equity crowdfunding portal. Milk Money co-founder, Louisa Schibli, will become a partner in Vermont Works Management to shepherd the acquisition and re-launch of Milk Money.

Vermont Business Magazine Leading lower-middle-market private equity firm Huron Capital today announced its socks and apparel accessories platform, IQ Brands, has acquired Morrisville-based Wheel House Designs, a producer of novelty socks to specialty stores and boutiques throughout North America. The deal marks the fourth add-on acquisition for the IQ Brands platform. Financial terms were not disclosed. Wheel House Designs has been designing and distributing more than 450 variations of novelty socks over the past 30 years. Gail Bourne, who founded Wheel House Designs in 1989, will remain active with IQ Brands after the acquisition.

Vermont Business Magazine Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont (BCBSVT) and Bi-State Primary Care Association (Bi-State) announced today they've implemented the first commercial payer program supporting primary care and community providers delivering support services to patients receiving Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) for substance misuse. Vermont is a leader in the Hub and Spoke model of treatment and this effort will improve an already valuable program.

Vermont Business Magazine All of Vermont will be using ultra-low sulfur heating oil this winter. As part of the 2011 Energy Act, the “Clean and Green Oilheat Initiative” mandated Ultra-Low Sulfur Heating Oil, starting in the winter of 2018. The rest of New England, New York and New Jersey have also adopted the same 15 parts-per-million (ppm) standard. Ultra Low Sulfur Heating Oil (ULSHO) will reduce particulate emissions, including sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide. ULSHO cuts 99 percent of sulfur dioxide emissions, 97 percent of airborne emissions, and 30 percent of NOx emissions compared to regular heating oil.

The Vermont Fuel Dealers Association said in a statement that emissions from this cleaner heating oil are the equivalent of natural gas, according to research conducted at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine CoverageCo seemed like a good idea when the state partnered with Vanu Bose in 2012. But it didn’t work out for several reasons. Bose died nearly a year ago. It financially failed last spring. And the Vermont Public Service Department terminated the CoverageCo contract in August. On October 30 the PSD is scheduled to unseal bids on who will take over the rural cell service. That date was pushed back from October 1. RFP responses will now be accepted until October 29.

Vermont Business Magazine The Green Mountain Council Executive Board has chosen Mike Dubie as the 2018 Distinguished Citizen Award recipient. The award will be presented on Wednesday, November 14 at the Trader Duke’s Hotel, 1117 Williston Road, South Burlington. Mike’s brother, Brian Dubie who ran for governor in 2011, will serve as emcee.

Vermont Business Magazine The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued an Order approving the transfer of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant operating license from Entergy to NorthStar. Entergy requested the transfer of the Vernon nuclear facility to NorthStar to decommission the plant, which ceased operations in December 2014. The NRC Order approving the transfer was issued October 11. Entergy's schedule would have fully decommissioned the site around 20175. NorthStar intends to have the job done about 2030. Work could begin as early as next year.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott has announced the second annual Innovation Spaces Conference, focused on creating a community among founders, users and supporters of innovation spaces in Vermont. The free conference, which will be held on Thursday, October 25 at Vermont Technical College in Randolph, Vermont, is designed to support the success of innovation spaces – the collective term for a communal and efficient shared workplace that includes coworking and maker spaces, incubators and accelerators, a new kind of business model that is spreading throughout the country and has a growing presence in Vermont.