Current News

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.

Vermont Business Magazine Some come for the leaves. Some come for the beer … or maybe the cheese. But countless come to Vermont in the fall to pay their respects to the "dearly de-pinted"—Ben & Jerry's ice cream flavors that have gone on to the great waffle cone in the sky. Ben & Jerry's Flavor Graveyard, just a stone's throw from the company's Waterbury plant, is one of Vermont's biggest tourist attractions. With granite tombstones and a white picket fence, it's an ice cream cemetery worthy of mourners from miles away. Every day, fans stop by Wavy Gravy or Ethan Almond, Cool Brittania or Rainforest Crunch, to read their epitaphs and wonder what went wrong.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Legal Aid (VLA) is celebrating 50 years of working for justice. The non-profit law firm and social organization has been providing legal assistance to Vermonters when they face a civil legal problem that threatens their rights, shelter, job, health or well-being for half a century. On Thursday, October 11 at the ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain in Burlington, VLA celebrated its past, present and future work.

“Vermont Legal Aid strives to advance fairness and justice, address the social and economic interests of our clients, and confront the underlying causes of poverty, discrimination and inequality,” said Eric Avildsen, Executive Director of VLA. “In our current political climate with rights being stripped away from many, the work of VLA is more important than ever before.”

Vermont Business Magazine From Boston, Massachusetts, to South Burlington, Vermont, Stantec’s New England offices were all in for the firm’s sixth annual Stantec in the Community Week. This celebration of worldwide community service occurred from September 24 – 29th with more than 5,600 team members volunteering for 321 charities around the globe.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives announced Friday that its organization will once again be offering a variety of health insurance plans to its 29 chambers and many members throughout the state for the first time since 2013. The statewide chamber organization will partner with BlueCross BlueShield of Vermont to provide three separate plans to businesses, ranging in size from 1 to 100 employees: the VACE Advantage 100 percent Health Savings Account, the VACE Advantage Copay and the VACE Advantage Copay HSA.

Vermont Business Magazine US foreclosure activity in Q3 2018 was 36 percent below the pre-recession average of 278,912 properties with foreclosure filings per quarter between Q1 2006 and Q3 2007 — the eighth consecutive quarter where US foreclosure activity has registered below the pre-recession average. Vermont ranked 46th and New Jersey had the highest rate, ten times the Vermont rate. New Hampshire was also low at 41st, while most other states in the region were relatively high.

Vermont Business Magazine The Windham County Economic Development Program (WCEDP) is helping Whetstone Station Brewery proceed with an expansion in Brattleboro. A WCEDP loan will provide a portion of the funding to purchase real estate at 39-45 Frost Street in Brattleboro. This acquisition will allow the owners of Whetstone Station Brewery to expand their production capacity.

Vermont Business Magazine Weekly unemployment claims increased last week, but remain low. For the week of October 6, 2018, there were 330 claims, 66 more than than they were the previous week, but 6 fewer than they were a year ago. Altogether 2,433 new and continuing claims were filed, an increase of 62 from a week ago, and 110 fewer than a year ago. For most weeks of 2017 and 2018 claims have been below the year before. Vermont, like the nation as a whole, currently is locked into a historically low period of unemployment.