Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Lake Champlain Chamber has made several additions to its Board of Directors. The Burlington-based Chamber announced today that Donald Baker, President, Vermont Market of KeyBank, will serve as Chair of the Chamber’s Board of Directors for the next year and that Kurt Gruendling, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development will serve as Vice Chair.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) announced Friday that RuralEdge, a regional housing nonprofit based in Lyndon, will receive a $2.5 million loan package from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to preserve and rehabilitate three housing properties in Newport, West Burke and Ryegate. The projects received funding as part of the USDA’s Northeast Kingdom Rural Economic Area Partnership (REAP) Zone and will provide quality affordable homes for 46 families. RuralEdge oversees a portfolio of more than 500 units across the Essex, Orleans and Caledonia counties.

Leahy was instrumental in enacting the REAP Zone program and Northeast Kingdom’s designation as a leading member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, and in continuing these annual investments through his role as Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Vermont Business Magazine Weekly unemployment claims fell very slightly last week. For the week of September 292, 2018, there were 264 claims, 3 fewer than than they were the previous week, and 28 fewer than they were a year ago. Altogether 2,371 new and continuing claims were filed, a decrease of 36 from a week ago, and 111 fewer than a year ago. Vermont, like the nation as a whole, currently is locked into a historically low period of unemployment.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermonters will learn about drone swarms, corporate data breaches and new innovation spaces at Seven Days’ Vermont Tech Jam, a free event on Friday, October 19, at the Champlain Valley Expo in Essex Junction. The state’s top tech firms will be there, too: Dozens of Vermont’s fastest-growing companies are expected on the Expo floor, along with local colleges and training programs. Most exhibitors are hiring.

The schedule includes nine presentations organized along two tracks: one for entrepreneurs and business owners; a second for professionals who want to take their careers to the next level. Several researchers, artists and makers will also set up demos and displays in an Emerging Tech Showcase.

Vermont Business Magazine One Credit Union brushed off the last of the construction dust with a two-day celebration at its newly renovated Chester branch. “While big banks are closing branches in many areas we serve, One Credit Union is here to stay. Moreover, I’m happy to say, we are investing in the Chester community,” Brett Smith, President and CEO of One CU, said. The new branch brings the latest technology to the branch, and allows for a more efficient, collaborative and consultative approach with members.

“Our goal is to help our members achieve their financial goals. We need to work side by side with our clients to find the best solutions to meet the needs of consumers and businesses in Chester,” said Kevin DeRosa, Retail Manager.

Vermont Business Magazine On Thursday, October 4, 2018, the Vermont Department of Labor announced changes to the Unemployment Insurance (UI) program and the State minimum wage. Beginning January 1, 2019, employers will see a reduction in the taxable wage base amount that they currently pay on unemployment taxes by $2,000. Also beginning January 1, 2019, the State’s minimum wage will increase to $10.78 per hour.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) has compiled and released a comprehensive, point-by-point summary of several times Judge Kavanaugh has misled the Senate under oath. He first published this list – one of the most thorough available – on Wednesday night. In topical threads, each with several entries and revealing documents, he shows how Judge Kavanaugh was not truthful in his sworn testimony.

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) It is extraordinary where we find ourselves today. We are on the verge of a cloture vote, and possibly a confirmation vote, for Judge Kavanaugh to join the Supreme Court — while credible allegations of sexual assault against the nominee are not just lingering, they’re developing. The FBI investigation that we hoped would be full and fair has turned out to be neither, after the Trump White House and Senate Republicans appear to have successfully imposed so many restrictions to render it almost meaningless.

Vermont Business Magazine Norwich University’s Peace and War Center will host Former US Ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic Stephen M Young in person and former United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice via webcast in the 12^th annual China Town Hall event on Tuesday, Oct. 9, from 6-8 p.m. in the Mack Hall auditorium. This event is free and open to the public.

Vermont Business Magazine Manufacturing Information Systems, Inc (MISys), a leading manufacturing software solutions company based in Woodstock, VT has announced that the firm is now sharing beneficial ownership with employees by becoming 100 percent owned by an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) Trust. As an employee-owned company, MISys, Inc. will continue to operate under the same business model.

"The ESOP was a natural next step for us," said Ray Martell, CFO of MISys. "Our employees have always held high standards when it came to software development and providing world-class support for our customers. As we look down the road, we believe that long term growth for both our employees and our customers is best served when all of us have a vested interest in success. An ESOP was the right choice for us."

Vermont Business Magazine Casella Waste Systems, Inc (NASDAQ: CWST), a regional vertically integrated solid waste, recycling and resource management services company, announced Wednesday that it has acquired the assets of WeCare Waste & Recycling, LLC and of Valley Sanitation. Both transactions closed on October 1, 2018. WeCare is a provider of residential, commercial and roll-off collection services in the Geneva, NY and Ithaca, NY marketplaces. Valley is a provider of residential and commercial collection services in the Plattsburgh, NY marketplace. In total, the Company expects to generate approximately $5 million of annualized revenues from the WeCare and Valley acquisitions.

Vermont Business Magazine Green Mountain Power honored longtime Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist Steve Parren with one of the state’s top environmental awards today – the GMP-Zetterstrom Award. Parren has helped save multiple endangered species, raised funds for non-game wildlife conservation and volunteered hundreds of hours on his own time to help turtles and amphibians.