Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced a package of appropriations bills approved by the Senate Thursday protects $40 million in funding for the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Consultation Program, run out of the National Center for PTSD at White River Junction, Vt.

The PTSD Consultation Program was created by Leahy in fiscal year 2013 and faced a $20 million, or 50 percent, cut in President Trump’s fiscal year 2019 budget. With bipartisan support, Leahy successfully rejected the President’s proposal.

The National Center for PTSD and the PTSD Brain Bank in White River Junction were the first organizations of their kind in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and were created with crucial support from Leahy.

Vermont Business MagazineThe Vermont Community Foundation has announced that the Curtis Fund has become a supporting organization of the Foundation. As a result, after 108 years as a private foundation, the Curtis Fund is now a public charity.

Emma Eliza Curtis had no children of her own, but she held the belief that education could change the course of a person’s life. When she died in Burlington in 1910, she left $120,000 in trust to provide financial assistance to young Vermont men and women to pursue a postsecondary education. Since then, the Curtis Fund has grown that bequest to more than $30 million. Mrs. Curtis’s legacy continues in the lives of over 10,000 Vermonters who have realized their dreams of a better future.

Vermont Business Magazine An awards ceremony and reception presented by Vermont Business Magazine and KeyBank was held Wednesday, September 12^th, at the Hilton Burlington. John Boutin, Publisher, Vermont Business Magazine, Don Baker, President, KeyBank Vermont and Governor Phil Scott were on hand to present the awards. The winners, their employees and guest were entertained by Game Show Vermont during the celebration.

About the Vermont Business Growth Awards:

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced the appointment of 16 Vermonters to State boards and commissions during the month of August.

Boards and commissions serve an important role in state government, giving Vermonters numerous opportunities to serve their state and communities. The Governor’s office is currently soliciting applications to fill vacancies and upcoming term expirations. All those interested in serving on a board or commission should visit the Governor’s website at http://governor.vermont.gov/boards-commissions to apply.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced Thursday that a package of appropriations bills approved by the Senate includes funding to pay congressional interns for the first time.

The package includes $8.8 million to pay House interns and $5 million to pay Senate interns. The Senate funds will be in included in accounts used to pay staff and provides an average of $50,000 to each Senate office, an amount which varies by state. The $8.8 million to pay House interns will provide $20,000 in a newly created account for each member office.

Vermont Business Magazine Following President Donald Trump's false claim that Democrats are trying to cut Social Security, Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Reps. John Larson (D-Conn.), Terri A. Sewell (D-Ala.) and Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) on Thursday announced the bicameral Expand Social Security Caucus, along with 16 senators and more than 130 House members.

Vermont Business Magazine Guy Chemical Company Inc., a specialty manufacturer of silicone-based industrial products, acquired Ultramotive Corp. in a private transaction on Sept. 6. Terms were not disclosed.

Guy Chemical, based in Somerset, PA, develops and formulates silicone sealants, silicone greases and epoxy adhesives, and provides contract packaging services for customers in the automotive, industrial and home markets.

“The purchase of Ultramotive is a perfect fit for us,” said Guy Berkebile, the founder and CEO of Guy Chemical. “We are growing rapidly and this acquisition will increase our manufacturing capacity and enable us to serve our customers with additional silicone based products.”

Vermont Business Magazine Keurig Dr Pepper (NYSE: KDP) announced today that its Board of Directors authorized a quarterly dividend program and declared its first quarterly dividend on the Company's common stock. KDP will pay a dividend of $0.15 per share, payable in US dollars, on October 19, 2018, to shareholders of record on October 5, 2018. KDP said in a press release that it has determined that the former Dr Pepper Snapple Group dividend reinvestment plan ("DPS Direct Invest") will remain in effect for the current dividend, and the Company expects to replace the DPS Direct Invest program with a new shareholder funded plan, beginning with the next quarterly dividend.

by Secretary Anson Tebbetts Our country needs to find a better way to pay dairy farmers. This is probably not news to many, but the devil is in the details. Farmers nationwide work 24/7 to produce the fresh milk that becomes the cheese, butter and other dairy products that are always present, with an endless supply and many choices, in the grocery store.

However, farmers are not getting a fair price for their product. While “fair trade” is a familiar concept for international products like coffee, farmers right here at home are paid based upon an outdated, complex system that marginalizes their work and the sustainability of the working lands that we all enjoy. An oversupply of milk nationwide has resulted in suppressed milk prices for more than four years, and put many Vermont farmers into a state of economic insecurity that has forced them to make difficult choices about their future.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Libraries is partnering with Rooted in Vermont, a grassroots campaign celebrating how all Vermonters enjoy local food, to explore all of the great food that Vermonters can find right in their backyard. Libraries across the state will be hosting programs October 1 through October 7 that will feature and discuss local food activities that Vermonters have been doing for generations such as hunting and fishing, gardening, and foraging.

Vermont Business Magazine High school senior girls from across Vermont will join together in Burlington for the Distinguished Young Women of Vermont program to be held November 24, 2018 at the Main Street Landing Performing Arts Center. Participants will compete for cash and college-granted scholarships and the opportunity to represent the state as the Distinguished Young Woman of Vermont for 2019.

Vermont Business Magazine Following several apparent overdose deaths in Rutland County and additional overdose incidents around Vermont, all within a 72-hour span, state health officials are warning people who use street drugs to take extra care to reduce the risk of accidental overdose, and to have the overdose reversal medicine naloxone (Narcan) on hand.