Current News

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.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, the National Audubon Society and Audubon Vermont announced the appointment of David Mears as Executive Director of Audubon Vermont and Vice President of the National Audubon Society. Mears comes to Audubon from Vermont Law School, where he most recently served as the Associate Dean for Environmental Programs.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine You'd better hurry if you want to fly non-stop to Orlando next winter for $59. Low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines is introducing non-stop flights from Burlington International Airport (BTV) with service to Orlando International Airport (MCO). The new flights were announced today at a press conference with airport and airline officials, Mayor Miro Weinberger and Governor Phil Scott. This fare is available through this Friday for flights beginning in February 2019.

Vermont is the 44^th state to be served by Frontier (flyfrontier.com), which is a competitor of Spirit and other low-cost carriers.

Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont Medical Center has become one of the first participants in the Vermont Gas Renewable Natural Gas Program, which is currently capturing methane from a landfill in Quebec. The hospital has committed to purchasing renewable natural gas equal to 50 percent of its regular usage at several local doctor’s offices and other locations. These facilities will move to 100 percent renewable natural gas in 2019.