Current News

​Vermont Business Magazine Today the Vermont Public Utility Commission issued an Order providing guiding principles for future electric or natural gas utility regulation plans. Under Vermont law, the Commission may approve “alternative” regulation plans in tandem with more traditional, cost-based rate requests if the Commission finds that the plans meet certain criteria.

Vermont Business Magazine Changes to Vermont's tax code will now benefit all Vermont taxpayers making charitable contributions in 2018. The Vermont Department of Taxes and Governor Scott worked with the Legislature to pass a Working Families Taxpayer Protection package during the 2018 session. This legislation, which went into effect on July 2, 2018, reduces Vermont's marginal income tax rates by 0.2 percent (with the exception of the second highest tax bracket), increases the earned income tax credit and creates a 5 percent charitable contribution tax credit for all filers in accordance with changes made in the Federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). Without these reforms, Vermonters would have experienced an arbitrary $30 million increase in their state income taxes and Vermont's non-profit sector may have seen diminished giving, as fewer Vermonters are expected itemize their taxes under the new federal rules.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Workers’ Center members and supporters will hold an informational picket outside City Hall in Montpelier Tuesday to educate the public about the impact of Vermont’s health care crisis and to highlight the urgent need for a universal, equitably-funded public health care system our state. The picket will be held immediately before the Green Mountain Care Board’s public hearing on proposed health insurance rate increases. The action is a response to skyrocketing health insurance rates, which have gone up by a cumulative 36% since 2014.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont’s congressional delegation announced Friday that Vermont Technical College received $400,000 from the US Department of Health and Human Services to develop a program to educate dental therapists, which will help expand access to much-needed oral health care throughout Vermont.

The $400,000 in federal funds will play an instrumental role in establishing and implementing a dental therapy education program at Vermont Technical College.

Vermont State Police Two people were killed in a head-on crash in South Londonderry Saturday (07/21/2018) evening. At approximately 8:24 pm, members of the Vermont State Police, Westminster Station along with an officer from the Winhall Police Department, responded to VT RT 100 in South Londonderry for a reported head-on, two-vehicle crash. This crash occurred on VT RT 100 south of intersection with Spring Hill Road. Investigation revealed the following: witness statements indicated that a white 2014 Volkswagen Tiguan was traveling at a reported high rate of speed northbound. The Volkswagen began leaving yaw marks in the road as it began swerving to the left in the northbound lane. The Volkswagen then crossed the centerline while leaving yaw marks in the southbound lane while it traveled north. The Volkswagen then struck a 2009 Chevy 2500 pick-up truck which was pulling a pop up trailer that was traveling south on VT RT 100.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott and members of his Administration will bring their “Capitol for a Day” initiative to Windsor County on Monday, July 23. The Governor, along with members of his cabinet and extended cabinet, will spend the day in Windsor County, meeting with area constituents, lawmakers, local partners and state employees.

The initiative aims to give regional constituents direct access to Administration leadership, as well as giving Administration officials an opportunity to visit local businesses, schools, community organizations and municipal offices. The Administration has visited Rutland and Caledonia counties and aims to visit each of the state’s 14 counties throughout the summer and fall.

WHEN: Monday, July 23

8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

(Details below)

WHERE: Various locations throughout Windsor County

Public Assets Institute The number of government jobs has held pretty steady over the last five years, after some ups and downs during and immediately after the Great Recession. Of the 56,000 public sector jobs in Vermont, more than 31,000 are in education from pre-K through higher ed. Vermont counted 32,000 union members—the lowest share of workers in a New England state in 2017—plus 3,000 nonmembers covered by union contracts. Now union participation, falling for decades, is likely to erode further.

by Christine McGowan, Forest Program Director, Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund As development creeps into our rural landscapes and woodlot ownership changes hands, our forests face an uncertain future. Vermonters value working landscapes, but do they value the work it takes to keep these landscapes intact? Not unlike other Vermont business sectors, our forest and wood products industry has struggled with an aging workforce, shifting markets and economic pressures that have caused a contraction in jobs and a feeling of futility in many of Vermont’s rural communities at a time when they can’t take much more.

Vermont Business Magazine Norwich University, the oldest private military college in the United States, has announced a new income share agreement initiative aimed at improving affordability, student retention, and degree completion. Beginning in fall 2018, Norwich undergraduate students will have the opportunity to opt-in to an innovative financing model in which they will pay reduced tuition in exchange for a set percentage of income after graduation over a set period of time.

Vermont Business Magazine Barre-based Northern Power Systems Corp (TSX:NPS) announced Thursday in a press release its intention to effect a financing pursuant to which the company will issue Convertible Subordinated Promissory Notes to certain new investors as well as certain existing investors, including John Simon and Richard Hokin, who are both current and significant shareholders of the Company and members of the Company’s Board of Directors pursuant to the financial hardship exemption available to companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under certain circumstances. Mr. Hokin is effecting the investment through CWE II, LLC. The wind turbine and energy storage firm furloughed most of its 50 Vermont employees last spring as its revenue plummeted, largely due to a loss in its Italian wind business.

by Jules Older, photos by Effin Older, Vermont Business Magazine When I say I test everything before I write about it, there are a few exceptions. Like the Absorbits Phone Pouch. The company sent me a sample. So why not test it? Because, while I’d do just about anything for you, dear reader, immersing my iPhone in water isn’t one of them. And what Absorbits does — drying out wet phones — demands a wet phone to dry. So, no immersion this time. I can report that the Absorbits looks good, the tech makes sense, and I advise you to spend the bargain $10 … and dunk your own phone. I’ll keep the Absorbits handy in case mine goes in the drink.

Vermont Business Magazine Employers and beneficiaries have begun seeing the positive effects to the low unemployment rate and Unemployment Insurance (UI) claims. The changes took effect July 1, 2018. These changes reduce the cost of UI taxes for employers for the second year in a row. The Vermont Department of Labor announced the changes last month. Nearly 22,200 employers remit state unemployment taxes to the Vermont Department of Labor on a quarterly basis.

These taxes are deposited into the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund and are used for the payment of unemployment insurance benefits to eligible claimants. The Department moved to Tax Rate Schedule IV (4) in July of 2017, which triggered a reduction in unemployment insurance tax rates for employers starting July 1, 2017. These new changes are triggered by a move from Tax Rate Schedule IV (4) to Tax Rate Schedule III (3), starting in July of this year.