Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The heat wave is over, the numbers are in, and Green Mountain Power’s innovative network of Tesla Powerwall batteries in customers’ homes, and larger community storage with solar installations, helped GMP cut carbon and costs for customers. GMP leveraged stored energy to accomplish the equivalent of taking 5,000 homes off the grid, creating savings for customers that could reach $500,000.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) will host a live streamed town hall Monday in Washington at 7 pm to address the enormous disparity between the wealth of corporate executives and the wages and treatment of the companies’ workers. Sanders will be joined by workers from Amazon, Disney, McDonald’s, American Airlines and Walmart, and he has invited the CEO of each company to attend.

by Timothy McQuiston Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont Medical Center nurses went on strike this morning at 7 am. This is the first nurses' strike in the hospital's history. The 1,800 nurses will strike for 48 hours and then go back to work without a contract pending further action. Nurses are scheduled to strike during what would be their usual shifts.

Vermont Business Magazine The Burlington Department of Public Works announced Wednesday night that 3 million gallons of wastewater and stormwater was discharged into Lake Champlain on Tuesday. The DPW said the cause of the system failure was due to an electric storm which caused a computer failure late Tuesday.

Robert Goulding, DPW Public Information Manager said in a statement Monday afternoon: "Sample results came back this morning and bacteria levels are all well below EPA limits. Due to state requirements, we will keep caution signs at Blanchard Beach, Blodgett Access Area, Perkins Pier and the Coast Guard boat launch until early tomorrow morning. However, the results are normal and all city beaches remain open."

Vermont Business Magazine The Burlington Electric Department (BED) today launched innovative partnerships with CarShare Vermont and Greenride Bikeshare designed to encourage the Burlington community to join the transportation revolution and reduce greenhouse gas emissions through pairing of vehicle and bicycle options. Through these new partnerships, BED customers who purchase an electric vehicle (EV) with a BED incentive are eligible to receive a free Greenride Bikeshare membership.

Vermont Business Magazine Northern Power Systems Corp (TSX:NPS), a next generation renewable energy technology company, today announced that all nominees listed in the Information Circular and Proxy Statement of Northern Power, dated June 5, 2018, for the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders held June 27, 2018 in Barre, VT, were elected as directors of Northern Power.

Vermont Business Magazine TPW Real Estate Managing Broker, Alison Cummings, has been awarded the Realtor of the Year for the South Central VT Board of Realtors.

Alison Cummings is the Managing Broker for TPW Real Estate’s Stratton office and is the 2018 President of the Vermont Association of Realtors. Ali’s list of professional achievements and community involvement is extensive and impressive. She volunteers for the Habitat Resale store, is a Lister for the Town of Windham and the Town of Windham Zoning Administrator. She was the SCVBR President in 2016 and currently is the SCVBR Government Affairs Liaison.

Vermont Business Magazine Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), joined by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), introduced legislation today that would cut prescription drug costs for families by placing a monthly cap on their out-of-pocket drug costs. The Capping Prescription Drugs Act of 2018 comes as more than a quarter of Americans are struggling to afford their medicine.

Burlington area medical cannabis patients now have easier access to alternative pain relief with the opening of Champlain Valley Dispensary’s (CVD) first satellite location at 2 Green Tree Drive in South Burlington.

The new dispensary has ample parking and is patient comfort focused with nearly 3,000 square feet of retail space including three separate consultations stations.

“While our waterfront dispensary is uniquely positioned, we wanted to create easier access for our patients who live and work outside the downtown area, many of whom find travel to be challenging. This new South Burlington dispensary provides that and the feedback from our pa- tients confirms our decision,” said Shayne Lynn, CVD Chief Executive Officer.

by Jack Hoffman, Public Assets Institute It was a messy finish to a messy legislative session, but Vermonters can take some comfort that no permanent damage was done to the state education funding system. It’s disappointing that the governor insisted on another year of pretend budgeting—using one-time revenue again to artificially lower property tax rates. But, hey, worse ideas were floated this year, and it does buy the Legislature and the administration some time. The ploy will be worth it if they use the next six months to give Vermonters what they want: a school funding system that’s much easier to understand and one that’s based on their ability to pay—that is, their income.

Vermont Business Magazine The Agency of Natural Resources’ Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced today that Stephen McGranaghan, a former Vermont State Police Trooper, and Christina McGranaghan were fined $10,760 for burning a derelict structure and other junk materials on their property in Stannard.

On or about December 4, 2017, Stephen McGranaghan set fire to a derelict A-frame structure located on the property. On December 5, 2017, personnel with Vermont State Police Fire Investigation Unit and DEC’s Environmental Compliance Division conducted a joint site investigation and observed burnt vinyl siding, asphalt roofing, plywood, painted and treated wood, and several automobile tires in the remnants of the structure.

Vermont Business Magazine The parent company of Barre's Rock of Ages, Polycor Inc of Quebec, announced today the acquisition of four famous limestone quarries located in Burgundy, France, previously belonging to Rocamat. The French quarries have been used for centuries to build landmarks across Europe.

Vermont-based Swenson Granite and Rock of Ages are part of the Polycor family of brands. As a result of this acquisition, local Rock of Ages customers will now have access to this heritage French limestone along with the American granites.