Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont’s Killington Resort, the largest mountain resort in Eastern North America and a POWDR company, today announced the return of Killington Divas of Dirt, an initiative led by Pro Downhill/Enduro Racer Amy Alton and the Killington Bike Park, to foster the community of passionate female mountain bikers.

Vermont Business Magazine After fewer than six months of negotiations, Community College of Vermont and the College’s newly formed faculty union have signed their first contract. In October, CCV’s part-time faculty voted in favor of representation by the American Federation of Teachers union. Contract negotiations with CCV administration began in January, and the two parties reached a tentative agreement on June 11th.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) today condemned the US Supreme Court’s 5 to 4 decision upholding President Trump’s travel ban. SCOTUS majority ruled Tuesday that the president's ban was within executive authority, while the minority issued a scathing rebuke of their colleagues.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Manufacturing Extension Center (VMEC) has announced that Patricia Moulton, President of Vermont Technical College (www.vtc.edu) and a member of the VMEC Advisory Board since 2014, has been appointed to a 3-year term as a member of the national Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Advisory Board. Following a thorough selection process, Dr. Walter Copan, Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), made Pat’s MEP Advisory Board member appointment, effective June 12, 2018.

by Timothy McQuiston Vermont Business Magazine The United Nurses and Allied Professionals Union members at the Brattleboro Retreat are beginning a series of public protests with an "informational picket" on Tuesday afternoon on The Brattleboro Common. The Common overlooks the Retreat. The Retreat is a private, mental health and treatment facility. Union members said they overwhelmingly voted at meetings last Friday to begin a series of pickets following administrative policy changes.

Vermont Business Magazine Champlain Housing Trust (CHT) announced today a three-year $240,000 commitment from KeyBank Foundation to support the organization’s goal of eliminating chronic homelessness in Chittenden County. The grant will be used by CHT to hire a social worker to help homeless individuals and families attain access to permanent housing, as well as provide ongoing support and services to help them retain housing.

“KeyBank’s recognition that this bold goal is achievable demonstrates what a committed community partner they are,” said Brenda Torpy, CEO of the Champlain Housing Trust. “In collaboration with many partners, we’ve made tremendous progress over the past few years. With this infusion of funds we will eliminate chronic homelessness in Chittenden County.”

Vermont Business Magazine In an email sent late Monday night, a frustrated Governor Phil Scott issued a statement announcing that he would let a third budget attempt become law without his signature. He said Democratic leadership ultimately reneged on a compromise over property taxes negotiated last Friday. Despite that, he said the state needed to avoid a government shut down, which would have occurred on July 1 without a budget deal. Democratic leadership, meanwhile, itself frustrated by the process, said in its own statement early Tuesday that it had offered several compromises and moved farther than the governor to find a solution. Both statements are below.

Governor Scott Statement

Vermont Business Magazine Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) is pleased to announce that Mack Molding, the privately-owned business of Don Kendall and his family, has donated $5 million for the emergency department expansion and renovation project at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center. "The Kendall Emergency Department" will be unveiled at a ribbon-cutting event once the future project is approved by the state and construction is completed. The gift constitutes the largest in the health system’s history since Henry W. Putnam, Sr. bequeathed the Bennington public water system for the construction of this community hospital over 100 years ago.

"Mack Molding is pleased and honored to be able to give something back to the people of Bennington County, who have been so good to our company for over 85 years. After all, what could be more important than a modern emergency department," commented Don Kendall.

Vermont Business Magazine The House of Representatives last Friday approved a bipartisan package of opioid bills, including three bills co-authored by Representative Peter Welch (D-Vermont). While supporting the package, Welch decried the lack of a more comprehensive approach to combating the opioid public health epidemic ravaging communities in Vermont and across the country.

Vermont Business Magazine Strolling of the Heifers and Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation are now accepting applications from entrepreneurs for the 2018 FreshTracks Road Pitch. The Road Pitch will take place at the River Garden on Wednesday, August 1 at 3 pm. The Road Pitch, a gang of motorcycling business investors and advisors, is stopping in Brattleboro on the afternoon of August 1 to hear funding pitches from local businesses that are ready to scale up.

Brattleboro area entrepreneurs interested in pitching to the motorcyclists should apply at www.strollingoftheheifers.com/roadpitch.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) announced that the “minibus” appropriations bill that passed the Senate Monday by a 86-5 vote includes a Sanders-authored amendment to provide $4 million in federal funding to continue operations of the Vermont Regional Test Center (RTC) dedicated to researching solar technologies. The Vermont RTC, located on land owned by GlobalFoundaries in Williston, is one of five U.S. Department of Energy facilities in the United States that give solar technology manufacturers the opportunity to test and validate the performance and reliability of their products in real-world conditions.

The Trump administration has proposed eliminating funding for the RTCs for the past two years. Sanders’ amendment, however, provides more than $4 million to ensure the ongoing operation of the RTCs. Sens. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) cosponsored Sanders’ amendment.

Leonine Public Affairs Late last Friday, the House passed the Senate’s version of H16, but not before amending it at the behest of House Appropriation Chair Kitty Toll, D-Danville. Under Rep. Toll’s amendment the property tax rates established by the Senate for FY2019 are unchanged. However, she proposed language providing that unless the General Assembly acts otherwise, the residential rate will remain the same as in the previous fiscal year. In addition her amendment tinkered with the allocation of some of the one-time monies, but did not apply any more of that money to education property rates in FY2020. House Minority Leader Don Turner vowed a revote on the bill on Monday, an action that would be allowable because he voted in favor of the bill. He said he would call for a revote on the grounds that the changes voted on late Friday night were unclear. This sentiment highlights the frustration House Republicans were feeling after the tentative budget deal fell through. Will there be a revote? Will the Senate accept changes made by the House? Will negotiations continue with the governor? Time is running short to avert a shutdown of state government on July 1. The saga continues into week six.