Current News

Vermont Business Magazine With summer just around the corner, Vermonters are gearing up to mix their passions for physical fitness and philanthropy at the 2018 Point to Point, powered by VSECU. The cycling and running event was created in 2002 to raise funds and awareness for the Vermont Foodbank’s mission to end the growing problem of hunger in Vermont. One in four Vermonters are not sure where their next meal is coming from and, according to the Vermont Foodbank, the majority of those people are Vermont’s most vulnerable residents: children and seniors.

VSECU is adopting the leadership role of the Point to Point, previously held by the event’s founder Harpoon, because one of the credit union’s goals is helping to meet the essential needs of Vermonters; when these are met it empowers people to become greater participants in their communities.

Vermont Business Magazine The announcement by the White House earlier today that the US would levy steal and aluminum tariffs against several countries was greeted by Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy as a move that would "amount to a stiff tax on Americans and hobble US producers and workers throughout the American economy.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General Thomas J Donovan announced today that four men were arrested during the week of April 17^th for possession/promotion of child pornography. The arrests were made as result of Operation Peer Review. Operation Peer Review, which was conducted by Vermont’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (VT-ICAC), involved undercover investigations of peer-to-peer networks. Peer-to-peer networks utilize file sharing software to share electronic files with others anywhere in the world. These networks are sometimes exploited by child predators to obtain and share files depicting child pornography.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today submitted to the Secretary of State the petitions required to seek reelection. Today, May 31, was the final day in which to file election papers for the major party primaries to be held August 14.

Vermont Business Magazine Burlington Code Academy and Northview Weather won the LaunchVT Final Pitch Competition on Thursday, May 17. The startups competed against six other teams to take home the top cash prizes.

LaunchVT provides early stage acceleration programs and resources for business to prep, launch, and soar in Vermont. The annual pitch competition comes at the end of a six-week intensive program where entrepreneurs in the LaunchVT cohort work with a dedicated coach, strategic advisors, and each other to refine their business models and hone their pitches.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today signed Executive Order 04-18, to promote racial, ethnic and cultural diversity, equity and equality in state government. The Executive Order seeks to achieve the goals of a bill passed by the Legislature (S281), which the governor said he had to veto due to an unconstitutional provision in the bill, as passed. The provision he refers to concerns separation of powers involves and how an executive branch official can be removed from office.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Fish &Wildlife Department says deer fawns are being born this time of year and asks that people avoid disturbing or picking them up. Most deer fawns are born in late May and the first and second weeks of June, according to Vermont deer biologist Nick Fortin. Fortin says it is best to keep your distance because the fawn’s mother is almost always nearby. When people see a small fawn alone, they often mistakenly assume it is helpless, lost or needing to be rescued.

Vermont Business Magazine In a strategic move to improve air quality and decrease transportation sector emissions, the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, in partnership with an interagency working group, has released the plan for how the state will use the funds received from the Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust. The plan includes a strong focus on advancing electric vehicle technologies in Vermont and will help Vermonters transition to low and zero-emission vehicles. One of the most innovative elements of the plan is an electric school and transit bus pilot program.

Blue Bird electric Type D school bus on road show in California earlier this year. Courtesy photo.

Vermont Business Magazine Green Mountain Power and VSECU are teaming up to offer GMP customers access to VSECU’s VGreen loans, with interest rates as low as 4.9 percent. The financing option will help more Vermonters transform and switch to hyper-efficient heating and cooling systems that can save energy and reduce a home’s carbon footprint.

Vermont Business Magazine The House this afternoon failed to get a vote on a re-worked Governor Scott's veto of the budget, despite stripping out what the Democratic leadership called all areas of contention regarding funds for public education. As VPR reported yesterday, Speaker Mitzi Johnson and Senate President Pro Tem Tim Ashe amended the budget, which passed the Appropriations Committee without dissent. However, needing 101 to suspend rules in the House to allow a vote on the re-worked budget, Johnson could muster only 82 votes to 52 against. If Republicans hold together they hold enough votes to prevent a two-thirds majority to suspend rules or succeed in an override. The governor wants to use $60 million in surplus funds to offset any need to raise the property tax, while Democrats maintain that using one-time money for an ongoing expenditure is bad policy and misuse of those funds.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott and Senator Patrick Leahy were joined by local, regional, and state partners to celebrate the ground breaking of LEDdynamics’ new home. The new 27,600-square-foot facility will allow the rapidly growing Randolph-based manufacturer of Light Emitting Diode (LED) products to double its workforce. The governor and senator announced nearly $1.5 million in state and federal assistance to support the project, the largest being a $1 million Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to the Town of Randolph. The federal grant will help Green Mountain Economic Development Corporation (GMEDC) purchase the Beanville Road property and build the new facility, which will be leased by LEDdynamics when finished in Spring 2019.

Vermont Business Magazine The Northern Vermont University-Lyndon coworking initiative in downtown Lyndonville is moving forward to stimulate the local economy with the support of a $125,000 gift over five years from NorthCountry Federal Credit Union. NorthCountry CEO Bob Morgan will present NVU President Elaine Collins with a check at an event 3-4 p.m. Thursday at the former Bag Balm building at 320 Broad St. in Lyndonville, where the coworking space will be located. The event is open to the public.