Current News

by Jack Hoffman Public Assets Institute The Legislature is again considering using the property tax as a deterrent against high spending in Vermont schools. Currently, school tax rates go up proportionally with per-pupil spending increases. The bill recently passed by the House would change the education funding system so that tax rates would rise faster than spending increases as a disincentive to higher spending.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott will speak May 19 at Johnson State College’s 151st commencement, at which about 310 associate’s, bachelor’s and master’s degrees are expected to be conferred. The 11 am ceremony will be on the college’s South Lawn. Tent seating for the ticketed ceremony will be reserved for graduating students, their guests, and those involved in the commencement. Other guests may watch the ceremony from the lawn, as it is simulcast at the Dibden Center for the Arts on campus, or online at jsc.edu. Gates will open at 9 am, and parking will be on a first-come, first-served basis.

Vermont Business Magazine Ledyard Financial Group, Inc (ticker symbol LFGP), the holding company for Ledyard National Bank, today reported record quarterly earnings for the first quarter of 2018. Net income for the quarter ended March 31, 2018, was $1,207,304 or $0.39 per share compared to $1,006,669 or $0.33 per share for the same period in 2017, an increase of $200,635. The strength of the company’s core businesses combined with a lower federal tax rate due to the adoption of tax reform are the primary contributing factors to the improvement in operating results and returns to shareholders. Ledyard is based in Hanover with an office in Norwich.

​Vermont Business Magazine Vermont PBS has announced it has been nominated for five New England Emmy Awards, the most nominated broadcast station in Vermont this year. The New England Emmys are awarded for excellence in original video content.

Vermont Business Magazine Nine student finalists representing high schools from Arizona, Hawaii, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nebraska, North Dakota, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, and Vermont match their skills in reciting classic and contemporary poetry in a contest for the title of 2018 Poetry Out Loud National Champion and a $20,000 award.Poetry Out Loud is a national initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Poetry Foundation and the state arts agencies.

Vermont Business Magazine Conservation Law Foundation released its Lake Champlain Report Card Tuesday, giving the State of Vermont a D+ for its ongoing clean-up efforts. The report card comes after the EPA gave Vermont a provisional pass for its work on the lake. According to the CLF, the near-failing grade is the result of a consistent pattern of missed deadlines, weak treatment standards and a lack of investment in clean-up programs. CLF is pushing legislation that would commit to long-term funding for clean water (Bill S.260).

Vermont Business Magazine Champlain College Online, one of the nation’s most innovative nonprofit colleges, today announced that athenahealth, a leading provider of network-enabled services for hospital and ambulatory clients nationwide, has joined Champlain’s truED Alliance Program. Based on this partnership, athenahealth’s team of more than 4,000 US-based staff members will have affordable access to over 60 degree and certificate programs offered by the regionally accredited online college, allowing them to advance their knowledge and skill sets, and ultimately fulfill the company’s mission of delivering better healthcare for all.

Vermont Business Magazine Four times each year, New England Federal Credit Union (NEFCU) selects four recipient organizations at random to receive $625 each, for a total of $10,000 annually.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont House today gave unanimous approval to S.85, a bill that simplifies government for small businesses. The bill proposes to direct the Secretary of State and government partners to design a system to simplify interactions with small businesses and Vermonters starting new businesses.

​Vermont Business Magazine National Life Group opened a new on-site health center on Tuesday, becoming one of the first companies in Vermont to open a full-service health care facility for its employees. “At National Life, we care about our employees and their well being, not only when they’re sick, but when they’re healthy and trying to stay that way,” said Mehran Assadi, Chairman, CEO and President of National Life.

by Mark Crow, President, Tenth Crow Creative Relatively recently, I learned that the state of Vermont (so, we taxpayers) is incurring vast and ever increasing amounts of liability for obligations the state undertook to fund retirement plans for teachers and state workers; plans that include pension and retirement healthcare benefits. As of June 30, 2017, the state owes approximately $4.5 billion to these plans, which is an increase of $900 million from just the previous fiscal year. That’s approximately $18,750 per Vermont household (based on 240,000 households). And, for a variety of complicated reasons, based on the structure of the plans, this amount will only continue to increase.

Vermont Business Magazine The Weather Channel meteorologist and Lyndon State College graduate Jim Cantore will speak May 20 at the college’s 106th commencement, at which about 265 associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees are expected to be conferred. The 11 am ceremony will be held on the college’s soccer field. The event is free and open to the public, with seating on a first-come, first-served basis. Atmospheric Sciences major G. Mitchell Most of the Class of 2018 also will speak. After the ceremony, the public is invited to a coffee and dessert social at Stannard Gymnasium.

Cantore received a Lyndon State Distinguished Alumni Award in 1999 and was inducted as an inaugural member into the Vermont State Colleges Hall of Fame in 2016.