Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation (FPR) and the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets (VAAFM) announced today that the emerald ash borer (EAB) has been detected in two additional Vermont counties. Samples were collected in Washington County and Caledonia County on March 16 during a survey for the insect. Samples collected from three Vermont counties have now been confirmed to be emerald ash borer by USDA taxonomists. It was first found in Orange County in February.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Senate has voted to enact another study on how to fund clean water (S260). A coalition of municipal, business, and environmental groups are calling on the Vermont House of Representatives to take concrete steps toward meeting our state’s commitment to putting long-term funding for water quality in place.

Vermont Business Magazine The Town of Hartford commissioned two rooftop solar projects on Town buildings in February 2018 in order to see long-term savings and energy price stability. Norwich Solar Technologies of White River Junction installed a 98-kilowatt DC, net-metered solar photovoltaic (PV) system on the rooftop of the town’s Wastewater Treatment Plant as well as a 37-kilowatt DC system on the Public Works building.

Anticipated production for the Wastewater Treatment Plant system is 101,300 kWh in year one, with approximately $7,000 in first-year energy savings. The Public Works Building system is expected to produce 46,340 kWh in the first year. Additionally, the system owner will pay property taxes on the arrays, providing the town additional revenue over the life of the system.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont House approved a $5.8 billion fiscal year 2019 state budget (H.924) Friday night on a vote of 122-10. The budget makes critical investments to assist and protect vulnerable Vermonters, places significant funds in the state rainy day fund, and makes investments that will save the state tens of millions of dollars in future years.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott will address attendees at the Annual Governor’s Luncheon, hosted by the Springfield Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Springfield Rotary Club. Gov. Scott will discuss his priorities for the second half of the legislative session, and his Administration’s economic and affordability initiatives.

(Please note registration for this event is limited. Visit http://www.springfieldvt.com/ for more information)

WHEN: Monday, March 26, 2018

12:00 p.m.

WHERE: The Hartness House Inn, 30 Orchard St., Springfield, VT 05156

Leonine Public Affairs It is common for the debate over the budget to last hours and run late into the night. This year however, any observer who stepped away for a minute might have missed the introduction, debate and vote entirely. Ok, you would have had to step away for a little longer than one minute but regardless it's clear there is tripartisan support for the budget this year.

by Rob Roper The vote fraud case in Victory, Vermont, concluded with eleven “voters” being removed from the town checklist. For this small, Vermont community it meant a full 13 percent of registered voters were illegitimate, and these illegitimate votes were more than enough to alter the outcomes of elections. What’s truly alarming about this case is that the root problem had more to do with election officials – either stubbornly ignorant or flat out corrupt — than with the non-resident voters.

It’s hard to blame the out-of-towners who were told repeatedly and defended by those in charge that what they were doing was okay. As Judge Thomas Devine stated in his decision, “… this is a situation where the facts as found by the BCA do not support the legal conclusion of residency.” In other words, the election officials did not understand the law, and, as a result, allowed many people to vote illegally.

Vermont Business Magazine Howard Center’s Street Outreach program was recently honored with the Community Heroes Award at the Queen City Police Foundation and Burlington Rotary Annual Luncheon. In presenting the award, Queen City Police Foundation board member Becky Cassidy said the award celebrated “the remarkable commitment of Howard Center and the Street Outreach Team to making our community a better place to live for every human being, whatever their situation.” She described the team’s work in the downtown area by saying, “On the coldest and hottest of days, literally and figuratively, the team shows up on the Marketplace and in our downtown to effect positive change. I could not be more grateful.”

Vermont Business Magazine The Rutland law firm of Facey Goss & McPhee PC have announced that Christopher W Blanchard and Heather Z Cooper have become shareholders in the firm as of January 2018.

Public Assets Institute Four states, including California and Maine, saw their lowest unemployment rates on record last month. Vermont’s rate dropped to 2.8 percent—not quite a record, but close; in February and March 2000 Vermont’s rate hit 2.6 percent. California’s new record low was 4.3 percent; Maine’s fell to 2.9 percent. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics unemployment data go back to 1976.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Governor Phil Scott and the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing announced today the Stay-to-Stay initiative, a new economic development tourism program designed to convince visitors to relocate to Vermont. A Stay-to-Stay Weekend, which will target southern Vermont initially, will begin with a Friday evening reception hosted by a local chamber or young professional’s network, followed by the opportunity to explore the region and its many attractions throughout the weekend. On Monday, guests will meet with employers who are hiring, take a tour with a real estate agent, or visit an incubator/co-working space to meet with entrepreneurs and professionals in pre-arranged excursions to learn about living and working in Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine Weekly unemployment claims last week rose nearly as much as they fell the prior week, but levels remain below the same time last year. For the week of March 17, 2018, there were 738 claims, 296 more than than they were the previous week, but 153 fewer than they were a year ago. Altogether 6,088 new and continuing claims were filed, a decrease of 16 from a week ago and 852 fewer than a year ago. For most weeks of 2017 and into 2018 claims have been below the year before. This likely represents layoffs associated with the near-end, though still-lingering, ski season.