Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Green Building Network’s (VGBN) sixth annual Vermont’s Greenest Building Awards Competition is now open for submissions. This statewide competition recognizes residential and commercial buildings that meet the highest standard of demonstrated building energy performance. 2017 awards will be judged on an expanded definition of “green” building, including the consideration of energy, water, health, transportation, size of residence and affordability.

The awards were designed to recognize buildings that have achieved high levels of energy performance and environmentally beneficial design, construction and operations. These buildings set a new standard for environmentally responsible building in Vermont, raising awareness of the achievements being made in the State’s leading buildings.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Labor announced today that the seasonally-adjusted statewide unemployment rate for December was 2.8 percent. This reflects a decline of one-tenth of one percentage point from the revised November rate. The national rate in December was 4.1 percent. As of the prior month’s preliminary data, the Burlington-South Burlington Metropolitan NECTA was tied for the ninth lowest unemployment rate in the country for all metropolitan areas. Overall, Vermont’s unemployment rate was tied for the fifth lowest in the country for the same time period.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott was joined by his Vermont Outdoor Recreation Economic Collaborative Steering Committee (VOREC), Thursday, to present the group’s first report, which recommends strategies to strengthen and expand Vermont’s outdoor recreation economy.

The first report to Gov. Scott follows months of public meetings and comments, and incorporates input from hundreds of Vermonters across the state.

Vermont Business Magazine Business, municipal, and environmental leaders came together today to express shared support for long-term clean water funding via a parcel fee, and the establishment of a Clean Water Authority to collect and distribute those funds to on-the-ground clean water projects.

In a letter to the legislature, the groups voiced their strong support for core provisions in two water quality funding bills introduced this session (S.260 and H.564), which call for the establishment of long-term funding for water quality improvements by creating a Clean Water Authority. However, they called on lawmakers to make critical amendments to both bills to require revenue collection by the Authority itself, rather than through Vermont’s local governments or a State agency.

Vermont Business Magazine ReSOURCE, a multi-faceted organization that creates a marketplace for reuse with proceeds funding new opportunities to the under-skilled and long-term unemployed and providing poverty relief, is pleased to announce its home base is moving from its long-time 266 Pine Street location to a larger facility in Williston’s Taft Corners. The more than 37,000 square foot space at 329 Harvest Lane allows ReSOURCE to secure its own sustainability by housing its reuse store, administrative offices, workforce development programs, and appliance repair and computer departments, under one roof.

Vermont Business Magazine The Kingdom Games, a series of competitive athletic events for all ages and skill levels, returns starting Feb. 10 to Newport, Vermont. The event marks the fifth consecutive year for the Games, which take place on the ice and in the water of beautiful Lake Memphremagog.

by Darren Springer, COO BED Despite federal rollbacks on climate policy, we still have a path toward impactful climate action. Through the transformation of a 19^th Century industry – the electric utility sector – into a 21^st Century catalyst for beneficial change, we can make a meaningful impact on the fight against global climate change. In a forthcoming article in the William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review, I outline how smartly-regulated utilities, coupled with innovative technologies, can move us more quickly toward our climate goals.

Vermont Business Magazine The House today gave preliminary approval on a vote of 142-1 to the fiscal year 2018 budget adjustment, House bill 633. The bill was approved unanimously by the House Appropriations Committee earlier in the week and is expected to receive final approval by the House tomorrow. The annual budget adjustment process makes midpoint updates to the current operating budget of the state to meet unexpected needs and keep the budget in balance.

Vermont Business Magazine Ninety-one Americans die daily from an opioid overdose per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”); 40 percent of those deaths involve a prescription opioid. As we are all painfully aware, Vermont is a part of this statistic. In 2016, 112 opioid-related deaths occurred in the State of Vermont, with 106 being reported as accidental and undetermined. In 2014, then Governor Peter Shumlin focused his annual State of the State address on the opioid crisis in Vermont, referring to the problem as a “full-blown heroin crisis.” Four years later the fight continues.

Senator Patrick Leahy Democrats have been ready and willing to negotiate a spending agreement since June. The House bill does not address the needs of our military, our veterans, or the opioid epidemic, and it does not protect the DREAMers. Instead of working on these important matters, congressional Republican leadership spent the last year overturning consumer protections, stripping health care from millions of Americans, and passing a massive tax cut for big corporations and wealthy Americans to be paid for by middleclass Americans and future generations. During that time, they have continued to kick the can down the road and failed to do their jobs to pass sensible spending bills to keep our government open. They have cast aside Congress’s fundamental responsibilities in pursuit of a hyper-partisan agenda.

Vermont Business Magazine In a new study, SmartAsset analyzed data across four metrics to find the states that are most dependent on the federal government, and Vermont ranks in the number five spot. Vermont ranks high in terms of federal funding compared to income taxes paid. For every dollar Vermont sends to the federal government the state gets back $1.14. In that metric, the Green Mountain State ranks sixth. Federal government employees are also big producers in the state’s economy. According to SmartAsset data, the average federal government employee makes 1.89 times what the average worker earns. Vermont ranks eighth in that metric. Vermont's lowest ranking is in percentage of federal workers in the labor force (tied for 33rd). Vermont ranked 18th in percentage of federal share of state revenue.

​Vermont Business Magazine Conscious Capitalism Media (CCM), a global company focused on celebrating inspiring, cutting edge stories about business as a force for good, has named Green Mountain Power president and CEO Mary Powell to its 2018 list of 30 World-Changing Women in Conscious Business. In her write-up about Powell, CCM’s editorial director, Rachel Zurer, relayed how since Powell took the helm at Green Mountain Power (GMP) in 2008, she has continued to break barriers and shake up assumptions about what a utility can be.