Current News

Vermont Business MagazineGreen Mountain Power announced this week that its energy transformation work with customers in 2017 have reduced carbon consumption by over 116,000 metric tons — the equivalent of taking almost 1,000 gasoline-powered cars off the road.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General TJDonovan announced today that his office has reached asettlementwith Dean Corren in a campaign finance enforcement action arising out of Corren’s 2014 campaign for lieutenant governor. The parties filed a stipulation of dismissal with the Superior Court today. By the terms of the settlement, Corren will pay $255 to a Vermont charitable organization. Trial had been set for December 7, 2017, in Vermont Superior Court in Washington County.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Health, in partnership with the Agencies of Education and Natural Resources, is launching a pilot project designed to encourage schools to test drinking water for lead at each tap used for drinking or cooking, and take actions to lower lead levels. Sixteen schools that get their drinking water from municipal water systems were invited to take part in this voluntary effort, and all agreed to participate. Over the next few months, Health Department and Department of Environmental Conservation staff will visit each school and work with its facility team to inventory and test taps used for drinking and cooking. Water samples will be sent to the Health Department Laboratory for testing, at no cost to the school.

Vermont Business Magazine The Council of Development Finance Agencies (CDFA) is proud to announce the recipient of the 2017 CDFA Lifetime Achievement Award. This year’s recipient is Jo Bradley, Chief Executive Officer at the Vermont Economic Development Authority. She was presented the award during a special ceremony at the 2017 National Development Finance Summit in Atlanta, GA, on November 16.

Vermont Business Magazine On Thursday, November 16th, representatives from NewEngland Federal Credit Union (NEFCU) presented a symbolic “big check”for $20,000 to Burlington’s Committee on Temporary Shelter (COTS). Onhand at COTS to make the surprise presentation were NEFCU’s SeniorVice President and CFO Susan Leonard, Senior Marketing Executive CindyMorgan, Mortgage ManagerGreg Hahr, Sales Manager Pat Weaver, andSecondary Market Analyst Abbie Jefferis.

COTS Executive Director Rita Markley, who accepted the donation, said,“New England Federal Credit Union’s support makes it possible for COTSto provide families and individuals facing the crisis of homelessnessthis winter with shelter, services, housing, and homelessnessprevention. We are extremely grateful for NEFCU’s longtime, ongoingcommitment.”

Vermont Business Magazine Compassion & Choices is praising the Vermont Medical Society for dropping its 14-year opposition to doctors writing prescriptions for terminally ill adults who requestmedication to end unbearable suffering and die peacefully. The society posted a resolution recognizing medical aid in dying as a legal option that could be made within the doctor-patient relationship at its annual meeting earlier this month, 4-1/2 years after the state authorized medical aid in dying inMay 2013by passing thePatient Choice at End of Life Act (Act 39).

by John McClaughry Here’s an interesting insight into the arcane world of global renewable energy politics, based on the October 30 column inForbesby widely-read energy blogger Rod Adams.Last week the annual “Conference of Parties” (COP23), the consultative body for the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change, convened in Bonn, Germany. For the past eight years a business-oriented Sustainable Innovation Forum (SIF) has been held alongside the COP, cosponsored by the U.S.-led advocacy group Climate Action and the UN Environment Program (UNEP).

This year the Forum accepted the World Nuclear Association as a Gold Sponsor. But then UNEP demanded that the Forum reject any participation by the nuclear trade association. Its spokesman said “we prioritise the renewables revolution, such as wind and solar energy…Our work on the nuclear sector is limited.”

It’s limited all right – to zero.

Vermont Business Magazine Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) on Monday itemized what he called several key victories in the face of White House headwinds for programs that support Lake Champlain, conservation initiatives, and historic downtowns across Vermont. The programs were funded through the Appropriations Committee bill on the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies, for Fiscal Year 2018, which was released on Monday afternoon. The bill will now be negotiated to reconcile differences between the Senate and House bills prior to being considered by the full Senate.

Vermont Business Magazine The US Environmental Protection Agency has awarded $4,395,000 in Lake Champlain restoration funding to help address outbreaks of harmful algal blooms and the spread of invasive species in Lake Champlain. The vast majority of funding will go to the Lake Champlain Basin Program, which includes Vermont, New York and Quebec. Vermont itself will also get $525,978; New York will get $365,000. With a record-setting heat wave hitting the region in September, cyanobacteria blooms arose along many shoreline locations and public beaches in Lake Champlain and surrounding waterbodies. Cyanobacteria are a concern because they sometimes release toxins that can make people and pets sick.

Vermont Business MagazineToday the Senate Appropriations Committee made public the Chairman’s Mark of the fiscal year 2018 Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) Appropriations Bill. The bill provides a total of $21.035 billion, including $159 million in disaster funds. This funding level is $480 million less than the fiscal year 2017 enacted level and nearly $2 billion less than the fiscal year 2018 President’s request. Also Monday, the Committee made public the Chairman’s Mark for the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Fiscal Year 2018 Appropriations Bill. The Senate bill recommends $32.536 billion in discretionary funding for agencies funded by the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies bill, which includes $32.030 billion in discretionary funds and $507 million in emergency funds to pay for wildland firefighting needs.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) on Monday announced that five rural Vermont law enforcement agencies will receive a total of nearly $600,000 to help hire new officers through the Department of Justice COPS Hiring Program. The program covers a large portion of the costs that communities face when adding officers to their ranks, thereby supporting the goals of community policing.

“These funds are critical to small law enforcement agencies that would otherwise find it too costly to bring a new officer on board,” said Leahy, a longtime champion of the program who continues to support its funding through his role as Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “With the increase in opioid abuse and its inherent problems, our law enforcement agencies and officers are stretched to their limits. This is the type of federal spending that just makes common sense.”

Vermont Business MagazineTheVermont Manufacturing Extension Center has released a months-in-the-making video project, which includes success stories, workforce development assistance, and innovation opportunities, among several other resources to help Vermont manufacturers grow and thrive.