Current News

Vermont Business Magazine On Thursday over 200 friends, family and community members, and community partners gathered at Trader Duke’s Hotel in South Burlington to celebrate Norwich University President Richard W Schneider as the Vermont Chamber of Commerce’s Citizen of the Year. Schneider was selected by the Vermont Chamber of Commerce for the Citizen of the Year Award for his extensive community leadership and continual devotion to the betterment of Vermont.

Norwich University President Richard W Schneider and Vermont Chamber of Commerce President Betsy Bishop. Courtesy photo.

by Timothy McQuiston Vermont Business Magazine Mount Snow, which was delayed last year in its efforts to expand using EB-5 foreign investor funds through the state's regional center, has received approval to open its own regional center. Peak Resorts, Inc (NASDAQ:SKIS), which owns several ski resorts in the Midwest and Northeast, of which Mount Snow is the largest, Thursday that United States Citizenship and Immigration Services has approved the Peak’s proposed Great North Regional Center, a new privately managed regional center, which will serve as Peak’s exclusive EB-5 investment sponsor for projects at its Northeast resorts. The approval is effective immediately.

by Timothy McQuiston Vermont Business MagazineThe Vermont unemployment rate was unchanged in October, but all the major indicators showed improvement, with even the Labor Force growing slightly. Privateemployment was up, while Government employment lost 1,200 jobs, almost entirely from State held positions.The Vermont Department of Labor announced today that the seasonally-adjusted statewide unemployment rate for October was 2.9 percent. This reflects no change from the revised September rate. The national rate in October was 4.1 percent. Overall, Vermont’s unemployment rate was tied for the sixth lowest in the country. New Hampshire was tied for third (2.7 percent); Hawaii was lowest (2.2 percent); and Alaska was highest (7.2 percent).As of the prior month’s preliminary data, the Burlington-South Burlington Metropolitan NECTA was tied for the 15th lowest unemployment rate in the country for all metropolitan areas.

Vermont Business MagazineNew England residents on ThursdayhitEversource Energy and Avangrid Incwith a class-action lawsuitstating that the two energy companies caused electricity consumers to incur overcharges of $3.6 billion in a years-long scheme that impacted six states and affected 14.7 million people, according to the lawsuit filed in federal court in Boston. The lawsuit, filed November14, 2017, in the USDistrict Court for the District of Massachusetts states that 7.1 million retail electricity customers and an overall population of 14.7 million people have been affected by Eversource and Avangrid’s “unique monopoly” spanning at least from 2013 to 2016. The scheme raised electric prices by at least 20 percent for those living in Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Rhode Island. The complaint alleges the scheme violates multiple federal and state competition laws and state consumer protection statutes.

by Ansley Bloomer,Assistant Director,Renewable Energy VermontA healthy working landscape is a crucial part of Vermont’s identity. With almost 80 percent of Vermont covered in forested land, wood markets provide a sustainable economic solution for rural Vermont communities. Stewardship of these natural resources is essential, so historically we have relied on low-grade wood markets to incentivize the tasks essential to maintaining forest health.

However, this past year we saw a significant loss of low-grade wood jobs. The overall decline is due factors such as the loss of paper mills, warmer winters uncharacteristic of Vermont, as well as lower fossil fuel prices, all of which has sent shivers through the whole low-grade wood market value chain, spanning loggers, pellet mill workers, delivery truckers, and wood boiler installers.

Vermont Business MagazinePatrick FJordan III has been named Chief Operating Officer (COO)for the Dartmouth-Hitchcock health system. Jordan, who previously served as COO for theat Lahey Hospital & Medical Center in Burlington, MA, was appointed to the position by Dartmouth-Hitchcock CEO and President Dr. Joanne M. Conroy. He begins his new role at Dartmouth-Hitchcock onNovember 20.

Vermont Business Magazine Commissioner of Public Safety Thomas D Anderson and Vermont State Police Colonel Matthew Birmingham issue the following joint statement with regard to the Department of Justice’s notification to the Department of Public Safety of non-compliance with federal immigration law:

"Yesterday, the United States Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs (DOJ) notified the Department of Public Safety (DPS) that it was not in compliance with federal immigration law, specifically 8 U.S.C. § 1373. The letter also notified DPS that because of this non-compliance it risked losing its FY2016 Byrne JAG grant and that its FY2017 Byrne JAG grant request was also in jeopardy.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Attorney General TJDonovan and State Treasurer Beth Pearce are warning citizens about phone solicitations and websites that falsely claim citizens must pay a fee to locate and retrieve unclaimed property. Vermont citizens are advised to search the State’s free unclaimed property database before accepting services from other entities. In recent days, several Vermont residents have reported that for-profit enterprises have contacted them by phone, letter or email offering unclaimed property search services for an upfront fee. “Unclaimed property” describes assets like uncashed checks, lost valuables, forgotten security deposits, misplaced insurance policies, investments or estates.

Vermont Business Magazine US Senator Bernie Sanders: "It is disappointing, but not surprising, that the House Republicans just voted to give the Koch brothers and other billionaire campaign contributors a massive tax break. Under the House bill, the top 1 percent would get half of the tax benefits, while nearly half of middle class families would see their taxes go up. As bad as the House bill is, the Senate tax plan is even worse..."

Vermont Business Magazine US Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) will hold a student town meeting at Burlington High School to discuss the opioid crisis in Vermont and throughout the United States. The meeting will be held Friday at 1 pm. Sanders will be joined by a panel including Dr Heather Stein, associate medical director at the Community Health Centers of Burlington, and Vermont Attorney General TJ Donovan. Following the panel discussion, there will be a question and answer session with the students.

Last year, more than 60,000 people died from opioid overdoses in the United States, including 112 in Vermont. Additionally, according to the Vermont Department of Health, Narcan was used on more than 2,200 Vermonters last year to reverse the effects of an overdose.

Vermont Business Magazine When Mother Nature hands out cold weather, Vermonters make snow with it, and November’s chilly temperatures coupled with the Green Mountain State’s world class snowmaking power allowed for Vermont’s resorts to open early and open strong for the 2017-18 season. Killington Resort stayed true to their legacy by being the first Eastern resort to open on November 8 and Mount Snow Resort took home a new accolade by opening on November 11 with the most open terrain East of the Rockies with 108 acres. Okemo Mountain Resort also began spinning their lifts on November 11. “This was our earliest opening in five years,” said Okemo Vice President and General Manager Bruce Schmidt. Come Thanksgiving weekend, skiers and snowboarders will have access to over half of Vermont’s mountains, with most major resorts opening by Friday, November 24.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets have announced that three Vermont dairy farms have achieved full certification in a national program aimed at ensuring food safety and responsible medication use. In June 2017, the Agency launched a funding initiative to help offset the cost of dairy farm certification in the Food Armor HACCP for Proper Drug Use program. To become Food Armor certified, Gervais Family Farm, Inc., Duhamel Farms, and Dalestead Farm and Maple, LLC., partnered with local Food Armor Accredited veterinarians to develop Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) plans that meet the stringent requirements of the program. By becoming certified, these Vermont farms have gone above and beyond to show their commitment to responsible on-farm use of veterinary medications, food safety and livestock well-being.