Current News

Vermont Business MagazineOn Monday, the Bennington Superior Court granted the State of Vermont’s motion to enter the Consent Order between the state and Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corporation. The Consent Order memorializes the settlement agreement between the state and Saint-Gobain for PFOA contamination in western portions of Bennington and North Bennington. Under the settlement, Saint-Gobain will fund municipal water line extensions costing an estimated $20 million and conduct an expedited investigation in the eastern portion of the Bennington site.

Vermont Business MagazineAt a signing ceremonyWednesday, Governor Phil Scott proclaimed October as Employee Ownership Month in Vermont. The proclamation recognizes the value of employee ownership to Vermont’s economy and in creating opportunities for Vermont workers.

Vermont Business Magazine Norwich University’s Career and Internship Center has received $15,000 in grant funding from the Vermont Department of Labor to support student internships by providing partial reimbursements for gas mileage. The funding will support about 50 students with up to $800 in mileage reimbursement during the calendar year of 2018. Students qualify by applying to the Career and Internship Center. Eligible students are reimbursed at rate of $.535/mile.

by Paul Cillo, Public Assets Institute Since July, the Minimum Wage Study Committee has spent a lot of time discussing the possible effects of raising the minimum wage. Their time might be better spent discussing the effects of not raising it. In our 2016 State of Working Vermont report, Public Assets found that nearly 20,000 working families with children were not earning enough to meet their basic needs, including two-thirds of single parents. Even in families with two working adults more than a third were struggling to make ends meet.

VERMONTBIZ.COM Vermont Business Magazine is proud to announce the winners of its Rising Stars recognition award. The list is comprised of 40 winners under the age of 40. Award recipients were selected by a panel of judges for their commitment to business growth, professional excellence and involvement in their communities.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) has awarded nearly $6 million in federal and state grant funds to assist municipalities in their mitigation efforts through the Municipal Highway and Stormwater Mitigation Program. The program will fund 18 projects throughout the state and will help with a range of transportation issues that affect water quality, including scoping for phosphorous control plans, the purchase of high-efficiency sewer equipment, and the scoping, design, and/or construction of culverts, salt sheds, drainage systems, and other stormwater management practices. Combined with local funds, these projects are valued at over $7.3 million.

Vermont Business Magazine Michael S Pieciak, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation, was named president-elect of the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) last week at the NASAA annual conference in Seattle. Pieciak will serve as president-elect for one year and begin his term as president in September 2018. NASAA is the oldest international organization dedicated to investor protection. Organized in 1919, its membership includes all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Canada and Mexico. Pieciak will be the first Vermonter to serve as NASAA president since commissioner R.C. Clark in 1930.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Natural Resources Council (VNRC) announced their opposition to the draft proposed Vermont Use of Public Waters (VUPW) Rule for Great Hosmer Pond in Craftsbury and Albany VT. In a letter to the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), VNRC requested theimmediatewithdrawal of the VUPW rule based on significant concerns regarding the proposed rule’s legality.

“VNRC has a long history of working to ensure that Vermont’s public trust waters are properly managed,” said Jon Groveman, VNRC policy and water program director. “As former executive director of the Water Resources Board, I am very concerned that DEC is not implementing the VUPW program consistent with the rules and the precedent set for managing use conflicts.”

Vermont Business Magazine Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger today announced the launch of The Mayor’s Prize for Entrepreneurship, designed to increase support for the City’s entrepreneurs. The Mayor’s Prize will award $200,000 this year and more than $300,000 over a two-year period to not-for-profit entrepreneur support organizations (ESOs) or research organizations with a proven track record of success that propose innovative new or expanded programs to support the City’s entrepreneurs. The goal of the Mayor’s Prize is to foster the growth and development of entrepreneurship in the city and encourage outside-the-box thinking about how best to achieve this. The Mayor’s Prize is entirely funded by a grant from the Kansas City-based Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

Vermont Busness Magazine On Friday, 361 members of the community streamed into the 2^nd annual Language Access and Communication Expo. Small bouquets of carnations sat on the registration table, color-coded to match flowers pinned to the lapels of different interpreters inside. White, for example, signified an American Sign Language interpreter.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont’s congressional delegation – Senator Patrick Leahy (D), Senator Bernie Sanders (I), and Representative Peter Welch (D) – announcedTuesdaythat the City of St. Albans was awarded a $10.6 million grant and loan package from United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development to make major improvements to its wastewater treatment plant. The improvements will reduce the inflow of phosphorous pollution to Lake Champlain, increase plant reliability, and improve the plant’s energy efficiency performance.

The federal grant and loan package consist of a $2,949,000 grant and a $7,717,000 loan. Additional investments of federal and state funds are also contributing to the $18 million project.

by Timothy McQuiston Vermont Business MagazineFreedom Nissan Co-Owner Robert Miller said his Leaf, an all-electric vehicle, had the second highest sales of all Nissan dealers in America in July, second only to San Francisco (61-55 cars sold). In August, Freedom was third in the nation, only because they ran out of the EV's, and while the incentive program technically runs through the end of the year, he only has a few cars left, and he only has those because he finagled them from a dealer in Washington state. The reason for all this, of course, is the $10,000 incentive from the dealer, the $7,500 federal tax credit and the $1,200 local utility rebate, which brought the approximate $30,000 car down to just $11,300.