Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont/Porter Medical Center in Middlebury announced today a new, three-year contract with the union representing the Porter nursing staff that will run through September 30, 2020. The registered nurses of the Porter Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals voted on Thursday to ratify a new collective bargaining agreement, their second contract since organizing in 2013. The contract was reached after four months of negotiations.

by Timothy McQuiston Vermont Business Magazine The owner of the Three Stallion Inn in Randolph, Jesse "Sam" Sammis, has sold the iconic property to a prep school in Connecticut, of which he is a graduate. After nearly a year of research, planning, and a site visit/inspection in April by members of the Board of Trustees, Brunswick School in Greenwich announced on Tuesday it took ownership of its new campus on September 14.

The property encompasses more than 650 acres of wilderness, hiking trails, and open fields — providing the ideal environment for a permanent, fully integrated, off-campus wilderness-education and applied-classroom-learning program now under development by Brunswick faculty and school leaders, Headmaster Thomas W Philip said.

Vermont Business MagazineVermont Systems will presentthe 2017 Special Olympics Vermont Fall Games September 23-24at South Burlington High School, Dorset Park, and the Burlington Country Club. Nearly 400 athletes and Unified partners will compete in Athletics (track and field), golf, soccer, and softball.

Vermont Business Magazine Parker Riehle, the president of the Vermont Ski Areas Association, known as Ski Vermont, will not be leaving the organization after all. On August 29 he was named the new president and CEO of the Colorado-based National Ski Areas Association. Riehle was to take over the position on January 1, 2018, replacing Michael Berry, who is retiring after 25 years. The NSAA made no mention of the change in plans other than to announce that the search for a new president had resumed.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) and the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets (AAFM) announced a suite of projects aimed at protecting and restoring the Lake Carmi watershed. The Lake Carmi Implementation Team will lead the coordination of these projects and provide regular updates to the community.

Vermont Business Magazine Helping our economy grow by developing tools and providing business assistance is the core of Vermont’s economic development plan. Putting this assistance together to benefit Lamoille County residents is what Lamoille Economic Development Corporation (LEDC) has done with its half-million dollars in available funding. Growing businesses often need financing beyond what their primary bank is able to lend them. Small businesses may need loans too small for banks to find profitable. LEDC is a source of funding for these businesses in Lamoille County and those looking to move to Lamoille County.

LEDC created the Lamoille County Revolving Loan Fund for the purpose of helping to provide meaningful economic development to the residents of Lamoille County. To achieve this mission, the Lamoille County Revolving Loan Fund is intended to supplement existing or private sources of funding for small and medium sized businesses.

Vermont Business Magazine On October 2nd and 3rd business and community leaders, policymakers, researchers, and environmental organizations will come together in northern New England at Renewable Energy Vermont’s Annual Conference and Expo, REV2017. For almost two decades, REV has provided space for the innovation and dialogue that will help break down cost barriers to affordable, clean and renewable electricity, heating and transportation.

While utilities in Vermont have a statutory obligation to meet an annually increasing Renewable Portfolio Standard, providing customers with 55% percent renewable energy, some of the energy powering South Burlington is still sourced from fossil fuels. Last year, the Renewable Energy Vermont Conference and Expo brought together almost 500 attendees. The electricity and heating/cooling of the meeting space - 13,946 square feet for almost two days - produced upwards of 1,028.29 lbs of CO2e emissions.

Vermont Business MagazineIn an effort to provide some relief to those impacted by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, the Vermont Department of Taxes has announced it is extending filing deadlines toJanuary31, 2018, for filers living in hurricane disaster areas. The affected individuals and businesses may file returns and pay any taxes that were originally due during this period by the new due date.

Earlier, the IRS extended federal tax deadlines toJan. 31, 2018. The extension applies for taxpayers who reside within any area designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as qualified for individual assistance. For information about the specific locations impacted, please visit the IRS website atwww.irs.gov/newsroom/tax-relief-in-disaster-situations.

The periods the extension is valid for include:

Vermont Business MagazineThe Vermont Brewers Association (VBA) is pleased to announce the completion of a refreshed brand focused on the discovery of world class beer throughout the state with the theme of "Beer Worth Finding." The Website, vermontbrewers.com, houses thirteen beer trails that assist locals and tourists alike in exploring the Green Mountain State. There is also functionality to create customized beer trails to create a unique “beer-cation” experience. Plus, you will find Vermont Brewers Festival event information and surrounding attractions to complete your adventure to the breweries.

Vermont Business Magazine The Governor’s Marijuana Advisory Commission, established September 7, 2017 by Governor Phil Scott’s Executive Order Numbers 15-17, will hold its first meeting on September 28, 2017, at the offices of the Vermont Department of Public Safety, 45 State Drive, Waterbury, VT 05671. The Commission will meet from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Its three subcommittees will meet from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

The Commission will review the Executive Order, including its reporting deadlines; establish a draft work plan; discuss how it will engage the public in its work; discuss how it will function, deliberate and make decisions; and address how Commission members will interact and work with the three subcommittees.

Following the Commission meeting, the three subcommittees will meet and develop work plans to accomplish the tasks set out for them in the Executive Order.

Vermont Business Magazine Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) on Wednesday pressed the Justice Department on its progress implementing whistleblower protections at the FBI. In a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Grassley and Leahy outline a series of concerns about whistleblower protections that have gone unaddressed despite government reports drawing attention to these problems and recommending changes. The Justice Department’s own report from 2014 identified “key systemic problems” in protecting FBI whistleblowers under agency’s current regime.

Vermont Business Magazine Forests and conservation funding is in decline across New England. The region has been losing forestland to development at a rate of 65 acres per day—and Vermont is losing 1,500 acres of forest every year—according to a new report released today by the Harvard Forest and a team of authors from across the region including two scientists at the University of Vermont.