Current News

by Karen Glitman, Director of Efficiency Vermont When people think about their local electric utility, their first thoughts are likely of poles and wires, and the electric meter on the side of their house. We think of them as energy producers: regulated businesses that provide us with reliable electricity – an enormous, complex, and critical task. For the past 17 years, however, Vermont has had a different kind of energy producer, one that doesn’t generate power at all. It saves it.

Vermont Business MagazineAs national environmental protections are deregulated and challenges presented by climate change become more widely recognized,Vermontpositions itself as the state where climate change and resource renewal can spark business growth and economic development.A national climate economy innovation summit held in early September inBurlington, Vermontwelcomed entrepreneurs from acrossNorth Americainterested in building an economy inVermontthat embraces the opportunities presented by climate change challenges.Vermontis a leader in both sustainability and self-sufficiency, and multiple stakeholders with diverse perspectives are working together to build capacity for transformative climate change solutions that create jobs forVermontcommunities.

Vermont Business Magazine The Public Service Department has announced the next meeting of the Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel will be held on Thursday, September 28, 2017, from 6 pm to 9 pm in the multipurpose room at Brattleboro Area Middle School, 109 Sunny Acres Rd, Brattleboro. Scott State, CEO, NorthStar Group Services will outline NorthStar’s proposed site restoration standards. The Panel will also receive a presentation on the rubblization process, a technique NorthStar plans to use at the VY site, by a representative from Geosyntec Consultants.

Representatives from Entergy and the State of Vermont will provide updates on the decommissioning activities at Vermont Yankee.

Vermont Business Magazine Edmundite Deacon Michael R Carter, a native of Burlington and a 2012 Saint Michael’s College graduate, will be ordained to the priesthood on Saturday, September 16, at the Chapel of St Michael the Archangel on the Saint Michael’s campus in Colchester. Burlington Bishop Christopher J Coyne will be the presider and homilist for the 11 am Mass, and will ordain Carter. The Society of Saint Edmund, or “Edmundites,” founded Saint Michael’s College, and they are based on campus.

Edmundite Deacon Michael R Carter. Photo: Lauren Read/St Michael’s College.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Mental Health (VDMH) has been awarded a $9.9 million federal grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The grant, which will be disbursed over a five-year period, will fund the Vermont Family Centered Healthcare Home Project (VFCHP) in its facilitation of a comprehensive approach to health – including mental, emotional and physical health – for children and their families.

VFCHP will provide services that are family-driven with care coordination that incorporates evidence-based mental health services, and will support coordination and service delivery improvements between Vermont’s Community Mental Health Centers and the Federally Qualified Health Center in two regions of the state.

Vermont Business MagazineSenator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and 16 of his Democratic colleagues introduced legislation Wednesday to guarantee health care to every American by expanding and improving Medicare. “Today, we begin the long and difficult struggle to end the international embarrassment of the United States being the only major country on earth not to guarantee health care to all its people,” Sanders said. “At a time when millions of Americans do not have access to affordable health care, the Republicans, funded by the Koch brothers, are trying to take away health care from up to 32 million more. We have a better idea: guarantee health care to all people as a right, not a privilege, through a Medicare-for-all, single-payer health care program.”

Public Assets institute Vermont made progress this year making the kinds of investments that can move the state forward and create an economy that works for everyone. The 2017 Report Card is based on the policy recommendations in last year's“A Framework for Progress." To continue to advance these issues, we compiled this short report card assessing the progress made on each of the recommendations during the 2017 legislative session.

Vermont Community Loan Fund What, you might ask, are those pod-shaped kiosks adorned with adorable baby pics that keep popping up in airports, shopping malls and stadiums? You (particularly you new parents out there) will be interested to know they’re Mamava freestanding lactation suites. They’re making a case for nursing moms and babies on the go, and making a statement that can’t be ignored: nursing is a right, not a privilege.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont saw its scores in standardized testing decline slightly this past year after an increase a year ago. Secretary of Education Rebecca Holcombe today announced statewide results from the 2016-17 Smarter Balanced Assessments, a set of computer adaptive tests for English Language Arts and Mathematics developed by a national consortium currently made up of 15 states, the US Virgin Islands, and the Bureau of Indian Education. This was the third year Vermont students, statewide, participated in the Smarter Balanced program. Several other consortium member states also reported lower results for this past year. In Vermont, scores were lower in all categories for all age groups except for Grade 11 English.

by Mike Smith It was this headline in VTDigger that probably caught supporters of Governor Phil Scott by surprise: “Scott commits to lake cleanup, even if new taxes are needed.” They weren’t surprised by the governor’s commitment to clean up our lakes but rather his reluctance to rule out new taxes. In fairness to Scott, the story indicated that he would much prefer to find lake cleanup money through existing resources. And frankly, it’s rare for a governor to rule out future tax increases, because caution dictates that unforeseen — even emergency — events may intervene and force them to break such a pledge. But the headline illustrates Scott’s biggest political vulnerability, which, ironically, is his biggest political asset: his commitment to make Vermont more affordable.

Vermont Business MagazineThe perception of the threatof litigation toward business in Vermonthas dropped precipitously in the last seven years, as the state has gone from 25th to second. The2017 Lawsuit Climate Survey: Ranking the Stateswas released today and conducted for the USChamber Institute for Legal Reform by Harris Poll to explore how fair and reasonable the states’ liability systems are perceived to be by USbusinesses. These perceptions matter, the report states, because they can be influential in business decisions about where to conduct/expand/constrict business operations or sales. Vermont was also second in the previous report, released in 2015, after being 25th in 2010. Long-time corporate state champion Delaware, home to numerous domiciles, has fallen to 11th.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development (ACCD) has awarded City Market Co-op a $125,000 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sub-grant to support redevelopment of a brownfields site in Burlington. City Market plans to open its second retail food cooperative in Burlington’s South End by mid-November.