Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Natural Resources Board (NRB), the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) and the Vermont Attorney General’s Office announced today that they have reached a settlement with the Vermont Association of Snow Travelers (VAST) that resolves VAST’s Act 250 challenge concerning the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail (LVRT). VAST maintains the Trail through a lease with VTrans. The settlement will allow the expeditious development of the LVRT into a multi-season recreation path and incorporate key elements of the Act 250 permit to ensure that the trail does not adversely affect nearby residents.

Vermont Business Magazine The abandonment this week of the VCSummer nuclear project inSouth Carolinaheralds the likely demise of "new" nuclear inthe United States(including the Vogtle project inGeorgiaandNorth Anna3 inVirginia) and also should put an end to state or federal bailouts for the failing nuclear industry, according to four experts who held a media briefing Thursday, sponsored by NIRS, the Nuclear Information and Resource Service.

Nuclear economist DrMark Cooper, senior fellow for economic analysis, Institute for Energy and the Environment atVermont Law School, said the V.C. Summer shutdown should lead to a similar step at the Vogtle project inGeorgiaand to a renewed focus on renewable energy.

by Jack Hoffman Public Assets Institute Economist Art Woolf wrote recently that Vermont spends too much on education because taxes are too low for many residents. Woolf was referring specifically to resident homeowners who qualify to pay school taxes as a percentage of their income rather than on the value of their property. According to Woolf, because their income-based taxes are less than their property taxes would be, these homeowners feel like education in Vermont is on sale, so they’re buying more of it.

Vermont Business MagazineThose in search of awe-inspiring views during their travels this summer need not limit themselves to trails, lookout points, or observation decks, they can simply enjoy lunch at the Simon Pearce outlet in Quechee. OpenTable, the world's leading provider of online restaurant reservations and part of The Priceline Group (NASDAQ: PCLN), has unveiled the100 Most Scenic Restaurants in America for 2017. These awards reflect the combined opinions of more than 10 million restaurant reviews submitted by verified OpenTable diners for more than 25,000 restaurants in all 50 states and theDistrict of Columbia.

Vermont Business MagazineThe Vermont Department of Taxes is pleased to announce a statewide listening tour for small businesses. The public meetings, which will be held in St. Johnsbury, Montpelier, Burlington, Rutland and Bennington, are designed to let the department leadership hear from businesses. “We at the Department of Taxes are eager to hear from businesses across Vermont about how we can help them navigate the sometimes complex Vermont tax code,” said Commissioner Kaj Samsom. “This listening tour and the working group will result in a report to the Vermont legislature. This is an opportunity to express feedback to the department and also suggest larger scale changes for the legislature to consider.”

Vermont Business Magazine According to a statement from Enrique Corredera, news and public affairs director at the University of Vermont, a fire is in progress at Torrey Hall on the University of Vermont campus. The fire has been contained, and the Burlington Fire Department is actively working to fully extinguish it. The fire began at 8:10 am and was caused by the soldering of copper material on the roof as part of a renovation of the building taking place this summer.

No injuries have been reported.

The building houses two classrooms. No classes were being held in the building over the summer.

Vermont Business Magazine Bill Shean ’79 and Laurie Shean ’80 have donated $1 million to UVM Athletics to support the University of Vermont Board of Trustee’s recent decision to move forward with the formal planning of a multi-purpose center on the UVM campus. The Shean’s gift will provide the means for not only producing architectural plans, but will also provide necessary resources for site evaluation and preparation.

Vermont Business Magazine Casella Waste Systems, Inc(NASDAQ:CWST), a regional solid waste, recycling and resource management services company based in Rutland, on Wednesday reported its financial results for the three-month period ended June30, 2017. In addition, the company expects its revenue, Adjusted EBITDA*, and Normalized Free Cash Flow* results to be towards the upper-end of its previously announced guidance ranges for the fiscal year ending December31, 2017. Shares were down about 5 percent Thursday to $15.79 in early trading (52-week range:$8.75 - $17.73).

Highlights for the Three Months Ended June30, 2017:

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont will host the Catalysts of the Climate Economy (cc:econ), a three-day national innovation summit on September 6-8. Taking place at the University of Vermont in Burlington, the summit brings together entrepreneurs, investors, and thought leaders working to accelerate economic development by addressing climate change. Speakers at cc:econ will include Mary Powell, CEO of Green Mountain Power, and John Replogle, CEO of Seventh Generation. The summit will also feature an innovation and pitch contest for entrepreneurs, and innovation tours at exemplary Vermont locations guided by summit speakers and other changemakers.

Vermont Business Magazine Maple Grove Farms of Vermont, the largest packer of pure maple syrup in the United States, will be presented with a Vermont Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence Friday at the State House, in recognition of the company’s Zero Waste Landfill Project. Earlier this year, Maple Grove Farms received Silver level certification by the US Zero Waste Business Council, for reducing waste to landfill from 50% in 2012, to under 8% in 2016.

Vermont Business MagazineThe impact the oil and natural gas industry has on local economies is closely associated with population. Not surprisingly, Vermont has the smallest such economy. It also has no production, but does have sales and distribution. The total value of the industry here is just under $1 billion, according to a new study. The outlier inthe report is Wyoming, which has the smallest population in the US (Vermont is second smallest), but is the fourth largest producer of natural gas and seventh in oil, and, surprisingly, has by far the most coal production.

Vermont Business MagazineThe Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets (VAAFM) has announce a second round of Request for Proposals (RFP) for the Ag Clean Water Initiative Program (Ag-CWIP).This grant program is made possible and supported, in part, by the Clean Water Fund – a fund created by Act 64 of 2015, Vermont’s Clean Water Act.This second round of Ag-CWIP RFPs will fund organizations assisting farmers throughout the state to support planning and installation of vegetative buffers adjacent to streams, grassed waterways to prevent gully erosion in crop fields, and grazing systems to exclude livestock from surface waters.

Interested parties should visit:Agriculture.Vermont.gov/WQ-RFPfor the complete RFP documents.