Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont Medical Center last Friday began sending letters to patients affected by recent incidents in which email accounts of two employees were accessed by third parties after the employees accidentally opened a “phishing” message that mimicked an official company communication. In each instance, the UVM Medical Center immediately shut down the employee account and began an investigation.

The incidents, which occurred on May 22nd and June 13^th, did not involve the electronic medical record system, or systems that contain social security numbers and other information that can be used to identify people.

Vermont Business Magazine The fiscal year 2018 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies (THUD) Senate Appropriations bill provides a total of $60.058 billion in discretionary budget authority – $2.41 billion more than in fiscal year 2017 and $12.130 billion more than the President’s budget request. Additional resources are provided to prevent and end homelessness among veterans and youth, as well as to maintain existing rental housing assistance for nearly 5 million households nationwide. The bill also directs investments to improve the safety and efficiency of our transportation networks, which serve as the backbone of our economy, and meets the everyday needs of America’s businesses, commuters, and families.

Senator Jack Reed(D-R.I.), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, said:

Vermont Business Magazine The fiscal year 2018 Legislative Branch Appropriations Bill provides $3.171 billion in discretionary budget authority, excluding items pertaining solely to the House, which total an additional $1.319 billion. Total funding accommodated in the bill is $4.490 billion, which is $50 million more than the fiscal 2017 enacted level and $192 million less than budget request.

The bill provides critical increases for the Congressional Budget Office, the Government Accountability Office, the United States Capitol Police, the Architect of the Capitol, and cybersecurity initiatives for Senate networks.

Senator Christopher Murphy (D-Conn.), Ranking Member of the Legislative Branch Subcommittee, said:

Vermont Business Magazine The fiscal year 2018 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) Appropriations Bill provides a total of $53.4 billion in discretionary funding, $3.2 billion less than fiscal year 2017 and $4.4 billion more than the President’s request. The CJS bill invests in a wide range of critical programs that affect the lives of all Americans.

Lake Champlain CommitteeThe information below represents the results from the latest reporting on the cyanobacteria monitoring program through late afternoon of Friday July 21, 2017. Reports will continue to come in so check thedata trackerfor the most up to date conditions.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today issued a statement in support of proposals to supply the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with 1,000 MW of electricity via the TDI New England Clean Power Link (NECPL). The TDI project would run from the Canadian border, under Lake Champlain for nearly a hundred miles before connecting to the New England grid in Ludlow. The $1.2 billion Power Link would supply nearly twice the power that the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant did before it was shut down in 2014. It is expected to go online in 2019, as long is it gets the permits and power contracts needed to proceed. The permits are mostly in place. A deal for power in Massachusetts would push the project closer to fruition.

Vermont Business Magazine A gang of investors on motorcycles will ride into Brattleboro onAugust 2to hear business pitches and award prizes. Strolling of the Heifers and Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation invite the public to attend the 2017 FreshTracks Road Pitch at the River Garden on Wednesday, August 2 at 3:00 P.M. Light refreshments will be served.The Road Pitch, a gang of motorcycling business investors and advisors, is stopping in Brattleboro on the afternoon ofAugust 2to hear funding pitches from local businesses that are ready to scale up.

Vermont Business MagazineA bipartisan group of 10 governors, including Vermont Governor Phil Scott, wrote a letter late Wednesdayto Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) uring defeat of the"skinny repeal"of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) on the same day the Senate failed to pass an outright repeal of the ACA, 45-55. The so-called skinny repeal would largely continue to fund Medicaid but get rid of mandates for the individual and employer markets.

Vermont Business MagazineA Burlington-based energy start-up and a new social impact investment firm has announced a capital investment that will fund operations and growth into the future.Vermont Works Management Company, LLChas become the anchor investor inPacketized Energy’scurrent fund raising effort,according to founders of both firms.

Vermont Business Magazine Seventy-two percent of Vermonters engage in outdoor recreation from skiing to hunting to water sports and more. They spend $5.5 billion, which employs 51,000 and accounts for$1.5 billion in wages and $505 million in state and local tax revenue. The Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) hasreleased the state-level Outdoor Recreation Economy Report featuring economic data for all 50 states acrossthe United States, the largest and most comprehensive state-by-state report of its kind. The data underscores a growing economic force that generates billions in consumer spending and directly contributes millions of good-paying, American jobs in communities across the country.

Vermont Business RoundtableThe Roundtable and strategic partnersin the Vermont Talent Pipeline Managementproject (VTPM) are heavily involved in the roll out of two employer collaboratives, one in construction and the other health care, aimed at increasing the availability of and access to skilled workers for the most critical roles in these vital industries. Taken together, over 50 geographically-diverse companies have agreed to engage in a demand planning process that creates short-term projections of job openings based on a set of assumptions chosen by the employers. Those data will be aggregated and talent flows analyzed to determine where their best hires are being produced, then competencies and credentials will be communicated to the education and training provider communities across Vermont with the express goal of closing our workforce gaps. Already, 40+ public/private/not for profit educators and workforce training providers have stepped forward to indicate their strong willingness to partner on VTPM.

by Timothy McQuiston Vermont Business Magazine Better than expected results from the Corporate Income Tax helped push revenues ahead of expectations for both the month of June and the fiscal year as a whole. However, the three largest revenue sources were all down for the period and the year. General Fund revenues collected for the month of June totaled $134.10 million, $1.97 million ahead of the consensus revenue targets adopted by the Emergency Board on January 19, 2017, according to Secretary of Administration Susanne Young. The better than expected performance in June was driven by $3.83 million above target revenues in the Corporate Income Tax and a slight increase in the Property Transfer Tax of $0.69 million. These gains were partially offset by an underperformance across all other revenue types.