Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott today announced he has appointed Adam Greshin as commissioner of the Department of Finance and Management. Greshin is a state representative and part owner of Sugarbush. Hereplaces former Commissioner Andy Pallito, who will become thedirector of health system finances for theGreen Mountain Care Board.

The Department is responsible for coordinating the governor’s budget recommendations, delivering reliable financial information, advocating for responsible use of taxpayer dollars and supporting the State’s accounting system.

Vermont Business MagazineVermont’s sixth and newest regional treatment center for people with opioid use disorders began providing services today. The StAlbans-based Hub, located on the Northwest Regional Medical Center campus at 10 Crest Road, opened its doorson Thursdayfollowing approval from federal and state regulators.The Crest Road location is temporary. A permanent facility is under construction on Main Street and is expected to open by early fall 2017. The Medical Center worked with state officials to host this temporary facility so that area patients can get local services as soon as possible.

Vermont Business Magazine Motorists taking to the road for the July 4 holiday weekend will be benefiting from the lowest Independence Day gas prices since 2005, paying an average of $2.21 per gallon, well under the 10-year average of $3.14, according to GasBuddy. Vermont gasoline prices are now at $2.31 a gallon, 5 cents higher than the US average, but a penny lower than they were a week ago and two cents lower than a year ago and 50 cents less than 10 years ago. Although average gas prices are at historic lows, the price variance — “spread” in industry parlance — in gas prices in any given city on July 4 will be at historic highs. This means there is a higher chance consumers will overpay at the pump over the holiday weekend.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Attorney General TJ Donovan will join Vermont Emergency Management Director Erica Bornemann along with Vermont businesses, advocacy groups, and utilities to announce the addition of a statewide “VT Scam Alert” to Vermont’s emergency notification tool, VTAlert. This pairing allows members of the public to receive instant alerts by email, text, or pre-recorded telephone message when a new financial scam has hit the state.

This alert system comes after the Attorney General’s May announcement of the “Scam Buster” program to raise awareness about utility scams and stop them from happening in real-time. The “Scam Alert” system continues Attorney General Donovan’s initiative of helping Vermonters proactively protect themselves from scams.

When: Thursday, June 29^th 2017 @10 Am

Where: Waterbury Department of Public Safety: Outdoors if weather permits, inside if raining

Vermont Business Magazine ECFiber announced Tuesday that it has again increased its speeds by 40-100 percent, without increasing its prices. “Our Basic plan steps up from 10 to 17 Mbps; our Standard plan from 25 to 40 Mbps; our Ultra plan doubles from 100 to 200, and our 'Wicked' plan goes from 500 to 700” said Corey Klinck, ValleyNet’s* Chief Technical Officer. ECFiber’s speeds are symmetrical, meaning that download and upload speeds are equal. Symmetrical service is becoming essential for interactive Internet applications and for home businesses depending on cloud computing solutions.

“Since 2014, ECFiber has more than tripled its Basic speed and increased its higher tier speeds by as much as 10 times, all without increasing prices,” said Carole Monroe, ValleyNet’s* CEO.

Vermont Business Magazine Stone Environmental’s Board of Directors has appointedJohn Hanzasas president andMichael Winchellas vice president, effectiveJuly 1, 2017. While stepping down from their current executive positions, president and founderChristopher Stoneand vice presidentDavid Healywill both remain at Stone providing senior executive and technical consulting support, as well as serving on Stone’s board of directors for the Montpelier-based engineering firm.

Hanzas and Winchell are both longtime Stone veterans and leaders in their respective fields. They currently serve on Stone’s senior management team and are well positioned to take on these new executive roles, as well as continue to lead Stone’s Agrochemical Fate and Exposure and Environmental Modeling teams.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Housing & Conservation Board will use $35 million in new funding for the creation of rental housing and home ownership opportunities for 550-650 low- and moderate-income Vermonters over the next two to three years. These funds will leverage upwards of $100 million for housing development. The new initiative represents the largest state investment in housing in more than a decade. It was first proposed by Governor Phil Scott in his January budget address, gained strong support in the Legislature, and was signed into law today as part of the budget bill.

Vermont Business Magazine A podcast exploring the status of Abenaki Native Americans in Vermont and a video that uses Legos to explain the Iowa caucus, and breaking news coverage of the Northeast Kingdom EB-5 scandal have won Vermont Public Radio three national journalism awards for its work in 2016. The annual Edward R. Murrow awards recognize excellence in electronic journalism. VPR won Edward R Murrow Awards for Best News Documentary and Excellence in Video from the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA), the world’s largest professional organization devoted exclusively to electronic journalism. VPR News also won the award for Breaking News from Public Radio News Directors Inc (PRNDI).

Vermont Business Magazine A national home security firm has used comprehensive law enforcement data to rank the safest municipalities in the US. Essex ranked second overall and Milton ranked 23rd. Vermont as a state was noted as having the fewest number of sex offenders per capita. The firm, SafeWise, is a home security and safety brand committed to increasing safety education, awareness, and preparedness in American communities. SafeWise has been recognized by The Huffington Post, AngiesList, Mashable, and Homes.com, for their Home Security Brand Comparisons and Safest Cities Reports.

Vermont Business MagazineVermont-made products wowed the judges this week at the 2017 Fancy Food Show in New York City. The Green Mountain State scored eleven“sofi” awardsat the world-renowned show - the largest specialty food industry trade event in North America.

Vermont Business MagazineFresh off the canning line, Rock Art Brewery’s first solar-powered beer,Sun Rocked IPA, provided the perfect toast for a historic moment for both Rock Art Brewery and Vermont brewing history. On Tuesday June 27^th, Rock Art Brewery became the first Vermont brewery to fully offset its electricity needs with solar. SunCommon, of Waterbury, helped the 20-year-old, family-owned brewery realize a longstanding goal to go solar by installing a 200-panel, 67 kW array on the brewery’s rooftop in Morrisville.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, Representative Peter Welch (D-VT) and House colleagues on the Bipartisan Task Force to Combat the Heroin Epidemic unveiled their legislative agenda to battle the opioid epidemic ravaging communities in Vermont and across the country. “Across Vermont, families and communities are struggling with the scourge of opioid addiction,” said Welch. “This Task Force has established a comprehensive agenda to support states, communities, providers, public safety agencies, and nonprofits who are on the front lines of this public health emergency. I am hopeful that the bipartisan composition of our Task Force will result in expedited action by House leaders on our agenda.”

The Task Force agenda includes the following bipartisan bills: