Current News

Vermont Business Magazine This year marks the state’s 47^th annual Green Up Day, during which Vermonters collect litter and debris left behind by the spring snow melts on city streets and in our parks and neighborhoods. Mayor Miro Weinberger, ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain Executive Director Phelan Fretz, Burlington Electric Department General Manager Neale Lunderville, City Sustainability Coordinator Jennifer Green, Skinny Pancake Founder and Owner Benjy Adler, and Edmunds Elementary School first, third, and fourth graders on Wednesday encouraged community participation in the City of Burlington’s Green Up Day efforts this Saturday, May 6.

Public Assets InstituteA newstudyranked Vermont the #1 state to raise healthy kids. That’s the good news. Vermont often ranks high on quality of life surveys (here,hereandhere, for example). The question is: Can Vermont stay on top if it continues to cut state services and postpone investments? The study looked at three broad categories: 1) kids’ health and access to health care; 2) kids’ nutrition, physical activity and obesity; and 3) kids’ oral health. Vermont ranked #1, #1 and #5 respectively.

Vermont Business Magazine Land O'Lakes, Inctoday reported quarterly net sales of$3.7 billionand net earnings of$110 millionin the first quarter endingMarch 31, 2017, compared with 2016 first quarter net sales of$3.6 billionand net earnings of$104 million. The strong first quarter earnings come on the heels of a record year in 2016 when the company reported$320 millionin net earnings on$13.2 billionin sales. The food giant bought Vermont Creamery in Websterville in March for an undisclosed amount.

Vermont Business Magazine Nokian Tyres announced today plans to construct its first North American factory. The Finnish tire manufacturer, whose North American Sales Office is located in Colchester, will invest $360 million into the future plant, to be built in Dayton, Tennessee. Ground will break on the facility early next year with completion in 2020. Nokian has 60 employees in Vermont.

Up to 400 new jobs will be created at the Tennessee plant, in areas including quality control, logistics, shipping, manufacturing, building services and administration. In order to support this growth the North American Sales Office in Colchester will continue to expand its workforce.

Vermont Business MagazineGil Livingston, president of the Vermont Land Trust (VLT) for the past 10 years, will be leaving the organization at the end of 2017 to continue meaningful, focused work in the national conservation arena. Livingston has been with the land trust for 26 years; in that time he has contributed greatly to the conservation of farmland, forests, and land important for recreation and community, the VLT said in a press release.

Gil Livingston, left, with Mayor Miro Weinberger at the proposed Burlington College park in February 2016. Photo courtesy City of Burlington.

Vermont Business Magazine and the Vermont Chamber of Commerce have announced the three finalists for the Deane C Davis Outstanding Business of the Year Award: Marathon Health, Union Mutual and Vermont Creamery.One of these impressive finalists will be named the Deane C Davis Outstanding Vermont Business of the Year on Thursday, May 11 in an awards presentation ceremony at the Sheraton Burlington Conference Center at 7:30 pm. The announcement will come during the 2017 Best of Business (BOB) Awards.

This year’s finalists exemplify the resourcefulness, innovation and success of Vermont’s businesses. They all share a dedication to their employees, communities and Vermont’s natural environment. Each represents a unique story of vision, commitment and growth.

Marathon Health

Vermont Business Magazine House Speaker Mitzi Johnson wants to finish the legislative session by as early as next week, if not by this weekend, but Governor Phil Scott is continuing to push his plan for a statewide teacher health insurance contract, which he says will preserve benefits for teachers and save the state $26 million a year by creating one, large risk pool out of the new, lower ObamaCare health premiums. The House Republicans are standing with the governor even as Senate Democrats have dismissed the plan. The ultimate leverage the governor can employ is use of the veto, but in the meantime he is still trying to convince at least enough House Democrats to join him. The teachers union opposes the plan because it contends it will harm local control of the collective bargaining process.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont House on Tuesday gave approval to the Paid Family Leave insurance bill on a voice vote. The bill, H196, enables Vermonters to take time off from work to care for an infant or an elderly relative without balancing that family need against the necessity of a paycheck. It creates a Family Leave Insurance Program within the Department of Labor that will provide employees with up to six weeks of paid family leave through employee contributions through a payroll deducation of just under 1 percent of wages.

Vermont Business Magazine Ledyard Financial Group, Inc(ticker symbol LFGP), the holding company for Ledyard National Bank with an office in Vermont, today reported quarterly earnings nearly unchanged for the first quarter of 2017. Net income for the quarter ended March 31, 2017, was $1,006,669 or $0.99 per share compared to $1,005,045 or $0.98 per share for the same period in 2016, an increase of $1,624.

Vermont Business MagazineThe House gave preliminary approval to ethics legislation Monday (S8). The bill debated on the floor establishes a State Ethics Commission and standards of governmental ethical conduct. The bill creates new requirements for personal financial disclosure, including for the official or lawmaker's domestic partner. The legislation is also intended to reduce the "revolving door" between lobbyists and government officials, as they hop back and forth between public and private jobs. An elected official would have to wait a year to become alobbyist.

Vermont Business MagazineSpider silks, the stuff of spider webs, are an engineer’s dream: they can be stronger than steel at a mere fraction of weight, and also can be tougher and more flexible. These silks also are nearly invisible to the human immune system. Some even inhibit bacteria and fungi, making them potentially ideal for surgery and medical device applications. However, exploitation of these natural marvels has been slow, due in part to the challenges involved in identifying and characterizing spider silk genes.

Vermont Business MagazineOn April 26, 2017, Gifford Health Care Pediatrics was recognized by the Vermont Immunization Program for achieving high immunization coverage rates and meeting CDC’s Healthy People 2020 goals for all recommended vaccines for children two to three years of age. Jan Eberly, Public Health Nurse for the State of Vermont, presented thePediatrics team with a framed certificate and a copyofEpidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine Preventable Diseases.

Gifford was one of nine practices in the state to receive recognition for exceeding the Healthy People 2020 target of 90 percent immunizations coverage for two to three year olds. Appropriately, the recognition came on National Infant Immunization week,an annual national observance to promote the benefits of immunizations and improve the health of children two years old or younger.