Current News

Vermont Business MagazineVermont Fish & Wildlife Department recently added nearly 3,000 acres to Bird Mountain Wildlife Management Area in Ira and Poultney, bringing the total publicly-conserved area to more than 3,600 acres. This is the largest addition to a Vermont wildlife management area in more than a decade.The wildlife management area includes the iconic Bird's Eye Mountain, a well-known nesting site and habitat for peregrine falcons, as well as the surrounding lands.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont’s US Senators Patrick Leahy (D) and Bernie Sanders (I) have joined Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and others in announcing that they will reintroduce the Tax Filing Simplification Act of 2017 to simplify and decrease the costs of the tax filing process for millions of American taxpayers. This year taxpayers will spend an average of 13 hours preparing and filing their returns, and will pay $200 for tax preparation services -- a cost equal to almost 10 percent of the average federal tax refund.

Vermont Business Magazine As part of its ongoing commitment to give consumers the confidence and tools they need to be fiscally healthy, Citizens Bank announced Tuesday that two nonprofit organizations in Vermont – Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity and Champlain Housing Trust – will receive $5,000 each as part of theCitizens Helping Citizens Manage Moneyfinancial literacy initiative.

Vermont Business Magazine USDA Rural Development will help rural, low-income homeowners repair or improve their homes this spring through the Single Family Housing Repair Program. This program offers loans that can be repaid over 20 years with a fixed one percent interest rate for home improvement projects that repair existing damages, remove health or safety hazards, or make energy efficiency investments. Very-low income seniors aging in place can seek a $7,500 grant to help remove health and safety hazards and increase the accessibility of their homes.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Urban & Community Forestry Program (VT UCF) is seeking to work with 10 communities to support thedevelopment of town forest recreation and stewardship plans. This program will provide technical planning assistance to Vermont communities interested in addressing issues and opportunities in the use and stewardship of their town forest, a value of up to $10,000 per town. Participating communities will receive technical assistance from a multi-disciplinary consultant team for the development of a town forest action plan.

Vermont Business Magazine Mayor Miro Weinberger and BTV Ignite partners today announced the appointment of Dennis Moynihan as the Executive Director of BTV Ignite, a non-profit dedicated to aligning Burlington’s powerful gigabit infrastructure as a tool, test bed, and accelerator for economic, educational, and community benefit. Moynihan will succeed Mike Schirling, who was selected by Governor Phil Scott to serve as Secretary of the Agency of Commerce and Community Development for the State of Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Gas announced today that it has completed its 41-mile Addison Natural Gas Project and is now serving customers in Middlebury. Service to other Addison towns will begin throughout the year as more distribution lines to homes and businesses are complete, the company said in a press release issued Wednesday. Vermont Gas, based in South Burlington, was to have completed the pipeline last year. It has faced severe cost increases, court challenges, including one still before the Vermont Supreme Court, and virulent opposition from groups as diverse as landowners, fracking opponents and the AARP. It also fired its first contractor. The original cost of the project was $86 million, it then went to $121.6 million and $153.6 million. Vermont Gas has agreed to cap the ratepayer cost at $134 million regardless of the ultimate cost and take the rest out of profits.

Vermont Business Magazine Housing developers, business leaders, smart growth policy experts and poverty advocates joined together Wednesday to call on the Legislature to pass a $35 million housing bond. The housing bond was recommended by Governor Scott in his budget proposal. The advocates, who gathered at a State House press conference, said it would address a significant need for affordable housing in Vermont, help to alleviate homelessness, house the workforce, and provide expanded homeownership opportunities for Vermonters. Business has also supports it, as it would bring more development activity to downtowns. Legislators, however, have balked at the $2.5 million cost associated with the bonding. A plan in the Senate to use a $2 pernight hospitality occupancy fee to pay for the bonding met with widespread objections. The original bill (S100) called for the funds to come from the property transfer tax. The bill is now languishing in Senate Appropriations.

Vermont Business MagazineOn his first day in office, Governor Phil Scott signed an executive order to merge the state commissions that regulate Liquor and Lottery into a single entity. The House on Tuesday, however, introduced a bill (H525) that would form a committe to study whether to merge Liquor and the Lottery, even while saying that it seems to make sense. Scott does not see the need to delay what he sees as a more efficient single commission.

Vermont Business Magazine In the naissance of the Internet, a small phone company was formed in Bellows Falls that soon used its copper pairs to set up local email and Web browsing services. It was a local company that was competing against other local companies like Together Networks and national behemoths like AOL, CompuServe and Netscape. While some of those firms' technology still exists (even if they don't) from the good old days of the late '80s and early '90s (JavaScript, GIF), Sovernet, founded in 1995, evolved as a phone company CLEC and ISP. It was bought and sold a couple of times and eventually set up a "middle-mile" fiber network in Vermont and neighboring states that offers service largely to schools and government entities. Its new owner, FirstLight, announced today that it will rebrand Sovernet to the parent company name as it consolidates its recent flurry of acquisitions into one identity.

Vermont Business Magazine Gary S Thulander, president and general manager of the Woodstock Inn & Resort, was awarded the Borden E. Avery Innkeeper of the Year by the Vermont Chamber of Commerce at the 34^th Annual Vermont Tourism Summit, held April 5 & 6 at Stoweflake Resort, Stowe. The Vermont Chamber of Commerce Hospitality Awards are an important component of the Vermont tourism and hospitality sector. The awards presented each year at the Vermont Tourism Summit celebrate the hospitality and tourism industry’s vast contributions to the state economy, and acknowledge the award winners as stand-out achievers within the industry, who enhance Vermont’s iconic brand.

Vermont Business Magazine The Burlington School Board and the Burlington Education Association, which represents unionized teachers, issued the following statement following a meeting Tuesday with a third-part mediator. The two sides signed a one-year agreement last fall after the previous contract expired in August. The agreement avoided a possible teacher strike, but not after bitter negotiations.

BEA union members and supporters at an "informational picket" September 27, 2016. BEA photo.