Current News

Vermont Business MagazineAll the creditors, immigrant investors, contractors and vendors who were caught up in the massive fraud in the Jay Peak EB-5 case will be made whole "100 cents on every dollar they were owed."Governor Phil Scott, Vermont Department of Financial Regulation Commissioner Michael Pieciak and Jay Peak Receiver Michael Goldberg this evening announced a $150 million settlement agreement with financial firm Raymond James Financial, Inc, over its role in the alleged fraud relating to EB-5 projects in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom.

Vermont Business MagazineEvolving small businesses and start-ups in the Northeast Kingdom may now access new sources of business loan funds. The loans will be made from self-replenishing pools of money from the Town of Jay, where new loans are capitalized by the interest and principal payments from existing loans. Backing will be directed to small entrepreneurs who otherwise may not qualify for traditional financing due to lack of credit or collateral.

The Town of Jay has assigned the loan funds to Community Capital of Vermont (CCVT) and the Northeastern Vermont Development Association (NVDA), in consultation with the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development. The funds will be distributed by CCVT and NVDA, and a partnership with Top of Vermont, the Jay Peak Region’s chamber of commerce, will help with marketing the funds.

by Joyce Marcel, Vermont Business Magazine William Ernest McKibben, 56, sits in the eye of the hurricane of climate change, trying to save the world from the danger in which it finds itself. You’d think that after the recent presidential election, where climate change deniers took over the levers of power, this renowned environmentalist, lecturer, author, journalist, the Schumann Distinguished Scholar in Environmental Studies at Middlebury College, Ripton resident, cross-country skier and co-founder of the climate change organization 350.org, would be hiding in bed with his head covered by quilts. Or at the very least, he would have lost his sense of humor.

by John McClaughry Act 250, Vermont’s landmark land use and environmental control act of 1970, is coming up on its 50^th anniversary, and the people who promoted it then have a lot more of the same in store for us. The organization that went all out to pass Act 250 is the Vermont Natural Resources Council (VNRC). Its present leadership is urging the passage of a bill to create a “Commission on Act 250: The Next 50 Years” (H.424). It passed the House on March 31 without any recorded vote.

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.