Current News

State and Community Partners Warn Vermonters not to Fall for Scams Before April 18th Filing Deadline

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Taxes, Vermont Attorney General TJ Donovan, and Capstone Community Action are warning Vermonters about IRS tax scams and encouraging Vermonters to report scams and access free tax preparation services.

“With the tax filing deadline around the corner, we’re raising awareness about fraud,” said Attorney General T.J. Donovan. “Vermonters should be on the lookout for IRS tax scams over the next two weeks.” The IRS scam is typically a telephone call saying you owe “back taxes” or outstanding payments are due to the government, typically from callers claiming to be “Internal Revenue Service”, “IRS”, and “US Treasury and Legal Affairs.”

Vermont Business Magazine Burlington (number 11) has been named one of the Top 100 Best Places to Live 2017 by Livability.com, outpacing more than 2,100 cities (with populations between 20,000 and 350,000) in this data-driven ranking. The list is an exclusive, independent, editorial ranking by Livability.com. This year Livability collaborated with data partners EMSI and world-renowned urbanist Richard Florida and assistant clinical professor Steven Pedigo from the Initiative for Creativity and Innovation in Cities at NYU School of Professional Studies to shape the methodology and the framework by which it ranks the cities.

Public Assets Institute 143 to 1. That was the headline last week. The House budget plan that closed a $70 million gap without raising revenue had near-unanimous support. The House’s version of the budget cobbled together $48 million in transfers, $17 million in savings and cuts, and $5 million in enhanced tax collections to create a budget that virtually everyone could agree on. While the plan appears to be popular inside the Statehouse, this budget does little to address the real issues Vermonters are facing outside.

Vermont Business Magazine US Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced multiple measures to further deter and detect H-1B visa fraud and abuse. This visa category applies to people who wish to perform services in a specialty occupation (typically with a bachelor's degree or higher), services of exceptional merit and ability relating to a Department of Defense (DOD) cooperative research and development project, or services as a fashion model of distinguished merit or ability. The H-1B visa program should help US companies recruit highly-skilled foreign nationals when there is a shortage of qualified workers in the country. Yet, too many American workers who are as qualified, willing and deserving to work in these fields have been ignored or unfairly disadvantaged. Protecting American workers by combating fraud in our employment-based immigration programs is a priority for USCIS.

Vermont Business Magazine An analysis released by the National Partnership for Women & Families for Equal Pay Day Tuesday reveals the size of the gender wage gap and its detrimental effects on the spending power of Vermont women. Women employed full time, year-round in Vermont are paid just 84 cents for every dollar paid to men, amounting to a yearly gap of $7,787. That means Vermont women lose a combined total of nearly $1.5 billion every year – money that could strengthen the state economy and is especially significant for the more than 20,000 Vermont households headed by women, 23 percent of which are in poverty.

by Mike Smith According to Courthouse News Service, the state of Vermont has a problem: It lacks transparency.The California-based company says Vermont is the only state in the nation that doesn’t disclose lawsuits filed in court until they have been served on defendants. As a result, the average time for disclosure is 41 days, and almost one-quarter of these lawsuits are kept secret for months. In comparison, suits filed in the state of New York are made public immediately, or within, at least, a day or two later. The news service says this delay is unacceptable, and is suing Vermont in federal court. But this isn’t the only example of Vermont state government being less that forthcoming with information — information that is often readily available in many other states.

Leonine Public AffairsThe House passed its version of the budget this week and did so in convincing fashion. With a 143-1 vote in favor of the bill, it was the most lopsided vote on the budget in long time. The “big bill” now moves to the Senate where changes will be made. However, given the resounding victory in the House, it seems unlikely these changes will be significant. More details on the budget later in the newsletter.

Vermont Business Magazine Try bending your iPhone in half. Or roll up your tablet like a scroll. Or wrap a touchscreen TV around a pole. Didn’t work out so well, did it? That’s because the ceramic material used to make many of today’s touchscreens has only two of three needed qualities: it’s conductive, it’s transparent—but it’s not flexible. “It’s brittle and so if you bend it, it breaks,” says University of Vermont scientist Frederic Sansoz, a professor of mechanical engineering. But Sansoz and a team of other scientists have made a discovery that may change that. Working with silver at a vanishingly small scale—nanowires just a few hundred atoms thick—they discovered that they could make wires that were both super strong “and stretchy like gum,” he says.

Vermont Business Magazine April 1^st is the traditional date that the state’s winter manure spreading ban is lifted and farmers can get out on their fields and begin to apply those valuable nutrients to their cropland. However, with fresh snow expected for many parts of Vermont by April 1^st, the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets (VAAFM) is issuing a special ‘spring stewardship’ reminder for all Vermont farms: Even though the manure spreading ban will be lifted April 1^st, new statewide water quality rules – the Required Agricultural Practices (RAPs) – prohibit the application of manure on frozen or snow covered ground, in addition to any application that would result in runoff to surface waters.

Vermont Business MagazineBeginning in the fall of the 2017-18 academic year Castleton University will move to offer gender inclusive housing options, a concept that stems from work by the University’s President’s Council on Inclusive Excellence. Allowing residence halls to be a diverse living environment for all students, multiple halls both on and off campus and will feature gender inclusive bathrooms and bedrooms on a designated floor of select dormitory buildings.

“This concept began small but over the past year we have done the research and identified a need for students to have more inclusive living options that meet all students’ needs,” said Director of Residence Life Michael Robilotto. “Not all students are comfortable being housed based on their gender identity, and this option allows for students to choose roommates regardless of gender.”

Vermont Business Magazine In response to a press release issued yesterday by the Department of Financial Regulation (DFR), we have received reports that a Vermont insurance company is also being misrepresented in a series of phone calls to Vermonters. The company said several of its agents and consumers have received calls from a number that populates the insurance company's name in the caller ID and attempts to sell something – in several cases, the item is solar panels.

DFR wants to remind people to never give out personal information over the phone or transact unsolicited business the with an unknown third party.If you received one of these phone calls, please inform DFR by calling 802-828-3301.

Source: DFR 3.31.2017

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott and Agency of Commerce and Community Development Secretary Michael Schirling today announced the appointment of Wendy Knight as Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing. Knight, a longtime Addison County resident, joins the Department from the private sector. Through her own marketing and communications firm, Knight and Day Communications, she developed strategic communications and marketing campaigns for a variety of international clients based in London, New York, Spain, and Italy, as well as Vermont organizations including the Vermont Grape and Wine Council, the Vermont Department of Health, and the Vermont Chamber of Commerce. Knight is a former New York Times freelance writer who has written two travel books and produced online travel videos for ABC News Now.