Current News

Vermont Business Magazine 2017 marked the moment when Front Porch Forum saw its one-millionth posting! Celebrating 10 years helping neighbors connect and build community, FPF has experienced tremendous growth and accomplishments to serve every community in Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine FairPoint Communications announced today the appointment of Michael C Reed to the position of State President of Vermont. This position acts as the chief spokesperson for FairPoint in Vermont and liaison to government officials and state-based customers. Reed will also continue to serve as FairPoint State President of Maine. Reed replaces Beth Fastiggi, who was named Commissioner of the Department of Human Resources just today. Fastiggi departs after nearly 30 years with FairPoint and predecessor companies to join Vermont state government.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott and Secretary of Administration Susanne Young today announced the appointment of Beth Fastiggi as Commissioner of the Department of Human Resources (DHR). Fastiggi, a native Vermonter and graduate of the University of Vermont, has served as Vermont State President of FairPoint Communications, formerly Verizon, for nearly 30 years. In various roles with the company, Fastiggi oversaw operations, business strategy, internal and external communications, budgeting and additional managerial responsibilities. FairPoint reached a deal late last year to be acquired by Consolidated Communications of Illinois.

Vermont Business Magazine Vail Resorts announced today that the Epic Pass plans to offer unlimited, unrestricted access to Stowe Mountain Resort for the 2017-2018 winter season, subject to the closing of the acquisition. Vail and Stowe announced in February that Vail would buy Stowe's ski operations for $50 million. Current owner AIG will retain the Spruce Peak real estate, lodging and related facilities.

Vermont Business MagazineMiddlebury President Laurie Patton emailed college alumni on March 21 to update them on steps the campus community is taking in the aftermath of the much-publicized March 2protestsagainst speaker Charles Murray. She once again condemned the violence, said both college and police investigations are ongoing and that "21st century education must embrace an uncompromising commitment both to free speech and to open dialogue."

by Mike Smith Charles Burbank works two jobs because he says it’s a necessity in order to make ends meet in Vermont. He wears the clothes of a laborer: loose fitting, worn, and of rugged material. His job: installing carpets and flooring, but he also cuts and sells firewood. He has the weathered face of a man that has seen both good times and bad. He speaks in rapid and unfiltered bursts, with words that may be threatening or intimidating to some. Because of his appearance and some of his mannerisms, he can easily be dismissed or ignored, and often is. Many interpret his passion as nothing more than an obsession run amok. But if you look past the persona, and the sometimes oft-putting antics, he has a public policy point that may have merit.

Leonine Public AffairsAs expected, things are starting to heat up in the Vermont Statehouse. After a relatively tame start to the session, it was only a matter of time before controversy broke out. Week 11 was that time. Over the course of the week, the House had a couple of intense policy debates and wrapped up the budget and miscellaneous tax bill. On the Senate side it was not nearly as intense although the Finance Committee did pass a two dollar surcharge on overnight accommodations, which drew a swift and strong rebuke from Republican Governor Phil Scott.

Public Assets Institute On average, 3.3 percent of Vermont’s labor force was officially unemployed in 2016. The average annual rate has dropped below this level only three times in the last 40 years: to 3.0 percent in 1988 and 1999 and 2.8 percent in 2000. Last month Vermont’s jobless rate fell to 3.0 percent.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Army National Guard (VTARNG) is seeking out caterers available in the Northern Vermont area that are willing to provide catering services for training sessions that last between two and four weeks. Generally, VTARNG has between 75 to 125 students that require 3 meals a day during each session. Typically the VTARNG has 9 or 10 sessions a year.

Vendors providing catering service to the VTARNG need to be able to provide all food, equipment, and staff to setup and run a cafeteria style dining operation. The VTARNG will provide the space for vendors to set up their feeding operations.

All interested vendors will have to be registered in the governments System for Award Management (www.sam.gov) and accept electronic funds transfers (ETF) using Wide Area Work Flow (WAWF) e-business suite (https://wawf.eb.mil).

Vermont Business Magazine There are many clear and compelling lessons to be drawn from the ashes of this sad and botched episode. I hope Republican leaders will set aside the Hastert Rule – under which all legislation is only passed with Republican votes – and actually let all of the people’s elected representatives take part in forging actual solutions for improving health care and the ability of all Americans to have solid, practical, good-quality and affordable health insurance.

Vermont Business Magazine Officials from the Vermont Department of Labor (VDOL) continue to work closely with America’s Joblink Alliance (AJLA) – a provider of the nationwide web-based database Joblink – to identify individuals in Vermont who may have been breached as a result of a cyber-attack on the vendor’s Joblink system, announced by VDOL on Tuesday. The FBI is also investigating. It is now known that this breach may have compromised as many as 182,000 accounts in Vermont – and 4.8 million accounts collectively across 10 states – exposing personal information, which potentially includes name, address, date of birth and social security number. The quantity and identity of individual Vermonters who may have been impacted is still being determined.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Attorney General’s Office has concluded that an email solicitation sent under the name of a representative to the Vermont General Assembly did not violate Vermont’s prohibition against legislator solicitations of lobbyists. RepresentativeJill Krowinski had given the Vermont Democratic Party permission to send an email soliciting contributions to the party using her name.

The email was sent on February 14, 2017, to a list of roughly 15,600 addresses, including some lobbyists and lobbyist employers. The email indicated it was paid for by the VDP and sent from a VDP email account. Rep. Krowinski did not receive any contributions made in response to the email.