Current News

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.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont’s jobs outlook continues to slowly improve. The Vermont Department of Labor announced today that the seasonally-adjusted statewide unemployment rate for February was 3.0 percent. This reflects a decrease of one-tenth of one percentage point from the revised January rate, as all the key indicators improved: the rate was down, the labor force and number of employed increased, and total unemployed fell. Vermont ranked sixth best, while New Hampshire had the lowest rate in the nation at 2.7 percent and New Mexico was highest of any state at 6.8 percent.

Vermont Business Magazine The Senate Finance committee voted 5-1-1 Thursday to add a $2 fee on top of the 9 percent "rooms" tax to raise $7.2 million for affordable housing and for other vulnerable Vermontes, such as victims of abuse. Governor Phill Scott on Friday issued a statement saying this new fee would be a detriment to the tourism industry, while jeopardizing broadly-supported affordable housing efforts. The Finance committee is responsible for tax policy.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Phil Scott called the JobLink data breach "appalling" at a press conference Thursday at the State House with Labor Commissioner Lindsay Kurrle. While 180,000 or more Vermont Labor Department accounts could be affected, the extent of the damage is not yet known, or even whether any Vermonters were actually victimized. The state has been using the third party vendor, America'sJob Link Alliance, since 2003, as a way for job seekers, including those on unemployment, to find work. It does not effect all those who have filed for unemployment and does not require everyuser to include a social security number, though it is an option on the online form. The breach affects several states and officials are urging anyone who has used the system to check their credit and debit cards, bank accounts and credit report (see information below).