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Vermont Business Magazine The Champlain College Women’s Empowerment Initiative’s Spring Symposium will be held on April 3. A series of events will be held throughout the day to celebrate the 2017 theme -- “Being Brave: Cultivating Our Courage and Confidence.” The third annual Spring Symposium will bring together members of the Champlain College faculty, staff, students, alumni and community for learning and engaged discussion. Events are open to the public.

The day will begin at 8:30 am with a breakfast in the Morgan Room of Aiken Hall to recognize “Champions at Champlain” who have made a difference for women-identified people in the community.

Vermont Business Magazine David S Silverman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Union Bank announced today that, on February 15 the Board of Directors of Union Bankshares, Inc appointed Nancy C Putnam of Jeffersonville to the Board of Directors of Union Bank. Previously employed as a CPA with Marckres Norder & Company in Morrisville, Nancy recently retired after 21 years of employment. Prior to that she was Vice President and Trust Officer at the former Franklin Lamoille Bank in Morrisville and Vice President, Tax and Estate Officer for the former Howard Bank in Burlington, covering a span of 14 years between both positions. Nancy received her BA in Political Science from the University of Maine. She furthered her career with studies at Northwestern University in Chicago and Roosevelt University.

Vermont Business Magazine On a recent bleak winter day, spirits were lifted at HOPE with the news of a $2,000 grant award from Merchants Bank. Grant funds will support HOPE’s Project Real Job initiative – one of HOPE’s most utilized programs, will assist working low income residents of Addison County. Project Real Job is designed to keep low income working people gainfully employed. In 2016, HOPE assisted 55 different people in Addison County with small amounts of support to help cover approved job related expenses.

Vermont Business Magazine In a 7-4 party-line vote today, the House Committee on General, Housing, and Military Affairs voted favorably to advance H196, a bill that would create a family and medical leave insurance program. The program would provide up to 12 weeks of paid leave to cover a worker’s absence for a qualifying condition, including to care for a new child, a seriously ill loved one or themselves. Governor Phil Scott, however does not love the bill because it pays for the $80 million benefit with what the governor calls a payroll tax.

As passed out of the committee, the bill eliminates the payroll tax and and funds the insurance program through a .93 percent income deduction, with the option for the employer to contribute to the cost. It would provide 100 percent wage replacement, for up to 12 weeks, capped at two times the livable wage, which is equivalent to about $1,000 per week.

Vermont Business MagazineGovernor Phil Scott today issued the following statement on legislative action on economic priorities for the state: “As we reached the halfway mark of Vermont’s legislative session this week, it’s important for those of us in Montpelier to prioritize our efforts to make a real difference in the lives of Vermonters in the final eight weeks of this legislative session.

“On my first day in office, I signed an executive order establishing three goals that guide my Administration’s efforts: Strengthen the economy, make Vermont more affordable, and protect the most vulnerable. These are simple principles, but they are critical to solving the challenges we face and they should be the focus of each effort we undertake, and each policy we put forward.

Vermont Business MagazineThe Vermont Agency of Natural Resources announced today that Walgreen Eastern Co, Inc, the owner of three Vermont Walgreens stores, was fined $20,000 for producing and selling batteries in Vermont without an Agency-approved battery stewardship plan. Under state law, manufacturers of “primary” batteries are required to identify how they will contribute to the free collection and recycling of batteries sold in Vermont. Primary batteries are defined as non-rechargeable alkaline, carbon-zinc, and lithium metal batteries. The provisions must be outlined in a stewardship plan approved by the Agency of Natural Resources in order for the manufacturer to legally sell batteries in the state.

Over 10 million primary batteries are sold to Vermonters each year. The precious metals and other materials used to produce batteries are valuable and recyclable, and can be kept out of landfills with proper stewardship.

Vermont Business Magazine Airbnb has announced that Vermont’s 3,000 active hosts earned over $17 million dollars in supplemental income in 2016 by welcoming approximately 140,000 visitors to the Green Mountain State -- a 87 percent year-over-year increase in inbound guest arrivals. The typical host in Vermont earned $5,600 last year, often using the additional funds to make rent or mortgage payments, save for retirement or repay student loans. The typical listing is occupied 23 nights per year and the average length of stay is 2.6 nights.

Vermont Business Magazine Michael S Pieciak, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation (DFR), announced Thursday the appointment of Christina R. Rouleau as deputy commissioner of the Insurance Division. Rouleau joined DFR in 2009 as assistant general counsel and became director of the Market Conduct Section in 2012. In that role, she managed the team that is responsible for investigating and examining insurance companies. In 2015, the Consumer Assistance Section merged with the Market Conduct Section and her supervisory duties were extended to include the staff that handles all consumer inquiries and complaints received by the department.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General Thomas JDonovan, Jr, and Secretary of State Jim Condos will hold a meeting of the Committee on Campaign Finance Education, Compliance and Reform on Tuesday March, 21 in the Winooski city offices at 6pm. This is the second meeting in a statewide tour of the committee. The Committee is tasked with gathering information, analyzing the current state of Vermont’s campaign finance law, and making recommendations for changes or improvements in the law and its implementation. The Committee will initially seek input from Vermonters, including elected officials, activists, PACs, parties and, most importantly, voters at a series of public forums to be held throughout the state. The issues raised by stakeholders will guide the Committee’s work in formulating their analysis and report.

Vermont Business Magazine Norwich University in Northfield will once again host this year’s Vermont Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Fair on Saturday, April 1. The day-long event runs from 9 am to 4 pm, anchored in Norwich’s state-of-the-art science complex, Bartoletto Hall, with an awards ceremony in Dole Auditorium starting at 2 pm. Free and open to the public, the fair showcases the work of Vermont public, private and homeschool students in grades 5-12 who have won local science and math fair competitions. The students will display projects that tackle questions and pose solutions arising from the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Attorney General TJDonovan has joined a coalition of states to oppose President Trump’s directive for federal agencies to reconsider vehicle emission standards. The coalition includes the Attorneys General from Vermont, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington State, the District of Columbia, as well as the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. The coalition issued the following statement:

“President Trump’s action represents a dramatic wrong turn in our nation’s efforts to fight air pollution from passenger cars and trucks, and protect the health of our children, seniors, and all communities.

Vermont Business Magazine After two weeks of relatively high numbers, weekly unemployment claims fell by over 300 last week and are nearly 300 fewer from the same time last year. Over the last week, the the Vermont unemployment rate and state tax revenue results have also showed positive results for the early part of 2017.

By industry, Services reported the most claims with 182 (39 percent of the total), but all sectors were below last week's levels. Services typically report the most claims. The spikes in the graph below reveal the volatility in hiring and firing in Service positions around the holidays.

For the week of March 11, 2017, there were 468 claims, down 317 from the previous week's total and 290 fewer than than they were a year ago. Year-to-year claims had been running lower the last several weeks.