Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Moody’s Investors Service revised the City of Burlington’s outlook to positive and affirmed the City’s A3 credit rating on Monday (see Burlington ratings table below). In itsCredit Report released March 13, Moody’s stated “The city remains committed to improving its financial position and has generated four consecutive surpluses (audited 2013-2016). Management adheres to the fund balance policy adopted by the Council in 2015 and has been budgeting $1 million annually for reserve replenishment. The policy targets an unassigned fund balance of 10-15 percent, and the city achieved that in fiscal 2016, well ahead of schedule.”

Vermont Business Magazine The Website 24/7 Wall St (247wallst.com) has recently released its ranking of The Safest States in America, with Vermont comingin first. New England did well in the study, which leaned heavily on crime statistics. Maine was number 2, New Hampshire was number 4 and Connecticut was number 6. There is warning sign, however, as crime in Vermont went up noticeably last year, which we can surmise to be caused by the growing opiate problem and a staggering increase in robbery.

Public Assets Institute The year is off to a good start: Vermont added 1,300 jobs in January, all in the private sector. Since January 2016 the private sector has netted 2,700 new jobs, many of them in accommodation and food service and health care and social assistance services. With nearly 260,000 private sector jobs, Vermont hit an all-time peak in January.

Vermont Business MagazineLandWorks recently received an Honor Award for their work in the development of South Burlington’s planned Dumont Park, which will provide a publicly accessible passive recreation space that will serve South Burlington’s envisioned City Center downtown and surrounding areas. Other members of the multi-disciplinary team led by LandWorks include Engineering Ventures, North Woods Ecological Consulting, and Ecological Artist/Designer Jackie Brookner.

Vermont Business Magazine It’s no secret that personal credit scores are a barometer of financial strength. The better your score, the easier (and cheaper) it is to get things like a mortgage or car loan. But, did you know small business owners have a separate business credit score for their company? The two scores share commonalities, both impact a business owner’s ability to get financing, but they also have surprising differences. In either case, Vermont is a leader in both. Vermont finished first on the business credit score and second in personal.

Vermont Business Magazine FirstLight Fiber, a leading fiber-optic bandwidth infrastructure services provider operating in the Northeast, announced today that Oak Hill Capital Partners has completed its acquisition of Sovernet Communications and has combined the operations of Sovernet with FirstLight. Oak Hill has acquired several telecom providers over the last year with an emphasis on fiber optic networks and combined them under the FirstLight brand.

Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General Thomas JDonovan, Jr, joined nine other attorneys general yesterday and filed an amicus brief in the Federal District Court for Hawaii in support of the State of Hawaii’s request for a temporary restraining order enjoining the enforcement of the revised Executive Order issued on March 6, 2017. The attorneys general argue the revised travel ban retains unconstitutional components of the original Executive Order, including a broad entry ban by nationals from several predominantly Muslim countries and a complete suspension of the refugee program.

Attorney General Donovan said: “I am proud to stand with my fellow attorneys general in opposition to this Executive Order.”

Vermont Business Magazine Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) issued the following statements Monday afterthe nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported that the House Republican plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act would raise the number of people without health insurance by 24 million.

RELATED STORY: Vermont Would Take $200 Million Hit Under New Health Plan

Vermont Business MagazineGovernor Phil Scott today issued the following statement: “Vermont is under a statewide Winter Storm Warning and a Blizzard Warning for the western edge of Vermont, throughWednesdayevening. My Administration is closely monitoring the storm and potential impacts on Vermont’s roadways, infrastructure and public safety." The Western and Southern parts of the state are expected to be hardest hit, with accumulations up to 18 inches by Wednesday night.

Vermont Business Magazine Thomas JDonovan Jr, the Vermont Attorney General, announced during a press conference at the University of Vermont on Monday thathis staff is taking steps to make the Attorney General’s Consumer Assistance Program more responsive to Vermont small businesses’ issue.The Consumer Assistance Program provides information, referral and mediation services to address consumer complaints.

“We are making the Attorney General’s Office a resource for small business. We intend to communicate clearly what the law is and get businesses in contact with the resources they need. The best form of law enforcement is voluntary compliance with the law,” said Donovan.

Vermont Business MagazinePaul Kervick and Dee DeLuca have known each other for more than three decades. More than one-third of that time has been spent changing society’s approach to elder care. The two entrepreneurs are altering how we as a nation, a state, and a community approach aging and health care as part of their Living Well Group, with campuses in Bristol, Burlington and Montpelier.

Vermont Business MagazineMatthew Choate, BSN, RN, MBA, CEN, CPEN was recently named Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) for The University of Vermont Health Network – Central Vermont Medical Center (CVMC). Choate had served as interim CNO since December 2016. Choate cited recognition for nurses, fiscal management, and staff engagement as priorities he’ll remain committed to in the role. CVMCalso named Jane Hartzell, RN, its first DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses recipient.