Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Over 100 Vermont businesses completed the latest semi-annual economic survey in January regarding the outlook of Vermont’s small- to medium-sized businesses. The survey, presented by Davis & Hodgdon Associates CPAs and the Vermont Chamber of Commerce, revealed that while opinions about the Vermont and US economies are moving in a positive direction, there is still a great desire to see improvement in the state’s business climate and tax laws.

Vermont Business MagazineThe USConsumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced today that Keurig Green Mountain, Inc, based in Waterbury, has agreed to pay a$5.8 millioncivil penaltyto the government. The penalty settles charges that Keurig knowingly failed to report a defect and unreasonable risk of serious injury to CPSC immediately with Keurig MINI Plus Brewing Systems, as required by federal law.

Vermont Business Magazine Ledyard Financial Group, Inc(ticker symbol LFGP), the holding company for Ledyard National Bank with a presence in Vermont, has reported record earnings for 2016 of $4,128,419, a 2% improvement over 2015. Net income for the quarter ended December 31, 2016, was $987,221 or $0.95 per share compared to $886,229 or $0.87 per share for the same period in 2015, an increase of $110,992 or 11%. This increase was primarily due to the improving environment for our two primary businesses, banking and wealth management. Net income for the twelve months ended December 31, 2016 was $4,128,419 or $3.98 per share compared to $4,061,338 or $3.96 per share for the same period in 2015, an increase of $68,025 or 2%.

Additional highlights for the year include:

Vermont Business Magazine Today, the Accountable Care Learning Collaborative (ACLC) released a series of 20 Case Study Briefs (CSBs) as part of its latest initiative to help providers identify and implement the care delivery competencies necessary to succeed under risk-based payment. InSeptember 2016, the ACLC released its first iteration of recommendedcompetenciesalong with a "Call to Collaborative Action," petitioning health care organizations to actively engage in sharing solutions. Today's announcement uses that work as a foundational framework for targeted, tactical learning.

Vermont Business Magazine It's easy to find out how many calories are in a Twinkie. But how about in a tweet? A team of scientists have invented a new instrument for measuring just that: the caloric content of social media posts--like tweets. The state of Vermont isn't that great, as it turns out, and bacon appears to be the issue. "This can be a powerful public health tool," says Peter Dodds, a scientist at the University of Vermont, who co-led the invention of the new device--called a Lexicocalorimeter. "It's a bit like having a satellite image of how people in a state or city are eating and exercising."

Vermont Business Magazine The rumors proved true. Vail Resorts, Inc (NYSE: MTN) announced this morning that on Friday, February 17, 2017, it entered an agreement to acquire Stowe Mountain Resort from Mt Mansfield Company, Inc(MMC), a wholly owned subsidiary of American International Group, Inc. (AIG), for a purchase price of $50 million, subject to certain adjustments. Stowe Mountain Resort will be Vail Resorts' first mountain resort on the East Coast. Vail Resorts is acquiring all of the assets related to the mountain operations of the resort, including base area skier services (food and beverage, retail and rental, lift ticket offices and ski and snowboard school facilities) at Mount Mansfield and Spruce Peak. The deal does not include the Stowe Mountain Lodge, Stowe Mountain Club, Stowe Country Club and certain real estate owned and held for potential future development, which will be retained by MMC.

Vermont Business MagazineThe Visiting Nurse Association of Chittenden and Grand Isle Counties (VNA) announces that the Janet SMunt VNA Family Room will transition from being a program of the VNA to a newly created freestanding non-profit organization in July 2017. The VNA Family Room, established in 1988, is one of 15 state-designated parent-child centers in Vermont providing a wide range of programming and support for parents and children from birth through age six in Burlington’s Old North End.

Aly RichardsHealthy children. Happy parents. A positive work culture. Engaged, productive and loyal employees who feel valued and supported to do their very best work. These are just a few of the many reasons the Permanent Fund for Vermont’s Children chooses to offer paid family leave. We believe offering paid family leave is not only good for young children and their families—it’s good for Vermont overall.

Research documents that paid family and medical leave has health benefits for children and parents and also benefits employers via increased worker productivity and employee retention. But before getting into statistics, let’s consider how paid family leave impacted the life of one Vermonter—our Director of Innovation, Molly.

by Mike SmithPresident Donald Trump and GovernorPhil Scott are both Republicans, but that’s where the similarities end. Nothing illustrates the differences between these two politicians more than their opposing positions on immigration.

President Trump issued an executive order that attempted to temporarily halt immigration from seven, mostly Muslim, countries. In the case of Syria, it’s an indefinite ban. The president said he wanted time to review the vetting process of refugees coming from these countries to ensure Americans are safe from terrorism. In contrast, Governor Scott has aligned himself with Vermont’s Democratic attorney general as well as the Democratic legislative leadership to denounce the ban and supports legislation to circumvent the order.

Leonine Public AffairsThis week the Statehouse was relatively slow moving in terms of House and Senate floor action. The House did settle on the rules for the recount of the Orange-1 House race and there was a vote to elect new UVM trustees, but beyond that, action was light. Things should start to pick up as bills move out of committee in advance of the Town Meeting week recess in two weeks, which also marks the midway point of the 2017 legislative session.

by Education Secretary Rebecca Holcombe Just over 50 years ago, in response to a national poverty rate of almost 20 percent, President Johnson introduced legislation known as the “War on Poverty.” His goal was “not only to relieve the symptom of poverty, but to cure it and, above all, to prevent it." A central piece was the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), which emphasized equal access to educational opportunity and accountability for meeting equity goals. The Act mandated funds to support those goals. As President Johnson stated when he signed the bill into law: “…with your courage and with your compassion and your desire, we will build a Great Society. It is a Society where no child will go unfed, and no youngster will go unschooled.”

Vermont Business Magazine Saint Michael’s alumnus and National Public Radio (NPR) Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman ’77 will be presenting on campus on Thursday, Feb. 23 at 6 p.m. in the McCarthy Arts Center at Saint Michael’s College. His talk, titled “Reporting on war and conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq,” will highlight Bowman’s many trips to the war-torn region and being embedded with US troops. Bowman was nearly killed last year when his convoy was ambushed, killing his colleague, NPR photographer David Gilkey, and their Afghani translator.

Bowman will speak alongside a veteran (or possibly more) of both wars who will describe his/ their life/lives in Vermont since returning. This event is free and open to the public.

His bio from NPR website: