Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Electric Cooperative (VEC) has announced its 2017 Energy Transformation Program, to support members in reducing their carbon footprint. The 2017 opportunities include financial incentives for members who install cold-climate heat pumps, purchase or lease electric or plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, or transition away from generators to power their homes or businesses.With 32,000 members across 2,000 square miles, VEC is committed to identifying and assisting members that may benefit from fuel switching and emission reduction opportunities through new technology and customized solutions.

Vermont Business MagazineThe East Central Vermont Telecommunications District (ECFiber) is continuing its steady growth, bringing service to parts of Royalton (downtown and Dairy Hill Road/Ducker Road), Strafford (Kendall Road/Jordan Road/Old City Falls Road,) Pittsfield (Route100 and Tweed River), and Randolph (SouthRandolph Road).

“These expansions have been funded privately and through Connectivity Initiative grants from the state's Dept.of Public Service,” said Irv Thomae, Chairman of ECFiber and Governing Board delegate from Norwich.“We’re pleased that more residents in these areas are now able to enjoy the benefits of locally grown, full time, state-of-the-art realbroadband,Later this year we will bring our service to six entire towns, including Pittsfield, Pomfret, West Windsor, Barnard, Strafford and Thetford.We plan to fully cover 21 of our 24 towns by 2019.”

Vermont Businiess MagazineA recent survey of its customers, required by the Vermont Public Service Board, found that 94 percent of Green Mountain Power customers are satisfied with the company, which is an increase of 2 percentage points over the previous year and4 percentage points over the same quarter in 2015. The company conducts an ongoing survey of customer satisfaction and achieved this high quality service level in late 2016.

“I am incredibly pleased by these scores,” said Mary Powell, President and CEO at Green Mountain Power. “We routinely meet with and talk to our customers to learn directly from them what they want from their energy company. And we hear resoundingly they expect affordable, low-carbon, and reliable power, and responsive customer service. Everything we do at Green Mountain Power is connected to these customer priorities.”

Vermont Business Magazine A major report released Monday by the Vermont Business Roundtable concludes that a radically expanded early education program that focuses on children aged 0-5 would pay the state back more than three-fold, while also improving social outcomes. According to the report, the lifetime benefits generated by the expanded ECL (early care and learning) programs reaches $77,413 per child, while the additional government investment required is $25,112 per child. Society would receive $3.08 for every additional dollar invested by Vermont’s government in the expansion of ECL programs. After deducting costs, each child would produce more than $52,000 in lifetime benefits to society. The report does not endorse a specific funding source and could come from a variety of sources.

Vermont Business Magazine In what it described as a victory for home builders and other small businesses, Burlington-based Great Northern Construction, a member of the Home Builders & Remodelers Association (HBRANV) of Northern Vermont, successfully appealed a state Department of Labor determination that the company had "misclassified" one of its employees as an independent contractor.

In the December 2016 decision, the central issue before the Supreme Court of Vermont was whether the worker, an expert in historic restoration, was an employee of Great Northern Construction under the statutory definition of "employment."

Claudine Safar, of Monaghan Safar Ducham PLLC, represented Great Northern Construction (GNC) through both the DOL appeal process and before the Vermont Supreme Court.

Vermont Business MagazineEPA has completed comprehensive reviews of site cleanups at nine National Priorities List Sites (Superfund Sites), including four Federal Facilities, across New England by performing required Five-Year Reviews of each site. The two sites in Vermont are the Old Springfield Landfill and the Pine Street Canal in Burlington. The Superfund program, a federal program established by Congress in 1980, investigates and cleans up the most complex, uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites in the country and endeavors to return them to productive use.

by Representative Heidi Scheuermann (R-Stowe) As we enter our sixth week of this 2017 Legislative Session, the differences in priorities between Governor Phil Scott and the Democratic majority in the legislature seem to be getting clearer. As Governor Scott has demanded no new taxes and fees on Vermont families and businesses this year, legislative efforts that seem to be gaining traction include increasing the minimum wage to $15.00 per hour and instituting paid family and medical leave for workers. And, as the Governor proposed a level-funded Fiscal Year 2018 state budget, the legislature last week dealt a serious blow to his proposal, voting against the date change for school budget votes.

Vermont Business Magazine The Allstate Foundation, a leading advocate for victims of domestic violence and financial abuse, announced today$1.2 millionin grants awarded to 20 domestic violence programs around the country. The grants aim to help expand financial empowerment services for approximately 30,000 survivors. The Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violencewill receive $65,000.

It's an especially important time for domestic violence organizations. Demand for their programs is increasing, yet a lack of funding continues to force them to operate with limited resources. On an average day in 2015, more than 12,000 requests for services by domestic violence victims went unanswered. The Purple Purse Moving Ahead Grants, which will be distributed by the 20 awardees to dozens of local domestic violence programs in their states, aim to provide much-needed financial assistance to the nonprofits and those they serve.

by Bill Schubart Hearing loss?...stop mumbling, speak up! Real men don’t have “hearing loss.” Their spouses just mumble as they get older. It was true for my grandfather and father, and it’s true for me. My wife keeps telling me to go to Costco and get my hearing checked. I explain that Costco is for red meat and toilet paper. I hear perfectly well, despite 55 years waving a chainsaw around, three years of concert-sound reinforcement for rock bands, and another ten years in a recording studio control room when I was young. If people just spoke clearly, hearing loss wouldn’t be such a relentless and annoying topic of conversation.

For example, my wife asks, “How ‘bout a little snuggle?” to which I answer, “Sure, if the snow blower starts.” Or, “You want fish for supper?” to which I answer, “She’s nice, but I’m sick of her gossip.”

Vermont Business Magazine Employees from a dozen departments at Southwestern Vermont Health Care gathered on Friday, February 3, 2017 for a photo to celebrate National Wear Red Day. The American Heart Association’s observance and its Go Red for Women campaign raise awareness of heart health issues, especially in women.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, 16 Attorneys General announced the filing of an amicus brief in support of Washington and Minnesota in the federal lawsuit against the Trump Administration’s executive order on immigration. In an amici curiae brief filed with the US9th Circuit Court of Appeals, co-authored by Pennsylvania, New York and Massachusetts, the Attorneys General signatories declared:“Although the amici States’ residents, institutions, industries, and economies differ in various ways, we now all stand together in facing concrete, immediate and irreparable harms from the Executive Order.”

Senator Patrick Leahy After a whirlwind confirmation hearing and committee vote, the Senate tomorrow will vote on the nomination of Betsy DeVos to lead the Department of Education. I will be blunt: I do not believe she has the qualifications to uphold the Department of Education’s primary goal – that of ensuring that all students have access to a quality, public education that allows them to succeed.