Current News

by Patrick Leahy This week, the Senate Judiciary Committee will meet in a legendary room that has been the site of such historic events as the Watergate hearings, and Senator John Kennedy’s presidential campaign announcement. This ornate room has since been named for my friend, the late Senator Ted Kennedy, and more recently senators have met in this room for the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and Attorney General Eric Holder.

As senators prepare to gather in the Kennedy Caucus Room next week for the confirmation hearings of Senator Jeff Sessions to be Attorney General of the United States, I cannot help but wonder what Ted would think. Thirty years ago he said this about the current nominee who then was a nominee to be a district court judge:

Vermont Business MagazineBrattleboro Memorial Hospital has announced that Patricia “Patty” O’Donnell has been elected as Chairperson of the Board of Directors.O’Donnell has served in various capacities on the Board, including several committees such as Quality, Planning, Joint Conference, and Board Executive.She represented the towns of Vernon and Guilford as a State Representative from 1998 to 2010. During that time, she served on both the Appropriations and Human Services Committees, where she became well-versed in healthcare issues in Vermont.

Additionally, she worked as Trustee of the Brattleboro Retreat Center from 2011 to 2015.She served on the Vernon School Board for 3 years, the last year as its Chairperson. O'Donnell also served on the Vernon Selectboard from 1997 to 1999 and was re-elected in 2011 for a two year term.

Vermont Business MagazineBlue Cross and Blue Shield of VT announced in a statement Monday that it had completeda 150 kW net metered solar array, which is installed at its Berlin campus. This system is a roof-mounted solar array comprising 860 panels, generating roughly 225,000 kW Hours per year. This project is expected to offset more than 169 tons of carbon dioxide per year andwill eventually produce enough electric power to reduce the non-profit’s utility costs by $40,000 annually. Blue Cross is the state's largest health insurer.

Vermont Business MagazineSecretary of State Jim Condos announced today that eligible Vermont voters are now able to register to vote on any day up to and including Election Day. As of January 1, 2017Act No. 44 (S29) An act relating to election day registrationofficially went into effect, and will be implemented immediately for all local and state elections going forward, including any special elections and Town Meeting Day, which is Tuesday, March 7.

Vermont became the 14^thstate to enact Election Day Registration, eliminating Vermont’s voter registration deadline. This means a person can register at their polling place on the day of an election, and can then vote in that election. Registration will still be available at a person’s Town or City Clerk’s office on any day prior to the election during normal business hours.

Vermont Business MagazineWhat do four hundred electricians, more than two thousand nurses, and nearly five hundred software developers have in common? According to a newly updated brochure from the JWarren & Lois McClure Foundation and the Vermont Department of Labor, these are some of the most promising jobs expected in Vermont over the next 10 years. Wages run from low-40s to over $100,000 a year. As this data makes clear, high-pay, high-demand jobs do exist in the Green Mountain State. However, they largely require training and/or education beyond high school.

Vermont Business Magazine A new University of Vermont study reveals notable disparities in how police officers from 29 departments across Vermont treat drivers by race. The research finds racial disparities in traffic stops, searches, arrests and outcomes – which vary by police agency. It is the first study of statewide traffic policing and race, covering Vermont’s largest police departments, and follows a 2014 state law requiring police to collect race data.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont remains in the middle of the pack for bad mortgages as the nation as a whole continues to make significant progress in unwinding from the real estate collapse during the Great Recession of 2008-2009. Vermont, which had a smaller relative level of foreclosures than most of the country, is also more slowly working through the process. As of November (the most recent data available) non-current mortgages in Vermont represented 5.6 percent of all mortgages (US 5.3 percent), while the state's year-to-year reduction was 5.9 percent, compared to the national average of 13.4 percent.

by Mike Smith On a Friday evening, just over a week ago, The Washington Post sent the entire world into a tizzy with claims that Russian hackers had penetrated this country’s electrical grid. The Post reported that it was a Vermont electric utility where hackers found entry to our electrical production and transmission systems. The mere thought of hackers gaining access to our electrical grid is frightening. Industrial, financial, medical and government operations — just to name a few — could be disrupted, or even worse, shut down. It could throw this country, and the world, into chaos.

There was just one problem with the Post story: It was wrong.

Vermont Business MagazineBrattleboro Memorial Hospital (BMH) has submitted to the Green Mountain Care Board (GMCB) a Certificate of Need (CON) application for a Modernization Project. The project includes the construction of a four story building to house replacement forthe three existing operating rooms and support areas, two floors for medical offices, and expansion of cardiopulmonary rehabilitation services. The project also includes upgrading the hospital’s power plant.

The components of the Modernization Project were identified in the hospital’s Master Plan, which was adopted by BMH’s Board of Directors in 2009. Over the past two years the Hospital staff and Board worked with architects and engineers to develop plans for the new project. The cost of the project is approximately $22 million.The GMCB and State of Vermont require a CON application for proposed hospital projects costing more than $3 million.

Vermont Business MagazineThe public is invited to offer suggestions to the Central Vermont Regional Planning Commission (CVRPC) for transportation planning projects that would benefit Washington County and the towns of Orange, Washington, and Williamstown.CVRPC is asking for help to make getting around easier, safer, and more convenient for everyone by contributing your transportation planning and study ideas.

CVRPC will complete up to $70,000 in transportation special projects and studies using funding from the Vermont Agency of Transportation’s Transportation Planning Initiative. We would appreciate your ideas for projects that would benefit Central Vermont. While our funds cannot be used for construction, our planning helps shape projects for future construction.

Vermont Business MagazineSenator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) issued the following commentFridayafter the release of areporton Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. Earlier this week, Leahy joined other Democratic Senators inintroducing legislation calling for anindependent, nonpartisan commission to comprehensively investigate the matter.

Vermont Business Magazine NG Advantage LLC, based in Colchester, which is majority owned by Clean Energy Fuels Corp., (NASDAQ: CLNE) has announced it has begun delivering compressed natural gas (CNG) for the first time to customers in the state of Maine. The expansion was made possible through an asset acquisition from Global Partners LP (NYSE: GLP). NG Advantage specializes in transporting CNG to industrial, institutional, and commercial customers who are beyond the reach of a natural gas pipeline, allowing them to realize the economic and environmental benefits of the cleaner burning fuel.