Current News

Vermont Business Magazine In accordance with the National Ski Area Association’s Safety Month, Sugarbush Resort has added special events focused on safety for the month of January. The resort will be hosting four different events each weekend throughout the month including Meet the Parks Crew Rail Jam on Saturday, January 7, Meet the Wildlife Experts on Sunday, January 15, Know the Code Activities with Murphy Moose and Ski & Ride Team on Saturday, January 21, and Meet the Ski Patrol Toboggan Rides on Saturday, January 28. Each special event is designed to educate guests on the safety required for each field, as well as to provide fun demonstrations and activities.

Sugarbush photo.

by ANR Secretary Deb MarkowitzSix years is a long time to serve as Secretary of the Agency of Natural Resources.From the moment I arrived at our offices in Waterbury, people kept reminding me the average stay of an agency head at ANR was only eighteen months. Some warned me not to get too comfortable. Others cynically noted that perhaps when I took the job I did not fully understand the hazards of the position.

A revolving door of leadership is bad for an organization. It makes effective management of personnel and budgets challenging, and it can result in the failure to resolve difficult policy issues. For an agency charged with protecting Vermont's natural environment, protecting public health, helping developers to efficiently navigate our permit programs, promoting outdoor recreation, supporting the working landscape, and other important work, it can be even more problematic.

Vermont Business Magazine Wednesday, Governor-elect Phil Scott announced more extended cabinet appointments. Mark A Levine, MD, has been named Commissioner of Health. Before joining the Governors-elect’s Administration, Levine was a Professor of Health Medicine at the University of Vermont, the Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education and Designated Institutional Official at the College of Medicine and the UVM Medical Center.

Dr Mark Levine from the University of Vermonthas been named Vermont's nextCommissioner of Health. UVM photo.

Vermont Business Magazine In a unanimous decision, including Associate Justice John A Dooley, the Vermont Supreme Court ruled today that Governor Shumlin did not have the authority to appoint a replacement for Dooley. Dooley had announced his retirement last fall, but will not step down until this spring. The governor argued that the constitution nonetheless allowed him to appoint the next justice when a seat became imminent. The justices ruled otherwise.

In conclusion, Paul L Reiber, Chief Justice; Dooley; Marilyn S Skoglund, Associate Justice; Harold E Eaton, Jr, Associate Justice; and Walter M Morris, Jr, Superior Judge (Ret), Specially Assigned, wrote in their opinion:

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Peter Shumlin gave his last speech today on his last full day as governor. He congratulated Governor-elect Phil Scott and the new leaders of the Legislature. He spoke at length about health care and Vermont’s lowest-in-the-nation uninsured rate. He talked about the long fight against addiction, about the economy, education, the environment, renewable energy, the closing of Vermont Yankee, “fake news” and GMOs. But he did not mention perhaps his greatest accomplishment and one that not a single political opponent or itinerant blogger ever took issue with: Leading Vermont through the recovery from Tropical Storm Irene in 2011.

Vermont Business Magazine Cambridge-based Runamok Maple, a maker of all-natural, organic maple syrup, including a collection of barrel-aged, smoked, and infused maple syrups, today announced the acquisition of Brattleboro's Bascom Maple Farms’ maple candy operation. As of today, the candy operation of Bascom Maple Farms, consisting of maple candy and maple butter, will be owned by Runamok Maple and operated under the name of True North Maple, a newly developed maple candy brand from Runamok Maple.

True North Maple will use the production facilities at Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation’s Cotton Mill Building in Brattleboro, but will operate as a separate entity.

Vermont Business Magazine Stowe's Inntopia, the travel industry’s leading eCommerce and central reservation provider announced today the acquisition of Destimetrics, a leading comprehensive market intelligence provider for the destination leisure travel industry. The acquisition of Destimetrics follows Inntopia’s merger with Ryan Solutions in November, and adds one more key component to Inntopia’s offerings: a full suite of market intelligence reports and analytics for the travel and hospitality industries.

As a result of the acquisition, Inntopia now provides the most industry-complete integrated commerce, marketing, and business intelligence technologies in the industry. The new merger also supports the company’s vision and desire to develop the best technology solutions in the travel industry, and enhance guest experience at each stage of the travel cycle.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) Wednesday named two seasoned staff experts who will serve as top aides as he assumes the post of the Democratic leader on the Senate Appropriations Committee. Leahy has named Charles Kieffer as the committee’s minority Staff Director and Chanda Betourney as the committee minority’s Chief Counsel and Deputy Staff Director.

Kieffer has more than 38 years of experience in the appropriations process, including 16 years of service with the Senate Appropriations Committee, 16 years with the Office of Management and Budget, and six years with the Department of Health and Human Services. His previous experience on the Appropriations Committee includes serving as Staff Director from 2007 to 2009 and 2013 to 2016, as Deputy Staff Director from 2001 to 2007, and as majority and minority Staff Director of the Homeland Security Subcommittee from its inception in 2003 through 2013.

Vermont Business Magazine The consolidation of regional telecoms has completed another transaction. FirstLight Fiber, a leading fiber-optic bandwidth infrastructure services provider based in Albany, New York, and operating in Vermont and across Northern New England, announced today that Oak Hill Capital Partners has completed its acquisition of Oxford Networks, and has combined the operations of Oxford with FirstLight. Oak Hill acquired Sovernet, based in Bellows Falls, last August, and then in September bought FirstLight and combined it with Sovernet. FirstLight now operates a network consisting of 415,000 fiber miles.

Vermont Business MagazineVermont’sCold Hollow to Canada (CHC), a regional conservation partnership program (RCPP) operating in seven towns along the western spine of the Green Mountains, will expand an existing cross boundary management initiative. TheCold Hollow Woodlots Programinitially engaged 12 landowners spanning over 2,000 acres in the town of Enosburg. RCPP will help expand this work to 50 landowners and 8,000 acres by adding woodlots in Richford and Montgomery, as well as serving the existing woodlot group in Enosburg.This effort will be supported with RCPP project funds totaling $640,000.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Peter Shumlin has appointed Dennis Wygmans as Addison County’s State’s Attorney. Wygmans fills an opening created when former Addison County State’s Attorney David Fenster was appointed to the Vermont Superior Court. The governor will swear in Wygmans Wednesday at 12:15 pm in the Governor’s Ceremonial Office. Wygmans has served as a Deputy State’s Attorney in both Chittenden and Addison counties since 2013. Before that he had his own practice with offices in Brattleboro and Winooski. Wygmans is a graduate of the University of Vermont and Seton Hall University School of Law.

Dennis Wygmans, courtesy photo.

Vermont Business MagazineThe University of Vermont Medical Center filed a certificate of need (CON) application with the state of Vermont today to create a unified electronic health record (EHR) across four hospitals in the University of Vermont Health Network. According to UVMHN, aunified EHR will significantly improve patient care by having all of a patient’s information available to a health care provider regardless of location whenever it is needed.