Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Green Mountain Power announced today it is the first utility in the nation to provide customers with true energy independence and offer the ultimate in customer empowerment: to go off-grid with a new package of products and services to increase energy independence and reduce carbon emissions by more than 30 percent. GMP stated that the product offering is fully customizable to meet the unique needs of each home or business and can include solar, battery storage, home automation and more.

Vermont Business Magazine Microhospitals, modernization of Emergency Departments, infection control and behavioral health will change both the care and look of health care in the future.  E4H Environments for Health, a Williston-based architecture firm focused exclusively on the healthcare industry, has  released five predictions for healthcare facility design trends in 2017. With healthcare construction spending expected to double in 2017 from $19.6 billion in 2016 (Architect Magazine), there will be a significant expansion of new facility construction and the renovation of existing facilities. The pace of medical and technological developments, along with shifts in payment models and regulations, are creating fertile ground for key design innovations.

Vermont Business Magazine AARP Vermont has released results of a national study which shows that this is the fourth straight year of double-digit price average annual increases for widely used brand name drugs. Retail prices for brand name prescription drugs widely used by older Americans rose by an average of 15.5 percent in 2015—almost 130 times faster than the 0.1 percent general inflation rate—according to a new AARP Public Policy Institute (PPI) report.

Vermont Business Magazine At the recent annual meeting of Washington County Mental Health Services, the Center for Counseling and Psychological Services (CCPS) program recognized Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont for its collaboration and support of both CCPS’s services and service recipients. This is the second year the Center and its five subsidiary organizations honored valuable community partners.

by John McClaughry Two weeks from now new Governor Phil Scott will give his inaugural address to the legislature, and a week or so later they’ll receive his budget proposal for FY2018, which begins in July. Governor Scott campaigned on the attractive idea that “state budget spending will not grow faster than the economy or your wages.” Exactly what that means remains unclear. Is it General Fund spending, or that plus Transportation and Education Fund spending? Does it also include Federal funds? And whose wages?

Vermont Business Magazine Champlain College's David L Cooperrider Center for Appreciative Inquiry in the Stiller School of Business has received a $1 million gift from the Stiller Family Foundation to plan and convene a national Positive Education Summit that will use Appreciative Inquiry to accelerate positive education from early childhood on up.

Vermont Business Magazine Weekly unemployment claims fell steeply last week, as claims spike and fall during the holidays. While this is typical for this time of year, claims are actually lower than they were last year. Most industrial sectors saw at least some decrease for the week, with Construction seeing the biggest increase while Manufacturing fell to under 40 claims.

The holidays typically produce wild swings in unemployment claims, because of an increase in hiring in the Service sector, from retail to delivery-related businesses, and then an abrupt round of layoffs. It is also represents the end of the construction season.

For the week of December 10, 2016, there were 666 claims, down 552 from the previous week's total and 53 fewer than than they were a year ago.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Secretary of Administration Trey Martin will return to private law practice with his former firm Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC, after Governor Peter Shumlin leaves office on January 5. According to a DRM statement, Martin will practice principally in the areas of land use, energy and environmental law and government affairs. He will start his new job on January 9 and work in the firm’s Montpelier office.

Trey Martin photo courtesy of DRM. Martin previously worked for DRM before moving into several positions in the Shumlin administration, most recently as Administration Secretary.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont is the 5th-best state for drivers, according to a new report from Bankrate.com. High scores for having the least number of auto thefts (#1), fewer incidents of car fatalities (#2) and below average insurance costs (#10) secured the state's top five rank. The cost of gasoline is higher than most states and repairs in Vermont are about average. Insurance in Vermont also tends to be relatively low. Iowa is the best state for drivers, according to a new Bankrate.com (NYSE: RATE) report. California is the worst. The study evaluated 50 US states based on several factors that impact drivers, including commute time, annual insurance premiums, gas expenditure, cost of car repairs, car thefts and auto fatalities. 

Iowa received first place due to its low insurance premiums, short commute times and less expensive auto repair costs. Ohio, Maine, Wisconsin and Vermont complete the top five states for drivers.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) issued a tersely worded statement last week on a further delay to the Middlebury rail tunnel project. The tunnel would replace two aging bridges. VTrans said it has been working with the Town of Middlebury and stakeholder groups in recent months to advance a project that replaces the two highway bridges in downtown that cross the rail line known as the Western Corridor.

Due to objections raised recently, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and VTrans said work will likely not begin in 2017. The delay will allow time for a more detailed examination of project risks under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

Public Assets Institute Nonfarm payroll jobs decreased in November to 315,000 —a drop of more than 1,000 jobs since January. But the total number of employed Vermonters, both payroll workers and those who are self-employed, has held steady for most of 2016, up less than 1 percent since the start of the year.

Vermont Business Magazine Legislation authored by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) to help ensure that the criminal justice system functions fairly was signed into law on Friday by President Obama. The Justice for All Reauthorization Act aims to reduce the rape kit backlog by supporting grant programs that fund forensic testing. 

The bill, introduced by Leahy and Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas), also renews the Innocence Protection Act, a landmark Leahy law which includes the Kirk Bloodsworth Post-Conviction DNA Testing Grant Program.  That program facilitates the use of post-conviction testing of DNA evidence that can exonerate the wrongly convicted and hold the guilty accountable.  The Justice for All Reauthorization Act also requires the Justice Department to assist state and local governments to improve their indigent defense systems and ensures implementation of the Prison Rape Elimination Act.