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by Emma Lamberton Vermont Watchdog When Greg Cunningham bought a vacation home in Enosburg Falls in 1992, he knew he never wanted to leave. “Vermont was my getaway. A visit filled me with intense joy,” he told Watchdog. Cunningham and his wife fell in love with the quaint, remote town in northern Vermont. Cunningham, an electrical engineer living in Toronto, grew up north of the Vermont border in Quebec.

Vermont Business Magazine The diversion of food scraps and other organic matter from landfills per Vermont’s Universal Recycling Law (Act 148) presents an expanding economic opportunity for Grow Compost of Vermont to provide organics hauling and management services to food scrap generators such as schools, restaurants, grocery stores, and institutions. Grow Compost of Vermont anticipates organic hauling services will account for over 65 percent of revenue in 2016, compared to 54 percent in 2015 and 17 percent in 2014. 

Vermont Business Magazine Legislation long championed by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) to help ensure that the criminal justice system functions fairly now goes to the White House for signature after the Senate overwhelmingly passed the bill on Thursday. The Justice for All Reauthorization Act aims to reduce the rape kit backlog by supporting grant programs that fund forensic testing.

The bill, coauthored 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 bill 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.

Vermont Business Magazine Campaign for Vermont Prosperity (CFV) announced today its new vision for Vermont. Campaign for Vermont is a non-partisan advocacy group that has pushed for ethics reform in state government, a modern education system, better access to the voting booth, and economic prosperity for all Vermonters. CFV was formed by businessman and former Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Lisman in 2011.

“We are excited to announce a sharper message and a vision for what we are working towards” said Executive Director Ben Kinsley. 

“We want to see a Vermont where everyone can succeed and we have a state that is sustainable, fiscally, socially, and environmentally” said Board Chairman Louise McCarren, “we do very well in so many areas like environmental and social responsibility, but have families that are struggling to make ends meet.”

Campaign for Vermont Prosperity envisions:

Vermont Business Magazine WCAX has announced the addition of three journalists to its news team and the promotion of another member of the team. Ike Bendavid, a native of Bennington, has joined the WCAX newsroom as a reporter and producer. Ike is a graduate of Castleton University and Mount Anthony High School. He is also an award-winning member of the Castleton Football Team. 

Priscilla Liguori will join the reporting team at WCAX. Priscilla will contribute stories to the early evening and late evening broadcasts. She is an Emerson College graduate and looks forward to covering the stories of Vermont, New Hampshire and New York on her nightly beat.

Vermont Business Magazine Last night, the US House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved bipartisan legislation that will provide much-needed new funding for Vermont and other states battling the opioid epidemic devastating families and communities across the country. Also included in the bill is new funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for research on the treatment and cure of life threatening diseases. The legislation provides $1 billion in grants to states, localities, and service organizations working on the front lines of the epidemic. States experiencing a high incidence of opioid addiction will be given priority in the distribution of funds.

Vermont Business Magazine The Northeast Kingdom Fund at the Vermont Community Foundation made $80,000 in grants to 26 organizations in Orleans, Essex, and Caledonia Counties this year. The Fund was established in 2011 by the Community Foundation and local partners as a permanent philanthropic resource to support the people and communities in the region. This year’s grantmaking was supported in part by the Stony Point Foundation and many other donors from across Vermont. The support of these donors demonstrates the importance of philanthropic collaboration and partnership in advancing the work of communities in the Northeast Kingdom.

Coutts-Moriarty Camp photo

Vermont Business Magazine On Wednesday, November 30, with the support of the House Republican Caucus, Representative Linda Myers (R-Essex Town), announced her candidacy for Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vermont Business Magazine Norwich University was recently awarded $714,285 from the National Security Agency (NSA) in collaboration with the United States Army Reserve (USAR) in order to support scholarships for soldiers, capacity building to enhance the overall educational experience and outcomes, and to enhance local and regional community outreach and development.

Vermont Business Magazine Property tax values are projected to increase next fiscal year, but so too are property tax bills an average of 2.35 percent, as local school spending growth (projected at 3.2 percent) is expected to outpace the increase in values. The Vermont Commissioner of Taxes today released her forecast related to education tax yields and rates for the upcoming fiscal year, FY2018. The statutorily required forecasts are a joint effort between the Agency of Education, Department of Taxes, Department of Finance and Management, and Joint Fiscal Office. Total Education spending in FY18 is expected to be $1.617 billion on revenues of $1.591 billion, which suggests a shortfall of $26 million.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Peter Shumlin today applauded approval of Vermont's new rules placing the strictest limits in the nation on the number of addictive painkillers that can be dispensed by medical professionals. The new limits give guidance to prescribers and set legal limits on the dosage and number of opioid painkillers that may be prescribed. For some minor procedures, the proposal calls for a limit of between nine and 12 pills. 

"In 2015, enough painkillers were handed out in Vermont to give every man, woman, and child a bottle of 100 pills," Gov. Shumlin said. "That needs to change, and I am proud that medical professionals and others are working to make progress here in Vermont. These new rules will solidify that progress, helping to ensure that fewer Vermonters are sent home with enough painkillers to set off a lifetime of horrible addiction. I want to thank Health Commissioner Harry Chen for his great work on this issue."

Vermont Business Magazine Québec Premier Philippe Couillard on Wednesday gave the insignia of Officer of the Ordre national du Québec to Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin during a ceremony in Québec City.