Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Accessing health care and health insurance are significant challenges for farmers in Vermont and nationwide, creating obstacles for farm viability, health and well-being, job creation, business expansion and the ability to farm full-time. A day-long summit at the University of Vermont on Thursday brought together key stakeholders in Vermont’s health, agriculture, tax, government, and Extension sectors to share perspectives and discuss opportunities for collaboration and integration of the spheres of health and agriculture to better serve Vermont’s farmers.

The intended outcome is to develop a statewide coordinated approach to addressing health and health insurance in the Vermont farm sector. This event is part of the ongoing USDA Health Insurance, Rural Economic Development and Agriculture research project (HIREDnAg).

Vermont Business Magazine Five Rutland-area businesses have been awarded a total of $104,141 in Regional Economic Development Grants sought by Rutland Economic Development Corp. (REDC) and provided by the State of Vermont. The awards were announced at REDC’s annual meeting last week. REDC applied for the grants on behalf of Carpenter & Costin, Awesome Graphics, Ann Clark Cookie Cutters, Vermont Maple Sriracha, and BalanceWorks, all businesses located in Rutland County.

“Investment spurred by the grants will create 20 new jobs in the area and increase productivity through the purchase of equipment and facilities improvements,” said Lyle Jepson, executive director of REDC.  “The recipients of the grants are businesses from a variety of sectors, each one in a position to grow due to the success they’ve generated.  The grants will help facilitate that growth.”

Vermont Business Magazine Weekly unemployment claims fell last week for the first time this fall and are below levels from a year ago. Among industrial sectors Manufacturing claims fell by more than half from previous week, while Construction was up slightly. After running at a very low level during the latter part of the summer, overall claims have increased during the fall and have been running steadily ahead of 2015. Looking ahead, 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 after Christmas.

For the week of October 29, 2016, there were 544 claims, down 74 from the previous week's total and 83 fewer than than they were a year ago.

by Timothy McQuiston Vermont Business Magazine Okemo Mountain Resort in Ludlow is changing ownership as part of what is reported as the largest ski resort sale in history. Okemo, along with New England resorts Sunday River and Sugarloaf in Maine and Loon Mountain and Mount Sunapee in New Hampshire are being sold to a New York hedge fund as the former Florida company that owned them is liquidating. The total deal is valued at over $800 million and includes properties across the country and into Canada.

Vermont Business Magazine Dealer.com is reporting today that car shopping behavior in battleground states is suffering, largely because of advertising costs. Identified through vehicle detail page (VDP) views from its dealership network, shopping behavior was down 9 percent year-over-year (YoY) [Dealer.com hosted site data, September 2015 –September 2016]. Battleground states, or states in which no single candidate or party has overwhelming support to secure electoral votes, include Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Attorney General’s Office has concluded that Planned Parenthood Vermont Action Fund IE PAC (“PPVTAF PAC”) did not engage in coordination with the Sue Minter gubernatorial campaign. The Vermont Republican Party filed a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office requesting an investigation into the activities of PPVTAF PAC, an independent expenditure-only PAC. The complaint asserted that PPVTAF PAC’s candidate survey questionnaire and endorsement of candidate Minter indicated that the PAC was not conducting its activities entirely independent of candidates within the meaning of Vermont campaign finance law. The complaint also pointed to PPVTAF PAC and Minter’s alleged use of the same media vendor and substantially similar video footage as evidence of coordination. Upon investigation of the complaint, the Attorney General’s Office found there was no violation of Vermont’s campaign finance laws.

Vermont Business Magazine Catamount Financial Advisors of Raymond James have partnered with the Vermont Catamounts in a multi-year partnership between the group and its hometown athletic program, as announced today by the University of Vermont Athletic Department and its multimedia rights partner, Learfield's Vermont Sports Properties.

Vermont Business Magazine PC Construction's Waterbury State Office Complex project has been selected by Engineering News-Record (ENR) to receive a 2016 Merit Award in the Government/Public category in the New England region. The award is one of the highest given by ENR and the only project recognized in this category. PC Construction completed the Waterbury State Office Complex in December 2015.

Vermont Business Magazine The following are Public Alerts submitted by Wastewater Treatment Facilities for prompt public awareness of untreated discharges and their locations. A new public alert has been reported by Rutland Wastewater Treatment Facility in Rutland. These alerts have been directly reported by Wastewater Treatment Facilities and may have not yet been reviewed by the State. Wastewater Treatment facilities are required to submit a public alert as soon as possible, but no longer than one hour from discovery of an untreated discharge from the wastewater treatment facility. This time requirement is extended to no longer than four hours if the operator does not have telephone or internet service at the location or they are working to control or stop the untreated discharge. Additional details regarding sewage overflows and incidents are required to be reported within 12 hours of discovery and available below.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont’s “Wheels for Warmth” program is ready to roll out heating assistance funds for this winter, thanks to its 12^th consecutive year of strong community support. Preliminary numbers for 2016 show the program collected a total of $52,000 for emergency fuel assistance programs, sold 2,250 safe tires, and recycled 2,500 donated, unusable tires. Two sale locations at Dubois Construction in Middlesex and Casella Construction in Mendon, along with 13 tire drop-off locations, made it possible for more Vermonters to take part in the program. People started lining up at both sale sites well before dawn on October 29 to find safe, affordable winter tires.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets (VAAFM) announces grants totaling $237,845 for seven projects to benefit Vermont fruit, vegetable, and added-value producers and increase consumer access to locally produced food. These grants, funded through the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service’s Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP), were awarded to four agricultural organizations to undertake a range of technology development, research, education, marketing, and program-building projects. The grants will leverage an additional $167,000 in matching funds.

USDA photo of beets being harvested.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Education’s Child Nutrition Program has received $32,000 from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to pay for travel costs for local school food service program staff associated with USDA’s Team Up for School Nutrition Success training. Training will take place in Concord, NH in December 2016 in collaboration with Child Nutrition Programs from the states of Maine and New Hampshire.