Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont will host an event highlighting the innovation and entrepreneurship of its students, faculty, staff and alumni on Monday, October 17 at 9:30 am in the Livak Ballroom in the UVM Davis Center. The activities include an "Innovation Slam" and a keynote address by UVM alumnus and trustee Briar Alpert, CEO of Winooski-based BioTek. The UVM events kick off BTV Ignite’s Innovation Week, October 17 through 21, a series of events held in locations around the city that highlight Burlington’s emerging status as a hub of entrepreneurship and technological innovation. The event will open with the Innovation Slam. Six UVM-affiliated innovators will each have five minutes -- and one slide -- to tell the stories of their new companies and products in a lightning round of talks.

Vermont Business Magazine US Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) Thursday announced his support for the re-election of US Senator Patrick Leahy and US Representative Peter Welch. Sanders also endorsed Sue Minter for governor, TJ Donovan for attorney general, Beth Pearce for treasurer, Doug Hoffer for auditor of accounts and Jim Condos for secretary of state. Sanders previously endorsed David Zuckerman for lieutenant governor.

“Sue Minter understands that the key for Vermont's economic future is opening up higher education to all Vermonters, regardless of income,” Sanders said. “That’s why, if elected governor, she will work to make community colleges and Vermont Tech tuition free,” he added.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) is leading a bipartisan, bicameral coalition of 56 members of the House and Senate, including Senator Bernie Sanders (I) and Representative Peter Welch (D), urging Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Shaun Donovan to free up safety net funds to help dairy farmers in Vermont and across the nation who are struggling with declining milk prices. In a letter sent Thursday, Leahy and his partners request that Donovan do all he can to support Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in using existing authorities to expand and maintain US domestic markets, encourage the domestic consumption of dairy products, and help dairy farmers through the ongoing financial crisis.

Vermont Business Magazine Burlington Electric Department General Manager Neale Lunderville today announced that Darren Springer, Chief of Staff to outgoing Governor Peter Shumlin, will join the leadership team at Burlington Electric as Manager of Strategy and Innovation and Chief Operating Officer. Springer, a resident of Burlington’s New North End, has more than a decade of experience in energy and will begin his new position in January 2017 after completing his service to Governor Shumlin and the State of Vermont through the gubernatorial transition.

Vermont Association for Mental Health and Addiction Recovery The Vermont Association for Mental Health and Addiction Recovery has partnered with a number of other organizations - Vermont Association of Area Agencies of Aging, NAMI-VT and Vermont Care Partners – in developing the topics and questions related to home and community-based health care services. Here are the responses from Republican candidate Phil Scott and Democratic candidate Sue Minter. The surveys are informational. There is no rating of the candidates.

Vermont Business Magazine Spruce Peak at Stowe has completed of its highly anticipated $90-million-dollar Village Center development, which the resort says is revolutionizing the Northeast ski experience. The resort development, an estimated $500-million-dollar project, began in 2003 with Stowe Mountain Lodge, the Mountain Cabins and a 21,000 square-foot spa. As of this 2016/2017 winter season, Spruce Peak at Stowe presents a luxurious alpine village with a new 20,000 square-foot Alpine Clubhouse with Club Residences, 30,000 square-foot Adventure Center and boutique shops that are centered around a 10,000-square-foot ice skating rink.

Vermont Business Magazine The Howard Center released the following statement Wednesday regarding the investigation of the fatal car crash last weekend that killed five teenagers on I-89 in Williston. The statement says: "Numerous requests from the media and others for information related to the individual allegedly responsible for the horrific automobile crash that claimed five teenage lives last Saturday night prompt us to publicly respond.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Natural Resources Council (VNRC) and the Vermont State Council of Trout Unlimited (VTTU) announced that they have filed a cross appeal in the on-going appeal of the water quality certificate issued by the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) to Morrisville Water and Light (MWL) for the operation of its Morrisville Hydroelectric facilities. The facilities include four dams and three hydroelectric power plants on the Lamoille River, Elmore Brook and the Green River, the latter creating Green River Reservoir. MWL appealed the water quality certificate earlier this month, and in the media has cited concerns about the cost of complying with conditions of the certificate and the impact of the operating regime on energy generation, especially at the Green River facility.

Vermont Business Magazine The Public Service Department through its Division of Telecommunications and Connectivity today announced that 12 rural, underserved Vermont communities are getting financial help to boost broadband Internet speeds. Internet service providers Waitsfield/Champlain Valley Telecom, ECFiber, Southern Vermont Broadband Cooperative, Pear Networks, and FairPoint Communications were awarded a total of $558,633 in Connectivity Initiative grant funding to expand access to broadband to 466 underserved locations in the towns of Readsboro, Peru, Stockbridge, Royalton, Lowell, Randolph, Chelsea, Sharon, Craftsbury, Canaan, Charlotte and Norwich.

Vermont Business Magazine AFT Vermont delegates unanimously chose to endorse Sue Minter for governor at the union's statewide convention on Sunday, September 25. Union members discussed the endorsement at the meeting and decided that Sue Minter was the best choice for the state's top position. "We are encouraged by Sue Minter's focus on the importance of higher education, and we look forward to working with her and her administration to reclaim the promise of public higher education for Vermont students. Vermont is currently at the bottom in the nation with regard to funding public higher education, and we are hopeful that a Minter administration will prioritize making college more affordable for Vermont students," explained Linda Olson, AFT Vermont Vice President for Higher Education.

Vermont Business Magazine In a settlement announced today, software company Entrinsik agreed to provide better warnings after a Vermont college experienced a security breach that potentially exposed 14,000 social security numbers due to the ordinary use of its reporting tool. Because the Attorney General believes that the software practice involved is widespread and many companies may not even realize that this practice could violate state law, no monetary penalty was imposed. Entrinsik, however, agreed to highlight the issue for Vermont consumers through the use of warnings and dialogue boxes that adequately alert users and IT staff to the software vulnerability.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont has once again been ranked the nation's least tax friendly state for retirees. Kiplinger recently revealed its annual list of the most and least tax-friendly states for retirees. In Vermont, the report cites Vermont's property taxes, income taxes (even on Social Security) and estate taxes as leading to the "#1 least" ranking. Kiplinger’s 2016 Retiree Tax Map reveals senior tax breaks across all 50 states, and compares taxes on income (including Social Security benefits, pensions and other forms of retirement income), property, everyday purchases and, ultimately, your estate. The Northern states generally fall in the least friendly category while the Southern states are most friendly.