Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Electric Cooperative (VEC) has announced the distribution of $500,000 in patronage capital funds to member-owners in 2016. Patronage capital is each member’s share of remaining funds after the cooperative utility pays its operating expense. The VEC Board of Directors determines annually whether the co-op is in a strong enough financial position to return portions of patronage capital to members, and, if so, they decide which years and what percentage from those years to refund. Including this distribution, VEC has returned $2,350,000 in patronage capital dollars to active and former members.

Patronage capital is being distributed to active members as a credit on their September electric bill. Former members with a refund of at least $10 will be sent a refund check. Both active and former members have the option of donating their patronage capital dollars to VEC’s Community Fund to support local organizations.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont property owner William Jennison of Johnson settled claims that he filed a false lead paint compliance document for his rental property in violation of Vermont consumer protection and lead laws. “The Department of Health and Attorney General’s Office continue their vigorous enforcement of Vermont’s lead laws. This is another warning to landlords who try to dodge their lead paint responsibilities,” said Attorney General William Sorrell.

Vermont Business Magazine Jill Mazza Olson has been appointed Executive Director of the VNAs of Vermont, the 10-member association of non-profit home health and hospice agencies serving all Vermonters. Olson, who worked most recently as the Vice President of Policy and Legislative Affairs at the Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems (VAHHS), assumes the role on October 10. As Executive Director of the VNAs of Vermont, Olson will call on her policy background and advocacy experience to reposition the VNAs in the state's health and payment reform conversation.

Jill Mazza Olson

Vermont Business Magazine In honor of Farm to School Awareness Month, which begins October 1st, the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets (VAAFM) gathered Thursday with Vermont Farm to School leaders at Winooski School District to celebrate the impacts of Farm to School programming and to announce new grant funding for Universal Meals in Vermont schools.  Among the celebrants were Secretary of Agriculture Chuck Ross, State Senators Sirotkin and Zuckerman, Winooski Schools Superintendent Sean McMannon, Farm to School partners, teachers, students, and administrators. Following the celebratory remarks, event attendees were treated to a “local food taste test” featuring Nepalese and Somali cuisine served by Winooski students.

Vermont Business Magazine Phil Scott for Vermont spokeswoman Brittney Wilson today issued the following statement on the Vermont Democrat Party’s waste of taxpayer resources, regarding the decision by the Vermont attorney general not to pursue an investigation of illegal collaboration between the Scott campaign and an independent organizational over a TV ad.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, as expected, the Vermont State Colleges System Board of Trustees voted unanimously to unify Johnson and Lyndon State Colleges into a single accredited college with two distinctive campuses, following preliminary approval at its July 22, 2016 meeting. The Board’s decision to create a larger, stronger institution is intended to expand opportunities for students, strengthen institutional finances, and ensure continued access to high-quality, postsecondary education in the northern region of Vermont. The Vermont State Colleges system continues to be strained by budget shortfalls, a lack of state budget support and a general shrinking of high school-aged students in Vermont and the Northeast, which makes admissions even more competitive.

by Mike Faher/The Commons The controversial Stiles Brook Wind Project proposal is about to change. Developer Iberdrola Renewables has scheduled two public meetings to discuss revisions to the project’s size and its economic impacts. Currently, plans call for a 28-turbine wind energy site that would be Vermont’s largest. The sessions are scheduled for 6 pm to 8 pm October 4 at Windham Elementary School, and 6 pm to 8 pm October 5 at Grafton Elementary School. Prior to those meetings, the developer isn’t detailing its proposed changes at Stiles Brook.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Attorney General’s Office has concluded that the facts presented in a complaint which merely suggested the general possibility of a Vermont campaign finance law violation were not sufficient to trigger a civil investigation. The complaint theorized that three video advertisements run by A Stronger Vermont, an independent-expenditure-only political committee, featuring film footage of gubernatorial candidate Phil Scott were unlikely to have been made without coordination with Lieutenant Governor Scott. The complaint did not provide evidence of prearrangement or coordination between A Stronger Vermont and the Scott campaign.

by Mike Faher/The Commons Entergy is selling its Brattleboro properties, including a former office complex and training center that had supported the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant. On one hand, it’s yet another sign of the end of the Vermont Yankee era. The structures were vacated this past spring, more than a year after the Vernon plant ceased producing power. On the other hand, local officials view the sale as a chance to spur economic development. In all, more than 66,000 square feet of industrial building space is available on roughly 8 acres of land situated not far from Exit 3 of Interstate 91.

by Michael Bielawski and Emma Lamberton Vermont Watchdog  Governor Peter Shumlin announced Wednesday that his administration has a draft agreement with the federal government to make Vermont the first state to adopt an all-payer health care model. Since failing to create a single-payer health care system that would have cost Vermonters $2.6 billion in new taxes, Shumlin has been working on a slightly more modest proposal to change how health care services are paid. Under the draft agreement with the feds, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) authorizes Vermont to create an All-Payer ACO Model. The plan is described as “a test” to see if health care quality can be improved by tying payment for that care to health outcomes instead of individual health procedures, the current fee-for-service payment model.

Vermont Business Magazine Grassroots Solar of Dorset has announced an exclusive partnership with industry leader sonnenBatterie, Inc, an energy storage solution company based in Germany. A dominant player in Europe, sonnenBatterie has recently entered the US market. The sonnenBatteries work with new or existing solar systems to store excess power, feed the household’s electrical needs when the power is out, and allow homeowners to reduce or eliminate their use of electricity from the grid during peak periods. sonnenBatterie has chosen Grassroots Solar of Dorset as their only partner in Vermont and adjacent upstate New York. The sonnenBatterie system is a direct competitor of the recently launched Tesla home battery system. Tesla initiated its first utility partnership with Green Mountain Power earlier this year.

Vermont Business Magazine Phil Scott, Republican candidate for gvernor, toured Springfield Hospital Tuesday and presented his healthcare reform priorities to a group of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center employees as part of the hospital’s Health Policy Grand Rounds series. Scott told the group of healthcare professionals and administrators that he’s running for Governor to strengthen the economy, make Vermont more affordable and to restore faith and trust in state government, explaining that getting healthcare reform back on track is central to these goals.