Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Peter Shumlin today announced that Secretary of Administration Justin Johnson will be leaving state government on Sept. 30 to join Montpelier lobbying firm MMR, LLC. At MMR, he will be heading up a new practice focused on international projects, helping businesses and governments meet their goals and obligations under the Paris climate accord signed by more than 170 countries since last November. The governor said Trey Martin, Deputy Secretary at the Agency of Natural Resources, will replace Johnson. Martin has been responsible for overseeing the Agency’s administrative functions, budget, IT, legal and policy work, as well as coordinating the work of ANR’s three commissioners. He has also been key in projects including Vermont Yankee Decommissioning and the Lake Champlain TMDL funding and Clean Water Act.

Vermont Business Magazine To assist in Vermont’s on-going battle against opiate and heroin abuse, Governor Peter Shumlin today accepted a $25,000 donation from President and CEO of Subaru of New England Ernie Boch Jr to Youth Services of Brattleboro to create a youth counseling program to treat addiction.

“Once again I stand here thanking Ernie and Subaru of New England for a generous donation to tackle an issue here in Vermont,” Gov. Shumlin said, noting that Boch has donated to Irene Recovery efforts, Green Up Day and the Vermont Universal Children’s Higher Education Savings Account Program. It marks his second donation to combating opiate addiction in Vermont, following last year’s commitment to Recovery House Inc. in Rutland.

Vermont Business Magazine Southern Vermont College (SVC) is proud to announce its participation in the local effort that is bringing back hydroelectric generation to Vermont. SVC and its campus neighbor Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC) have both signed on as part of the Pownal Tannery Hydroelectric Net Metering Group, which will help offset some of their electrical use with a local renewable resource.

Vermont Business Magazine Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson will present a lecture on the subject of her much heralded recent book, The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration, at The University of Vermont's  Ira Allen Chapel on Wednesday, October 5 at 5 pm. The event is free and open to the public. Wilkerson, it was just announced, will be awarded the 2015 National Humanities Medal at a special White House ceremony presided over by President Obama on today, September 22.

Isabel Wilkerson (credit: Joe Henson)

Vermont Business Magazine The US Small Business Administration announced September 21 that federal Economic Injury Disaster Loans are available to small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture and private nonprofit organizations in Caledonia, Essex, Orange and Windsor counties located in Vermont as a result of the drought that began on January 1, 2016.

“These counties are eligible because they are contiguous to one or more primary county in New Hampshire. The Small Business Administration recognizes that disasters do not usually stop at county or state lines. For that reason, counties adjacent to primary counties named in the declaration are included,” said Frank Skaggs, director of SBA’s Field Operations Center East in Atlanta.

Vermont Business Magazine Climate change is really taking its toll on Mother Earth. Average global temperatures have risen sharply in the past few decades. Warming oceans are melting away the polar ice caps at unprecedented rates. And natural disasters are becoming more frequent and intense. For many, those impacts may seem a world away from daily life, but the truth is that climate change is creeping closer and closer to home. And it's headed straight for your freezer.

Vermont Business Magazine Green Mountain Power announced Tuesday that it has filed with the Public Service Board an agreement with Enel Green Power NA to acquire 14 of Enel's small hydroelectric power stations located mainly in northern New England, with an approximate total capacity of 17 megawatts. GMP has also entered into a power purchase agreement with Enel for the rights to the output of two other Enel hydroelectric power stations in accordance with a 25-year PPA. The deal, GMP said in a statement, will create one of the lower cost renewable resources in GMP’s energy portfolio. GMP also said Tuesday that it expects to sell a limited number of renewable energy credits from some of the plants to reduce costs for customers in the short term.

Vermont Business Magazine Researchers at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine and Dartmouth-Hitchcock health system have been awarded up to $42 million to investigate environmental influences on child health. The highly competitive awards are part of a $157 million, seven-year initiative known as Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) that was announced Wednesday by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) has received an additional $16 million in federal highway funding after the state met all of its fiscal year deadlines for federally-funded projects. When states or other federal entities which are funded through the federal highway trust fund do not fully utilize their federal funds in a given year, the Federal Highway Administration makes those funds available to other states that have successfully obligated their allotment of federal dollars.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermonters are now encouraged to file complaints directly with Consumer Affairs and Public Information (CAPI) at the Department of Public Service about a company or developer’s  potential failure to comply with the terms and conditions of a Certificate of Public Good (CPG). CPG’s are issued by the Public Service Board for the construction and operation of telecommunications and energy facilities. 

Vermont Business Magazine Fuad Ndibalema of Barre, Vermont was arraigned yesterday in the Vermont Superior Court, Windsor Criminal Division, on two misdemeanor counts of Operating without a License from Department of Health in violation of Title 18 V.S.A. Section 4351(a). As a result of the charges, Ndibalema faces a maximum fine of $500. According to documents filed with the court, on February 12, 2016, and April 8, 2016, Ndibalema prepared and served food at events hosted at the Montshire Museum in Norwich, Vermont, without the proper license required by the Vermont Department of Health.

Ndibalema pleaded not guilty at arraignment. The court imposed conditions of release that prevent Ndibalema from preparing food for sale or selling food in the state of Vermont without first obtaining the proper license from the Vermont Department of Health.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Secretary of State Jim Condos has announced that early voting will officially open on Friday, September 23rd. Beginning this Friday, any registered voter will be able to request a ballot from their town clerk by phone, mail, or online and cast their vote for the November 8th election. The elections team has already finalized, printed and sent the ballots to town clerks - some towns may even open their early voting before Friday.

"Vermont's early voting system is one of the many ways our office ensures voting is accessible to eligible Vermont voters," states Secretary Condos. "We recognize that many Vermonters have busy schedules and may not be able to take time away from work or their families to vote on November 8th. Early voting ensures these people are not left out of the democratic process by giving them more opportunities to cast their vote."