Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources and the Vermont Foodbank reported this week a 40 percent increase in food donations in 2016, topping the 25-30 percent increase seen in 2015. This announcement comes during September’s Hunger Action Month. It confirms healthier, fresher foods like fruits, vegetables and frozen meat, are making their way into refrigerators and onto plates of Vermonters in need.

“The energy around these new partnerships is contagious. Vermont’s Universal Recycling Law is making lives better, improving nutrition and choice at food shelves, and reducing waste at landfills,” said Deb Markowitz, Secretary of the Agency of Natural Resources.

Vermont Business Magazine Black plastic doesn’t belong in your recycling bin. Black plastic is pretty easy to identify. It’s plastic, and it’s black. And in Chittenden County, it doesn’t belong in your recycling bin. We recommend reusing black plastic containers to store leftovers, or in a craft project. But if you can’t invent another use for them, black plastic goes in the trash. If you’re wondering why, keep reading. SEE RECYCLING FLYER BELOW.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Peter Shumlin and Transportation Secretary Chris Cole  today announced just over $4 million in transit grants to Green Mountain Transit and the Ascutney, Windsor and St Johnsbury regions.  A $3.9  million Federal Transit Administration competitive grant was awarded to the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) for purchasing buses for Green Mountain Transit (formerly known as CCTA), the largest transit provider in Vermont.  This critical funding will help with purchasing approximately 10 large vehicles to replace nearly 10 percent of their aging fleet. This will allow GMT to continue to provide Vermonters with over 3 million trips per year to jobs, schools, shopping, medical facilities, recreation and personal business. 

Vermont Business Magazine Less than a week after Representative Peter Welch (D-VT) and Representative Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) called on House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz to hold a hearing on recent prescription drug price hikes, the chairman announced a hearing to investigate the cause of and potential solutions to prevent skyrocketing drug prices.

Vermont Business Magazine Citing Sue Minter’s experience and commitment to fighting for the middle class, Vermont State Employees’ Association (VSEA) endorsed Minter this past weekend as members gathered for the union’s 72nd annual meeting in Killington. VSEA is the union covering most of state government's workforce. If elected governor, Minter would be the ultimate boss of all state employees, including over 5,000 in the union, and her administration would negotiate future contracts with the union under collective bargaining.

Saint Michael’s College Saint Michael’s College in Colchester released the following statement early this afternoon: "It is with great sadness that Saint Michael's College communicates the tragic news of the death of one of its students. Jeremiah Collins, from Bridgewater, Massachusetts, a member of the Class of 2017 and a business major, was found dead early this morning in the Gilbrook Natural Area near the College campus. Winooski police responded and the cause of death is under investigation, but no foul play is suspected. 

"The student’s family has been notified by police and members of the Student Life staff have spoken to them as well. College staff members met with Jerry’s roommates and his immediate faculty.

by Timothy McQuiston Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont state auditor's latest investigation was made public today on how much fraud plagued the Vermont Department for Children and Families. State Auditor Doug Hoffer reported that the DCF substantially investigated alleged beneficiary fraud on two of the programs, but not all, and improper payments were not effectively collected. Only 3SquaresVT disqualified fraudulent recipients for a period of time. The DCF budget in FY 2015 was $101.2 million (the fraud amount was $1.8 million on 1,036 improper payment claims over 40 months).

The auditor also questioned how hard the DCF was trying to collect improper payments. For instance, DCF could work with the Tax Department to garnish income tax refunds.

Vermont Business Magazine Green Mountain Power and SunCommon today announced a partnership that will allow customers to store their solar power for security during a power outage. The first of its kind program in Vermont partners a utility with a solar company to offer home storage that both strengthens the grid and allows homes to power from solar during outages. Through the program, Vermonters can add a SunCommon solar system and the Tesla Powerwall to their homes with no upfront cost and a fixed monthly payment.

Vermont Business Magazine The New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert will deliver a lecture about human-driven extinction. Since life emerged from the ooze, there have been five major extinction events on Earth, huge die-offs of the planet’s diversity of plants and animals. Now the sixth extinction is under way — an event unprecedented since the demise of the dinosaurs, sixty-five-million years ago. But this time the cataclysm is not an asteroid impact. "It’s us,” says New Yorker magazine writer Elizabeth Kolbert. As part of the university’s summer reading program for first-year students, Kolbert will deliver a lecture on Wednesday, Sept 14, exploring the meaning and history of this human-driven extinction — drawing on her Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Teddy Bear Company announces the launch of its social awareness campaign “Paws for Politics,” which goes live Monday, September 19^th. The campaign helps encourage people to vote in this year’s upcoming elections by offering information on the national Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates as well as essential national voter information and resources.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, Sue Minter for Vermont released its first television advertisement for the 2016 General Election. The ad titled, “Working for Vermont Families” highlights Minter’s proven record of solving problems and helping Vermonters, from rebuilding communities after Tropical Storm Irene to working on President Obama’s Climate Preparedness and Resilience Task Force.

Vermont Business Magazine With less than two months to go before the General Election, Senator Patrick Leahy’s campaign Tuesday announced they are launching two television ads based on Senator Leahy’s work for Vermonters in Washington, DC. Continuing his tradition of positive, issue oriented campaigns, Leahy’s ads focus on his legislative accomplishments in the Senate for the Green Mountain State.  The first ad highlights Leahy’s efforts to secure emergency funding for Vermont’s recovery following Tropical Storm Irene.   The second showcases the Farm to School program Leahy created in 2010 and he is currently working to expand.