Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Addison County Chamber of Commerce welcomes its newest member, Parlour, and congratulates owners Lisa Phelps and Megan Mandigo on the opening of their new full service salon and mini-spa. Located at 8 Elm Street in Middlebury, Parlour is open five days a week with regularly scheduled hours and by appointment. The telephone number is 802-989-4993 and can be found on the web at ParlourVT.com. Parlour is a full service salon and mini spa offering a full array of hair services, nail treatments, waxing and facials. They carry several exclusive lines of hair and skin care products such as R&Co, Living Proof and Tata Harper—which is a nationally-recognized business based in Shoreham, Vt. Tata Harper herself designed Parlour’s facial room, the only one in Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine NFP, a leading insurance broker and consultant that provides employee benefits, property & casualty (P&C), retirement, and individual insurance and wealth management solutions, has acquired Mackey Insurance, Inc. (Mackey). The transaction closed on June 1, 2016. Mackey is based in Middlebury, VT and provides personal and commercial P&C insurance services to over 2,000 clients in the community. Mackey associates Kathy Mackey and Tina Dragon will remain with the firm, each assuming the role of Account Manager with NFP Property & Casualty, reporting to Daniel Rodliff, Vice President with NFP Property & Casualty, and Daniel Lussier, Managing Director of NFP Property & Casualty. Mackey’s office will remain in its current location in Middlebury.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, Democratic Candidate Sue Minter, announced that her campaign raised $101,000 for the September 1 filing period, which spanned 16 days from August 13 to August 29. Minter has raised $1,150,000 for the cycle and reported with over $85,000 cash on hand.

Vermont Business Magazine US Senate candidate Scott Milne today issued the following statement calling on Sen. Patrick Leahy to donate the more than $20,000 he has received from Mylan’s political action committee and CEO, including $7,000 he received in conjunction with the sunset cruise fundraiser Leahy hosted on Lake Champlain last year, to the Food Allergy Research & Education charity.

Vermont Business Magazine Some thought this day would never come, but the Lodge at Burke Mountain is now open daily. The Gap Pub will be open Sunday through Thursday's, 11am-8pm and Friday/Saturday's from 11am-9pm.  Vertical drop retail store will be open this weekend with huge discounts including 50 percent off all last season ski/ride apparel and 20 percent off all lifestyle clothing and accessories.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Taxes is pleased to announce that Liberty Tax Service and Lamson Tech/1040NOW have made good faith contributions to the State of Vermont to remedy an extraordinary issue caused by unusually high error rates in some returns completed using their commercial tax preparation software. CCH Small Firm Services has also agreed to make a similar contribution. Earlier on July 5, the department announced that Intuit and H&R Block had made similar good faith contributions for errors in their own software. The five software vendors have contributed about $2.5 million.

Vermont Business Magazine Underscoring Vermont’s success in leveraging federal resources and partnerships to improve access to affordable housing in Vermont’s rural communities, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) Thursday hosted a public roundtable discussion with community leaders and US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Julián Castro. After the roundtable discussion, Leahy and Castro took part in the opening of the Bright Street Co-op, new rental housing developed by the Champlain Housing Trust and Housing Vermont with funding from VHCB. The Co-op is a 40-unit affordable housing cooperative in Burlington’s Old North End.

Vermont Business Magazine Faced with the imminent demise of an important resource in the fight against opiate addiction, the Green Mountain Care Board approved today Burlington Labs' Emergency Certificate of Need. The health care regulator agreed that it was urgent to approve the CON because of its tenuous financial situation and the important role Burlington Labs plays in opiate treatment statewide. It will also save 140 Vermont jobs. The GMCB approved the applicant's (Burlington Labs Acquisition, LLC) request for the CON, which will be issued upon the execution of a settlement agreement with the Vermont Attorney General concerning allegations of inaccurate or improper Medicaid claims reporting. The lead investor is former IDX Systems CEO James Crook and includes the UVM Health Network. UVMHN initially will own 15 percent of the lab and lend the new entity $3 million-$5 million.

by LCC Lake Champlain Committee For several years LCC has collaborated with Arrowwood Environmental to conduct surveys for aquatic invasive species in the Lake Champlain watershed. Our most recent efforts have focused on floating-leaved species like water chestnut. This year's work revealed two previously unknown populations of this pernicious invader: one on Alice Lake in Chazy, New York and the other in the marshes at the head of Vermont's St. Albans Bay. LCC Staff Scientist Mike Winslow removed 109 water chestnut plants from Alice Lake in the hopes of quashing the population before it becomes established. Soon he'll head to St. Albans Bay to undertake a removal effort there.

Vermont Business Magazine The following are Public Alerts submitted by Wastewater Treatment Facilities for prompt public awareness of untreated discharges and their locations. The most recent was Wednesday in St Albans. 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 During a grand opening celebration of Randolph’s new wastewater facility Thursday, US Department of Agriculture (USDA) officials announced that 18 communities across Vermont are receiving a total of $17.9 million in loans and grants to improve water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure through the USDA’s Water and Environmental Program. The funding is the largest single-year investment the agency has made in Vermont’s environmental infrastructure since the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. 

Vermont Business Magazine US Citizenship and Immigration Services announced today the award of nearly $10 million in grants under two funding opportunities to 46 organizations that will help permanent residents prepare and apply for US citizenship.  Located in 21 states, organizations will receive federal funding to support citizenship preparation services for permanent residents through September 2018. Of the $10 million, a grant of $100,000 has been awarded to US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, Inc. – Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program.