Current News

by Timothy McQuiston Vermont Business Magazine The state’s employment scene looks the same on paper, but there is uncertainty behind the numbers. The Vermont Department of Labor announced today that the seasonally-adjusted statewide unemployment rate for July was 3.2 percent. This represents no change from the revised June rate. However, all the major metrics pointed negative: the labor force decreased, as did the number of employed, while the number of unemployed increased. It might be another month or so before the situation clarifies with the start of a new school year and the discrepancy between the adjusted and unadjusted numbers can be rectified to understand whether employment is being maintained at its apparent high level, or whether it is worsening, as the unadjusted numbers suggest. The national rate in July was unchanged at 4.9 percent.

Vermont Business Magazine Weekly unemployment claims increased slightly last week. Claims remain relatively low, as typical for summer, but are running higher in 2016 than in 2015. For the week of August 13, 2016, there were 550 claims, up 27 from the previous week's total and 131 more than they were a year ago. By industry, claims more than doubled for Manufacturing. Service, the usual leader, fell back to second. 

Altogether 4,438 new and continuing claims were filed, an increase of 69 from a week ago, and 68 more than a year ago.

The Department processed 0 First Tier claims for benefits under Emergency Unemployment Compensation, 2008 (EUC08).

Vermont Business Magazine Karen Tucker, of Swanton, Vermont, Pauline Gaboury of Essex Junction, Vermont, Christy Richard of St. Albans, Vermont, and Katherine Tucker of Milton, Vermont were all recently convicted of charges related to a Medicaid Fraud scheme orchestrated by Karen Tucker in Franklin County that resulted in over $100,000 in losses to Vermont Medicaid Program over a nearly five-year period.

Vermont Business Magazine US Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) issued the following statement Thursday after the Justice Department announced plans to end its use of private prisons: “Our criminal justice system is broken and in need of major reforms. The Justice Department’s plan to end its use of private prisons is an important step in the right direction. It is exactly what I campaigned on as a candidate for president.

“It is an international embarrassment that we put more people behind bars than any other country on earth. Due in large part to private prisons, incarceration has been a source of major profits to private corporations. Study after study after study has shown private prisons are not cheaper, they are not safer, and they do not provide better outcomes for either the prisoners or the state.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont-based specialty food producer Gringo Jack’s announced today at Healthy Living market in South Burlington plans to expand their line of locally produced and sourced specialty food products. Gringo Jack’s, known throughout the Northeast for their “Flaky Chips,” “Sassy Salsa” and Craft Beer BBQ Sauces, launched the “CHIP IN” local investment campaign to help finance this expansion. CHIP IN utilizes the newly authorized Vermont Small Business Offering (VSBO), a program that allows Vermonters to make small investments in local businesses with a goal of growing the local economy. As with any investment CHIP IN provides investors with the potential for a financial return. Additionally, CHIP IN provides Vermonters the opportunity for true “impact investment” because, if successful, it will help grow jobs both at Gringo Jack’s as well as the company’s local suppliers and circulate wealth within the community. 

by Mike Faher/The Commons Entergy has agreed to give the state $600,000 for Vermont Yankee emergency planning over the next two years, and officials say some of that money will be allocated to towns in the vicinity of the shut-down nuclear plant. The funding is part of a new contract between Entergy, the plant’s owner, and the Vermont Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security. Due to changes in federal safety regulations at Vermont Yankee, Entergy’s mandatory emergency planning payments to the state ended as of June 30. But Vermont officials had lobbied hard for some kind of continuing support from the company, and the agreement announced Aug. 10 fulfills that goal.

Vermont Business Magazine Recent heavy rainfall has created potentially dangerous conditions along streams and small rivers in the Mad River and Huntington River watersheds, especially at Huntington Gorge. With sunshine and seasonably warm temperatures predicted for this week by the National Weather Service, Vermonters are strongly urged to exercise caution and avoid fast moving, rain-swollen waterways.

Vermont’s popular swim holes, rivers and streams offer some of summer’s best recreational opportunities. However, these areas can become unpredictable, dangerous and sometimes deadly in the days following storms and flash flooding.

Vermont Business Magazine Registration is now open for Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility’s (VBSR) 15th Annual Terry Ehrich Award Ceremony & Dinner. VBSR members and friends are invited to join the celebration on September 21st at the Historic Old Labor Hall in Barre, Vermont. This year VBSR is pleased to be honoring Paul Millman, President and CEO of Chroma Technology Corp., with the award.

Vermont Business Magazine Florida-based Architec Housewares announces two strategic acquisitions - Madeira Housewares and South Burlington-based Starboard Collection - set to help expand the scope of the 16-year-old company and establish their niche as the company renowned for its innovative product development and unique ability to balance a boutique sensibility, for retailers small and large. Starboard operations will move to Delray Beach, FL. Financial terms were not released. Starboard designs and manufacturers durable, outdoor dining products. Starboard had five employees, one of whom will remain as a consultant.

Vermont Fish & Wildlife With most hunting seasons just around the corner, the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department is urging new hunters to sign up now for a hunter education course. F&W is also offering small game hunting tips and free fishing clinics. And it announced that Vermont's annual auction of five moose hunting permits closed on August 10, with $28,916 taken in from the five winning bids. The auction helps fund Fish & Wildlife Department educational programs, such as the Green Mountain Conservation Camps for youths.

Vermont Business Magazine New York hedge fund Maglan Capital LP is calling for FairPoint Communications to remove four directors and to undertake a strategic stock repurchase plan. Earlier in the month it urged a repurchase and requested FairPoint appoint a person of its choosing to the board. Maglan is one of the largest and longest-term shareholders of FairPoint Communications, Inc (Nasdaq: FRP), with beneficial ownership of approximately 7.5 percent of FairPoint's outstanding shares of common stock. Today it delivered a letter to Paul Sunu, FairPoint's Chief Executive Officer, and to the other members of FairPoint's Board of Directors, describing what it calls a complacent board that has not heeded Maglan's previous requests. It requests that four directors be removed.

Vermont Business Magazine Dr Bob Arnot, founder of Daktari and Dr Danger Coffee, donated $5,000 this last month to the Nderi Sacred Heart School and Children's Home. The direct beneficiaries of this donation are 82 children and youth who range from preschool to university age students, as well as 69 home residents. Some of the greatest challenges faced by this school are a lack of water supply systems, inappropriate sanitation systems and the lack of staff and teachers. The funds donated by Arnot's Daktari and Dr. Danger Coffee will be allocated for food, water and school fees for university, tech nical college and secondary students.