Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The final weekend of July 2016 was unlike any other weekend at the Johnson headquarters of Vermont Electric Cooperative.  While VEC is always prepared for emergencies and the unexpected, on July 30 and 31, VEC had the opportunity to participate in a national level emergency response exercise called “Vigilant Guard”.  The exercise, sponsored by the National Guard, was designed to improve cooperation and relationships between civilian, military, and federal partners in preparation for emergencies and catastrophic events. 

Vermont Business Magazine When Vermonters think of September, they picture the last days spent swimming in our lakes and rivers, or the first cool nights that signal the start of fall. However, for many Vermonters, September also signifies the perfect time of year to put on some work gloves and join friends and neighbors in hauling tires, refrigerators and shopping carts from our rivers and streams. September is Vermont's River Cleanup Month and Watersheds United Vermont invites interested volunteers to get involved.

Vermont Business Magazine Farm-Way, Inc recently celebrated the grand opening of its expanded operations at its family owned and operated store in Bradford. Twin State Fertilizer and its predecessors manufactured and repackaged seeds, fertilizer and pesticides for 50 years or more on the site where Farm-Way’s expanded facility is now located.

Vermont Business Magazine This summer is a season of transition for the Lake Champlain Basin Program. After more than 17 years as director of the program, Bill Howland “graduated” to retirement on June 22. During that time, Bill was instrumental in building a program driven by sound science that brings together diverse stakeholders in collaboration. Starting this month, Eric Howe continues that legacy as the new director of the LCBP and the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership.

by Mike Faher/The Commons After many delays, a large-scale landfill solar project in Brattleboro is under new ownership and appears to be moving ahead. Windham Solid Waste Management District officials say a multinational solar developer has partnered with a Burlington company to build a 5-megawatt array on Brattleboro’s closed and capped landfill.

The previous developer ran into financial problems and was unable to do much with the project, which was enabled by special legislative language in 2014. But officials say they’re seeing welcome signs of progress.

“We’re very optimistic because both of these companies have already put a lot of their resources into this project,” said Lou Bruso, chairman of Windham Solid Waste’s board of supervisors.

Vermont Business Magazine Through a grant provided by the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) as part of the State’s Clean Water Initiative, the Town of Jericho and the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission (CCRPC) will develop a Stormwater Master Plan for the Town. This type of planning is needed now as the 2016 Jericho Comprehensive Town Plan predicts a 5% increase in population by 2030, with new development concentrated in the town’s three state-designated village centers.

Vermont Business Magazine Entergy Corporation (NYSE: ETR) on Tuesday reported second quarter 2016 earnings per share of $3.16 on an as-reported basis and $3.11 on an operational basis. Second quarter 2016 EPS were $3.16 on an as-reported basis and $3.11 on an operational basis, compared to second quarter 2015 as-reported and operational EPS of 83 cents. Current period results were favorably impacted by income tax items, which resulted from resolution of previous positions at Utility, as well as a tax election at EWC.

Consolidated Earnings (GAAP and Non-GAAP Measures)

by Joshua E Brown Imagine a nurse who gets the flu while working at a hospital. He goes home to recover—and an uninfected replacement nurse comes in. This kind of substitution happens all the time in the real world—teachers, doctors, firefighters and others with essential societal roles get sick and a substitute comes in to fill their role. A new study shows that this kind of health-protecting behavior—a “relational exchange”—can explosively accelerate the spread of some epidemics. This finding is in striking contrast to the standard “mass-action” disease models—like many used by the US Centers for Disease Control and other health organizations—that don’t account for this reality.

Vermont Business Magazine Creditsafe, the world's most used provider of company credit reports, today released surprising data about which US states are home to the companies that are timeliest bill payers. Vermont was fifth best. According to the Creditsafe report, companies in Alaska, New Hampshire and Hawaii lead the pack in taking less than two days to pay bills while companies in Mississippi, Illinois and Louisiana are the most delinquent by taking more than seven days.

"We don't often think about how quickly the companies headquartered in a state pay their bills, as the economy is tightly focused on consumer debt and the national debt. It turns out there is quite a significant variance in the each state's overall payment behavior," said Matthew Debbage, president of Creditsafe's American and Asia-Pacific Operations. "In fact, some of these results are quite surprising."

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont Gas has received approval from the town of Weybridge to bring residents access to its natural gas service. The Selectboard approved the company’s ‘request to serve’ in June and granted approval of the system design last night. The Weybridge expansion is part of the Addison Natural Gas Project and will provide service to families who live on Orchard Lane, Pleasant View Terrace, Otter Creek Lane, and a portion of Pulp Mill Bridge Road, Weybridge Road and Morgan Horse Farm Road. The Weybridge distribution lines will be installed this year. Construction on the 41-mile expansion project is underway in Chittenden and Addison counties. The company is focused on completing the project by the end of the year.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Peter Shumlin announced today that Deputy Secretary Lucy Leriche will step in as Secretary of the Agency of Commerce and Community Development, replacing outgoing Secretary Patricia Moulton. Moulton leaves her post on September 9th to serve as interim president of Vermont Technical College. Leriche has served as Deputy Secretary at the Agency for four years. She has been active in business recruitment and retention, expanding housing and strengthening downtowns and community centers across the state, and strengthening tourism and marketing of Vermont across the globe.

Lucy Leriche. VBM file photos.

Vermont Business Magazine Shawn Shouldice, campaign manager for Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Lisman, today issued the following statement in conjunction with general campaign developments.