Current News

by Mike Faher/The Commons, Brattleboro Time constraints, regulatory issues, and competitive pressures will make it “extremely difficult” for Vermont to independently submit a purchase bid for TransCanada’s hydroelectric stations on the Connecticut and Deerfield rivers, a new document says. The Department of Public Service memo details several options by which the state still might partner with another entity or entities and “acquire some beneficial interest” in the dams. In fact, the memo — penned by Regional Policy Director Ed McNamara — says four companies already have contacted the state to explore such a partnership.

Vermont Business Magazine The People’s United Community Foundation, the philanthropic arm of People’s United Bank, announced today that it has awarded $12,000 to the Vermont Community Loan Fund (VCLF) to support its Business Loan Program. The goal of VCLF is assist small businesses in qualifying for traditional financing. VCLF’s Business Loan Program provides access to capital for small and emerging businesses that cannot obtain sufficient credit from traditional lenders. VCLF targets loan capital to businesses that benefit lower-income residents, are women-owned, are located in a downtown area, or are related to agriculture.

The grant brings the total amount awarded to VCLF by the People’s United Community Foundation to more than $65,000 since 2009.

by Mike Faher/The Commons, Brattleboro On June 2 at a Boston hotel, a team of officials and experts spent hours dissecting a vexing question: What’s the best way to find a new home for the nation’s nuclear waste? The inquiry is vitally important for Windham County and the town of Vernon, where Vermont Yankee’s spent nuclear fuel will be stored for the foreseeable future.

by Danny Monahan A seed is much like Vermont. It is small but it is powerful. Whether he is speaking of his business or his seeds, Tom Stearns does so passionately. That passion is one of the many reasons why the Vermont Small Business Person of the Year, is awarded to Stearns, High Mowing Organic Seeds founder and owner. He is being recognized for growing his company, increasing sales, employee growth and contributing to the local community. A celebration of Stearns and all the 2016 SBA winners will take place Thursday, June 16, from 4-7 pm at Country Club of Vermont in Waterbury Center.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont’s Breakfast on the Farm comes to Nea-Tocht Farm in Ferrisburgh on June 25. This free, public event includes a Vermont-style breakfast, self-guided tours of the farm including 10 educational stations, and a peek into the life and business of dairy farming in Vermont. Although this is a free event, tickets must be reserved in advance at www.VermontBreakfastOnTheFarm.com.

Vermont Business Magazine For those in the market for a new car this summer, now is the time to go electric. Drive Electric Vermont is offering an instant discount off the purchase or lease of a new plug-in vehicle. Drive Electric Vermont offers up to $1,000 on qualifying plug-in vehicles.

Vermont Business Magazine Nunez Electric, LLC has announced a new program for Franklin County homeowners, small businesses, and non-profits to go solar and pay less than their utility power costs. The program is a partnership between Nunez Electric, LLC and financing through AllEarth Renewables, the Williston-based manufacturer of a dual-axis solar tracker. The new program will allow Vermonters to go solar for just $1,000, which can be applied to purchasing the solar system after 5 years. Customers will pay a monthly power purchase agreement for their system which will be set at less than the current benefit they will receive for their solar, yielding immediate electric bill savings.

Solar tracker at a home in Waterbury. VBM file.

by Alison Nihart The University of Vermont is on track to surpass its current goal of purchasing 20 percent local, sustainable, fair, and humane food. In the 2015-2016 school year, 19 percent of the food purchased by UVM Dining qualified as “real” according to the Real Food Challenge, indicating that the institution is likely to exceed 20 percent Real Food by 2020, the current target date. The Real Food Challenge is a nonprofit organization that supports a national, student-led movement to shift 20 percent of existing university food budgets (equivalent to approximately $1 billion) from conventional agricultural products to local, ecologically sound, fair and humane products by 2020.

UVM campus dining. Photo by Sally McCay.

by Tom Pelham Tensions over state spending are fundamental and longstanding. The duality embedded in Vermont’s state motto of “Freedom and Unity”, established in 1788, speaks succinctly to this tension as does this 1953 passage by noted Vermont author Dorothy Canfield Fisher: “The Vermont tradition grapples energetically with the basic problem – how to reconcile the needs of the group, of which every man or woman is a member, with the craving for individual freedom to be what he really is.”

Vermont Business Magazine The Travel Channel has named Bingham Falls in Stowe as one of the nation's best swimming holes. From the best natural diving platforms and hidden slides, to crystal-clear water with colors that change from blue to a golden crimson, Travel Channel announced the top 10 swimming holes in the United States – a perfect list for anyone who wants to “dive into summer.”

Vermont Business Magazine In order to afford a modest, two-bedroom apartment at the Fair Market Rent in Vermont, renters need to earn $21.13 an hour, or $43,947 a year. This is Vermont’s 2016 Housing Wage, revealed in the annual Out of Reach report released by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, a Washington, DC-based research and advocacy organization, and by the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition. The Housing Wage is the hourly wage a family must earn, working 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, to be able to afford the rent and utilities for a safe and modest home in the private housing market (affordable means paying no more than 30 percent of income). Vermont ranked 13th highest. Hawaii was first at $34.22/hr. West Virginia was lowest at $13.17.

by Representative Don Turner R-Milton Over the past six years under Governor Shumlin’s Administration and Speaker Smith, Vermont Democrats have exploited their majority status in the Senate and General Assembly to push an unbalanced agenda. It should come as no surprise, however, that the Democrats routinely circumvented rules and on occasion violated the constitution to reward special interests and advance pet projects. After all, corruption and cronyism run rampant in states with unchecked one-party rule. The seize of near-total control over the legislative process culminated in last Thursday’s special session, which was convened to decide the fate of the vetoed energy siting bill (S230).