Current News

by Mike Faher/The Commons State officials say they’ve found a way to force Entergy to continue to pay for Vermont Yankee’s 10-mile emergency zone. In a surprise announcement May 26, Public Service Department Commissioner Chris Recchia said the state has new statutory authority to “bill back” Entergy for emergency planning activities in towns around the Vernon nuclear plant. Recchia expects the state also will be billing the plant’s owner for other Vermont Yankee–related work such as groundwater testing and nonradiological waste monitoring. All told, he said, the bills might come to $900,000 annually.

Federal regulators allowed Vermont Yankee’s 10-mile emergency zone to disappear in April, and Entergy’s mandatory financial support for related state programs is set to end June 30.

Vermont Business Magazine GW Plastics has been selected as Plastics News’ “Sustained Excellence” award winner for 2015. This prestigious award honoring continued excellence in well-rounded plastic processing companies was announced at the Plastics News’ Executive Forum in Naples, FL. The award is given only to past Processor of the Year winners -- which Plastics News awarded to GW Plastics in 2009 – and is given to the company that has best sustained their level of excellence year after year. GW Plastics was judged on a number of continuous improvement categories, including financial excellence and proof the company has been profitable every year since winning Processor of the Year. The company was also judged on extraordinary new developments that have been instrumental to the company‟s success.

by Mike Faher/The Commons At a May 19 nuclear power summit in Washington, DC, top-ranking federal officials and industry executives focused on market forces and government regulation. But Patty O’Donnell made sure the audience also heard about declining property values, underfunded nonprofits, and lost friends — all in the context of Vermont Yankee’s December 2014 shutdown. Her message was clear: If the pace of nuclear shutdowns accelerates, many other communities can expect to experience the problems that are plaguing Vernon and the surrounding tri-state area.

by LCC, Lake Champlain Committee LCC and partner organizations including the National Wildlife Federation and the Adirondack Council recently released a letter urging Congress to ban oil transportation along Lake Champlain. Rail transport of explosive Bakken crude oil through the North Country has increased dramatically due to tremendous growth in outputs from Canada and the Bakken oil fields of North Dakota.

Vermont Business Magazine Just over three months after the discovery of elevated levels of the potentially harmful chemical PFOA in private wells in and around North Bennington and Bennington, Governor Peter Shumlin on Wednesday signed a law that will hold polluters responsible and help better control the use of potentially toxic chemicals in the state. Specifically, the new law, H595, establishes a working group on toxic chemicals that will be formed by July 1, 2016. The working group will submit a report to the legislature by January 15, 2017, with recommendations on how to reduce exposure and increase awareness of toxic chemicals in the environment. The Agency of Natural Resources will also convene stakeholders to draft rules related to natural resource damages. The agency will submit draft rules to the legislature by February 1, 2017 and adopt final rules by March 1, 2018. 

by Paul Cillo, Public Assets Institute In the last two decades most of the people moving to and from Vermont have followed the same paths. Between 1993 and 2014, the top 10 destinations for people moving away were New Hampshire, New York, Massachusetts, Florida, California, North Carolina, Connecticut, Maine, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Nine of those states — all but North Carolina — were also among the top 10 states of origin for Vermont’s new arrivals.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont’s annual, statewide Summer Free Fishing Day is Saturday, June 11 this year, and it will be highlighted by a free family fishing festival in Grand Isle, as well as the opening day of the state’s regular bass fishing season. “Vermont’s Free Fishing Day gives both resident and nonresident anglers the opportunity to go fishing in Vermont for the day without a license,” said Louis Porter, commissioner of Vermont Fish & Wildlife. “Vermont has a strong fishing tradition, and world-class fishing in many of its lakes and rivers. Free Fishing Day gives anglers of all types the chance to try out fishing in Vermont for the day for free, an experience we think they’ll truly enjoy.” 

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont’s muzzleloader season antlerless deer hunting permit applications are now available on Vermont Fish & Wildlife’s website (www.vtfishandwildlife.com). A quick-link to the information and online applications is on the home page. Applying online automatically enters you to win one of ten $50 Cabela’s gift cards. The Fish and Wildlife Board met on May 25 and set antlerless deer hunting rules for the fall deer hunting seasons. 

Hunting for antlerless deer will be statewide for the October 1-28 and December 3-11 archery season. Last year, hunters took 2,618 antlerless deer during the archery season. 

One deer of either sex would be allowed for youths during the November 5-6 youth weekend hunt. Youths took 761 antlerless deer during the 2015 youth weekend hunt. 

Vermont Business Magazine With a focus on preparing current and future students for high skill, high demand, high paying jobs in Vermont, Castleton University has committed to investing roughly $3.6 million in a renovation and modernization project to the Jeffords Science Center, after recently acquiring a $1 million capital investment from the state of Vermont. The Castleton STEM Improvement Project includes funds from the Capital Adjustment Bill containing $500,000 funded up front from the state, paired with $500,000 upon match from the University, totaling $1.5 million to be combined with other funding sources for renovations and expansion of its science laboratories.

Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont Medical Center, based in Burlington, invested $883,000 in Fiscal Year 2016 in a broad range of non-profit social service and health programs in Chittenden and Franklin counties through its Community Health Investment Fund. Support was directed to critical needs including affordable medical care, expanded free and reduced-cost school breakfast, transportation for seniors, and oral health care for children, among others. This year’s recipients include the Public Health Dental Hygienist program, the Chittenden County Opioid Alliance, KidSafe CHARM team, and the Vermont Ethics Network.

Vermont Business Magazine Three of the country’s leading healthcare architectural firms, including one of Vermont's largest architectural firms, have merged: MorrisSwitzer Environments for Health (Williston, Vermont), Ascension Group Architects, and daSilva Architects are now Environments for Health Architecture (E4H). Each firm has focused exclusively on healthcare design, and has a history of innovation, agility, and state-of-the-art technical expertise specific to the healthcare sector. MorrisSwitzer is the firm designing the new $175 million University of Vermont Medical Center inpatient building in Burlington.

by Rob Roper For over a decade we have been following the goal of the VTNEA (the teachers union) and their allies in Montpelier to expand the public school system by two years to include three and four-year-olds. The next steps in this very expensive long-term play are underway right now. First, a brief history of how we got to where we are today. In 2006, the legislature passed Act 62, which made “Universal Pre-K” programs for three and four-year-olds eligible to draw down education fund dollars. This was sold as a voluntary program for school districts, and public schools were encouraged to partner with “qualified” private childcare businesses — “if convenient” — to provide 10 hours of “quality” childcare per week.