Current News

Vermont Business Magazine Norwich University is hosting the Institute for Sustainable Communities’ inaugural Resilient Vermont Conference Friday and Saturday, May 20-21. This interactive event will bring together community leaders, municipal officials, organizations and agencies working to strengthen Vermont’s resilience to climate change and other challenges. Participants will gain the skills, ideas, inspiration, connections and resources for on-the-ground action to make the community stronger, more vibrant, and better prepared.

Vermont Business Magazine The Public Service Department today announced the next meeting of the Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel will be held on Thursday, May 26, 2016, from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM in the Multi-Purpose Room at Brattleboro Area Middle School, 109 Sunny Acres Road, Brattleboro. At the meeting the Panel will receive decommissioning updates from the State of Vermont and Entergy.  The Panel will hear a presentation from the State of the Vermont on the comments the state filed in response to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s advance notice of proposed rulemaking for decommissioning of power reactors. The Panel will also discuss the federal taxation of nuclear decommissioning trust funds and consider an amendment to the panel Charter regarding public access to panel meetings.

Vermont Business Magazine Renewable Energy Vermont would like to announce at this time, that due to popular demand and conflicts arising due to the deadline's proximity to the end of the Vermont Legislative session we have EXTENDED the deadline from Friday, May 13th until Friday, May 27th at 5 pm. In a statement, organizers said, "Thank you so much to all who submitted prior to original May 13 deadline, if you would like to make use of this extension time to tweak or edit your existing submissions we will gladly accept updated proposals.

Vermont Business Magazine - On Thursday, April 28^th, employees at Sugarbush Resort collected 70 bags of trash and 36 bags of recycling in honor of Green Up Day. A total of 100 resort employees collectively spent 224.5 hours greening up on resort property, as well as along German Flats Road, Sugarbush Access Road, Inferno Road, and Golf Course Road.

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont's small businesses are the best credit risks in the nation, according to a new report that looked at analytics such as bankruptcies and foreclosures. Because of the profound, far-reaching impact of small business on the US economy, Experian, the leading global information services company, teamed with Moody's Analytics to develop the Experian/Moody's Analytics Main Street Report. The new quarterly report benchmarks the overall financial health of small businesses, identifies emerging trends and provides insight into what these trends mean for small businesses and the economy as a whole. The states with the highest average business credit scores were Vermont (62.6), North Dakota (61.8) and South Dakota (61.7)

by Mike Faher/The Commons Brattleboro Several days after the end of the 2016 legislative session, Windham County Senator Jeanette White still sounded tired. That’s no doubt due to the normal wear and tear of the session’s frantic final debates and deliberations. But the Putney Democrat also acknowledged deep disappointment about the failure of one of her key causes — marijuana legalization.

Vermont Business Magazine At its 2016 annual dinner on May 12th, the Lake Champlain Islands Economic Development Corporation awarded the Bullis Family Farm the Business of the Year award and David C. Carter the 2016 Community Service award.  The event was held at Shore Acres Inn & Restaurant in North Hero.The Bullis Family Farm is a 4^th generation dairy farm in Grand Isle also known as Savage View Farm. The farm operation began in 1927 and has grown to be one of the Champlain Islands’ largest businesses.

L to R: Travis, Tyler, Dwight, Monica and Ryan Bullis, Bullis Family Farm - Business of the Year. photos: Connie Boutin

Vermont Business Magazine On May 11, 2016, Google announced that it will ban advertising for high-interest personal loans, sometimes referred to as “payday loans.” In 2014, as part of a statewide crackdown on high-interest lending, the Vermont Attorney General Office’s collaborated with Google. “I am pleased that Vermont led the states in working with Google to stop online advertising by predatory lenders,” said Attorney General Sorrell. Over the past two years, Vermont identified for Google hundreds of online lenders who violated Vermont or other state law by: (1) charging excessive interest, often 300% APR or more; or (2) failing to obtain a license as required by Vermont and other states that regulate personal loans. Consequently, Google disabled advertising for the identified illegal lenders.

Vermont Business Magazine - The Working Lands Enterprise Board announced its fourth year of grants, totaling $634,000 in investments that impact every county in Vermont. The 44 grantees (including 24 trade show assistance grants) will leverage an additional $2.5 million in matching funds to create jobs, increase income, and keep working lands acreage in production. Grant recipients were announced at a ceremony and networking event held at Vermont Tree Goods in Bristol earlier this morning. 

Vermont Business Magazine - Vermont law entitles Vermont homeowners faced with foreclosure to request foreclosure mediation and requires the mediators to submit mediation reports to the Vermont Attorney General. The Attorney General’s Office has reviewed the reports received in 2015, and concluded that the program continues to be successful at helping homeowners and banks resolve their problems in ways that are advantageous to all parties.

In 2015, foreclosure mediators reported 108 cases to the Attorney General’s Office. Of mediations reported to our office, nearly two-thirds of all cases in which both parties participated resulted in the parties coming to an agreement that resolved the foreclosure matter. The vast majority of those agreements allowed homeowners to stay in their homes, either through a loan modification, a repayment plan, or some other agreement. 

Vermont Business Magazine - Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC) seeks nominations for the 2016 SVHC Vision Awards. These awards recognize one physician and one community member whose ideas and hard work improve health in Southwestern Vermont and the surrounding area. The Vision Awards were first presented in September 2010.

“The Vision Awards are an important tradition, because they acknowledge the commitment and contributions of our local leaders and provide the role models we need to realize our vision of a healthy, vibrant community,” said Thomas A. Dee, FACHE, SVHC’s president and CEO.