Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Community Loan Fund will strengthen its support of Vermont’s small and micro businesses thanks to a $500,000 loan and grant combination from the US Department of Agriculture. VCLF will use USDA Rural Development’s Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program to provide aspiring small businesses with loans and technical assistance. The deadline for applicants is June 30. VCLF received a $400,000 loan to bolster their revolving loan fund which currently provides microloans of up to $350,000 to Vermont businesses seeking to strengthen their finances, develop new products, or create new jobs in their local communities. In addition, VCLF received a $100,000 grant to expand business counseling services, such as business planning and accounting assistance, to their borrowers. VCLF estimates that the federal capital added to their business loan fund will assist 88 Vermont businesses and create or preserve 192 local jobs.

Vermont Business Magazine After a precipitous spike the previous week, unemployment claims fell by more than a 1,000 last week to return to numbers similar to a year ago. Claims had been on the rise since the end of what economists called a "disastrous" winter tourism season, which was plagued by too little snow and too much rain. For the week of April 30, 2016, there were 523 claims, down 645 from the previous week's total and 8 more than they were a year ago. By industry, claims fell across the board, except for Trade. Services continued to garner by far the most with 61 percent of all claims. 

Vermont Business Magazine Vermont once again finished 49th on "2016 Rich States, Poor States" national ranking. New York was 50th. Vermont and New York consistently have competed for the bottom two spots over the years. Utah earned the top spot for states with the best economic outlook, followed by North Carolina, North Dakota and Wyoming, according to the newest edition of the ranking recently released by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). 

Vermont Business Magazine Results from a recent study of Saint Michael's College alumni show that they exceed their peers from other institutions in nearly all elements of well-being and workplace engagement. Saint Michael's College President John J Neuhauser said the results of the study, initiated by the College to learn how the institution might improve outcomes, are evidence of the lasting influence of the quality education and unique community experience provided at Saint Michael’s. Gallup uses results from a national study of college graduates, the Gallup-Purdue Index, which provides insight into the relationship between the college experience and these long-term impacts of well-being and employee engagement, as a basis of comparison.

Vermont Business Magazine The University of Vermont’s Grossman School of Business added another top ranking to its growing number of accolades by making Bloomberg Business’ coveted “Best Undergraduate Business Schools 2016” list. The ranking, based on survey data from nearly 30,000 students and recruiters at 600 companies, places UVM among the top 114 undergraduate business schools in the country at No. 107 out of more than 1,400 accredited business schools in the country. Inclusion on this year’s list is especially significant for students due to updated criteria that “put a bigger focus on the outcomes most students want from B-school: the brightest possible career path.”

Vermont Business Magazine Bar Harbor Bankshares (NYSE MKT: BHB) and Lake Sunapee Bank Group (NASDAQ: LSBG) today announced that they have signed a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which Bar Harbor will acquire Lake Sunapee in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $143 million, or approximately $17.00 per share. The market expanding merger is expected to create efficiencies and strategic growth opportunities for both businesses through the leveraging of each other’s platforms and capabilities, and will create the only community bank headquartered in New England with a market footprint in all three Northern New England states of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. It is expected that existing Lake Sunapee Bank branches will continue to operate under the Lake Sunapee brand after the merger is completed.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Peter Shumlin released today preliminary test results from private water supplies surrounding two former wire-coating facilities in Essex and Winooski.  All samples showed no presence of the potentially harmful chemicals PFOA and PFOS. The two sites are former locations of local wire coating and cable extrusion companies Belden Wire & Cable (Essex) and Super-Temp Wire and Cable (Winooski). An Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) contractor took five samples from residential wells near the former Belden Wire & Cable site in Essex, and five samples from wells owned by businesses near the former Super-Temp site in Winooski. All test results were non-detect for PFOA.

by Timothy McQuiston Vermont Business Magazine Personal Income tax revenues tanked in April, which led to total tax revenues falling more than $14 million below targets for the fiscal year, which ends June 30. Personal Income is the single most important revenue source for the State of Vermont. Consumption taxes also were down, but only slightly. A strong performance by the Corporate Tax was far too small to offset the plunge in PI. The state has two more months before the end of the fiscal year to recoup the losses or the state budget would have to be adjusted to achieve balance.

by Renewable Energy Vermont The Public Service Board (PSB) held its final public hearings on the proposed net metering rule on Thursday morning in Montpelier. Prior to Thursday's hearing, dozens of solar customers and workers gathered on the statehouse lawn to urge the Board to draft a rule that maintains a strong net metering program which allows homes, businesses, farms, and non-profits to continue to harness the power of their own energy. 

by Robert Bancroft, State Representative, Westford & Rural Essex, Chittenden 8-3 District As an economist by training, I understand that the investment decision making practices that regulate state pension funds have grown more complex over the years. However, Governor Shumlin is asking the state pension fund to break with long-standing policy to pursue an investment strategy that is wholly inconsistent with the stated fiduciary responsibility of the VPIC. I urge Vermonters to understand that the irreversible costs associated with divestment will ultimately put pension plan beneficiaries’ assets at risk. Despite these known costs, some legislators have insisted on leveraging divestment as a political statement and, by doing so, threaten to violate the established definition of fiduciary responsibility.

Vermont Business Magazine State and local officials, and leaders from finance and nonprofit housing organizations, marked the construction start of an innovative, affordable housing community for seniors at a groundbreaking ceremony on May 2. Elm Place is located at 60 Bombardier Road in Milton and will be Vermont’s first multi-family building certified to Passive House standards. The super energy-efficient building will use roughly 65 percent less energy than those built to today’s standard codes. This efficiency is achieved through better windows and doors, added insulation, and improved air sealing.

Vermont Business Magazine US Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) announced Wednesday that the Department of Health and Human Services awarded $5.5 million to six community health centers in Vermont. The health centers will use this new federal funding to renovate facilities, increase patient capacity and expand primary care services. The Vermont awards are part of $260 million in health infrastructure funding announced today for 290 community health centers in 45 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. The funding comes from the Health Center Trust Fund, which was created by a Sanders provision in the Affordable Care Act that provides $11 billion for community health centers across the United States. Congress extended the Sanders provision last year with bipartisan support.