Current News

by Governor Peter Shumlin Thank you. At a time in America where government is under attack, where some are arguing that we should simply leave people to fend for themselves, we are showing that our democracy is alive, well, and working for Vermonters. Because of your tri-partisan work since January we’ve passed legislation together that is worthy of the trust voters have placed in us.

Vermont Business Magazine Bennington area residents and local Vermont attorneys have filed suit against Saint- Gobain for the effects of Saint-Gobain’s contamination of their land and drinking water with hazardous PFOA. “Our properties are contaminated, and we and our families have been drinking contaminated water for years due to Saint-Gobain’s releases of hazardous PFOA into our community,” said Jim Sullivan, a representative of the plaintiffs. “Saint-Gobain needs to address these harms and losses, and we have filed this case to insure that the company responds to our needs.”

Vermont Business Magazine The Bennington Area Chamber of Commerce, in collaboration with Catamount Access Television (CAT-TV), launched the second in a series of episodes for their show “Bennington Made” on Monday afternoon. “Bennington Made,” a show hosted by Bennington Chamber executive director Matt Harrington, focuses on locally made Bennington products and the owner, operators and staff that make these quality products. The series, scheduled to air throughout the year, takes its sophomore episode and highlights Bennington Museum’s recent exhibit “3D Digital: Here and Now.”  All the pieces in the exhibit have some connection to Bennington.

by Paul Costello, Executive Director, Vermont Council on Rural Development At the Vermont Council on Rural Development (VCRD) we get to work with rural towns throughout Vermont where we rally everyone to pull together, review all the issues before the community, evaluate potential collective action, set priorities, and line up together to advance the economy, attract youth, build senior housing or children’s playgrounds, boost agriculture, and build energy committees or downtown associations. We see the best of democracy in action.

We see patriotism and pride—in community, for the working landscape, and in support of local economic innovation.

by C.B. Hall Vermont Business Magazine Federal and state officials converged on Burlington's Union Station Friday afternoon, May 6, to celebrate the award of $10 million in federal funds for the upgrading of the Rutland-Burlington rail line for passenger service. Leading the federal delegation were U.S. secretary of transportation Anthony Foxx and Sarah Feinberg, head of the Federal Railroad Administration. They were joined by Senator Patrick Leahy and Representative Peter Welch, with staffer David Weinstein standing in for the Vermont congressional delegation's third member, Senator Bernie Sanders. Also speaking was Burlington mayor Miro Weinberger, while state secretary of transportation Chris Cole emceed the event.

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.