Current News

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation (VTFPR) has awarded $586,764 to fifteen significant trail projects. This funding, available through state and federal funds in the Recreational Trails Program (RTP), will go towards maintaining and building public trails all over Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine At the Vermont Retail & Grocers Association annual convention this past weekend at the Hilton Burlington, VRGA president, Jim Harrison, announced to members of the trade group that he would be stepping down at the end of the year. VRGA was brought about by the merger of the Vermont Retail Association and the Vermont Grocers Association. Harrison began his association career with VGA in 1987 and has continued as president of the new VRGA since the groups combined in 2014.

Jim Harrison

by Mike Smith There is a tactic that politicians sometimes use when they are in political hot water. The tactic is to blame others. Frequently, the goal is to cast blame far and wide so no one person is held responsible. Ironically, it’s a tactic we discourage our children from using when they say, “everyone is doing it” as a defense for bad behavior. 

Attempting to spread the blame around, and therefore deflect blame, has been on full display as Governor Peter Shumlin addressed alleged fraud in the EB-5 program. 

by Mike Faher/The Commons A warm, unseasonable winter has forced an undisclosed number of layoffs at Mount Snow ski resort in Dover. But resort administrators expect to hire back those employees soon. And they say the furloughs aren’t related to a $52 million cash crunch in the resort’s EB-5 foreign investor program — a problem that has slowed new development at Mount Snow.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Peter Shumlin on Saturday addressed the 129 graduates of the Vermont Department of Labor's Registered Apprenticeship Programs in electrical and plumbing trades. The programs are run in collaboration with Vermont Technical College under a grant from the Vermont Department of Labor. The ceremony was held at the VTC campus in Randolph Center. 

"This program is a great example of effective workforce training. The apprenticeship graduates have a bright future and will earn good wages as skilled tradespeople”, said Governor Shumlin. “The Vermont Department of Labor is applying for additional federal funds under the new “American Apprenticeship” grant initiatives, and this will allow more Vermonters to be trained in high-demand, good wage careers, in health care, engineering, ‘green’ building, IT, advanced manufacturing and other priority sectors that have current and projected vacancies”, said Governor Shumlin. 

by Chris Graff Years ago the publisher and writer William Allen White was so sure there had to be corruption in Vermont government he sent up investigators and offered rewards. None was found. White had his own theory why this was so: “There are so few pennies in the state treasury that every Vermonter knows where every one of them is, all of the time.”

Now days, of course, there are enough pennies circulating in the state that White’s theory probably is long outdated.

But with all the talk about the allegations of the EB-5 fraud one point needs to be remembered: Vermont state government is still pretty squeaky clean. 

Amid all of the allegations of hundreds of millions of dollars misspent and juggled in a hugely complicated Ponzi scheme, Vermont’s elected officers primarily appear to be guilty of over-enthusiastic boosterism.

by Gary Karnedy Vermont’s new sick leave law takes effect January 2017 (January 2018 for those who employ five or fewer employees). Although you still have seven months to determine how this law applies to your business, it would be wise to start reviewing your current policies and planning for the remainder of 2016 now. This will ensure a smooth transition once the new, and somewhat complex, law goes into effect.

by Nick Wallace The middle class is shrinking, but Vermont is the highest ranking state in the East for the "Middle Class." According to a 2015 analysis by Pew Research, for the first time in recent history less than half of American households are part of the middle class, with greater numbers of households moving into the upper and lower classes. Likewise, while middle-income Americans used to earn more than 60 percent of total US income, today their combined paychecks add up to just 43 percent of the whole pie. Vermont overall was eighth, as the Northeast and South generally ranked low.

Vermont Business Magazine Under normal weather and power system conditions, New England is expected to have the electricity resources it needs to meet consumer demand this summer, according to ISO New England Inc, the operator of the region’s bulk power system and wholesale electricity markets. Although electricity supplies are expected to be sufficient, construction work on the region’s natural gas pipeline infrastructure will limit delivery of natural gas to some power plants and require them to obtain fuel from different sources. However, ISO has commitments of about 2 gigawatts more than the historic peak demand. Another wild card is the amount of installed solar, which in New England is the equivalent output of two Vermont Yankee nuclear plants. That generation does constitute a challenge for ISO, as the actual output rises and falls with the sun.

by Bill Schubart As the legislative session winds down, it’s time to consider what happened, what didn’t, and more important, why? Many Vermonters are vocal about wanting their government branches to change how they do business; others have altogether given up on government’s ability to better their lives. And while it’s fine to distrust and criticize government leaders, an outright anti-government stance, unfortunately, denies help, hope, and invites tyranny.

Though I’ve never chosen government service, I have respect for those who have. I believe in government’s ability to improve our lives, but without ethical oversight, strategic planning, leadership accountability, and transparency, new laws may add little to our quality of life.

Vermont Business Magazine Norwich University hosted 12 generals and admirals, 40 classroom presentations, two keynote lectures and a moderated panel discussion last week to commemorate 100 years of Reserve Officers’ Training Corps and to discuss the future of the leader development program. As the birthplace of ROTC, Norwich University celebrated ROTC’s centennial anniversary with the “ROTC Centennial Symposium: Preparing the Next Generation Leaders in a Complex World” on April 21-23, 2016. The symposium brought over 150 VIPs to campus including representatives from the Australian and Macedonian attachés as well as the Canadian Military Service Academy, to debate, discuss and celebrate ROTC.

Vermont Business Magazine Department of Public Safety Commissioner Keith Flynn and Vermont State Police Director Colonel Matthew T Birmingham announced Thursday that Captain Ingrid Jonas has been selected to serve as the first Director of Fair and Impartial Policing and Community Affairs for the Vermont State Police.  This new position will be charged with developing and implementing a comprehensive program to ensure fair and impartial policing practices at all levels of the state police, building relationships of trust with minority communities, diversifying the workforce, and improving cultural awareness as the state of Vermont becomes more diverse.  This position reflects the Vermont State Police’s continuing commitment to the importance of fair and impartial policing.