Current News

by John McClaughry The “Jay Peak EB-5 scandal” is in full bloom. While it’s too early to pass judgment on all of the parties involved, there are some emerging lessons to be learned. In 1990 Congress created the EB-5 Program to give an incentive to foreign investors to invest in job-creating American enterprises. In return for a $1 million investment, the investor and his immediate family can receive a two- year legal resident permit (“green card”). If by then the required ten new jobs were created, the temporary card would be made permanent.

Vermont Business Magazine On Friday, April 29, Howard Center will join with more than 120 communities throughout the world that will present local screenings of the documentary Healing Voices. The goal of the “OneNight, OneVoice” screening is to create a global community dedicated to promoting awareness and creating action around the critical social issue of mental health. Howard Center staff Sandra Steingard, MD, Sean Lynch, and Matt Bousquet will participate in a panel discussion immediately following the film.

The feature-length documentary explores the experiences commonly labeled as psychosis or mental illness through highlighting three individuals who are working to overcome extreme mental states and integrate these experiences into their lives in meaningful ways. The film follows the individuals for nearly five years, and their experiences and stories challenge us to rethink our cultural understanding of mental illness.

Vermont Business Magazine With the 35th annual Prouty coming to Hanover, NH, Friday and Saturday, July 8-9, organizers have their eyes set on crossing the $30 million threshold in total dollars raised since 1982. And for the second year in a row, the Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation is helping achieve the goal by providing a generous match for participants who fundraise before April 30. Prouty dollars support Dartmouth-Hitchcock Norris Cotton Cancer Center by funding cancer research and easing the journey of cancer patients and their families through such things as support groups, art and writing programs, a comfort cart, a resource library and gas cards.

The 2016 Prouty officially kicks off with an event at 5:30 p.m. April 21 at the Hanover Inn, and will feature a mini-concert by the Dartmouth College Gospel Choir.

Vermont Business Magazine When Colchester-based VIP first acquired Nielsen's Beverage Data Network assets last year, both parties indicated their intent to embark on a long-term business relationship to collaboratively deliver best-in-class data collection, reporting and analytic services with end-to-end coverage across all tiers of beverage alcohol distribution. In support of this commitment, Nielsen (NYSE: NLSN) announced today the next steps in its strategic alliance with Vermont Information Processing (VIP), the leading supplier of wholesaler depletion data to the alcohol beverage industry. 

Vermont Business Magazine Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc (NYSE: BHLB) reported an 8 percent increase in first quarter core earnings per share to $0.54 in 2016 from $0.50 in 2015. The earnings improvement was driven by 26% revenue growth produced by the Company's expanded operations. First quarter GAAP EPS increased year-over-year to $0.52 from $0.35. GAAP results in both periods included net non-core charges primarily related to acquisitions and restructuring activities. Berkshire Bank has branches in southwestern Vermont.

Vermont Business Magazine At Waterfront Park in Burlington this morning, Representative Peter Welch (D-VT) announced that the US Department of Commerce, in response to  bipartisan legislation sponsored by Welch, will undertake a comprehensive study to quantify the benefits of outdoor recreation to the US economy. The project will take several years to complete.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Retail & Grocers Association, representing the majority of Vermont stores that sell food, said it supports an amendment under consideration by the Vermont Senate.VRGA asked for an amendment that delays the private cause of action in Act 120 until December 31, 2017. (Current Senate language delays it until July 1, 2017). The Attorney General's Office, which will enforce the law, has taken a neutral position on the delay. The labeling law is still set to go into effect on July 1, 2016. VRGA said in a statement it believes the Attorney General’s Office will work with Vermont retailers and food processors on the orderly sell-off of existing inventory that was produced prior to the effective date of the law.

by Mike Smith I must admit, before reading the federal complaint against Bill Stenger and Ariel Quiros — the two principals in the EB-5 fraud scandal that has rocked the state — I convinced myself these types of schemes, rooted in massive greed and deception, had state borders; that Vermont was somehow immune to this kind of behavior. So when I finally sat down and began to read the 82-page federal complaint, I was looking for a reason to believe it wasn’t true. Perhaps the fact that Bill Stenger is a Vermonter and Quiros is not gave me hope that somehow the Vermonter was duped — just a pawn in an illegal scheme he had no knowledge of. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Fish & Wildlife Board voted on the Fish & Wildlife Department's proposal for antlerless deer hunting for 2016 at its monthly meeting on April 20 in Montpelier. "The number of muzzleloader season antlerless deer permits has increased to account for the expected increase in the deer population following the exceptionally mild winter of 2016," said Nick Fortin, deer project leader for the Fish & Wildlife Department. "The recommendation is intended to allow moderate population growth in most of the state while stabilizing or reducing deer densities in a few areas."

The department's annual recommendation is based on population growth estimates, biological data, deer sighting rates reported by hunters, and winter severity data, as well as input from game wardens, foresters and the public.

Vermont Business Magazine Mobius is excited to announce that the organization has been awarded a $25,000 grant from the Walmart Foundation. This funding is supporting Mobius’ K-12 Mentoring Initiative, a collaborative effort between Mobius and adult-to-youth mentoring programs to provide mentoring services for Vermont youth. 

Jason Klipa, Walmart director of public affairs; Doreen Diper, Walmart marketing manager; Chad Butt, Mobius executive director; Benji Thurber, Mobius communications & technology manager; and Dawn Cunningham, store manager from the Williston Walmart location. Mobius photo.

Vermont Business Magazine Green Mountain Power today reaffirmed its commitment to adhere to strict sound standards and thorough monitoring at its Kingdom Community Wind facility in Lowell. GMP said in a statement that for almost four years now, Kingdom Community Wind has operated at or above capacity delivering enough locally produced energy to power approximately 24,000 homes. GMP's statement said that its community partner, Lowell, overwhelmingly supports the project for the value it brings to the community and the state.

Vermont Business Magazine Governor Peter Shumlin announced today new results from five water samples collected near the Pittsford Fire Academy. The results were received as part of the first batch of testing in the State’s effort to proactively investigate 11 additional sites statewide where perfluorocarbons may have been used. The Pittsford Fire Academy was selected for testing by the State because of its repeated use of firefighting foams that may have contained perfluorocarbons like PFOA and PFOS in training exercises. Five water samples were collected from locations near or on Fire Academy property, including four residential wells and one town water distribution pipeline at the Academy. All five samples showed no detections for perfluorinated compounds (PFCs).

The Town of Pittsford’s municipal water supply also tested clean for PFCs when the town independently sampled its supply system several weeks ago.