Current News

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.

Vermont Business Magazine US Congressman Peter Welch and USDA Rural Development Under Secretary Lisa Mensah joined federal, state and local officials in Williamstown on Earth Day to celebrate the town’s efforts to upgrade a 47-year-old wastewater system. The Town of Williamstown received a $2,161,000 grant and loan combination from USDA Rural Development to improve their wastewater infrastructure and reduce the phosphorus flowing from the plant into the Winooski River and on to Lake Champlain.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Representative Peter Welch (D-Vt.) this week joined 143 congressional colleagues in voicing strong support for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Paris Agreement ahead of its signing Friday by Secretary John Kerry.  Under President Obama’s leadership and with the strong support of congressional Democrats, the United States rallied more than one hundred nations in support of the historic agreement last December.

by Michael Bielawski Vermont Watchdog The energy siting bill S230 is on its way to the House floor after a unanimous vote of support by the House Energy Committee on Thursday evening. With it are newly added wind provisions that would have retroactive impact on turbine projects applied for since April 15. The bill now states that on or before Sept. 15, 2017 the Public Service Board “shall adopt” specific sound standards for industrial wind turbines. These standards, once adopted, would apply to any project application submitted since April 15.

Vermont Business Magazine The State has resolved legal claims asserted by the Estate of John Grega under Vermont’s Innocence Protection Act arising out of his 1995 conviction for the murder of his wife, according to Attorney General Bill Sorrell. Under the terms of the settlement, the State will pay $1.55 million to resolve the Estate’s claim that DNA testing in 2012 exonerated Mr. Grega of the crime—a claim contested by the State as unsupported by the facts. Indeed, in 2013 a Vermont trial court stated, when denying Mr. Grega’s request to dismiss the murder case with prejudice, that the new “piece of scientific evidence which is not yet explained . . . does not exonerate [Mr. Grega] as plainly inconsistent with his guilt.”

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) Board of Commissioners has committed federal low-income housing tax credits and state affordable housing tax credits that will provide almost $25 million in upfront equity to construct and renovate housing for low-income Vermonters and will increase permanent supportive housing for people who were formerly homeless. The $2.578 million in 10-year federal credits and $400,000 in five-year state credits support 356 rental homes in 11 communities across the state. 

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Air National Guard 158th Fighter Wing Civil Engineering Squadron personnel will return home Saturday, April 23, 2016, from Tyndall Air Force Base located outside Panama City, Florida after a 10-day all phases of deployment exercise. Silver Flag is a routine exercise the 158th Fighter Wing Civil Engineering Squadron participates in annually to ensure combat-mission proficiency.

Approximately 35 personnel from the 158th Fighter Wing participated in an exercise where personnel learn to build and maintain bare-base operations at a simulated forward-deployed location.

Members hone a variety of combat and survival skills, such as repairing bomb-damaged runways, setting up base facilities and disposing of explosive ordnance.  Additionally, service members receive training on providing food service and lodging under simulated wartime conditions.